BobO'Link

I opened and played the Nightmare Express level for Trap Team yesterday and found a area that *requires* a trapped villain to get to a Hat - the villain needed is Lob Gobblin who's at least capturable in the Nightmare Express level. BUT you still need a Light Trap. I made a edit on my write up to include this information.

I'll add that Nightmare Express is a fairly good level. It's a bit long and has several challenges. Of the 4 level packs released for Trap Team I'd tentatively rank it the best. Blades is a pretty good character and the bonus items are serviceable. The Hand of Fate floats around causing damage to enemies and "freezing" them for a few seconds. The Piggy Bank causes money to drop from the sky after enemies have been defeated (similar to the Sky Diamond item from the Swap Force Tower of Time level pack - which now has a modified ability in Trap Team as you get diamonds from objects you break).

Has anyone tried the Sky Diamond "glitch" in Trap Team? I read where if it's used to attack the dummies in the Academy you get lots of diamonds. I need to give that one a try... it could be it's like the Treasure Chest glitch in Giants. Of course gold seems very abundant in Trap Team - at least I've not yet found it that difficult to either level up *or* get enough gold to upgrade - so it may not be that big of a deal.

darkdaze73

Went by a Best Buy today and spotted the Trap Master Blastermind which is one I don't recall seeing it on their site. After doing some searching online I am guessing this may be one of the harder ones to find? I started to purchase it but I am trying to hold off until the Target deal next week. Now I am kinda wishing I had though.

I also saw a couple of elements in stock(undead, life and maybe another). I did not notice any Kaos' traps though. Are any of these harder to find than normal?

Decker

Amazon apparently has a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal going on Trap Team figures right now. Free figure shows up at checkout, not before that.

BobO'Link

^Yep! Other than Love Potion Pop Fizz that is...

I'd wanted to fully duplicate my BB purchase and save ~$8 (price difference plus tax) but it's not to be due to Amazon excluding Love Potion Pop Fizz. Still... I purchased the 3 new characters I don't have from Amazon and will save ~$12 as I'll return those along with the repose I mainly purchased to get the 50% off deal. Fortunately BB rang up the Love Potion Pop Fizz in a discount pair.

Thanks for the heads-up Decker!

DVDChris

I picked up Blastermind and Tuff Luck. Both of those aren't listed either. Come to think of it, most of the traps aren't either.

So far, only Kaos is the most valuable trap.

Gambit

Was at Target today and saw in the clearance section a bunch of Winterfest LobStar's and Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey each going for $9 something. It looks like they way over-ordered on these or something. Not sure if this is all Target's or just the one I was at.

BobO'Link

I stumbled across images of the upcoming Easter Limited Edition Figures so...

First in their individual Easter Packaging:

Earth Trap


Eggsellent Weeruptor


Power Punch Pet Vac


All three together outside their packages


The Earth Trap looks like a repaint job on a Earth Upside Down Guy trap.

wlj

hey guys how much do you estimate you spend with each skylanders release? Skylanders appears to be the more expensive franchise to get into. Infinity isn't cheap mind you but you don't have to buy all these traps and such.

darkdaze73

Went by Best Buy hoping to get them to price match Amazons current sale(B2G1) but it was a no go. I ended up buying 3 of the Trap Masters at Target and plan on seeing if I can get a price adjustment next week. My local Target was slim pickings on the regular Trap Team figures. Hopefully they get some more in before Sunday.

Ordered a copy of the Giants portal pack for the 3DS this morning off of Best Buy's Ebay site for $3.99 shipped. I plan on keeping the Giant and probably giving away the game. Also found a Ninjini Giant at Five Below the other day.

Also, just a head's up, Best Buy will have their GCU for $30 starting on Sunday. I have skipped getting in on this in the past but plan on jumping in on this deal.

dsa_shea

No, but you have (they tempt you) to buy the 80 plus power discs so it is a wash.

wlj

yeah, forgot about those power discs . However they are not really required. In Trap Team, you have to have skylanders with the proper elemental to go everywhere and certain elemental traps to get all of the bad guys?


I have very limited skylander knowledge I have only played the first level of trap team on the ipad.

I want to make it clear, I am not trying to do an Infinity vs Skylander discussion. I would love to get into skylanders but the wife said hell no.

fujishig

I would say Skylanders is a different type of game than Infinity. If you want a straightforward action title, Skylanders is the way to go... Infinity does have a few playsets that act as a story mode, but characters are limited, the modes are pretty short, and it's not as good. The draw of Infinity (which I admit I don't quite understand) is the toybox and ability to create your own levels.

Of course, if they just made a Skylanders or Marvel Universe type game with the Marvel figures, I'd be more than happy. As is, the Avengers playset just feels like an inferior game to the Marvel Lego game that came out shortly before it.

If there's one thing you should learn, it's that you don't have to get all the figures. Get the ones you really like. Yes, for this recent game, you'll want a trap team member for every element, but you don't really need doubles. You don't really need the regular skylanders or the minis. You will need a few traps, at least one of each color, but each trap holds more than one villain.

wlj

Bobo'link -- wow, thanks for the lenghty response. it is certainly appreciated. Like I mentioned I have only played the first level of Trap Team and I really enjoyed it. I feel Skylanders has more "charm" than Infinity does. I have become a bigger believer in the Infinity Toy Box over the past couple of weeks. The community is starting to put out some really interesting toyboxes for download. I have yet to try to create something myself because i am just not all that creative. I love all things Marvel so that does give Infinity the nod for me. I do wish they would release some more playsets but it is what it is.


I will definitely agree with Fuji that they are both different types of games. Gameplay feels completely different in each.

