Retailer Listings and Comic-Con Reveal New Figures for Skylanders Swap Force

While I'm trying to pretty much swear off of Skylanders after I get the last few figures for Giants, I may well be able to be convinced to pick up the Lightcore versions of Flashwing and Warnado, when it's confirmed they'll work with the previous games.

I enjoyed the original game but... it just got too expensive to collect all the characters.

Gotta catch em all! just ordered my Giants Sidekicks from the Frito-Lays packs!

More interested in Disney Infinity

What currency are those in? At first I thought it was dollars, and was wondering why they were so ridiculously expensive.

Probably Russian rubles

"Trigger-happy" retailers. Nice one TW.

I've had enough of these games, and the toys that took 6 months to release, but this looks good so my son will probably get it for his birthday in Jan. Hopefully a nice sale price before then.

Wait...so Pop Thorn is actually called Gasteroid? BWAHAHAHAHA! I'm looking forward to picking up the Tower of Time Adventure Pack more than I was before! These punny names are so...punny!

Crud! SWAP Force's release is only three months away...and I still don't have a Wii U! Plus there are gaps in my collection! D:

@Katzii: I doubt they would work on older Skylanders games. The programming for LightCore characters is only in the game that introduced them due to the special features, which is why LC PB, Eruptor, Hex and Drobot only work in Giants and future games.

These games are a total scam. (Are they even games).

I like skylanders but this i am only going to get it when the prizes lower down

@GamerZack7 actually, the Series 1 lightcore figures work fine in the first game; they mark it to the contrary on the packaging to save confusing parents but they work perfectly fine. I only wonder with these since it's a whole new portal.

@Katzii: Wow, I didn't know that. Thanks for enlightening me!

@GamerZack7 you're welcome! As I said, I can understand why they didn't mark them as compatible, because parents would get confused, but as long as it's Eruptor, Drobot, Prism Break or Hex, it's all fine and dandy. I think they still light up too, to my recollection!

@Katzii: I think they would since the light-up feature is drawn from the Portal of Power itself and not the game.

I'm still not buying the game, but I think I'm in love with Boom Jet. I have to pick him up, along with Magna Charge, Spy Rise, Countdown, Trigger Happy and SPROCKET! And the Tech LightCore/Newlander.

Someone had a theory that these were the launch releases, and if that is the case, we get Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy at launch...

@GamerZack7 @Katzii Don't know if you two know, but recolours of older characters like Legendary Stealth Elf and Polar Whirlwind also work in SA as their standard editions.

@Nibelilt: I had no idea! I guess the packaging isn't always truthful, is it?

@Nibelilt I have to say that I keep faltering on this.

I think my current conclusion is that I will buy the game, down the line when it's cheap. I've seen the original sold for between £15 and £25, and Giants has gone down to cheap prices here and there.

I'll also get the figures, but only when they're on offer, I think. But I think having more figures from the outset will be better, so yeah, can wait for the game to be reduced! Especially since I imported Lightcore Hex so don't have the incentive to pre-order!

@Katzii I kid you not, my local Target is selling SSA Starter Packs for $14. Which is the price of a new Giants figure here. It's an amazing deal. They also sell SSA figures for $2.50 now. I wish that I had waited. I do really want Swap Force but I have OCD about making my collections consistent so I would have to buy everything all over again... -_-

By the way, I just notice some info in this article is wrong. Mulcan Forge is not a Skylander, it's the name of the new battle pack (which comes with a cauldron)

The packaging couldn't say that LightCore characters were compatbile because they are not FULLY compatible. As you know, in Giants, a LightCore character will enter with a big explosion — a bonus attack that you will not get in SSA. So if you say "comes with bonus attack" and that attack does not work in all games, then you have a problem of misleading customers.

This chart and explanation should clear it up, but yes, LC versions of returning characters work as "vanilla" characters in SSA, and will level up just fine. You just can't use their blast attack in SSA.
http://oneofswords.com/2012/10/questions-about-skylanders-toy-compatibility-have-a-chart/

All existing toys will work with SWAP Force; the new portal will not change that functionality. The new portal is needed for the new SWAP Force characters, but that same new portal still supports every character you already own.

Unrandomsam, I'm not sure why these games are "a scam," as you put it, because you didn't explain your position — but with millions of very happy customers out there, and the games delivering everything they promise to deliver, it's clearly not "a scam" where people are not getting what they want. Perhaps it's just not a game for you, which is fine, but there's no need for namecalling, you know? Play one and you'll see that they are not only really games, but really GOOD games — action/RPGs in the style of Diablo, just with a bit of Pokemon collectibility thrown in and a heck of a great sense of humor.

