Big Blizzard Bear

Big Blizzard Bear is a rare collectible ground mount added in patch 2.4.3. Its standout feature is not only a massive white bear with thick fur, but also a tiny murloc seated behind the rider holding a BlizzCon flag. The item description reads: "When you saddle this beast, you'll be itching to ride out, calling forth a mighty roar to summon the slaughter and unleash the waves of murlocs!"

This is a purely promotional mount: it never dropped from bosses and was never sold in the in-game shop. Codes for it were handed out to attendees of BlizzCon 2008, as well as to viewers of the paid BlizzCon broadcast via DirecTV (USA) and the Main Event channel (Australia). No other in-game method of obtaining it was ever provided by the developer.

This is an important point to understand before you start looking for workarounds. In the current state of World of Warcraft, including the The War Within expansion, the mount is unavailable for new acquisition — not through the in-game shop, not on the Black Market, not via achievements, and not through events. The official distribution channels closed in late 2008 to early 2009, when the deadline to send codes to buyers of the paid broadcast expired.

If you don't own an account that already has this mount activated, the only theoretical path is to find an unused code on the secondary market. Such cards grow rarer and more expensive with each passing year, and you take on all the risks of the deal: the code may already be activated or fake, and the purchase itself potentially violates Blizzard's user agreement.

The goal of this guide is to honestly describe what this mount is, where it came from, and what to do with it if the coveted code does end up in your hands.

• Rarity and prestige — one of the most recognizable BlizzCon rewards in the game's entire history. Spotting a rider on this bear in a capital city is a noteworthy event.
• Unique model — a polar bear with a murloc passenger and a BlizzCon flag appears nowhere else. There are no variations or recolored versions in the game.
• Achievement — obtaining the mount unlocks the commemorative Big Blizzard Bear feat, which belongs to the "Feats of Strength" category.
• Account-wide — after the first activation, the mount becomes available to all your characters on every realm, with no faction restriction.

In 2008 the scheme worked as follows.

1. At BlizzCon, attendees received a cardboard card with a scratch-off field in their welcome kit. A unique code was printed beneath the protective layer
2. Viewers of the paid BlizzCon broadcast via DirecTV and Main Event had the card mailed to them within eight weeks after the event
3. The code had to be entered on a Blizzard promo page. The site issued a second code — this one for in-game use
4. The second code was entered at an NPC in one of the capital cities — and the mount appeared on the account

The total number of printed cards was roughly 13,000 copies, making the mount one of the most limited in print run of any in the game.

If you own an original BlizzCon 2008 card and haven't activated the code yet, the procedure is still relevant today, adjusted for changes to the Battle.net interface.

1. Log in to your account on the Battle.net site and open the "Codes and Gifts" ("Redeem a Code") section
2. Enter the code from the scratch card. The system will confirm it and bind the reward to your account. A second in-game code is not required in the modern interface — the reward becomes available to characters right away
3. Log into the game on any character at least level 10 with the Apprentice Riding skill learned
4. Head to the NPC of your faction:

Alliance — Rancin Donner

Rancin Donner is in Ironforge, in the Forlorn Cavern district.

Horde — Zjolnga

Zjolnga is in Orgrimmar, in the Valley of Honor.

5. Talk to the NPC and receive the Big Blizzard Bear item
6. Use the item from your bag — the mount will be added to your collection account-wide. At the same time you will earn the "Big Blizzard Bear" Feat of Strength

A question that regularly comes up on forums and in wowhead comments: will Blizzard bring this mount back through the shop or as a prize for a new BlizzCon. As of April 2026, there is no official stance on a return. In the past, the developers confirmed that its status as an exclusive reward for attending BlizzCon 2008 is preserved, and no guarantee of the mount returning to circulation is given.

The practical conclusion that follows: if you want a chance at similar promo mounts in the future, the only reliable path is to follow official BlizzCon announcements and take part in events with a virtual ticket in the year they are held. Other limited codes from past years also appear on secondary markets, but the risks of buying remain the same as with the BlizzCon bear.

• Check your collection before any deals — open the mount journal and make sure the BlizzCon bear is indeed absent. If you've been playing a long time, the code may have been activated by you years ago and you simply forgot.
• Don't trust offers to "restore" the mount — Blizzard support does not grant this mount on request, even if you were at BlizzCon 2008. Any third-party services promising "restoration" have nothing to do with the game.
• Deals involving other people's accounts break the rules — transferring, buying, or merging accounts is prohibited by Blizzard's user agreement and can lead to a ban. The risk of losing your main account along with the purchase is quite real.
• An unused code is a lottery — a 2008 card could have been opened and activated by anyone over the years. Without physical control before scratching off the protective layer, it's impossible to verify the status.
• Keep the achievement if you have it — the "Big Blizzard Bear" stays on the account forever, and the mount also doesn't disappear when a character is deleted.
• Don't confuse it with other bears — the game has the visually similar White Polar Bear (from reputation with the Sons of Hodir in Northrend) and druid mounts. These can be obtained the usual way and are also useful for the collection.

The mount remains a monument to the era of early BlizzCon and Wrath of the Lich King. If you see it in a capital city, you're looking at either a veteran who went to the show 16 years ago, or a collector who got lucky with an unopened card.