As we reported earlier, retail pricing puts the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade at $50 with the Windows 7 Professional upgrade costing $100. Costco will give you $5 savings on each, putting Home Premium at $45 and Pro at $95. That's a 10% savings on Home Premium and a 5% savings on Pro...or about enough to take a healthy bite out of sales tax. [Costco Thanks Brian!]

UPDATE: They pulled the page we linked and jacked up the price. Lame.

Target also goes the Iron Man trophy head route, though it just has the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition, in both DVD and Blu flavors, inside.

FYE and Suncoast deliver the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition in a superclassy steelbook case that I really, really like.

Walmart waltzes in with not one, but two exclusives, though only the first one matters to you: Ultimate 2-Disc edition with an exclusive Nick Fury comic. The other packs the first ep of the Iron Man animated series in with the single disc edition of the movie.

Costco's gift set throws in a bobblehead of each Iron Man suit from the movie. Feh for bobbleheads.

Borders rolls with a collectible book loaded with sketches and the top 24 Iron Man comic covers.

Circuit City gives you access to some exclusive Marvel Digital comics, snore.

Kmart and Sears are knocking five bucks off the Ultimate Edition if you buy $25 in Craftsman tools. I'm...not really sure what's going on there either.

Which version are you going to pluck from this overloaded orgy of marketing? This "exclusive" crap—and most of it is crap—has really gotten out of hand. Update Best Buy is just selling the bust, the DVDs aren't in it, as some of you guys pointed out.

On September 30th, Paramount Home Entertainment will release the critically acclaimed box office smash IRON MAN: 2-DISC ULTIMATE EDITION on DVD and Blu-ray!

With this release comes EIGHT fantastic retail exclusives! Below, you will find details and article work on these eight exciting, exclusive offers!

Here are the details for these Eight Exciting Retail Exclusives:

**Circuit City - Access to exclusive Marvel Digital Comics featuring the artwork of Adi Granov.

**Best Buy - Custom Lithograph created by Marvel artist Gerald Parel.

**Target - Target Deluxe Edition includes exclusive Mark III mask packaging. Available on both the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition and 2-Disc Blu-ray.

**Costco - Giftset includes the Ultimate 2 Disc Edition DVD and 3 Iron Man Bobbleheads, with all 3 Iron Man suits from the film. Giftset includes the "Battle Damaged Mark II", available exclusively in this giftset at Costco.

**Walmart - Two exclusive SKUs. Ultimate 2 Disc Edition packed with an exclusive comic book chronicling the Nick Fury story. The single disc giftset is packed with the 1st episode of the new Iron Man animated series.

**Kmart & Sears - Save $5 on the Ultimate 2 Disc edition with any $25 Craftsman purchase.

**Trans World - FYE and Suncoast Exclusive Steelbook Package available on the Ultimate 2- disc Edition. (pictured above, left)

**Borders - On pack collectible book featuring original sketches by Bob Layton and the top 24 comic cover of Iron Man.

[Paramount]

30 Servings - Potato Bakon
25 Servings - Corn Chowder
25 Servings - Ala King
25 Servings - Cacciatore
25 Servings - Western Stew
25 Servings - Country Noodle
25 Servings - Rice Lentil
45 Servings - Whey Milk
25 Servings - Blueberry Pancakes
25 Servings - Barley Vegetable

It should be noted that all meals are vegetarian and vitamin-fortified. [CostCo via Gear Diary]

• On October 29, I filled out forms to recycle a Treo 650, an Xbox and a PSP. Costco promised free shipping, and said that between the three gadgets I could expect $155 ($72, $33 and $50, respectively).

• Later that day I received my first bit of bad news: I wouldn't be getting prepaid boxes like I assumed. Instead, I was emailed shipping labels to print out and told that I would need to box and package the gadgets myself.