@OneOfSwords I actually don't like Giants TBH, it didn't feel magic like the first game. I would recommend @urandomsam buy SA and get one character of every element, it's a charming game, but try not to get sucked into Giants- it simply doesn't have enough replayability, even with its great new features. And you don't really feel like you're treated like a Portal Master any more. I loved it when it first came out but it really got old by the end of the year. Of course, if you're only gonna play them casually, picking up a Portal owners pack for Giants with SA is a good idea, just keep yourself in check. Giants is more like an expansion than a true sequel. I would recommend that you just buy one or two Skylanders a month or something so that you won't notice your shrinking wallet as much.

However, saying they're a "scam" is kinda true, the toy thing is totally unnessicary, and just isn't magical any more. It was cool the first time when it impacted the story more, but it lost its edge. In Giants I can't remember a time that wasn't in the beginning or end cutscene where you were called a Portal Master, whereas in SA it felt meaningful, so Giants' toy feature felt more gimmicky than epic.

Yeah, my wife, son, and I are excited for this game. We bought the original game and Giants... and have collected almost all of the figures. It does get pricy, but split up over time it's not too bad. The games itself are a blast and I see this being no different. It looks awesome and can't wait for it!

@Katzii I looked it up and apparently at least the Giants LC versions of Series one figures will work, just with no explosive entry, so, I hope that Lightcore Warnado will work with both previous games, with the same caveat of no explosive entry (and probably flagged as Series 1 on Giants

http://www.amazon.com/forum/video%20games/ref=cm_cd_et_md_pl?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1T1DM93QU4XL1&cdMsgID=Mx28ZNP8M0VUMJF&cdMsgNo=18&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx2JTU09EW2XR5H#Mx28ZNP8M0VUMJF

@Nibelilt I'd say that they're less of a scam as there is a most likely far more effective tool to stop the kid from getting a skylander, the parents. With many F2P mobile games, they seem much more predatory, especially with a default I've heard with the idevices that unlocks the account for more purchases for 15 minutes. I know that Android 4.3 will have restricted accounts so the parents can disable IAPs completely for that account, but it is up to the parent, much like it is up to the parent to say no to the kid who wants...say a Dark Light Crypt set (I'm not going to pay over 100 bucks for a level pack, which is why I'm hoping it gets a Series 3 release too)

@OneOfSwords I'm gonna argue semantics and say it is much more of a Gauntlet Like than a light diablo. But yeah, I don't find Skylanders to be a scam (even if 100%ing all non level pack levels would run 40 bucks if you go for all series 1), I reserve that for the Mobile ecosystem (You have to pay money to complete all of the objectives for City 2020 and My Little Pony on Android, and both of those games sit you out if you have the GALL to play them too much at once. If you manage to get all of your Skylanders knocked out in a level you just need to restart it, only losing upwards from 5 minutes of progress. And once you beat a level, all knocked out Skylanders will become available for the next level and/or upgrades if they were carrying enough gold)

@GamerZack7 I have Swap Force pre ordered on the Wii as I don't have a U yet. I just hope that Beenox doesn't muck it up (I'm hoping more of a PS2 Guitar Hero 3 rather than a PS2 Rock Band 1, as GH3 on PS2 had all of the features that the current gen versions had, while Rock Band PS2 lacked character creation entirely)

For my collecting plans, I will say that I plan on getting 3 core lives per element, a swap force character of each movement type and element, and just the one Giant that came with Giants. I feel that the Giant gimmick characters (like Tree Rex, Eye Brawl, and Ninjini) make the game unfair...for the game itself, as Tree Rex, even at level 5, can rip through high clusters of enemies with little effort. I only have him on standby for when I need to do a giant gimmick

@Nibelilt: What a coincidence...I have Collector's OCD as well! I've been sticking to a certain pattern when collecting my figures, such as 24 normal-sized Skylanders in each of the current series with three characters of each element and one overlap between series per element. They're all organised neatly, but I find the gaps slightly annoying... -_-

@LOMDR: I'm hoping to pick up a Wii U before SWAP Force is out, but I'm waiting on the 32GB White console's inevitable international release, though I'd likely cave in and buy an 8GB one if need be since the white looks so sleek; it's for that reason I've held off from getting Giants despite collecting quite a few Series 2 characters already. Molten Hot Dog is just too sweet to go wanting!

@LOMDR Well, technically, there is a freemium Skylanders game... You're right that it isn't TECHNICALLY a scam. But I think it has truly lost its edge.