darkSpyro

seriously, there are way too many people keeping Skylanders in their packages thinking they will be worth something in the future.

wake up and accept the reality. variants from the original ssa are already only worth a fraction of what they were selling for earlier this year.

open them and enjoy them

t7gga, you are one smart puppy

I agree
I haven't checked the prices the variants are going for in a while, but I imagine they're way down in value.

I don't open them. I have no grand illusions that they'll fund my retirement or even buy a Big Mac Extra Value Meal in the future.

I leave them sealed because A.) I have no desire to "play" with the figures and B.) I love the packaging, artwork and all.

This is the same reason I'm a member of TheCoverProject forums - and the same reason I've gone through a ton of effort in casing my older video games. I love having all the original artwork, game descriptors and marketing speak along with the cartridge.

Quote: UncleBob

I don't open them. I have no grand illusions that they'll fund my retirement or even buy a Big Mac Extra Value Meal in the future.

I leave them sealed because A.) I have no desire to "play" with the figures and B.) I love the packaging, artwork and all.

This is the same reason I'm a member of TheCoverProject forums - and the same reason I've gone through a ton of effort in casing my older video games. I love having all the original artwork, game descriptors and marketing speak along with the cartridge.

THIS^

My answer is simple..."No". Like Uncle Bob here, not everyone is keeping them "Mint" with the thought of banking later. Thats not the case with me at all. I love the artwork. I like my things as a "Collector" to be mint. Thats my choice. I bought them with MY money so its ultimately my choice how to keep them.
Theres plenty of people who are keeping them mint. Even some kids. I don't understand why you are getting your feathers ruffled over this so much...its not your decision what people do with their things, so please just let it go. There really isn't any point to a whole new topic on this subject matter...now its just getting old.

As long as there is collectables (Which these can be considered to some like me) there will be adults to buy them and keep them in the packaging.
Now granted I do have several that I have doubles of, and did rip them out of the box, but thats only a few.

Not trying to sound rude and what not but I just really don't see a reason for people to get so bent out of shape over such a trivial thing like this. Get over it.

Hate to say it, but that time where they were going to be worth something in the future? Right now. Even Boomer is worth double retail some days. If you want to cash in your S1 boxed figures at a profit, wait until Black Friday and start after that.

I do agree though. Having a boxed set is one thing, but there's no point owning the game without a "play" set that you actually use for its intended purpose.

But you can use the figures in the game without opening them... quite well, at that... I 100%'d Spyro's Adventure for the Wii and the 3DS and the only open figures I've got are the six that came with the games and an extra WERDS on my shelf at work.

Quote: Dunkin

Quote: UncleBob

I don't open them. I have no grand illusions that they'll fund my retirement or even buy a Big Mac Extra Value Meal in the future.

I leave them sealed because A.) I have no desire to "play" with the figures and B.) I love the packaging, artwork and all.

This is the same reason I'm a member of TheCoverProject forums - and the same reason I've gone through a ton of effort in casing my older video games. I love having all the original artwork, game descriptors and marketing speak along with the cartridge.

THIS^

My answer is simple..."No". Like Uncle Bob here, not everyone is keeping them "Mint" with the thought of banking later. Thats not the case with me at all. I love the artwork. I like my things as a "Collector" to be mint. Thats my choice. I bought them with MY money so its ultimately my choice how to keep them.
Theres plenty of people who are keeping them mint. Even some kids. I don't understand why you are getting your feathers ruffled over this so much...its not your decision what people do with their things, so please just let it go. There really isn't any point to a whole new topic on this subject matter...now its just getting old.

As long as there is collectables (Which these can be considered to some like me) there will be adults to buy them and keep them in the packaging.
Now granted I do have several that I have doubles of, and did rip them out of the box, but thats only a few.

Not trying to sound rude and what not but I just really don't see a reason for people to get so bent out of shape over such a trivial thing like this. Get over it.

These two answers basically summarise my thoughts. Not everyone is thinking of money.

