After posting a pic of my find to Instagram, I saw that others had found him at Walmarts this week and TRU folks are saying that they are getting JFK (hehe) in two weeks.

^Of course - since I was just in WM two days ago and didn't bother to look thinking it was going to be a Target exclusive.

It's now showing up on Amazon (at the typical prices for 3rd party sales) and doesn't have a store exclusive sticker/notice on the package.

So my 7 yo son really wants to get into this, though the only thing he's seen is the in-store demos. My wife and I are wary of having to buy the figures, but there are a lot of places around here that sell them used. Will they work buying them used?

And what exactly is the gameplay? He loves Lego Star Wars on the Wii, and has played the hell out of that game.

thanks

^Yes, used figures will work. If someone has leveled them up and left gold on them they keep the level/upgades and the gold is good in the game. You *can* reset them back to zero any time you wish within the game. Skylanders toys are "cross platform" in that they work on any of the console brands and keep their upgrades/gold/etc. when going to a friend's house (or another console in your house) to play. The toy data is kept on a RFID chip in the base and not on the console which is what allows such transportability. Because of that it doesn't matter which console your friend has or if you have two different consoles in your house as the toy will just work.

Figures from Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure can be used in *any* of the 3 games.
*NEW* Figures appearing in Skylanders: Giants can be used in Giants and Swap Force but *not* in Spyro's Adventure. "Reposed" figures that originally appeared in the first game *can* be used in the first one but only with the upgrades/powers/levels in that game.
*NEW* Figures appearing in Skylanders: Swap Force can only be used in Swap Force. "Reposed" figures can be used in either Giants or Spyro's Adventures depending on which game they originally appeared.
The same pattern should hold true with the upcoming Skylanders: Trap Team game.

The portal on Swap Force will work with Giants and Spyro's Adventure. The Giants Portal *and* the Spyro's Adventure portals will work with Giants and Spyro's Adventure but *not* with Swap Force as there were new character mechanics introduced that the older portals do not support (the ability to split and combine a Swapable figure). I'd guess the new Trap Team portal will work with all 4 games.

It's somewhat a dungeon crawl type game that takes place mostly outside. You move through areas picking up bonuses, finding hidden items, unlocking areas, beating bad guys, with a "boss" at the end of the level. Once complete, move to the next level. Once played a level can be accessed again to replay and get stuff you missed the first (or second/third/etc) time through or just to get more gold - you get a level status at the end of the level and on the level select screen. It's somewhat free exploration within the path you must travel in that you can often go out to the sides and/or backward unless there is a block of some type. A figure doesn't "die" but gets "tired" and has to be removed from the portal in favor of one that still has power left. *All* figures get their power/health back automatically in the hub section so if you exit a level and restart it all your figures will start the level at full power. You trade gold you earn in a level for power ups in a certain location in the hub. You can swap figures on the portal at any time. 2 people can play in a sort of coop mode to get through a level and the second player can drop in/out at almost any time.

Each figure has different moves, attacks, and power ups. It can help to use different figures in different parts of a level and each level has a gate to a special section that can only be unlocked by a figure of a certain elemental type. There are 8 elemental types of figures. You must have at least *one* of each element to fully complete the the first two games. Swap Force introduced abilities such as flying, climbing, digging, bouncing, or teleporting that are required to access certain areas. With careful planning you can get the elements and abilities to align so you can get through the game with only 8 Swap Force figures *and* a "Giant". Most (all? - haven't really paid attention) Swap Force levels require a Giant (any actual "Giant" figure) to access a area so you need one of those to finish Swap Force as well.

As far as comparing Skylanders to the Lego games - my grandson likes 'em both (me too) and there are several aspects that are similar. No one "dies", play is fairly open with no time limits (although Skylanders games do have occasional tasks that are timed), you can swap to a different character if a level requires or can benefit from different abilities, there are certain items that must be collected or tasks to complete before a level is 100% and you can replay the level as many times as needed to get that 100%. Until you asked I'd not really considered just how similar they are.

Since he's 7 I'd say he'll really like Skylanders. My 10 year old grandson loves the game. We've been playing it since the first one and have almost all the characters released. We're basically missing *some* of the reposed figures and some of the "repaint" jobs. It's somewhat addicting as once you start you'll probably want them all since each one has different characteristics.

