HBO has released a list of retailer exclusive editions of Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season. Perhaps most anticipated are the alternative cover art versions, which will be sold by Best Buy. Here they are:
The rest of the retailer exclusive versions and what sort of bonuses they offer can be found after the break. All exclusive editions are while supplies last. The second season box set is set to release Feb. 19 in the US.
Barnes & Noble
Exclusive Stark tote bag (available with the purchase of Blu-ray with HBO Select or DVD ).
Best Buy
Exclusive Sigil Packaging featuring House Greyjoy and House Lannister (only available on Blu-ray with HBO Select).
Costco
A 72 page excerpt companion book from Bryan Cogman’s “Inside HBO’s Game of Thrones.” The book features interviews with key actors, house histories, family trees, and introductions from George R.R. Martin and the show’s creators. (available with the purchase of Blu-ray with HBO Select).
Target
Exclusive bonus disc includes “Westeros at War.” A never-before-seen interview with George R.R. Martin providing his insights into the characters and locations featured in the second season of Game of Thrones. Plus four behind-the-scenes featurettes (available with the purchase of Blu-ray with HBO Select).
Walmart
Exclusive bonus disc includes “Inside the Visual Effects.” 20 minutes of never-before-seen content featuring the Emmy® Award-winning Visual Effects team. (available with the purchase of Blu-ray with HBO Select).
Winter Is Coming: Surprised they didn’t release a Baratheon cover for season two, considering the Baratheon family was such a huge part of the storyline. That Greyjoy cover is sweet though. And that Target bonus disc sounds pretty cool too. Which editions will you be grabbing?
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79 Comments
I’m angry. I want one now
lightning lordQuote Reply
i got that awesome amazon version. =\
ClintQuote Reply
Dammit I guess I’ll have to cancel my Amazon pre-order. That Greyjoy cover will be mine.
MoshQuote Reply
No Targaryen cover this year Best Buy?!?! I wanted it SO bad! I purchased the Stark last year thinking “Oh, they’ll have Targaryen next year”……fail.
AB
AlexanderBaratheonQuote Reply
Stupid gimmicks.
MorriganQuote Reply
Already pre-ordered from Amazon, so no extra goodies for me :/
StwtQuote Reply
Finally a Lannister cover! <3
JLQuote Reply
Best Buy. To go with my Targ sleeve from last season. Not sure which I will choose though.
tekQuote Reply
Morrigan,
Agree. Don’t they make enough money off the damn thing?
biobiQuote Reply
Staying with Amazon, retailers tricks be damned.
GypsyQuote Reply
NickQuote Reply
Gypsy,
This right here.
JonathanLQuote Reply
Morrigan, I don’t really understand this sentiment. If you don’t care for any of the extras offered here, then don’t get these editions. I think it is nice that they offer fans a choice though.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Love both of the covers at BB…. the Target exclusive sounds the most interesting to me though.
DarquemodeQuote Reply
I’ll go with Target again just because it’s the easiest, quickest physical store for me to pick it up from on my way to work on release day.
ClobQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
I don’t see the poster’s original site link, but about halfway down someone says there will be a Baratheon exclusive cover available… Not sure if it’s true without a source though.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/hd-talk/606594-game-thrones-season-2-february-19-2013-a.html
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Just seen this pic of a certain white bearded character.
http://wicnet.tumblr.com/post/41140207837/spoiler-photo-for-season-3-more-arstan
MormegilQuote Reply
See ya at Costco!
EdQuote Reply
Hear me roar… Liking the Lannister one. Also want that Greyjoy one though.
dizzyQuote Reply
These exclusives for buying from different stores are really obnoxious.
Geoff CollinsQuote Reply
I take it this is just for America ?
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
i’m so desperate, i misread “retailer” for “trailer”. damn.
nomisumQuote Reply
Al Swearengen,
If I recall correctly….There were a number of European retailers that had the same covers and/ or their own exclusives last year… the US versions were announced first and then some of the Euro retailers were announced later I think.
