99 Plug-ins CM Special (no red balloons)

99 plug ins 

Are these 99 plug-ins different from the ones that are on the monthly issue in the CM Studio folder?

Yes. I had an older issue with the same task, and they included a lot of freeware floating around, and in th old special two or three just built for their mag too that did NOT appear in the monthly cm-DVD :). You can find lots of free synths without CM, but especially for newer users it's really nice to have the plugs categorized and get recommendations what is great, and what not so.

Picked it up yesterday 

I picked this up yesterday at Borders. Like said above this is a collection of mostly free stuff but it's all in one handy place without the need to download each bit. Also nice that you have a little right up on each unit. Everything is also tightly aligned with Reaper. It has a version of Reaper on the CD and the installation insructions all assume you are using Reaper. So for someone looking to get into this as a raw beginner with no present DAW this is a great deal. I paid just under $20 with the sales tax and all. This would keep any newbie engaged for a long period of time. A lot of neat toys to play with!