I think it depends on how invested you and/or your kids are in the game. There are sales on the characters all the time, especially now that stores are clearing space for the new Swapforce game. I'm sure you can probably find someone who is selling all their loose figures on eBay like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylanders-G...item232c89ab9b

If you want to explore all areas of the game, then yes, you need at least one character from each element. However, if you want to play through to the end of the game and ignore certain areas, you don't necessarily need 8 characters. Although depending on the difficulty level you are playing at, you may need the extra characters for the additional hit points.

This game has a lot of cool figures that appeals to kids and collectors. It shamelessly advertises other characters in-game via "soul gems" that you find. Don't be surprised when your kids stumble across one of these videos and starts asking you for a character you've never heard of.

I finally watched the E3 video after pretty much avoiding swap force media for a long time... I didn't realize they use magnets to attach the two halves together, which is really cool (and apparently they have some new patents around it to prevent the magnet from interfering with the signal both halves have to send to the portal).

My daughter loves Skylanders; what I didn't anticipate was that she loves the characters and watching the game, but can't actually play the game herself, so I'm stuck playing it whenever she wants to watch. I don't mind that much; at least the game is decent, although leveling up the characters gets a bit tiresome (and she will always want to play with different characters, who pretty much instantly die on later levels). She has gender bias towards the girls, so hopefully I can stick to a smaller subset with this next game...

Giants figures (ninjini, crusher, etc) are supposed to be 2 for $20 starting tomorrow at TRU.

Finally got around to entering the three other codes from the bag of chips... now the waiting continues.

I still can't find the chips at any of my local stores lol

At my local HEB they only had the Flavor Pack but I just got back from Walmart and they had plenty of both the Flavor and Classic packs.

Sorry that you can't find them.

The store in Amarillo, TX had *2* Eye Brawl and nothing else. The sign on the racks said "Limit of 1 per character per family" so anyone showing up would not have been able to take advantage of the "sale" as they'd have had to purchase the 2 Eye Brawl figures to get the sale price. The selection of non-giants was also small. While there were 3-6 of each there were only about a half dozen different figures from which to choose.

Still haven't found the special chips bags at Walmart (and we don't have HEB, whatever that is). Any other stores to check? Target maybe?

HEB is a Texas thang!

Any grocery store should have them. Good luck.

I haven't seen them at Target, Walmart, kmart or any of my local grocery stores. Damn Ohio!

Anyone looking for series 1 figures in the Shawnee, OK area should go by the WM at the Shawnee Mall. We stopped in while driving through and found many series 1 available. We picked up a Dino-Rang and Camo (there were a couple of each left). They also had Zook, Lightning Rod, Drobot, Double Trouble, Ignitor, and Sonic Boom (and a few more I don't recall). But... *no* Wham Shell. All are $7.98 each.

Also, the WM off I40 in Amarillo, TX (around exit 72) has 20 or so Red Drill Sergeant figures. Several have thick layers of dust on top. The packages are so old the cardboard backing is breaking free from the glue. We accidentally knocked one down and the package came apart!

And I didn't have enough presence of mind to look for the chips! I even went to that WM in Amarillo twice!

I've seen bunches of Wham Shells at various TRU in the past 4 months or so... he was the only one not available in a 3 pack, right?

That is correct... except for the 4 in "Adventure Packs". I was hoping to score one in Amarillo over the weekend but they had none. The closest TRU to my house is a 2-3 hour one-way trip so I have to take advantage of visits anytime I'm in an area where one is located.

They showed up here this week. WM at least 1 grocery store and Big Lots. I've not been to Target or kmart yet so don't know about them but would expect to find them there as well. They must be farily recent as there were still a few of the old bags without the Skylanders offer on the shelves.

Hooray! My Walmart just got a batch of specially-marked chips in. I bought 4 20-packs at $5.98 each and redeemed one for each Skylanders Sidekick. I really like the online redemption much better -- I no longer have to cut the bags open and then reseal them with packing tape. Let alone writing checks and mailing them off. This is much easier. Though I sort of dread having to eat 80 bags of chips between now and Sept 10th (when they expire). Now the waiting begins....



edit : That was supposed to say that my Sidekick will arrive in 10-12 weeks, but apparently it doesn't in this image.

I also finally found the chips at my walmart a few days ago as well. I am not too worried about the chips expiring as I am sure my kids will happily volunteer to eat all 80 packs before they expire...

Has anyone seen series 2 drobot in stores yet? It's been out for at least a month and I hope drobot and lightcore hex don't end up like whamshell in terms of availability...

FYI gamestop.com has had the majority of figures on sale for 50% off for about a week now.

One of the WM stores here had quite a few of them a few weeks back, but once I finally decided to spring for one last week they were nowhere to be found. They *are* cool looking - Activision should have used that pose for the light core figure.

I thought the online redemption was a royal pain. They take you *offsite* for a Paypal transaction! One of mine had problems and the transaction "failed" which took me to a "transaction cancelled" message on the Skylanders site. When I attempted to start over I was informed the code had already been redeemed! I was finally able to "back up" into the Paypal portion and apparently get the order completed but I fully expect to have to call and deal with someone over that one. At least I have a "receipt" for the transaction and it appeared to actually go through. Not only that but you get *zero* confirmation other than that screen you posted from the Skylanders site and it doesn't even bother to tell you which figure you ordered! So far the only confirmation I have is from Paypal. At least *it* has the figure ordered in the payment information. Still, I'd feel much better about the process if they didn't use 3rd party payment processing or actually send some type of confirmation from Young America following the "transaction."

On one of my bags the redemption code was actually printed on the *inside* of the bag. I thought I'd gotten a bag without the code until I noticed the "coupons" were printed on the inside of the bag and *finally* found the code off by itself with no indication that's what it was. The other bags were opened just enough to get the coupon out but that one had to be fully opened. At least there's a draw-string closure on the bags.

I guess if they actually show up I'll be pretty happy (at least the kids will be thrilled) but I'm less than pleased with the ordering process.

If anyone is still looking for the chips you might get lucky with Amazon. They currently have both bag varieties for $5.98 each:

Classic Mix
Flavor Mix

The images on the bags show the Skylanders promotion but I'd guess it could be a crap shoot since you're dealing with Amazon. I know both WM and Big Lots initially had bags with and without the promotional offer so be warned if you chose to order.

What does the sidekick do? I got two from Gamestop, the shark due called Terrabit and elf dude called Stealth Elf? I played the game with each of the sidekicks, they don't seem to do anything other than follow you around.

They cause you to eat a ton of chips to get them. Aside from that they don't do much other than add to the size of your collection. However, I have seen some of them go for more than spare change.

^Yep... they just follow your character around taking up space on the portal that could best be used by a figure that affects game play.

Haha, I didn't eat any chips for the two sidekicks I got from GS (all you have to do is purchase Skylander Giants figures). At first I thought those little guys heal you, but then I figured out it was the elemental bonus. Then I figure those sidekicks must help you fight, so I leave the main Skylander figure idle and see if the sidekick indeed help you fight, nope...

I don't understand the point of those sidekicks, the little shark thing actually confusing, I thought it was a Chompy (I actually try to kill it on many times). Anyhow, the cannon and catapult magical items are much better, they actually do something, lol.

The PayPal charges for the 4 Sidekicks I ordered all finalized on my CC this weekend. Now the "when will they arrive" waiting game starts...

I got 2 of my 4 sidekicks today. Got mini eyebrawl and thumpback.
Edit: they come in tiny boxes instead of those crappy padded envelopes.