It has to be limited, it has to have a certificate of authenticity, etc.

[DB5]

Okay, I've been hearing guys say that to be called a serious CE collector, you need to value how limited the CE is first and foremost. So, having a CE that comes with only the game and a piece of paper that says you have heaven's luck on your side, because only 500 exist and you have #1; is much more "special" than having, say, a CE that comes with a lot of top-class, high-quality stuff but is produced at 150,000.

I don't get it. Now before you start calling me a cunt or anything, hear me out.

Assume you're a collector who collects because he just likes to. And if a franchise you love is releasing the next game with a CE, then you'll get the CE because you're a fan and you wants nothing but the best. So you don't really care whether or not a CEs limited or not. If the CE is topnotch, then you'll buy it, even if it was produced at 150,000.

So my question now is, assume that you don't plan on selling your CE ever (or for a long time), why should you worry if whether or not your CE is well, limited? The Bioshock 2 SE is still regarded as how a CE should be, and while it's not limited, it's still "special." Even if the price plummeted to a Grant or a Jackson, I believe CEs like the Gears of War 3 EE, the Killzone 3 HE and Bioshock 2 SE were still worth their original MSRPs.

Anyway, I'm not one of those people who call collectors "elitist nerds," that collectors are insecure enough to need a ficticious boost of self-worth by owning some extra crap that are only owned by 499 other insecure losers. I just don't really care about how rare my CE is. If I feel it makes me happy, then I'll buy it, even if the price will be slashed to half in a month. That being said, I'd love to have the Uncharted 2 FHE, but I won't pay $3000 just because it's limited to 200 or something. I'd love to own it because I definitely see the appeal: it's Uncharted, and Uncharted 2 is probably last decade's best game.

So again I ask, without including the thought of resale value or bargain bins, why do you need your CE to be limited or rare just so that you can be happy about it?

Sorry for the long post.