Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition Begins Reselling

News

By RC Staff

16 May 2023

It’s been six years since the release of Breath of the Wild, and it seems like Nintendo has struck gold yet again. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the latest entry in the nearly 40-year old franchise. Released on May 12, TotK is already drawing praise from every corner of the gaming world, with many considering it a worthy sequel to Breath of the Wild. Consequently, the Collector’s Editions for TotK have begun to resell. While it’s still early, we’re going to be examining the TotK Collector’s Editions and giving our thoughts on their long term value for resellers.

What's included in the TotK Collector's Edition?

First, let’s just mention that we’re going to be drawing a lot of comparisons with Breath of the Wild’s Collector’s Edition. The previous game shattered records for both retail and aftermarket sales, so it’s important to see how TotK measures up against its predecessor.

The Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition cost $130, and includes the game, a book of concept art, a set of pins, a poster, and a SteelBook case, all wrapped up in a distinct black box.

In comparison, Breath of the Wild’s Collector’s Edition shipped with the game, it’s soundtrack, a map of Hyrule, as well as some other assorted trinkets. The Master Edition of BotW also included a Master Sword Statuette. This entire assortment also cost $130.

Additionally, BotW had two separate collector’s editions. The Special Edition of the game was $100, while the Master Edition was $130. The only difference between the two editions was the inclusion of the Master Sword Statuette. It may not seem like much, but this small statuette was a major selling point of the Master Edition; people were able to resell the statuettes for $200 by themselves.

Tears of the Kingdom offers only a single Collector’s Edition. It has less to offer than BotW’s Master Edition for the same price, and was produced in greater numbers. Collector’s Editions for Tears of the Kingdom were available both as preorder and at launch, unlike BotW which was a preorder exclusive.

Will the Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Editions resell?

It would be more surprising if the TotK Collector’s Edition didn’t resell. This game is a pretty big deal, even a few days out from its release. There have been over 2,000 sales on eBay for the Collector’s Edition since the February preorder opened.

These aren’t all for the complete Collector’s Edition set though. Many sales are for individual parts, like the artbook or pin set. While we saw that previously for BotW’s Collector’s Edition, those sales were mainly centered around the Master Sword statuette, which was the centerpiece of the set.

The pieces from Tears of the Kingdom’s Collector’s Edition that resell are not attracting the same prices. The Master Sword statuette could regularly resell for $200 on its own, while the pin set and artbook from TotK don’t go for more than $30 at a time.

That’s not to say it’s all doom and gloom for Tears of the Kingdom though. It is reselling for over retail, usually for around $200. At a retail price of $130, buyers are making enough profit from the game to pick up a standard copy of the free of charge. If you read our previous article comparing the various preorder bonuses of the game, you’d know that buying a standard copy could also come out profitable.

TotK Collector's Editions in the long run

While $70 of profit is not bad by any means, it pales in comparison to what resellers are getting for Master Editions of Breath of the Wild.

Remember, those have resold in the past for $4,000. Even for one of the most popular games of the decade, that’s impressive.

Maybe that’s an unfair comparison though. Breath of the Wild has had six years to build this aftermarket for its Collector’s Editions, so it’s not that surprising TotK’s Collector’s Edition isn’t meeting that bar — yet. There’s plenty of time for it to spread its wings and fly.

Don’t be surprised if those numbers go up in the future. The price for a video game’s collector’s edition tends to correlate with its reception, and Tears of the Kingdom appears to be on a very good trajectory. It may take some time, years even, but these are likely to appreciate.

Still, it’s unlikely to reach the heights that Breath of the Wild did. That’s not a failing of TotK though, and more of a testament to the success of BotW. As we covered in our article, the Collector’s Editions of BotW were underproduced and subject to intense demand. They were packed with content, enough so that individual parts of the could resell for more than the retail price of the Collector’s Edition.

Tears of the Kingdom did not launch under the same conditions as Breath of the Wild. The former is a highly anticipated sequel to a groundbreaking modern classic, while the latter launched as an ambitious new entry aiming to jumpstart a stagnating series and company. Nintendo’s struggles through the mid-2000s are well documented, and Breath of the Wild’s incredible success completely changed the game for them.

To that end, the production numbers for each game’s collector’s edition are likely completely different. While Breath of the Wild was a bit of a gamble, Tears of the Kingdom was essentially a guaranteed success; Nintendo did not need to be as conservative with their production on the sequel. Great for fans, great for collectors, great for Nintendo, not as great for resellers looking to make a few grand down the road.