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From the Game: Jim Raynor’s USB dog tag from Starcraft 2 Collector’s Edition

Jim Raynor is a galactic badass. He fights Zerg, he rebels against tyranny, he drinks bourbon, and he looks and sounds an awful lot like Red Dead Redemption's cowboy-with-a-heart-of-gold John Marston. He plays a big part in Starcraft 2, to the point that the game's $100 collector's edition includes a replica of his old Confederate dog tag. It's not just a neat sci-fi dog tag, though; it's a 2 GB USB key that includes the original Starcraft and the Brood War expansion.

And it's pretty awesome.

The dog tag comes in a clever little cardboard box about the size of a pencil case, labeled a "data transfer unit." It's a small touch and, since it's cardboard, not really meant to keep as a collectible. Still, it's a great touch that adds to the replica feel of the dog tag itself. The tag obviously isn't cardboard, and it doesn't seem to be plastic, either. It feels metallic, likely aluminum.

The USB connector slides out of the bottom of the dog tag and locks in place through a black lever on the underside of the device. While the connector's end is unprotected, it keeps the tag as a single, seamless object. It would have been easy to just mold a two-piece shell for the tag, slap the memory in, and make you pull it apart to plug it in. The one-piece design is a great little touch that clearly took more effort.

When you plug the tag in, you get quite a show. Not only does a blue indicator light on the end light up, but the entire translucent orange information panel illuminates, showing Jim Raynor's rank and serial number. It's a gorgeous effect, and again shows that Blizzard really put some effort into this replica.

Finally, here's what the drive looks like to your computer. 2 gigs of space, about 700 megs free, cool little Starcraft logo in My Computer. The installer popped both Starcraft and Brood War on my Vista system with no fuss. The cinematics look funky on my screen, but it seems to be due to my video card's color settings. The gameplay works just fine.

If you want your own dog tag (and the entire Starcraft 2 collector's edition), you'll have to move fast. It's already sold out online at Gamestop and only available for $120 and more by other vendors on Amazon. Fortunately, Best Buy still has the game in stock, as does Wal-Mart, of all places.