In my opinion, toys look 'cooler' in their original box. For many others, they're better out of the box. It's purely a matter of opinion.

i fully understand the collector and mint thing, that is different.

but personally i liken people who play with toys when they are still in their packages to the type of people who wrap comfy lounge furniture in plastic to make it uncomfortable and then still sit on it and say they are enjoying the furniture ... loonies

I don't see how you can play with Skylander figures when they're not articulated though. And I certainly can't see how anyone is a 'loony' for preferring them in box for whatever the reason, even monetary.

...But honestly, I haven't heard the expression you've stated, so I can't say anymore.

EDIT: Unless what you mean is the type of people who store Skylanders away entirely, without even putting them on the portal. Then I understand better

"I don't see how you can play with Skylander figures when they're not articulated though." ... seriously ???

... part of the attraction of Skylanders is that there are physical characters that you can handle. my own sons use their imaginations and the figures to act out stories.

you may as well just have dlc if you want the in game functionality but have no interest in handling the real physical characters.

Quote: t7gga

"I don't see how you can play with Skylander figures when they're not articulated though." ... seriously ???

... part of the attraction of Skylanders is that there are physical characters that you can handle. my own sons use their imaginations and the figures to act out stories.

you may as well just have dlc if you want the in game functionality but have no interest in handling the real physical characters.

Ah, but that's your kids - Some grown adults can play too, but if I have an adventure I think 'woah, that would be epic', I write it out as a short story. I let my imagination out differently. I was referring to adults with my statement. After all - Kids can play with anything, in a good way mostly

as an adult i like to handle the physical characters and appreciate all of the hard work that has gone into creating them. there is so much detail on these characters that cannot be appreciated when they are still in the package, it seems crazy never being able to see the back of the character.

Maybe. But for me, as an adult, I can appreciate the detail just as well when they're in the packaging. You can still see the back perfectly fine, honestly.

It really is just a matter of opinion, and does seem an incredibly trivial thing to argue over in the long run. Boxed or not, people have different ways of appreciating an artists work, or indeed, their 'toys'. No opinion is better than the other.

"does seem an incredibly trivial thing to argue over in the long run" ... true, no argument just an opinion

Quote: t7gga

"does seem an incredibly trivial thing to argue over in the long run" ... true, no argument just an opinion

That's fair enough

Both sides here have valid points.

Personally, I have kids playing with these things at home. This fact leads to open figures. I had a few I was tring to leave in box and discovered the quality of the packaging declined quickly defeating the purpose of keeping them on card. Also storing open figure seems to be way easier unless you have several spare walls in your house to hang the figures on.

In this case individual needs an desires lead one to opening or not opening the figures.

I think the people that say "it's just a toy" have a chip on their shoulder or something. Who cares what other people decide to do with their stuff. They can decorate their bathroom toilet for all I care. If someone chooses not to open it...it's not your problem. Why does it seem like there's only one way to own Skylanders. Heck, my nephew doesn't even have a gaming system and he plays with Skylanders.

I think everyone needs to get off their high horse. What's just a toy to you, is a collectible to someone else. Maybe people are just fond of Spyro. Who knows...who cares...none of my business.

And I do want to say one thing regarding "collectibles". If Activision wasn't in on the whole "collectibles" idea, then why are they making these rare variants??? The exclusives are semi-rare, but the Gold, Silver, Crystal, Stone, GITD...they are extremely hard to find...thus they are collectible. I promise you 2 days from now or 50 years from now, they will be worth more then the retail price. And Wham-Shell, although easier to find now, did not appear in great quantities as the other characters. The same can probably be said about Camo and Warnado. I bet they have semi-collectible status too.

^ no chip on my shoulder.

i collect the figures with my sons. we have every ssa variant including the event exclusives (pearl hex, metallic cynder and chrome spyro) and all are open and get played with

I will be indiscrete and ask how much you paid for your variants. I will be honest and say that if I paid $200 for a variant because my collector bug kicked in, then I am not going to open it. Sure, I accept that it most likely won't be worth $200 down the line but I am not going to make the thing nigh worthless by opening it either...

