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Collector’s editions for The Stanley Parable open for preorder today
They are $75, and exclusively available through iam8bit’s website
Comparable releases have flipped for upwards of $140 in the past
Well gamers, it’s time for more content. We got The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe last year, and now the developers are keeping the flame alive in 2024. They’ve partnered with iam8bit to produce a limited Collector’s Edition of The Stanley Parable. These will be releasing in a few hours exclusively through iam8bit’s online store. Video game collector’s editions can be pretty solid flips, and The Stanley Parable has become a cult classic since its release.
Like most great video games, The Stanley Parable began as a Half-Life 2 mod. Largely an exploration of contemporary video game narratives, the game tells the story of an office drone named Stanley accompanied by the constant and patronizing Narrator.
In 2013, The Stanley Parable was redeveloped and relaunched as its own game. In the decade and change since then, it’s attracted mostly praise and plenty of derision. Some people think it’s incredibly stupid, but lots of others think it’s pretty neat.
Play it for yourself and find out. Last year, the game got a refresh with The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe edition. Largely a play on the contemporary notion of endless content in video games, Ultra Deluxe was a welcome return for fans of the game.
And now we’ve got a collector’s edition for The Stanley Parable. What’s included? Well, content, of course.
There’s a copy of the game with exclusive cover art, a “Reassurance Bucket Manual”, pack of stickers, digital copy of the soundtrack, and 5″ Stanley figurine.
The Stanley Parable Collector’s Edition costs $75 through iam8bit’s website. The game is not region-locked, and 20% of the proceeds will be donated to 350.org to fight climate change. Neat!
That is the question, isn’t it? Many resellers consider video game collector’s editions as excessively risky, and generally not worth the trouble.
From 2017 to 2022, there were many popular and highly profitable releases like Fallout 76 and Breath of the Wild, all of which netted resellers hundreds to thousands in profit, but recent years saw a sudden drop-off in popularity.
Between publishers pumping out more of them and gamers getting harder to impress, Collector’s Editions went from surefire flips to obvious bricks. This led to a lot of resellers passing on popular releases which would then skyrocket in value with so few of them remaining on the market.
So what does this ramble have to do with The Stanley Parable? Well, if you’re a reseller that always writes off collector’s editions, maybe you should reconsider your stance. While huge AAA releases can be a gamble, smaller niche games like The Stanley Parable can still be pretty profitable.
Take Lies of P. We covered this a few months ago while the game was having its moment in the sun. This was a pretty lowkey production and the collector’s editions for Lies of P retailed for $70. Resellers were able to reliably flip them for around double that.
It helps when other resellers choose to pass on a product, because buyers get more desperate when there are no other options on the market.
If you’re still on the fence, you should know that iam8bit does offer refunds. Pre-orders can be cancelled within 14 days of the purchase for a full refund. After that, you can return it within 14 days of delivery for a refund in store credit only.
Not the best refund policy, but still plenty of wiggle room. You can simply order one of these collector’s editions and watch how the market shakes out. If it ends up not working out, just cancel your order and move on to the next flip.
Subscribe to our newsletter if you want more tips like these sent directly to your inbox. Like we said, video game collector’s editions can be wildly lucrative; check out our articles on DOOM Eternal and Baldur’s Gate 3 for some examples of just how much money you can make.
A non-record flip for Record Store Day
Call that a Victory Royale!
