There are now 2 types of triggered portals. One is element based and the other is based on the new abilities introduced with the Swap Force characters. That particular portal near the end of level 1 requires the new "Dig" ability. However, I must retract that complaint as Grilla Drilla has that capability and *is* available. I'd initially thought that ability was exclusive to the Earth element but found out otherwise after writing that "gripes" list. We actually have a Grilla Drilla but it's still in hiding (I purchased all of the *new* figures as they were coming out but parcel them out over the course of time - if he wants reposes he has to purchase them himself unless it's a character I particularly like or it is a "rare" one from earlier releases and we were unable to find duplicates). I may have to break him out so we can complete the level. We *did* use Earth Skylanders from prior releases for gates needing that element (I also have some new Earth ones in hiding but with full sets of the earlier releases those are not critical like the ones with the new abilities).

BUT: There is *one* new ability, Sneak, that is only available with Stink Bomb or Trap Shadow, neither of which has been released. So while you *can* complete level 1 with existing characters you *will* need a currently unrelease one to be able to fully complete the game.

Gripes I forgot:

The first thing out of his mouth was "Did you get the Dark Skylanders?" followed by "Will you get them?". I absolutely *hate* that exclusive figures which show up in-game require the purchase of a full starter set! It's bad enough some of the figures are "timed releases" (I *hate* those - why not just do a mass release as timed releases do nothing but bring out the gougers) or are "store exclusives" (it really annoys me to have to do mail order or pay gouger prices to get the TRU Legendaries).

Does anyone know if those "Dark" figures from GameStop will receive individual releases?

A continuing gripe: Lightcore. Wow... the light effects are still lame *and* if you want to use one of those figures for regular play you'll burn the bonus effect when it's placed on the portal. I had to turn off the room lights to see the effect with "Legendary Lightcore Grim Creeper". The transparent areas on the figure that pick up the changing lights from the portal look better than the dimly lit face. We were also a bit miffed that AFAIK *none* of the Swap Force figures have lightcore effects. At least the Giants had one for the extra $$ spent. Yeah, I know the extra $$ on the SW is for the break apart ability and putting light core in the top is technically difficult/impossible but you'd have thought they'd have at least put something on the base. Magna Charge screams to have that wheel illuminate!

Again I find I must qualify my complaints with a "In spite of the negatives, we *really* like these games" statement. It just irks me somewhat that considering the amount of $$ you can easily drop on these games there are still little "gotchas".

First problem - you bought the Wii version. It was made by a different team and from many accounts just sucks.

I'm playing on the Wii U and so far the only 'glitch' is that the portal accolades get reset. Waiting for Activison to patch that.

Has Activision ever released a skylanders patch before? I don't think they ever did anything for spyro's adv . I am not too sure about giants.

I think they have for Giants.

Problem is, the game forgets any of the Portal accolades so I don't get to up my portal rank because it ignores the previous Skylanders I've scanned in. Hoping for a path but if not...oh well I guess.

The only console we own is the Wii and we would not own that if it were not for the wife insisting on one a few years back after a weekend at a cousin's house where everyone had a good time playing Guitar Hero. I must admit that even though I was against the purchase (I'm more a PC gamer) it's been a fun little box - especially the Lego and Skylanders games.

I was somewhat concerned and hesitant about Swap Force *because* Toys for Bob were not doing the Wii version this time out. It all felt like the Wii was being given the "red headed stepchild" treatment. I've read about people playing Swap Force on the Wii experiencing freezes and lock ups. So far we've not seen that but our systems are not online and that seems to be the cause. Activision has released a couple of patches that supposedly correct the issue but I've still read comments from some who claim to have done the updates and still have the issues. The best answer so far is disconnect from the internet.

Well if you won't connect and do any updates I fear we will be no help to you.

I feel bad for the people that get the little mini red Wii.

My gripes were mainly venting frustration at the game designers and issues dealing with poorly thought out design choices. My main "problem" is the poor choice of button functions coupled with the inability to "fix" those choices in game by remapping the controllers. So far we've not experienced any lock ups/hiccups/glitches. Now if I hear of a downloadable patch that will let me customize or properly assigns buttons on the controlers I'll connect in a second and get it!

We played through the first two levels this afternoon... my favorite character by far is Scorp followed by Slobbertooth. None if the Swappable ones have really stood out for me, but bring able to upgrade their top and bottom halves is cool.

The game is gorgeous by the way!

Bought Stink Bomb, Spy Rise, and Rubble Rouser today at Target!

Me too! Unfortunately they were all full price, and were nowhere to be found at TRU (where they're buy 1 get 1 40% off).

