I like TRON. I really, really like TRON. I loved the original movie, with its interesting visuals and its pioneering use of computer graphics. I like its original marketing ploy of releasing a videogame (arcade) and a movie simultaneously. I also enjoyed the game itself. I even played "TRON Discs" for "real" with friends back in high school, in a game I made up that involves a tennis court and Frisbee...
And, anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a collector, as well. I was started early, with Hot Wheels, stamps and rocks. I then went on to collect comic books (primarily Spider-Man), up until the point in history where Marvel and DC had what I like to call "The Clone Wars" and the public was "blessed" with more versions of Spider-Man and Superman than, well, anyone wanted.
For all of these reasons and more, I was quite excited to review PDP's TRON Collector's Edition Wireless Controller when it came in for review. I had seen these controllers at E3 2010 and was anxiously awaiting a review unit. What I hadn't realized, at the time, was that these controllers are limited to 20,000 units per console... and that they bear a metal plate on the back which shows their number. This makes it that much more collectible. And, as collectors know, everything that's collectible is more valuable if it's unopened... and I have to review it.
I only paused for a brief moment, mind you, but I had to stare at the box for a bit before I opened it, considering the value that I would be instantly diminishing. It was, however, only after I opened it that I found out that it is actually numbered. Which is an interesting (and unfortunate) thing... if you actually want to add this to a collection, you can either have it in unopened condition... OR you can know what number you have.
My TRON Collector's Edition Wireless Controller is numbered 00111 of 20000... which I was especially tickled over, since 00111 could also be a valid binary number and it is TRON, after all. Which led me to an interesting realization: There are only 31 such units out there (well, possibly 32, if they zero-index the collection and stop at 19999).... which is pretty cool, in my opinion.
And to anyone out there who plans to pick one of these up purely as a still-in-the-box collector's item... I put mine through the paces to review it, so I just made yours slightly more valuable. You're welcome. Mine will probably come to rest in the GameVorplex display cases... lit-up, if I can manage it.
