Metal Gear Solid 2 Limited Tin Edition

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Noobsaibot21
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:56 pm
Favorite Game: Outrun 2
Kojima games owned: Snatcher (Mega CD) PAL
MGS
MGS2:SOL
MGS3:SE

Metal Gear Solid 2 Limited Tin Edition

Post by Noobsaibot21 »

Hi All,

First time poster. I was just rooting through the old games collection and stumbled across the MGS2:SOL limited edition tin & Cards and thought I'd see what it's worth for the laugh. There is a big fact about this set which not a lot of people know so when I stumbled in here, I thought i'd share it.

It's not actually a true, manufactured set at all.

I was working for Virgin Megastores Ireland as the games department manager and was in constant contact with Patrick Kelly (who was the senior buyer for Virgin UK & Ireland based in London) for everything when it cames to games. We had placed our MGS 2 orders about two weeks before launch day and all was fine with that - 240,000 units of the 2-Disc edition for week one guaranteed across the chain. The playing cards were a pre-order incentive which, as far as I recall, were exclusive for Virgin too (HMV had an Escape from NY/LA DVD pre-order incentive).

It was only a week and a half before the game released when Patrick called me and stated that he had secured an extra incentive exclusive to Virgin - An MGS 2 embossed tin to house the game. I found this step odd as the game was going to be a massive seller even without pre order incentives of any kind. Anyway, the tins were designed, manufactured and shipped within the space of a week and were actually delivered entirely separate to the game units themselves (in plastic bags). The manufacture time may explain their relatively weak construction, poor level of resistance to scratches and tendency to rust without the greatest of care. All stores were sent the exact number of units of the game due to them initially so it truly was a WIGIG situation.

I never got round to asking Patrick who manufactured the tins, where they came from or how much we (Virgin) paid for exclusivity. It's possible Konami Europe themselves manufactured them or had them manufactured for them, were unhappy at the result and planned to destroy the cases before they eventually sold them cheap (or even gave them free) to Virgin. Anyway, I hope this has been enlightening for you MGS gurus. Just out of interest, what would the above "set" be worth - Cards factory sealed with tearstrip 100% unopened, tin in perfect condition with no dents and the game, DVD and manuals/leaflets CiB in flawless condition (but not factory sealed)? And how about just the cards - Think I have a few sealed packets lying around somewhere. :)
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