After almost ten years my most coveted Silent Hill collectible has finally been obtained!
I first saw this poster on IGN way back when:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/097/097120p1.html
(From memory, the article used to have a picture of the poster, also.)
Since I first laid eyes on it I feel in love with the design and how it perfectly summed up how damn-right creepy Silent Hill 2 is. It was, in all essence, the epitome of how Silent Hill 2 impacted me; Red Pyramid Thing. This poster was perfect to re-kindle those first-time fears and rushes of seeing RPT in the game; something I could always look at and reminisce of those feelings. While IGN mentioned the poster was deemed too offensive for public display, I figured they'd eventually come up on eBay or Yahoo! Auction Japan shortly after, giving me my chance to snag one up.
Boy was I wrong.
While I didn't search auction sites every single day, and there was a year-or-so stint where I stopped looking for collectibles altogether, I've always had an eye out for if and when one of these would pop up somewhere. Four years go by since the release of SH2 and me knowing of this poster when I created my SH2 fan site, Letter From Silent Heaven.
Back then, I was starry eyed and had high hopes for not only obtaining that poster, but also meeting Team Silent:
http://www.archive.igotaletter.com/about_teamsilent.php
Yes, that was the original letter I wrote to Team Silent back in late 2004, asking for this poster and everything. Cut me some slack though, I was a lot younger and much more naive in thinking that any of that would happen. Funny though, I thought three years time (from its release in 2001 up to the point of writing that) was forever. Never would I imagine another seven years would pass until I was able to get this poster.
Truth be told, after such a long time I didn't think I'd ever come across it. It more-or-less became a pipe dream and running gag against myself: "Yeah, I'll get that poster when pigs fly."
But then, on a completely random and on-the-fly auction search a few weeks back, I saw a listing for the SH2 mouse pad (the other pre-order incentive that came with the game, along with that poster). The auction itself included no picture of the poster and casually mentioned -a- poster was included. Seeing as I've been looking for that mouse pad for an equal amount of time as the poster (just wasn't as important to get) I was going to bid on it either way but humored myself in thinking, "Maybe, just maybe, that poster is the pre-order one, considering this listing is for the pre-order mouse pad, also."
I placed my bid and the rest fell into place! Now, after nearly a decade on the hunt, I can finally retire and hang my serious Silent Hill collecting-pants up. It's definitely an interesting experience: I'm excited, still in a state of disbelief, feel like a weight has been lifted (any collector of anything knows what I mean) and giggling like a school-girl. Tee-hee.