Are they going to be releasing more 3 packs? So far I've only seen four of them (2 of which are level/accessory packs), and I usually hold off on buying the individual packs in favor of the 3 packs...

I've not yet played with those two - we have them but they are still "hidden".

My grandson likes the Rattle-Charge combo (Rattle Shake top, Nitro Magna Charge bottom). I like Star Strike very well. She reminds me a bit of Hex, which is a favorite character. I've been *trying* to play with the Swap Force characters without doing swapping to see how they work first but my grandson won't leave them alone. I don't think he's played with a single SF character without swapping them out.

Yeah, in spite of my gripes it *is* a good looking game! I like the new look on the chompies. They're pretty comical with those bug-eyes!

Hey Guys,

The head on my series 3 Sproket is loose in the tank. Spins from side to side slightly. Does anybody else's do this?

It's not coming off but seems a little flimsy?

The kids and just popped on the Tower of Time... that is one fun little expansion. It's not a quick simple jaunt like the ones in the original. It took us a good hour or more to get through it (and a 7yo was helping me out). We forgot to use the specials that it came with (the Sky Diamond and the Battle Hammer), but Pop Thorn... he's a blast. He's my second fav behind Scorp.

We are having a great time with this game!

My grandson put Jolly Bumble Blast on the portal this afternoon. He's very cool! Looks a bit like Santa Clause but with a cool gun. He comes with a Christmas hat which adds +12 Speed, +15 Armor, and +40 Maximum Health. I've not yet opened the standard Bumble Blast so I don't know if he has different starting stats (I also haven't looked at Jolly BB's stats yet either).

I see the next wave has started to appear on amazon. Has it surfaced in the US yet?

Somebody selling Rubble Rouser on Amazon for £38.95.
Sheep Wreck Island Adventure Pack for £46.95

I bought this to try it out (I don't have kids, but figured maybe the wife would like to play this). I set the difficulty to 'hard' and bought a good dozen or so of skylanders (BF sales).

The best guy was the completely powered up Rattle Shake - I was able to blast through the last 4 levels with out dying... before that, I would use up all my skylanders to get through the levels.

Beat the game last night

Gripe:
-I wish there were more save points in the levels
-I wish there was a place you could revive your guys (Instead I would have to rip them off the pad before they died, and then put them back on to eat food when it was around)
- I don't like that the $ you earn is character specific, I wish you had a big pot of money to spend on what you want.

Rubble Rouser, Stink Bomb, and Spy Rise were available (early exclusive) at Target stores last weekend.

Toys R Us had some of the normal characters a week or so ago (Dune Bug, Smolderdash, Phantom Cynder, Hyper Beam Prism Break).

I have not seen either of the new adventure packs, or the new three packs yet.

Based solely on yesterday's sale ad from Target they have a limited, timed, exclusive on at least 2 characters: Stink Bomb & Spy Rise. Amazon.com has those 2 as well as Rubble Rouser in their SF grid but all are only available from 3rd party gougers (indicative that some took advantage of the Target B2G1 sale and stocked up - empty shelves here within hours of release yesterday pretty much verify that's happening).

A few of the next wave of new non Swappable and "reposed" characters are available at TRU (both store and mail order).

I expect "wide" release within 4-6 weeks based on these seemingly limited, timed, exclusives.

So Target has a Buy 2, get 1 half off for the swap force characters, which isn't a great deal but if you can find the three new timed exclusives, probably a decent bet.

Unfortunately, I bought them last week. When I went in to do a price match, they said they don't pricematch deals like this, even their own. So they made me buy three more and return them with the old receipt. Ugh.

I would rather have them match TRUS buy one get 40% off another than have to buy 2 to get 50% off of one. Also, I wouldn't expect it to be 4-6 weeks before we see these new swappers show up elsewhere. I would venture a guess that they will be sold elsewhere within the next two weeks or so.

Posted a picture of the family Christmas haul 2013.



A couple of noteworthy inclusions:

Dark Edition Starter Pack
Jolly Bumble Blast
Haloween Eyebrawl
Scarlet Ninjini

Starting with Row A (at the front) numbered from left to right - see if you can make any out (for a bit of fun - or not).

Example: A-4 is Rip Tide

Wow impressive Greeco

So what is in the box? (A-1)

... and here's our modest haul for last week.



We're waiting on an after Christmas delivery from TRU for Countdown (Lightcore), Dune Bug, Legendary Zoo Lou, and Smolderdash. Scored all four with the B1G40% (~$35). The LC Countdown is only $10.99 (tongue-in-cheek) on TRU's site.