StarCraft special portraits

Hi, one day I was bored in B.net so I took it upon myself to start collecting the hidden portraits out there for StarCraft 2.

Now when I say hidden, I mean the portraits are not visible in the portrait selection menu; there is no achievement required to unlock. Well, I guess you could say that there is an achievement which would be 'this portrait is unlockable if you have money to throw away'. But there is some aesthetic appreciation to them.

I have collected all of the hidden portraits except for Diablo 3 Collector's Edition (NA account ONLY) , so I thought I might as well share my experience to all others who are interested in procuring portraits of their own.

If you want the hidden portraits for StarCraft 2 for your KR account. Here's the how-to for that:

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=222254.

Some portraits and in-game items for the KR account, like the Dragon portrait and the Marine designs, are not available for NA accounts, so sometimes I just stare at them to drink in the sight.

Anyways.

Having been seized with this fervent, capricious desire, I began on my quest on the bustling marketplace of the internet: eBay.

I wanted to began my collection with buying the StarCraft 2 Collector's Edition. From there, I can start compiling my collection of hidden portraits as the Collector's Edition comes along with four portraits: Raynor Marine, Tauren Marine, Night Elf Banshee, and Diablo Marine.

Moving on.

The Collector's Edition retails for $100. BestBuy USED to sell them for $50. If you're extraordinarily lucky, maybe you can find one stashed away in some dusty warehouse. It won't hurt to give your local BestBuy a call to check. If that's not the case, you can find the CE on eBay for about $100. The frustrating part about eBay is of course the auction snipers. They are people who wait 'til the last nanosecond and bid on the item, outbidding your own. They are fucking disgusting. I do the same too.

Here is a website I use to look through auctions on eBay in a more simple, less-cluttered format: cyclonews.com
When you're searching for an item, word it different ways in the search box as people might have listed the name differently. For example, when I look for my Primal Rage action figures, I enter in the following:

primal rage toy
primal rage action
primal rage figure

All three would yield similar auction results because of the 'primal rage' in their name, but also show different results because of the 'toy', 'action', or 'figure' part.

If you find yourself losing to all the other fucking snipers, then you can always turn to handy dandy Amazon. Amazon is pricier than eBay and a bit more messier to use. However, I found my Collector's Edition categorized under the used section. I bought it for $58.99 + shipping. It was labeled as used because the seller was only selling the unused CD key and nothing else, which was perfectly fine for me as that is what I was looking for. The CD key arrived inside the game disc inside a cardboard box, a week later.

To note, before any purchase be sure that you read the item's listing carefully. Make sure you note the shipping price along with the price of the item for the total cost. Also, some people sell the Collector's Edition without the CD key but include everything else. They usually say so in the item information, so you should be safe if you read the listing information carefully. The CD key is what you need to unlock the portraits, and the special Thor (Also note that in Heart of the Swarm, the Thor going to be a solo Hero unit so I'm not sure if the Hero Thor will still have its special wings).

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Now there are 2 other hidden portraits, the Murloc Marine and the PandaTerran Marine, which were part of Blizzcon's swag bags. They can be unlocked via access code that you have to scratch off from a loot card (which was part of the Blizzcon swag). They both include special pets if you play WoW: Murkablo and Deathy

WoW Blizzcon loot card pets~
Murkablo: [image loading]

Deathy:

Back to the StarCraft Portraits, the Murloc Marine was from the 2010 Blizzcon Loot card and therefore pricier. I have seen auctions going up to $75 for one on eBay, sold. As for Amazon, well take this as a rule of thumb, prices are generally higher on Amazon. However, I lucked out and I got one for $35 from Craigslist.org, which would be more trustworthy since the seller is local and you can organize a meet up in person.

The PandaTerran Marine is from the 2011 Blizzcon Loot card. Since it's more recent, it's cheaper than the Murloc Marine. Prices go for up to $60 on eBay. On Craigslist, the prices vary from $40-100. I got mine for free from a friend who went, so I was spared that expense.

Be sure when you're contacting someone on Craigslist that you try to haggle the prices. You can probably do the same via private to an eBay seller, but usually you'll know what's a good priced loot card judging from the amount of bids on it. Also, don't offer a really obviously low price, they will get offended and never message you back again (EXPERIENCE).

Now, when I got those two Blizzcon portraits, I thought that I had collected all that I can. BUT one day, in the midst of farming wins in my bronze league 2s, I chanced upon a partner having this portrait, Goblin Marine

Upon the start of the game, I peppered him with questions. He stymied my earnestness by saying 'i'll tell you more if we win'. Consumed with dizzying lust, I single-handedly devastated our hapless Bronze opponents. In the aftermath of the Baneling goo, he relinquished to me on how to obtain it and showed me the other portrait that he had, Worgen Marine

In order to obtain those two portraits, you have to purchase the World of WarCraft Cataclysm Collector's Edition. He told me that they are around $100. Undaunted, I scoured eBay, Amazon, cyclonews, Craigslist. Prices range from $60-75. I lucked out and did the Buy It Now option on eBay for one that was priced at $54 including shipping.

REMEMBER: If you buy this Collector's Edition for WoW, you cannot play WoW or ACCESS the portraits unless you have the other previous expansions installed.

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The 2 portraits come within the CD key. Make sure you that if you cannot get the whole Collector's Edition, that you buy an unused CD key.

And there you have it! All of the hidden portraits so far except for Diablo 3 Collector's Edition portraits. I'm debating with myself whether I should get it or not. If I do, I'll update this blog with pictures. Hope this entry helped anyone who was looking for these portraits.

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