It looks like Canadian retailer FutureShop will have both the Lannister and Greyjoy covers…
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/game-of-thrones-the-complete-second-season-future-shop-exclusive-lannister-packaging-blu-ray-combo-2012/m2203709.aspx
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/game-of-thrones-the-complete-second-season-future-shop-exclusive-greyjoy-packaging-blu-ray-combo-2012/m2203708.aspx
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Does it have to be blue ray?
TomQuote Reply
Lannister ftw yall
How anyone can like House Greyjoy is beyond me… :p
queenofthornsQuote Reply
Ehh… I’ll stick with the cheap DVD version from Amazon.
Ebevan91Quote Reply
I’m fine them having fancy covers as bonuses on certain stores, but putting on different bonuses on to different shops just plain sucks. It sucks with computer games and it definately sucks with movies/tv-series.
Fuck the fans, money is everything. I’m pretty sure in 5 years or so they will release the ultimate editions with all the different bonus discs.
And yes, I’m still angry that they didn’t offer those sigil packs in Finland.
FlourideQuote Reply
People still don’t own Blu Ray players ? You guys are missing out.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
It’s a life on the Amazon for me!
IsabelleQuote Reply
I will definitely be getting the Lannister one! Someone on Twitter linked me to a site that also had a yellow Baratheon cover with the black stag, not sure if that’s legit though.
Ye Olde WolfeQuote Reply
Yuck, I’m sick of different special editions, why can’t there just be one? It’s so silly!
The mighty hodorQuote Reply
I guess I’ll just go broke and buy them all.
WestvistaQuote Reply
Sorry for the double post but here is the link I mentioned:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=7009512&postcount=2088
Ye Olde WolfeQuote Reply
I also preordered from Amazon. I always do, I’ve learned to live without store specific goodies.
FrootLoop311Quote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
What does “with HBO Select” mean? And isn’t is sort of impossible to collect all the never-before-seen footage if different editions have different vignettes?
BlackAjahQuote Reply
I really want that Lannister cover, but I will probably go with the best deal available. Last year I got the Blu-Ray for just $34.99 on Amazon. Hopefully these places will have some good deals available the week they go on sale.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
BlackAjah,
HBO Select means the disc set comes with 3 ways to watch, Bluray, DVD and a downlaodable digital copy so the buyer can ‘select’ how they want to watch.
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I feel the same way and I think the exclusive features are more enticing than exclusive covers.
If I knew ahead of time which exclussive covers would be available for each season and I could plan accordingly to end up with each of the seasons having a different house, I may buy a new exclusive cover each year. My bet is that there will be some collector’s set down the road with the major houses represented… I may buy that set after the series concludes…
DarquemodeQuote Reply
If they weren’t a way to make money, the series itself would not exist.
People get that right? The production budget is SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS.
Think there’s a like a collection or group of starving artists just desperate to put together something like this in their free time.
The special features wouldn’t be made available in most cases either without a way to charge for it. You can pay for it or not.
It’s a small price to pay for the production quality we are getting.
AlanQuote Reply
Well that gives a woman time to decide which extra features are most important. Would be great to get all the bonus disc info on all the versions though, kind of doesn’t seem fair that you’d have to buy a few copies to get all the bonus material. Perhaps they’ll post the bonus materials online at some point?
Mrs. H’gharQuote Reply
Just a friendly warning regarding the Best Buy editions. I ordered them last year as soon as they were announced(about a month before release). Best Buy sent me an email at the end of release day saying that the dvd’s were on back order. I didn’t get them for another week AND they ended up sending me the wrong cover.
Great covers, but Best Buy’s service was horrible.
MichaelQuote Reply
I want the stark tote bag!
HildaQuote Reply
Interesting video combining the TV Series and the book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPzNwp51vOs
MormegilQuote Reply
Saving my money (but not holding my breath) for the Tyrell S3 edition.
cabins8Quote Reply
AlexanderBaratheon,
they have targaryen cover for season 1
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Complete-Targaryen-Packaging/dp/B007J2R4MO/ref=sr_1_7?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1358907021&sr=1-7&keywords=game+of+thrones
i guess House Tully should come out with S3, i dont think they really do anything much after this season
ACVGQuote Reply
For some reason, when I go through the Best Buy link, there does not seem to be sigil packaging on the site anywhere. Am I jumping the gun here? Or can others find the sigil editions on Best Buy’s site?
