For roughly the reported price of five Standard Editions of GTA VI, Rockstar will sell you a box that does not contain GTA VI. The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection costs a reported $399.99 in the US, and Rockstar's listing states it plainly: "Grand Theft Auto VI game sold separately." Even the $99.99 Ultimate Edition costs a quarter of that.
Rockstar announced the set on September 24 and calls it a premium collectible set inspired by Macca the Gator, an in-game TV show. The headline pieces are a 6-inch Macca figure with a stash compartment, matte black GTA VI Oakley Frogskins, a New Era 9FORTY snapback and a Leonida Keys crossbody bag. Then come a Chunkee the Manatee shot glass, enamel pins in a metal tin, stickers in a stash bag and a 36 by 26 inch double-sided poster with a map of Leonida.
Look closer and three more items complete the set: a magnetic mirror, a swizzle spoon and a razor blade keychain, packed alongside that stash compartment and stash bag. TweakTown's headline calls the spoon a "fake coke spoon." Rockstar says nothing of the sort. Its copy promises "all the essentials for a good time," and the store marks the box "Adult collectibles. Not a toy." The references are easy to read into, and Rockstar leaves every one of them unstated.
Every item, up close
The price is harder to laugh off. As IBTimes UK noted, the Red Dead Redemption 2 Collector's Box also skipped the game, and it cost $99.99. This one is roughly four times that, and European buyers see EUR 399.99 on the Rockstar Store. It is one per person, Rockstar Store only, with no free shipping, and it ships from November 19, the day the game launches.
Reaction on Reddit and X has been predominantly negative, according to Game Rant, whose roundup does not quote a single positive response. Reddit users cited by Screen Rant called the price "like actually criminal," and one asked why they should be hyped about "a cartoon alligator I know nothing about." Many fans wanted Jason and Lucia on display. They got a mascot from a TV show inside the game.
A day after pre-orders opened, TheGamer found the box still in stock on the US and UK Rockstar Store, while earlier GTA VI merchandise like a DualSense controller and a vinyl release sold out quickly. That did not stop resellers. According to MP1st, eBay listings asked $750 to as much as $1,500, a scarcity markup on a box anyone could still buy at list price.
Some fans skipped the argument entirely. Within a day, Dexerto reported, people were 3D printing their own Macca the Gator from files shared on a pay-what-you-want basis. The fan version has no stash compartment, but it costs whatever you choose to pay, plus filament.
Rockstar has a real defense. Skipping the game is not new, and this listing hides nothing: no game, one per person, adults only. Judged as merch, it is a pair of GTA VI Oakleys, a Vice City cap and a pile of Leonida in-jokes. That is exactly the problem. For $400, you get a gift shop run and nothing of the two people the game is actually about.
The DualSense and the vinyl sold out fast. A day in, this box was still on the shelf, and that is the most honest review it will get.
thx rockstar