I can't pre-order the collector's edition from Ubishop either. It automatically takes me to the UK part of the website, but when i run a search for it the only thing that comes up is the download version, the others are not even listed. No boxed, physical copy neither a collector's edition (i live in Greece by the way).
Being in Europe i think i will be able to order a properly boxed collector's edition from the likes of Amazon. It's already listed on the German section of Amazon for example, price for collector's edition is 70 Euros which to be honest, is not bad at all. I hope zavvi.co.uk will carry it, they usually have good prices and they have some familiarity with the IL2 series as they have some of the previous titles listed.
I dislike the fact that most publishers today ship their games without even a manual, only to put it into the collector's edition for a huge mark up, especially considering the think manuals of older releases, but what we are getting with CoD on top of the manual i think is pretty good and totally justifying an extra 20 Euros on top of the base package. I just think that some kind of manual should be supplied with the base version as well, even if it's a small booklet instead of one with ring binders.
However, and especially since the base version doesn't mention any kind of printed material at all, i honestly think the collector's edition is the way to go, it's really good value.
It might even be possible to buy a few extra copies to sell on ebay a few months down the line, too bad i can't spare an extra 200 Euros or so for a few extra boxes