Lego and Skylanders are the games we play the most. Even when he gets a new game we always go back to those two franchises to play together because they are fun.

^ There are some puzzle aspects to the locks on the chests and doors, but my kids (ages 5-10) do just fine with them.

The side challenges with the swappable characters vary in difficulty and my younger kids have had some problems/frustrations with them, but on the whole they do just fine.

We started getting them back in '11 when my 10 yo was 7 and he's played them the most. He really likes it which has rubbed off on the 5 yo and we play together frequently.

One word of caution: IT CAN GET REALLY, REALLY EXPENSIVE IF YOU TRY TO GET EVERYTHING.

There are several folks here who can corfirm that.

You don't need all of them to play, just one of each element... but where is the fun in that.

The Sheep Wreck Island level is frustratingly glitchy for the Wii.

^We've not yet opened that one. Still, I'm not very impressed with the studio (Vicarious Visions) that produced the Wii version this time out. It's not as well programmed as the first two. I'm still pretty pissed they changed the fire button location and didn't provide a way in the options menu to put it back right. It really makes me wonder if they actually play tested that version using people who had played the first two games. I was pretty pleased to hear that Games for Bob will be doing the Wii version again for Trap Team.

My grandson got a X-Box for Christmas and I purchased Swap Force Dark Edition for it a while back (it's still unopened) so we'll find out just how different they are at some point.

Thanks all, if we do this, we'll likely wait for the Trap Team thing this fall or wait for Christmas. We've actually had to cut back on his gaming a bit for now.

It would be cheaper to just buy swap force and the swap force figures when they start getting clearanced out.

For the next ~3 hours Amazon is having a Lightning Deal on Swap Force Starter packs - $27.99 (regular $32.49) for any version. Of course it's highly possible (likely?) it will have a lower price after Trap Team comes out but that *is* a good price for just the 3 figures that come with the starter.

Jade Fire Kraken is up for pre-order at WM with free shipping to your house. It shows a 7/15/14 ship date.

I had a Jade Fire Kraken in hand at Best Buy today but the register would not allow it to be rung up. A message come up saying that it had been recalled. However, after one of the manager's looked into the issue it shows that it actually releases tomorrow and was just put out early.

^Interesting... After I posted about it being available for pre-order at WM I saw last Sunday's WM ad - Jade Fire Kraken was shown as available in the stores. Neither here had/has copies yet.

New Frito Lay "Instant Win" promotion starts 7/7/14...

I found the bags Walmart last Thursday...

Front of package...


Back of package (the part that you scan with the AR app)...


The screen I got once I was done that said that it started on 7/7/14... oops...


Something I found online about the promo...

^OK... so is there a way to "enter" without using a stupid "smart phone" or "tablet" app? I don't own one and have no plans to ever own one.

I saw Jade Fire Kraken at Walmart last week. I didn't try to buy it though.

You can use the BlippAR app with this image and not have to buy a bag.

You don't need the app, there is a phone number that you can call:

So I scanned my bag this morning and got a "not eligible" warning. WTH? I'll try again tomorrow.

^Thanks!

I gave it a try but didn't win today. You have to listen to the shortened rules with each call so it takes a couple of minutes.

Am I to assume the repose is all silver with one of three colors of flame on the bone? If so, a bit of a drop-off from the last one, IMO.

^And I'm thinking they don't show up in the game with the different colorization since you get a random color should you win.

If that's the case it makes me wonder if Activision caught a bit of grief because Quickdraw Rattle Shake also shows in-game with the new colors and is needed to get 100% game completion. With a recolor that's not shown in-game it's easier to justify the limited distribution.

Hey, I won today via phone entry!

Thanks for the info, Goldberg!

that Blippar app is pretty neat. Didn't win today, but now I'm going to try every day.

WooHoo!!! Me too!

I'm somewhat uncomfortable leaving a voice message with mailing information, even after slowly spelling it out, as many (many, many) people get it totally wrong on the phone! I'd have used the military alphabet for spelling but that, too, confuses the heck out of lots of phone operators. At least the system plays back your message a section at a time so you can listen to see if you think it's clear/understandable.

Yes - Thanks Goldberg!

OK... Do I get worried? I just won again with another phone entry!

I did *not* win one on the first day so I feel somewhat reassured but 2 wins in 2 days?

i just won on the phone. sweet. thanks for posting.