Comparing Walmart and Target’s Exclusive Versions of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

When I found out the release date of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, I made a point to know where I could buy the book. Of course, the book is out anywhere new books are sold, but I realized there are exclusive versions of the book, only sold at a certain store. Sometimes stores have an exclusive version of the book, only sold in the store. This happens with movies, with certain extras only available with the DVD or Blue Ray sold at a certain store, and music, with extra songs only available on a CD sold in a certain store. Of course, this happens to books.

After waiting for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to be released, I knew of two exclusive versions of the book would be released: One at Walmart and the other at Target. I own both exclusive versions and I wanted to compare both books to find out how similar and dissimilar they are to one another.

The Walmart exclusive book looked like this…

On the front of the book is a sticker that says this is the Walmart exclusive book that comes with a collectible bookmark…

Turning to the back in the book, right after the About the Author page is the bookmark…

 

The back of the bookmark shows the silhouette of the embossed snake and songbird…

The bookmark can be taken out of the book by folding the bookmark on a proliferated line and tear the bookmark out…

 

As for the Target exclusive book, it looks similar to the Walmart book except it has a Target sticker and a 20% off list price sticker on the front of the book…

 

While the Walmart exclusive book has a bookmark, the Target book has what is called a “Collectible In-world Panem Poster”. The post is located in the same area in the book as the Walmart exclusive edition: Right after the About the Author page…

 

 

When the post is unfolded, the back of the poster is an advertisement for the rest of the books in The Hunger Games series, including The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes…

The front of the poster is an advertisement for the 10th annual Hunger Games…

And like the bookmark in the Walmart exclusive book, the poster can be removed by folding on a perforated line and torn out…

 

So, which book would I suggest to buy and own? It depends on what you would like to do with your book. If you want to collect the books as a collectable because you’re a fan of the series, I would suggest buying both books. If you don’t want to own both books, I suggest buying the book with the exclusive item you want the most. After owning both books, I like the Target exclusive book’s poster more than the bookmark from the Walmart exclusive book. The reason why I like Target’s book more is because I like the poster’s artwork and, if I ever decide to remove it from the book, I will enjoy seeing it hanging on my wall.

If you have no interest in owning either exclusive books for whatever reason, then don’t worry. There is a standard version of the book available at Walmart and Target aside from the store exclusive books.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!