This question came to mind when I was browsing the web today and noticed some Wing Commander stuff.

Wing Commander: Deluxe Edition (basically includes both the expansion packs) can be had for $5 or so, as far as I saw (I already have this so I didn't really look hard).

Wing Commander II: Deluxe Edition can be had for $5-$10, and versions that come with Ultima VIII or Ultima Underworld can be had for $5-$20.

Wing Commander III can be had for something like $20.

So, $35 for the trilogy.

Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga is a compilation of the above, reprogrammed for Windows 98, only it does NOT include the expansions for WC1 and 2 (though to be fair, those could be downloaded for free from Origin's website). This goes for $100-$400 depending on how complete it is.

And here I'm like WTF.

It happens to other games too: Interplay's various "Archives" releases can fetch $50-$100, Sierra collections can go from $50-$100, and I'd be surprised if the LucasArts collections aren't in the same boat.

Admittedly, I can understand it in cases where the compilation adds something new that you couldn't get in the individual releases, but a lot of times its a case where buying the collected version is more expensive than just getting them piecemeal. Seriously what's with that?

Thoughts?