Tomb Raider (Courage Crate Edition)

This is the one that makes other collector's editions look like they weren't even trying. The Tomb Raider Courage Crate Edition on Xbox 360 is a survival kit disguised as a video game package, and it might be the single most ridiculous, most desirable Tomb Raider CE ever assembled. If you've never seen one in person, prepare to rethink what a special edition can be.

Let's start with the crowbar. A branded "Survive" crowbar. An actual, functional crowbar. There is a video game collector's edition that shipped with a crowbar. We need to sit with that for a moment. Then there's the limited edition Xbox 360 controller, which instantly becomes a display piece for anyone with a console collection. The hardback Brady Games strategy guide, itself a limited edition, is a callback to when game guides were coffee table books, not GameFAQs links.

The limited edition lithograph adds gallery-worthy art to your wall. The Dark Horse graphic novel deepens the lore. The Sisters of Artemis flask lets you toast to Lara's survival in style. And the CamelBak water bottle means this CE literally keeps you hydrated.

This wasn't mass-produced. This wasn't sitting in a pile at your local retailer. The Courage Crate was the kind of edition that required knowing the right people or being in the right place at the right time. That scarcity, combined with the sheer absurdity and quality of what's inside, puts it in a tier that most CEs from any generation can't touch. If one surfaces, you don't deliberate. You act.