BobO'Link

That's my observation of the 2 games exactly. I've been very curious about the toybox mode as I've played with similar products for decades (I have several "game design" programs for older computers as well as many "newer" games which allow you to create your own levels). The problems I always run into is the games/levels you can design yourself are just not as good as those which can be done outside the game. Often the construction tools are the limiting factor. Still, I've heard good things about Infinity in this area.

I really think that's where Disney is not doing the game justice. From what I've read the game is essentially *one* level with each playset - even those that come with the game. To me that seems to limit the game and put unnecessary restrictions on game play. I'd *love* to be able to put the figures from Monster's Inc. in the Pirates of the Carribean level and vice-versa. That this is not possible is one of the main reasons I've not invested in Disney's game.

I think this is what many people forget or just ignore. Of course Activision builds into the games major advertising for the other characters to entice (coerce?) kids into asking/begging/needling their parents for those new characters. Pure genius.

With the original Spyro's Adventures I had initially planned to purchase *only* enough characters to get into all the locked areas - one of each element. Because of the in-game "ads," the need in that version to get one of each to get 100% completion, my OCD, as well as that some were cool, and my grandson "really wanted" some I wound up getting one of each character as well as the Legendary characters. I ignored the "chase variants" (i.e. recolor jobs) because they offered nothing new other than a different paint job.

Now it's mostly my OCD collector mentality compelling me to make the purchase. I also tend to purchase them because one of the grandkids "wants" it, or it looks very cool, or the play/attack is good/cool, or it's on sale and I was in a pliable mood. I also like variants *if* they have different powers than the "regular" counterpart - although there have been few whose boost in stats truly warranted the "upgrade." As soon as I discovered that the regular characters have *zero* impact on Trap Team and that you only need *one* trap of each element I intended to ignore those regular characters and only get one trap for each element. Well... that's gone out the window as sales, the "coolness" factor of some characters/Traps has drug me deeper into the purchase cycle - again.

One of the arguments I use when purchasing new Skylanders is that I'd probably spend about that much on some other toy that might be played with for a week or two and relegated to the toy box. The Skylanders characters are well built and generally worth the purchase price even if they didn't work in the game. That they can be used in a video game to add extra value is icing on the cake (or you could reverse that outlook and come up with similar results). If it were not for the grandkids I'd only purchase exactly what I needed to "complete" the game - nothing more. Of course if it were not for them I'd probably have never purchased the first one and thus not gotten involved in this madness from the start!

wlj

i don't have any skylanders, but i remembered reading that Kaos was a rare trap. I was shopping at Walmart and just thought i would take a look -- booya! Kaos Trap for $6. i saw i could get around $40 on ebay so i bought the sucker

dsa_shea

I have had a few opportunities to do this but refuse. I hope you reconsider doing it.

BobO'Link

^I agree.

wlj

Wwjd

dsa_shea

Keep it as the start of your Skylanders collection.

Decker

darkdaze73

Went in and signed up for the Best Buy Gamers Club Unlocked today since they lowered the price a couple of days early. I found the Springtime Trigger Happy SE Swap Force figure and went to see if the GCU was working. It wasn't so the cashier did a manual override to give me the 20% off. Just checked online and the GCU is finally showing up on my account. I may order some Infinity figures before that sale goes off today.

darkdaze73

Just a heads up on a couple of things. Target has a 20% off Cartwheel on the Love Potion Pop Fizz that is good until 2/20. Also, I recently bought a box of specifically marked box Cinnamon Toast Crunch that mentioned having a free set of Skylanders Trap Team cards inside. There was also a $10 off any Trap Team starter pack coupon located inside the box along with a $1 off any Skylanders Trap Team single toys(excludes Traps). Both are good through 1/31/2016.

BobO'Link

^ It's supposed to be a card version of Skystones and my grandson *loves* the game (both versions) so I'd get a couple for him if it seems worth the effort so let us know if it's any good. I saw that one somewhere and thought I might look for a couple of boxes *if* the game is any good.

Here's the press release about that (and the other cereals in which cards can be found):

BobO'Link

I took my grandson by Target after church this morning in search of a couple of Nitro Head Rush characters. It took a while as there were none on the shelves. They'd been open for at least 3 hours at this point and while I'd not checked the stock level I was pretty sure they'd not sold out in such a short time. We had to track down a Electronics Dept. employee who had to look it up and then go in the back to get a couple. They had Nitro Crypt King listed on a hang tag with the B2G1 offer indicated but their scan of the tag showed they had *none* in stock. Bummer there as he wanted one (I got one when they came out). He settled for Fist Bash for the "free" figure as the only Trap Masters they had on the shelves was the regular Head Bash (and over a dozen of them!) which he already has. It's still a good deal and I'm happy (of course *he's* thrilled!). Of course I could have just purchased a third Nitro or a regular Head Bash and just returned it for the *best* value but for the ~$5 I'd save it's not really worth the time/gas/hassle involved.

darkdaze73

Went by Target yesterday and did a return/rebuy to get the B2G1 deal. There were no Nitro Head Rush figures on the shelves and no tags indicating it either. Plenty of the regular Head Rush though. I didn't have a lot of time to go ask about it so I stuck with the regular Head Rush. I will go back later this week and see if I can find it. Like BobO'Link, there were tags for Nitro Crypt King but none on the shelf. No big deal on that one as I just purchased the regular Crypt King for $4.50 online Sat. after I got in on the GCU deal.

I got my wife to purchase 3 of the other Trap Team figures to take advantage of the B2G1 deal while I did the return/rebuy. Unfortunately she realized after she had checked out that the deal did not go through. I also had her use the 20% off Cartwheel on the Love Potion Pop Fizz figure plus the $1 off coupon that I mentioned above. So she had to go to customer service to get it straightened out and it was a complete mess. The girl at CS finally got everything straightened out except the Cartwheel did not come off. I may try to get them to fix that next time I go in if there is no one waiting in line.