Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist Paladin Aircraft Edition

Remote-controlled aircraft don't show up in collector's editions very often. The Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist Paladin Aircraft Edition for Xbox 360 made sure we'd never forget when they did. This is one of the most unusual premium editions from the entire seventh generation, built around a centerpiece that nobody saw coming.

Inside the cardboard box sits a three-channel, twin engine remote-controlled Paladin aircraft, the mobile base of operations from the game itself, now buzzing around your living room. Alongside it you get an 88-page Splinter Cell Echoes graphic novel that expands the story beyond the screen, plus a full-size poster. The digital side isn't neglected either, with the Billionaire's Yacht and Dead Coast co-op maps, Gold Sonar Goggles, and the Upper Echelon Pack rounding things out.

This is one of those editions that makes people stop scrolling. The Paladin aircraft is a genuine conversation piece, the kind of item that sits on a shelf and forces visitors to ask questions. Graphic novels packaged with games were a nice trend from this era, and the Echoes book gives this edition substance beyond spectacle.

For collectors who lived through the Xbox 360 generation, the Paladin Aircraft Edition captures everything wild about that period. Publishers were swinging big, trying to one-up each other with physical goods that had no business being bundled with a video game. We're better for it. This edition proves that some risks create the most memorable items on our shelves.