Michael Corvin

Picked up the set and sold Stealth Elf to a co-worker.

MasterofDVD

My local Wal-Mart had figures on display yesterday for the first time since Christmas. I asked a number of workers over the last few weeks and none of them had seen any come in.

Michael Corvin

Speaking of, from the looks of it on CAG, Wal-Mart has joined the price hike fray.

Goldberg74

Amazon cancelled my Gold Box order for one of the Expansion Sets. It was supposed to ship between Feb 7 and Feb 21, but instead they cancelled it. I placed the order about a week and a half ago.

Still looking for Darklight Crypt and Empire of Ice.

DMeaks

Sold the Dark Spyro from the 3DS kit for $23, Game and Portal for $16, and Stealth Elf for $9. I made a profit and I have an Ignitor for free.

Michael Corvin

Didn't you do that backwards? Ignitor is coming out in a couple months. There's no word on whether or not Dark Spyro will get a solo release.

Spiderbite

Is Dark Spryo a different character or just a dark colored statue of Spyro?

Goldberg74

Thanks to zoolert, I was able to get the Darklight Crypt from Gamestop (not my first choice of store) for ~$25 shipped.

Michael Corvin

DMeaks

Well, my son has been itchin' for Ignitor, so it made for a great school work bargaining chip. I had to ditch the Dark Spyro to make up the purchase cost.

With the success of the first pack I bought another one last night. Did a Buy It Now sale on Ebay for the Ignitor in that pack for $29. It sold overnight. So now I will keep the Dark Spyro from this set and sell Game/Portal again too. So again, I will get a character for my kids for almost nothing in cost. I see it as a way to finance my own collection.

BobO'Link

Different character - in part. Here are the in-game stats, both starting and maxed out, which show that Dark Spyro is a bit better armored, but not as quite as fast or powerful. Much like the "legendary" characters:

Dark Spyro
Health 280
Max Health 560
Speed 43
Max Speed 83
Armor 24
Max Armor 57
Critical Hit 20
Max Critical Hit 70
Elemental Power 25
Max Elemental Power 100

Spyro
Health 280
Max Health 560
Speed 50
Max Speed 90
Armor 18
Max Armor 51
Critical Hit 30
Max Critical Hit 80
Elemental Power 25
Max Elemental Power 100

Spiderbite

Cool. Thanks for the answers guys. Hopefully my 7 year old won't catch wind of Dark Spyro being a different character since he isn't on the large poster that came with the 360 game. He has been checking them off as he gets them.

My wife thinks I am nuts because when I luck up on the ones he doesn't have, I go ahead and buy them and just give them to him...no special occasion or reason. I told her he is my only kid and I am allowed to spoil him. She just thinks I spoil him too much but luckily he is a good kid (so far). She would do the same if he had a girl instead.

I hate to think how much money we will end up spending once we have the entire collection. It's a great concept for the game because every new character is like DLC but better. You not only get a figure but you get a brand new character to max out, get them upgrades, and it makes the game completely new.

I expect to see a lot of rip-offs of this by the next holiday season.

Goldberg74

Hopefully Pokémon doesn't follow suit... I am NOT going to buy 500+ characters!

Michael Corvin

I have a shopping bag full of them stashed in the closet for such occasions.

I just can't do it, especially this close after Christmas.

BobO'Link

I've been somewhat doing the same. I get them but put them back and ration them out. It was pretty cool when I'd picked up Stump Smash and they didn't know I had him. We hit a section which needed a Life Element to enter, they said "Gee... wish we had one of those..." I replied "Hey... Wait! How about this?" and pulled out Stump Smash. I'll let them know about 1 or 2 but they have to drool over them a few days and be on extra good behavior to get to put a new one in play.
I started out that way but then stopped to think how much has been spent on Pokemon cards trying for that "special" card, Hex-Bugs, Happy Meals (of course for the toys), Hot Wheels, and more. That $8 (or less if picked up in a 3 pack) figure, which can be used in a game, no longer seemed so expensive.

fujishig

That's the first thing I thought about when this caught on last year. Why aren't the Japanese doing this, they love RFID chips in their toys, and collectible statues. They have entire arcade games built around cards and medals with RFID chips and whatnot.

Spiderbite

Yeah. That's good.

It's funny but my kid just lost a tooth at school on Thursday. He was expecting the normal 5 bucks (fucking inflation man!) from the tooth fairy but wound up with Chop Chop under his pillow instead. You should have seen the expression on his face when he found it. That's what makes parenting fun.

Now I just have to figure out a reason to give him the three pack I found the other day that has Wrecking Ball in it. That's one of the characters he really wants but his birthday isn't until April and I don't know if I can hold out that long to give it to him.

Michael Corvin

Ooh, for a lost tooth. That's a good one.

I'm going to open a couple and put the stat cards in a valentine for each of my girls.

BobO'Link

Tooth Fairy... That's fun!

Waiting'll be difficult. You'll be in the store, he'll see Wrecking Ball and want to spend his own money on it. You'll have to dissuade him somehow without spilling the beans. He'll become suspicious and start asking more questions, possibly playing the "but if we *don't* get him now he may not be there later" card.

I have 2 of the 3 packs put back. One with Stealth Elf (wanted *badly* by both) and the Whirlwind/Double Trouble/Drill Sergeant one. All three of those are highly desired, especially Whirlwind. They're used to seeing the single packs so it might be somewhat a sticky wicket getting singles of those out. I've also had them play with the character in the package the first day, not use it the 2nd, and actually open on the 3rd day. That'll be harder to accomplish with a 3 pack. I may break 'em up first - but the older (8yo) will probably figure that out with he first one.

Goldberg74

Y'all are stronger than I. Once I get one, I open it and am the first to play it.

Goldberg74

Got the Darklight Crypt today... now all I have to do is find the Empire of Ice!

BobO'Link

Thanks for the heads up! I ordered one late Saturday while it was still on sale. The grandkids got a DS3D for Christmas and the extra Stealth Elf will be most welcome, not to mention Dark Spiro and Ignitor. After factoring the "normal" cost for the 3 characters it was under $20 for the portal and DS game after tax. Considering the DS game is supposedly totally different this should be a very good purchase!

Michael Corvin

New Skylanders info:

• Skylanders Giants: new game in the fall, existing portal accommodates 2 Giants
• 12 new Skylanders are in the works (unknown whether they work with the original game or Giants)
• Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack is a 30-day TRU Exclusive in March
• Legendary Trigger Happy is a TRU Exclusive
• Iridescent Blue Bash is a TRU Exclusive
• Mobile Apps on the way

DMeaks

Thanks for the info.

I stopped by Target this morning and they had a nice selection of single packs, including one Cynder. Target had singles at $8.99, so that is up $1.00 from the last time I was there.

Goldberg74

Dagnabbit!