Special edition

The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, recorded music and films, and video games, but now including clothing, cars, fine wine, and whisky, among other products. A limited edition is restricted in the number of copies produced, although in fact the number may be very low or very high. Suzuki (2008) defines limited edition products as those “sold in a state that makes them difficult to obtain because of companies limiting their availability to a certain period, quantity, region, or channel". A special edition implies there is extra material of some kind included. The term is frequently used on DVD film releases, often when the so-called "special" edition is actually the only version released.

Collector's edition may just be another term for special edition and limited edition products that include additional features or items that regular versions do not have. When referring to books, collector's edition products may refer to books in special limited and numbered editions, sometimes hand-bound, and signed by the artist and containing one or more original works or prints produced directly from their work and printed under their supervision. Whatever these extra features or items are, they must represent additional value to collectors of these products.

Limited-edition books are released in a limited-quantity print run, usually fewer than 1000 copies (much smaller than publishing-industry standards). Limited-edition books were introduced by publishers in the late 19th century.

The term also implies that no further additional printings of the book with the same design treatment will take place, unlike open-ended trade editions wherein further copies may be released in more print runs as the first and subsequent printings sell out.

Limited-edition books may also be numbered or lettered to distinguish in that set each book. For example, a numbered, limited book could have a marking such as "Copy 1 of a limited edition of 250 copies" or "1/250". Much less common is the lettered limited-edition book that could have denotations such as "1 of 26" or "1/26" or "A of 26" or "Copy A", etc. Sometimes a copy of a limited-edition book is stated as being "out of series": this is an unnumbered copy, often a review copy.

In some instances, the limited-edition version contains additional material not found in the mass-market (or trade) version of the book, such as tipped-in pages. Likewise, they are sometimes housed in slipcases.

Popular culture widely employs Special, Deluxe, Expanded and Limited Edition in marketing, releasing subsequent, improved versions of film DVDs, music, and video games. Companies widely use special editions and incremental improvements to sell the same products to consumers multiple times. This has been seen in the 10th Anniversary edition of Titanic, which simply consists of the first two discs of the previous Special Collector's edition, only with new packaging, and on CD with the 30 Year Anniversary Edition of Bob Marley's Exodus, which has exactly the same content as the original album, but in new packaging.^{[citation needed]}

In many cases, successful film releases have had items made in limited numbers. These "limited editions" usually contain the best DVD edition possible of a film with special items in a box set, sometimes containing items available only in the limited edition. Items marked thus are often (but not always) released for a shorter time and in lower quantity than common editions, often with a running number (e.g. "13055 of 20000") printed on the products to boost the rarity feel, as the company implies not to manufacture more. It is also common to have such items packaged with unique designs.