BTW, first post for me, but I’ve been checking the site daily for over a year now. It’s fantastic. Thank you guys for what you do.
BeardedJamieQuote Reply
Michael,
Yea I arranged for store pickup because I don’t trust em lol, but wanted the Stark cover, really want the Targaryen too so hopefully it comes back around. I’m probably going to go for Lannister this year. I don’t shop at Best Buy at all anymore, so once a year doesn’t really bother me, and I usually have a gift card laying around.
feyrbandQuote Reply
Forget the extra nonsense and bring on the price war. The blu-ray ended up at $35 last year.
LeufQuote Reply
Your post got lost in the scuffle but hells yes for the Ser Barristan the Bold action! :D
Ser JeremiahQuote Reply
I pre-ordered mine on Amazon..where is my reward :(…
JoshQuote Reply
7 Hells! The choice is the evil Lannisters or the bastard Greyjoys or the pitiful “hand grabs a crown” art?!?!
Dear Old Gods, let there be a Baratheon cover at Best Buy… And if could include the Target bonus disc, I’d be in the Summer Isles of happiness
SerCountryFriedSteakQuote Reply
SerCountryFriedSteak,
mi lord, if u perchance take a quest to best buy, you should be grateful for whatever you find. Im tired of these smug lords thinking they deserve everything.
Mikken’s Mark
Mikken’s MarkQuote Reply
Michael,
I agree. I preordered the DVD from them & then tried to change it to BR but they wouldn’t let me b/c I had already received a free keychain for it. Then they didn’t ship for several days after release. I ended up going to a local Best Buy for the BR & they had plenty of both versions still left. I’ll probably still get it from Best Buy for the cover but their customer service is terrible.
HexonxQuote Reply
I don’t think its about the money for the exclusive content, I’m not even sure they charge extra for it. Its the fact that the exclusive content means some hardcore fans may buy all the different versions and those that can’t or won’t shell out for five copies of the same thing get left out of some of the bonus content.
HexonxQuote Reply
Your reward is having more money to put towards other GoT goodies! :-)
IsabelleQuote Reply
Already ordered my blu-ray set from Play.com in the UK. Last year I ordered the first season blu-ray from Amazon UK but i now refuse to buy anything from Amazon after it was announced that Amazon UK pay zero tax in the UK. They claim they don’t make a profit!!
garydQuote Reply
I know this is kind of unrelated, but I don’t really know where to ask this question:
Do we know if Ian Gelder is set to reprise his role as Kevan Lannister in Season 3?
MattQuote Reply
Does anyone know what subtitle languages will be available on the european version of the blu-ray box ? Neither UK sites of Amazon en HBO mention it.
MarcQuote Reply
You guys need to see this!
Charles Dance reading a chapter of 50 Shades of Grey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3POYx6IeeI&feature=share
Effing hilarious!
Red ViperQuote Reply
BeardedJamie, Best Buy is a bit slow in updating their site. They should add it soon. That being said, you might be better off waiting until release day and then driving to your local store and grabbing it off the shelf. Last year, people reported lots of issues with pre-ordering through Best Buy.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Red Viper,
Oh my. What a way to start my day!!
Thanks for posting this!
IsabelleQuote Reply
All along I thought that I would want the Lannister sleeve if it was available, but now that they are here I am thinking I might have to go with Baratheon, right? I mean Renly and Robert are dead and Stannis took another sigil, so this is probably the only chance to get a Baratheon sleeve whereas Lannister will most likely be available later. What to do? I am with Darquemode on this one.
ToastQuote Reply
I agree with Morrigan. I feel it is a way for HBO to get fans to buy multiple versions of the season. It’s just disrespectful with no fan appreciation whatsoever. What’s wrong with offering all the extras in just one edition? That is fan appreciation.
ClambakeQuote Reply
Now Best Buy please reduce the price to $35.00. Thanks.
DavidQuote Reply
David,
Does anyone remember if they did that last year? I know Amazon reduced the price to $35, but I’m not sure about Best Buy. It would be perfect if they did, because I want that damn Lannister sleeve!
