I spend a lot of time playing Call of Duty. Far more than I can ever justify. I usually purchase a PC and an Xbox version, and I have no qualms about cracking open my wallet for really cool Operator bundles and battle passes. Given how willing I am to throw money at the franchise, you’d think I would have known in advance that a licensed Collector’s edition for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was an actual thing that exists. Somehow, I didn’t.
That is, until one of those late-night COD sessions, a friend shared a link in Discord. The link led to a listing on Walmart for a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Collector’s Box. Originally, the box cost $79.99, but it was marked down to the impulse-purchase-friendly price of just $9. I had so many questions, and only a few could be answered by putting the box in my cart.
I paid $9 for the Collector’s box, along with $5 and some change for shipping and tax, and waited. I was told the box would arrive by December 29, and I chalked the long wait up to holiday shipping chaos. Surprisingly, FedEx knocked on my door with a package on December 21, and I finally got a chance to check out my loot.
What’s in the box?
Inside the shipping box was another cardboard box designed to resemble a supply box from Call of Duty: Warzone. While the print was well done, I was surprised the packaging was made entirely of cardboard. The original price of this Collector’s box is $80, after all, or more if you buy the version that comes with the physical copy of the game. I would have expected at least some molded plastic or something a little sturdier than cardboard for the box. At least the cardboard packaging gave me a reality check to not expect too much out of the rest of the box.
However, the rest of the box was actually good, to my surprise. If you purchase the version without the game disc, there’s an obvious empty slot in the packaging where the game would have been packaged, and the emptiness was noted. However, the rest of the top layer of packaging included a collection of well-detailed enamel pins.
Among them were Captain Price’s face, the emblem for the antagonistic Konni Group, as well as the Cymbal Monkey and JuggerNog emblems from MWZ. A small envelope with four lithograph prints, including one of the popular map Rust, is also in the top section of the packaging. There was a 12×16 metallic print of an operator with night vision goggles and one of the bosses of MWZ.
The big finale of the box is the bronze-plated plaque of COD-favorite Simon “Ghost” Riley.
Was it worth it?
I think it was. Don’t get me wrong, Call of Duty has certainly had way cooler collector’s editions in the past with proper full-body character statues. The lack of marketing and having no idea who the manufacturer, Idea Planet, was certainly left me with some reservations about buying this particular collector’s box. I even did some digging to see if Idea Planet had other collector's boxes available. The only other item in their inventory on Walmart's site, however, was a cardboard map for state quarter collectors. At the end of the day, though, the price was low enough that I was cool with taking the risk.
I would have a hard time suggesting this collector’s box to someone who was going to pay the original $80 full price for it, but for $9? It was an easy impulse buy. Sadly, the deal to get the box for just $9 is no longer active, but you can still pick it up for a seemingly lower full price tag of $50 now. If you aren’t a fan of COD, didn’t like MW3, or aren’t a fan of Ghost, then, by all means, skip it. Those of us looking for a little more COD decor in our gaming space, however, will find that the quality of the items is certainly on par with the price tag.
