Then I'm going to say it: Personally, for $150, I would've expected some type of deal with NECA to include a figure, an actual limited one unique to this release that I'm sure would've been the deciding factor for many when mulling whether getting the CE or not. But then again, it's Konami and we've learned not to expect much from them over the years. Other than that, I'm sticking to my guns reiterating this needed a soundtrack—physical copy, not a download; I can rip the music myself from the games, and have done it before. As much as the book is covering the history of the games, so would the soundtrack covering over 330+ minutes of shell-shocking audio, which translates to around five CDs. If the CE had included the soundtrack—by that I mean lossless audio and not a transcode—coupled with the contents currently advertised, then I would've happily forked over $100.
In all honesty, given this is a compilation-type game, I wasn't expecting it to get a limited-type release, so the fact that it's going to is incredible. But they're obviously crazy if they genuinely believe their idea of a "limited edition" is a box filled with cheap items thinking they're worth the $150 price tag.
Regarding the Uncharted 4 vs. Resident Evil 2 collector's editions, I think inflation, greed included, were possibly the culprit, but the crux of the matter is that their contents were, and still are well worth more than what the Cowabunga Collection CE is offering; and in the case of the two aforementioned collector's sets, the quality of the statues is actually good. So, even if we were to use inflation as an excuse for this collector's edition, what they're asking is still too much for what they're offering.
That said, this collector's set truly exemplifies the usual believe that these type of releases are just cheap, lazy cash grabs, which is honestly why I've never really cared for them, albeit I reckon there are exceptions to that rule. My advise would be to just give it a few months after release and maybe you'll be able to get this one off eBay for a cheaper price, possibly even find someone selling the book.