Or just make a lot of gold in-game. There's usually a CCG mount put up on the AH every few weeks on my server -- you just need 60,000 gold to buy it with.

How about an alternative perspective? Maybe some of us LIKE the TCG, and these are just fun little extras that accompany it?

Stella, Blizzard Collector's Edition after WarCraft 3 have traditionally included a pet. It's not a "reason" to buy it, it's one of the bonuses. You seem to be ignoring the other things included in the Collector's Edition. The Cinematics DVD, the soundtrack DVD, the artbook, three portraits for StarCraft 2, three decals for StarCraft 2, a unique skin for the Thor in multiplayer, a comic book, the pet, oh, and a USB flash drive with the original game and expansion.

It's not "just" to get you to buy StarCraft 2.

And the Cataclysm Collector's Edition came with portraits and decals for StarCraft 2, too.

I also get annoyed with the TCG stuff but it does help since blizz made them BoE- which was because people were getting scammed by purchasing the mounts for gold, btw, so now you can actually purchase the "physical" item rather than just a code that may or may not be legit.

Stella, chill out. The stuff that the TCG adds to the game is entirely cosmetic. Most of the loot you can find is toys and doodads. (Although my Epic Purple Shirt does boost my epeen by great strides.) The rest is mounts and pets. Status symbols? Maybe. But nobody's cheesing any fights because they brought along Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuits. Comparing it to the sale of gear is just silly.