Same story here, I got really burned out on CEs, and it was in fact SPECIFICALLY because of LRG's efforts.
In the past, I would only get the "best" edition of any game. CIB over cart-only, and special edition over regular. Otherwise I'm just "missing" stuff, right? Maybe later I'd trade up to the complete version, but why not just do it right the first time?
But then along came LRG. At first, I was just buying the collector's edition version as usual. But it eventually occurred to me just how little I care about any of this stuff. Posters and cards and other artsy papers that were just copies of the same stock images used everywhere else for the game. Oftentimes literally the same exact image you can see on the box itself. And then all the cheap little knickknacks. What really broke me was thinking, what do I even do with these things? Nothing. I look at them for about five seconds, and then I'm over it. And they go back in the box, and will continue to live in there for the rest of time. So what is even the point of paying all that extra money, then?
So I modified my rules. What do I actually care about? Soundtracks. Art books. Soundtracks I can listen to anytime along with the rest of my music collection, and art books are just gorgeous to look through, and often insightful about the development process too. They also fill the hole that's been created since games are no longer coming with manuals.
But LRG broke me of that too. Many soundtracks are honestly not that great anyway, and maybe I'll pay a few extra dollars for it, but I'm not paying $30-50 more for it because I also have to buy the rest of the junk in that edition. And while I would still buy a mid-priced art book edition, it seems they are only coming with the $200 bag-of-crap editions. So pass on that too. So nowadays I just look at all editions, see the regular version with the game itself, and simply think "Man, I will save soooo much money just buying this one." Which then often leads me to going "You know, I'd save even more if I paid $0. I have enough games to play already anyway."
Incidentally, I also realized that my love for special editions also started because they weren't actually that much more than the standard version. Sure, I'd pay $10-20 more for a bunch of great stuff. Like I recently bought the Bravely Second special edition. Huge gorgeous art book and soundtrack CD containing actual excellent tracks. I paid $75. (And it was $70 MSRP.) Someone just mentioned the Persona Q box set, which I recall getting for $50 back when it was new. The Koromaru plushie is still on my nightstand. Even the old Working Designs games I recall getting for practically the same price as any other game at the time. I see online that Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete was $60 MSRP, and Arc the Lad Collection was $75 MSRP.
So what are the current LRG games doing?
Full Throttle - $85. Soundtrack, and useless knickknacks.
Grim Fandango - $100. Soundtrack, and useless knickknacks.
Konami Arcade Classics - $65. Lesser total, but still $30 extra for just a soundtrack, and only thing else is a super-cheap replica NES cart sleeve, a box, and a poster showing the exact same image as the box.
In contrast, look at things that just came in their "distro, not part of our official numbered releases" line:
SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color Vol. 2 - $75. Retrospective book, and steelbook.
Rumble Fish 2 - $70. Art book, strategy guide, and soundtrack.
One of these groups is clearly better than the other. So the new rule is "Buy special edition if it was made by a real company, and only buy the standard edition at LRG."