Gran Turismo 5 Signature Edition Unboxing

After 6 years any many many delays, GT5 has finally arrived, also boasting the most expensive collector’s edition ever made, at $300 AUD.

The package includes:

• 200+ page ‘Apex’ driver’s magazine with hints on driving technique, car tuning, future technologies and more
• In-game ‘Chrome Line’ vehicle pack: five performance-enhanced cars ready to race includes:

• Shelby Cobra 427
• Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640
• Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro
• Mercedes-Benz 300SL Coupe
• BMW M3 Coupe

• An exclusive, branded Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 1:43 scale model car
• A Gran Turismo leather wallet and metal Gran Turismo key fob
• A Signature Edition coffee table book featuring the beautiful cars and locations of Gran Turismo
• A bespoke Gran Turismo 5 USB key with a trailer showing the collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Polyphony that brought the SLS AMG to screen
• Six additional in-game ‘Stealth’ cars including:

• Audi R10 TDI Stealth Model
• Honda NSX GT500 Stealth Model
• Mazda 787B Stealth Model
• McLaren F1 Stealth Model
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Stealth Model
• Nissan GT-R GT500 Stealth Model

Unboxing after the jump.

The box is quite large, roughly the size of a Wii box.  The outside box is rather flimsy cardboard, opening it reveals another white box.

Inside the white box is the Signature Edition case made out of a high quality tin/metal.

Here’s the inside of the case.  Everything is secured in place with extremely sturdy foam.

The Signature/Collector’s edition game case is also different to the standard version of the game.  The codes for the Chromeline pack/XMB are inside.  Also note that once you redeem the codes, the extra cars are available off the bat in GT-mode without needing to purchase them in game.  Having a McLaren F1 to start with is no joke, at the expense of making the game kind of easy 🙁 .

The Apex magazine is under the game, and is quite thick, about the same size as the Blu-ray case.

The content is actually really good.  There’s a quite a variety of topics, to the history of motoring, driving techniques, technologies, physics etc.  Some sections also have in game tuning settings listed.

Under the Apex mag is the keychain and USB key.

The USB comes preloaded with a 1080P 3 minute video  of Bernd Schneider (brand ambassador for AMG) who talks about his experience playing GT5 and how it realistic it feels.

The keychain is just that, it’s well made and has a nice weight to it as well.

The artbook has several sections, with each one dedicated to a country and it’s cars, eg France, Japan etc.

The wallet can be found under the artbook.  And yes it is real leather, with real leather smell too!

Button fastened.

You get a pretty decent quality 2 fold leather wallet, my only gripe is that there is no place for coins.

Finally, we get to the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG 1:43 scale model.

The model comes in a little display case.  The lid can be removed by unfastening some tabs under the base.  The car itself is screwed onto the base, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be removed with a screwdriver.

The car itself is die-cast, but it’s not like one of the cooler types where the doors or hood opens up.  The wheels spin, that’s pretty much it :S .

Well there you go.   I’m not even going to begin to contemplate the price of this special edition, except that I don’t feel that cheated having bought this.  Owners of the Limited Edition should be very happy, as the Apex mag is great inclusion.  The model car is a bit of a dissapointment though, I expected at least some movable doors.

As a final note, this unboxing was done using my iPhone as I don’t have access to my camera at the moment.   I’ll post some higher quality pictures in the month to come.