13 years is a long, long time. It’s a span of time that encompasses at least two console generations, several dozen AAA games, and in exceptional cases, just two mainline GTA titles as well.
Similarly, between the rollout of GTA 5 in 2013 and the impending launch of GTA 6 this November, it’s not just the industry that significantly changed but also the franchise itself. If that wasn’t already clear from Rockstar Games’ infamous call to make GTA 6 completely disc-less, the recent reveal of the highly awaited game’s collector’s edition should highlight the same again.
In this article, we will look at the various ways GTA 6’s The Goodtime State—Vice City Collection, coming out on November 19, differs from the collector’s edition of GTA 5, the last major entry in the series. Simultaneously, we will also discuss what’s changed for the better and what’s changed for the worse from a gamer’s point of view.
1. Most prolific collector’s edition in GTA history
It’s a widely agreed opinion that quality always trumps quantity. But the joy of getting more physical merchandise isn’t something to be understated either. Fortunately, GTA 6’s collector’s edition seems to be doing well in both departments, especially in the quantity aspect.
GTA 6 The Goodtime State—Vice City Collection comes with an impressive 11 different merch items, ranging from wearable accessories to stuff you’d find in a bar. That’s way more than what was featured in the equivalent editions of GTA 5 and GTA 4, which contained four and five physical goodies, respectively. The full list of all that the Vice City Collection offers is given below:
- 6-inch Macca the Gator figurine with built-in storage compartment
- Macca the Gator magnetic mirror
- Macca the Gator-inspired poster with map on the flip side
- GTA 6 Oakley Frogskins sunglasses
- New Era 9FORTY cap
- Leonida Keys crossbody bag
- Chunkee the Manatee glass tumbler
- Vice City spoon
- Leonida Keys enamel pin set stored in a themed tin box
- Vice City blade-shaped keychain
- GTA 6 stickers
2. There is a catch, even at a steep price
While the GTA 6 collector’s edition doesn’t skimp on the sheer number and variety of physical merchandise, there is one major miss in this special bundle—it doesn’t come with the game. In other words, it is strictly a collection of GTA 6 merchandise and nothing else.
For something that retails at an eye-watering $399.99, which is $100 more than what Xbox Series S launched for, the inclusion of a digital copy of the game seemingly should have been a no-brainer. For comparison, back in 2013, GTA 5’s own collector’s edition launched at $149.99 and included the game, bonus digital content, and five pieces of merchandise.
What that tells you is that, while the count of physical merch in a GTA collector’s edition more or less doubled in the past thirteen years, the price increased by around 167%. On top of that, the actual game also stopped being a guaranteed part of such a bundle.
3. A long-overdue first for GTA
It’s almost the norm for most game developers, especially those in the AAA space, to have an imposing statue or a life-size replica item as the most prominent part of their collector’s edition. Gears of War: E-Day, scheduled for an October 6 release, has a diorama featuring the fan-favorite duo of Marcus and Dom. On the other hand, last year’s Ghost of Tsushima had a life-size recreation of protagonist Atsu’s mask headlining its collector’s edition.
However, despite such prevalence of showpieces across the industry, none of the two GTA collector’s editions created by Rockstar devs had anything of the sort. But that’s finally going to change with the forthcoming collector’s edition.
Thanks to the emergence of the Macca the Gator figurine, GTA 6’s collector’s edition marks the first time in series history that a statue inspired by the game has been officially up for grabs. This lets the franchise tick off something that it had been missing in its collector’s edition for several years.
4. No signature lock-and-key this time
Are a game’s physical collectibles a prized possession meant to be kept in a makeshift safe? Maybe. I don’t have a definitive answer. But, for a long time, it looked like Rockstar Games had its mind made up about this question because, for some reason, it bundled in some kind of secure storage item along with its key in each of the two GTA collector’s editions released so far.
On the one hand, the GTA 5 collector’s edition came with a deposit bag & key. On the other hand, GTA 4’s own version offered a deposit box & key combo. However, that short-lived tradition is now set to end after two iterations, as GTA 6’s collector’s edition has no such equivalent.
Even though this does lead to the disappearance of a unique type of item in these special editions for the franchise, it does free up room and resources for having more suitable goodies incorporated in the bundle instead.
5. Most personality of any GTA collector’s edition
Throughout its history, a GTA game’s collector’s edition items, to a reasonable degree, have looked just like regular items slapped with the brand’s logo. Whether we talk about GTA 4’s deposit box, which only had an engraved GTA logo associating it with the game, or GTA 5’s deposit bag, which had a color logo of the award-winning game, we can all agree that the branding on those objects was quite basic at best.
With the arrival of GTA 6 and its own merch-heavy collector’s edition, Rockstar Games has opted for a new design approach that has enabled each item to stand out as a distinct reminder of its associated game. Either through a generous use of GTA 6 imagery or by sporting a more conspicuous motif, everything from the crossbody bag to the tinted sunglasses carries an unmissable GTA 6 aesthetic identity.
Ultimately, this pivot from minimal branding to an instantly recognizable theme has enhanced the raw appeal of the GTA 6 collector’s edition. As a consequence, this assortment of goodies has a stronger personality compared to any of the items in past collector’s editions in the GTA series.
Final word
GTA 6’s The Goodtime State—Vice City Collection is already up for pre-orders in the US, with dates for other regions including Asia, Latin America, and Australia to follow. But I doubt it’s worth grabbing one for yourself simply based on the absurd 400-dollar price tag the bundle has.
At that price point, which is more than the launch price of a current-gen console, purchasing a bunch of goodies themed around a fictional show that you are yet to grow any interest in seems like a big ask for most fans, even some hardcore ones. Given the limited production, Rockstar Games would likely still sell all of its GTA 6 collector’s edition stock. Though there’s not enough that the developer has done to make this one a highly desirable purchase.
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