• By November 6, I rounded up boxes for the Treo and PSP. (I decided to skip out on sending the Xbox.) I had to drop off the packages at the closest UPS store. This was also something I did not expect to do, but when I called UPS for a pickup of the prepaid packages, they told me it would cost an additional $10 for each package, a cost I wasn't about to pay.

• I sat and waited. And sat. And waited. A full month passed before I received any response.

• Finally, on December 5, I got an email with the inspection results for the Treo. To my surprise, Costco and I didn't see eye to eye on its condition. Claiming display and case defects, they gave me bitchslap of a revised quote: $0. I did a little poking around and found that this wasn't just insulting, it was wrong: using their online calculator with their condition judgment, I still should've been handed $18.

• Two days after that, my PSP quote came. Only it was for an Xbox. And the value was reduced to $29. Apparently I used the nearly identical but wrong shipping label. Is this my fault, though? How can these inspectors know the value of products right down to the penny if they can't even tell the difference between a bulky console from Microsoft and a slim portable from Sony?

• Naturally I called Costco to figure out these two significant problems. After two days of phone tag, they confirmed that I had in fact sent in a PSP, and it was worth the full value of $50. However, the Treo really was more thrashed than the online estimate tool could even calculate, and it was still worth nothing. The representative gave me the option of returning it, but I would have to pay them $10! The other choice was that they would recycle it for "free." I decided to cut my losses and sent the old girl to Treo heaven.

• When the final estimation was calculated, Costco said I would receive a $50 gift card in the mail. After 2 weeks, I'm still waiting. Ho ho ho.

The moral of the story is simple: gadget recycling is a useful and beneficial service at a time when most electronics end up in landfills—EPA estimates put discarded cellphones at 130 million every year—but don't go into the Costco program expecting a large cash reward or a painless experience. I will allow that my Treo was in worse condition than I reported, and that was a mistake. Try to be completely honest in the evaluation. I can't fault Costco for wanting to knock off dinero from my original trumped-up estimate.

If you are looking for riches in exchange for your gear, your best bet is still probably eBay, and if you just want to keep your stuff from the garbage, there are plenty of charities that will gladly accept phones. If you want a bit of cash, you might try Costco, but that's not the same as saying that I recommend it, cuz I don't. [Costco, CollectiveGood Mobile Recycling]

• Treo 650 - $80
• PSP - $62
• Xbox (original) - $35
• Wii - $128
• 60 GB iPod Video - $108

• Treo 650 - $72
• PSP - $50
• Xbox (original) - $33
• Wii - $122
• 60 GB iPod Video - $102

Starting this week in California, and in April for the rest of the US, Costco will roll out their new electronics return policy. Now we'll only have 90 days to abuse use their no questions asked mentality. After that it will turn into a regular 2 year warranty.

But don't get your panties into too big of a twist yet, there's still no word on previous purchases. So maybe, just maybe that 50" plasma you bought last year will still be covered by their old plan.– Ben Longo

Costco tightens return policy on electronics [MSNBC]

Product Page [Via SCI FI]

Because on Jan 1, Costco may be changing their lenient return policy due to abuse, especially in the realm of computers (and other technology we are assuming). This seems like a fair play, considering the rate at which technology depreciates. And having worked in retail, I know firsthand how cheap people can be, even after owning something for two years. But I've been blabbing on all day. What do you think? – Mark Wilson

Exclusive [theconsumerist]

So Costco is all about selling arcade machines now. Could it be because Target started selling them? Could be. Except readers are saying the Target ones are puny and suck. Costco's better not suck with their system costing $2500. The full sized cocktail version is available for those who prefer the old-school Ms. Pac Man feel of games. They also have a regular, full size standing model. But for $2,500, you don't get screwed in the games department. You'll get kick ass titles like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Tempest, and tons more. So now you have a choice between a thrifty, sucky model from Target, and a super-expensive kick ass model from Costco. Which will you choose this holiday? [Thanks, Jason]

Costco Product Page