WotLK Collector’s Edition in the UK

I am getting really frustrated with the lack of information about the WotLK collector’s edition in the UK.

I love the World of Warcraft Collector’s Editions. I didn’t get the one for the original game, but did get the one for Burning Crusade. Due to the problems getting hold of US copies of TBC, I actually ended paying through the nose to get an EU CE off eBay after the release. Then when I re-rolled onto the EU servers I thought yay! I can get my CE in-game pets, and I have loved having my Lurky and my Netherwelp running around after me.

So I’m really keen to get the CE for WotLK. But so far it’s not been listed on any online store that ships to the UK, or available for pre-order in any of my high streetstores. Reports from other countries are that when the CE goes on sale, it sells out very quickly. At the moment I am checking amazon.co.uk, play.com and game.co.uk at least twice a day to see if the CE is listed yet.

An official Blizzard source has confirmed that there WILL be a CE in the UK, but we’re dependent on the retailers to get our orders in. There’s a very useful thread on the official forums here, which I am again checking a couple of times a day.

The latest news is that there is now a pre-order code to pre-order in your local Gamestation store. The Gamestation pre-order code is 127383. I, however,  am not impressed with our local Gamestation. I went in armed with that code to pre-order my collector’s edition. They were just writing names and phone numbers in a book, not taking any money. I didn’t get any printed receipt, and the chap who served me said that my pre-order was no guarantee. He recommended that I should try to order online from someone that would take my money at the point of order, as that would be more likely to guarantee me my CE. He also said that their store didn’t know how many copies of the BC CE they were getting until the boxes arrived with them.

I don’t have any confidence in this as a pre-order, and will keep scouring the online retailers in the hope of finding someone I can purchase my CE from there. But with the expansion a month and a half away, I’d really like to know whether I can get a copy or not…