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
That’s not their intention.
The reason why special editions are done for different retailers is because the retailers request them. The retailers request them because, for example, Best Buy would like to get people to buy from them, and they want a reason for you to buy from them versus Amazon. They don’t want to only compete on price. They want a reason to make you come to their store. Especially since, once there, you might buy something else. Stores that do price comping — where they promise the best price on something — also like it because if they have something exclusive, they don’t have to worry about comping. But this is a minor issue for the retailer in these situations, I think.
So Best Buy asks for something special. A change of cover is also nice because it will pop off the shelf, which is more important for brick and mortar stores.
In return, Best Buy will push the DVD for HBO. it will be featured in ads and in special displays in stores, and this will cause more people to buy it than otherwise would. They also deal with HBO for much more than Game of Thrones — to help out Best Buy on Game of Thrones might make Best Buy more amenable to pushing something less popular, like the set of Treme or Girls. Again, more sales.
So while I’m sure they are aware of it, the primary driver is not to get the tiny, tiny percentage of crazy fans who would actually buy the DVD twice for a cover.
Now, when they release a special edition a year after the basic edition, that’s absolutely trying to get some re-buys (as well as new buyers). But the store-specific stuff is driven by the retailer, and I sincerely doubt HBO would ever do it if they weren’t asked.
AlanQuote Reply
Yes, Best Buy dropped their Blu-Ray price to $35 (OK, $34.95+tax), after I’d pre-ordered in-store pick-up for a Targaryen cover, with the Stark keyring bonus. I was charged the lowest price when I picked up my copy on the release date. Everything arrived on time, I got a good deal, I was able to watch my Blu-Ray the day it came out. I was a very happy camper.
I’ll have to decide between another House cover or the bonus disk from Target…fortunately I have weeks to make up my mind. :-)
Dr JudyQuote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I bought my Stark one from Best Buy for $35. Yeah I want a Lannister one too.
DavidQuote Reply
Getting that Greyjoy cover, easy peasy.
Too bad I will have to pay the gold price for it :(
ZackQuote Reply
Darquemode,
W
Wait, so if I get the special-cover BluRay edition, and I don’t actually have a BluRay player yet, I can still watch them on my DVD player?
Either way, the downloadable copy makes it work for me, but I’m curious.
CanaryQuote Reply
Canary, yes, the Blu-ray editions also come with DVDs and a digital copy of S2.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
But, the DVD’s still won’t contain the bonus features that are on the Blu-Ray right?
Nick_ScryerQuote Reply
Canary,
Yes and no.
You will have the Bluray discs which contain all the extra features that you can watch at a later date when you buy a BD player or at a friends etc….. In the meantime you will have the DVDs to watch which have less features.. It really is a good deal and perfect for those that do not have BD players currently.
Nick_Scryer,
Correct. As far as I understand it anyway…
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Any idea of when Best Buy will put the exclusive sleeves up for pre-order? They still only have the regular edition up for PO.
KeithQuote Reply
Darquemode,
Excellent. That is a good deal. I need the Lannister cover. Badly.
CanaryQuote Reply
Damn, do I want Lannister or Greyjoy?!?!?!! Normally I am a Lannister boy all the way, but that Greyjoy cover looks pretty sexy….
Last year I went with the Targaryan (because the stark box’s wolf spilled over onto the spine and I am ocd like that), but this year its harder to choose.
HancockQuote Reply
didn’t care for the stark or targ covers last year, and normally i’m not swayed for gimmicks, but that Lannister cover looks AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes me wanna sing rains of castamere continuously! Hopefully Best Buy price will be the same as Amazon’s (like they were last year)…
JessQuote Reply
What I’m confused about is if these will have all the extras on the discs. I looked at the Best Buy blu-ray and its only $34.99 (!!!) is that with all the same features that the Amazon blu-ray would have? Amazon has it listed for 49.99. Is Best Buy really cheaper?
Lord GodricQuote Reply
Lord Godric,
They are the same, the Best Buy exclusives just have the different sleeve. Amazon will no doubt lower their price to $ 34.99 as well
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply