Our first thought with the box is that it's both big and smells a little strange. This behemoth will take up a lot of shelf space, no matter where you put it. However, it does have all of the extras contained in it's tiny little frame. It's also smaller than other Collector's Editions, such as the monstrosity that was BioShock 2's box. It smells faintly of glue, which we assume will dissipate with time, as it is a brand-new, straight-from-factory edition of the game. The smell is a little repulsive.

The insides are divided into three compartments that all blend together: game, books, and extras. The game DVD occupies its own space on the left, the extras sit to the right, and the books sit in the back. There's also Jim Raynor's dog tags (actually a thumb drive) and some trial codes to World of Warcraft and, interestingly enough, Starcraft 2. The insides aren't very separate, unlike a lot of Collector's Editions, so all of this is muddied together.

The dogtag is the first thing we took a look at. It comes with Jim Raynor's name and military details on them, and it also has a little tab that pushes out the USB jack for the thumbdrive inside. It's surprisingly heavy, and the external casing feels very durable. The thumbdrive itself is 2GB in size and comes pre-loaded with Starcraft and its expansion Brood War. Given that Starcraft and Brood War are $20 on their own, that's a pretty good deal.

There is, actually, only one book inside the Collector's Edition: the art book. This will likely only interest hardcore fans and artists, but the book is sturdy, hardback, and comes with a cover. The pages inside are glossy and high-quality. The most interesting aspect of it all is noting the difference between the Chris Metzen's artwork for Starcraft and the colorful, vibrant paintings in the art book. The series has come quite a long way. The other "book" is the first (or zeroth) issue of the Starcraft comic being put out by Wildstorm. The comic is nothing particularly special, but if you like Starcraft and you like comics, it's worth it.

The extras contained with the Collector's Edition are the soundtrack and a behind-the-scenes DVD. The soundtrack is, as one would expect, a soundtrack. The music in Wings of Liberty is ridiculously good, so it's definitely a big deal. The behind-the-scenes DVD is just what you would expect, except with a twist: it contains all of the major cutscenes from the game. If you don't really care to play the game, you can simply watch the cutscenes to know the gist of the story, but that doesn't really make much sense if you bought it. In essence, the DVD is, like the art book, only for the hardcore.

Finally, there's a bunch of online specials for picking up the Collector's Edition. By buying it, you get access to four special Battle.Net portraits: Jim Raynor, Tauren Marine, Diablo Marine, and Night Elf Banshee. You also get an achievement called "Devoted Fan" and access to a special reskin of the Terran Thor unit. Finally, you also get a miniature Thor as a pet in World of Warcraft.

We found that the Collector's Edition is worth the $100 price tag. As it comes with the original game, the superb soundtrack, and a high quality art book, it certainly makes up for the extra $40 asked for by Blizzard. We especially love the addition of the thumbdrive with the original game, as it lets people who don't have the original (or lost it) a chance to experience one of the best real-time strategy games.