It’s only fitting really. Given the seemingly endless wealth of red chests, shotguns, rocket launchers and mods that populated the Borderlands universe, the announcement that the Borderlands 2 Collector’s Edition would feature an utter enormity of loot came as little surprise. Alright, it came as some surprise, but if anyone was going to release a loot chest the size of a small canine, who better than the team that revitalized the looting sub-genre for consoles?

Many have borrowed heavily from the standbys that vaulted games like Diablo into the annals of gaming lore, yet few have succeeded. Those who copied the successful formula set forth by the hack ‘n slash king to the letter have met with some success, but other who attempted to defy conventionality have fallen decidedly short. And then came Borderlands, and their defying first-person shooter take on the lootfest – and it worked. Forgetting for a moment about the paper thin story and questionable AI intuitiveness, Borderlands was as expansive as it was addictive, and offered loot hungry players plenty of reasons to quench their appetite for upgrades.

Admittedly, I initially dismissed Borderlands as a badly skinned Fallout 3 rip-off, but upon playing I realized the myriad of possibilities that permeated throughout the game world. Suddenly min-maxing was made fun again. But enough of my praise – just what will gamers be receiving should they opt for one of the two forthcoming Borderlands 2 Collectors Editions?

Let’s begin with the Ultimate Loot Chest, which will retail for a somewhat staggering $149.99. Among the wealth of extras are some that are mere filler like the collectible sticker set, lithograph postcard set, numbered certificate of authenticity and the creates of Pandora wide format ID chart. The field notes from Sir Hammerlock, cloth map of Pandora and Inside the Vault hardbound book prove significantly more interesting, but should really only find value among hardcore fans. Then again, who else but hardcore and collection crazed fans buy CEs anyways? The intrinsic worth of the digital comic download code and bonus downloadable in-game digital content are yet to be determined, but the safe bet is to assume they will be at least serviceable. The Markus Kincaid bobblehead is just bizarre and will likely give young children nightmares. Might want to hide that one.

Perhaps the best part of the Ultimate Loot Chest is the inclusion of a scaled red loot chest that shares an uncanny resemblance to the ones found in game. Although it hasn’t been confirmed by Gearbox Software, the red chest also doubles as one bad-ass lunchbox. Last, but not least the Ultimate Loot Chest comes with a disc copy of the game – how novel.

For less frenzied fans who still want to get their hands around some collectible goodies, there is a stripped down version of the Ultimate Loot Chest called the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Borderlands 2 Collectors Edition for $99.99. You’ll lose on some of the more niche rewards such as the ID chart and lithograph postcard set, but still be entitled to the downloadable content, art booklet and of course, the bobblehead. Unfortunately, the red chest is not included.

Possessing almost as many gifts as the average top rewards gift of a Kickstarter campaign, the Ultimate Loot Chest is a fan’s dream. Give Gearbox credit for introducing two tiers of CEs, but until we’re told what exactly the exclusive content is, the top tier is simply too expensive and filled with fluff to wholeheartedly recommend. And because the meticulously crafted red chest is not included with the package, it’s hard to recommend that one either – that is unless the included content is killer.

Ultimately the choice is yours. Which version of Borderlands are you planning on buying?