Oh at to add to my post before. I DO use ALL my figures (Minus the variants) in the game. I actually play it with them still in the box. Trust me they all get used, they aren't just sitting and collecting dust for no reason

Either way no side is wrong much like others have stated. If you wanna open a variant and play with it, then by all means...was your money that paid for it.
Me on the other hand, will remain in the packaging. Especially the variants.

The older variants which did not start at level 5 and some gold have been used in my household.

In fact, the 3 silver variants all have the Wii hat which is a big deal as I sold the Wii version and "upgraded" to the XBox one so they are the only ones who will ever have that hat in my domecile.

My tortured variants

Quote: ZapNorris

My tortured variants

ALL VARIANTS AND REGULAR SKYLANDERS MUST BE TREATED EQUALLY!!! OPEN THEM!

Nooooooooo.......

They, They special. They precious. PRECIOUS!!!!!!

I never take my Skylanders out of the tied-off TRU bag that has the boxed figures inside. Just like I left the store with them! There are plenty of good pictures online to get a good look at them. Also, I can push the bag around on the portal that is on the floor so I can play them in the game. I like the surprise of not knowing which figure will pop up.

O.o I open most of them so far I havent open drobot and Granite Crusher yet because I don't have the Giants game yet >.> so far they are my wall decorations until I get the game.

Personally, I open whatever I feel like opening. I collect others toys/figures rather than just Skylanders and I tend to leave things in the box half of the time. Mostly it depends on if the item is "collector worthy" or if the packaging was part of the appeal.

As far as Skylanders go, I will continue to open all of my regular ones. Promos and variants always stay in the boxes. Store exclusives I'll usually open unless I have a spare. The only one I've been really fighting myself not to open where I feel like I'm "missing out" is the flocked Stump Smash because I want to feel its fuzziness.

I collect hotwheels, and that is a collectors item and they lose value at least in my case when they are opened up.

Quote: Skylandscaper

I never take my Skylanders out of the tied-off TRU bag that has the boxed figures inside. Just like I left the store with them! There are plenty of good pictures online to get a good look at them. Also, I can push the bag around on the portal that is on the floor so I can play them in the game. I like the surprise of not knowing which figure will pop up.

... pmsl

The only Landers people should keep sealed are Variants.

I disagree Tigga....I believe they will be worth a lot of money....how much? I don't know....but some figures have increased in money...like metallic cynder....which at the moment is very rare to find on eBay....the silvers have retained a high price tag....and pearl hex dropped dramatically in price and began to increase again....soo....my conclusion is that they will increase in value.

I just like displaying the boxes with art/etc. I don't care about resale value- if I did, I would have sold most of my Spyro collection a while ago when they were a hotter thing than they used to be due to them getting all replaced by Skylanders-ro. If a situation ever calls for it I'm willing to sell most of my collection but otherwise I just place them down to look at- look nicer than just the figures, IMO- but of course I have another opened set to actually hold and all.

The problem with collecting nowadays is that there are too many collectors out there, so it keeps the value from increasing to the levels of G.I. Joe, Barbie and Star Wars items. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of each variant Skylander figure, and if most people are keeping them in the box, the relative value of them stays pretty low.

I just steer clear of the variants and open the figs that we buy. Makes it easy.

Quote: t7gga

^ no chip on my shoulder.

i collect the figures with my sons. we have every ssa variant including the event exclusives (pearl hex, metallic cynder and chrome spyro) and all are open and get played with

And you see nothing wrong with this? This only makes sense if:

a) You are filthy rich.
b) You found all of the variants and also attended the events for the exclusives. (No extra cost to you)
c) You got a steal off ebay for the variants/exclusives.
d) You have spoiled children.
e) All of the above.

I promise you, no parent on this forum that makes an average to decent salary is going to spend $100+ per variant just for their kids to play with them. You realize that's not good financial sense. Just the base Skylander set alone will run you somewhere between $250-$300. Then to spend somewhere around $1000 for the hard to find variants. To each their own, but you sir...are not an average consumer. You would be up there with GameMaster who is also clearly not your average consumer.

And I have to disagree, you definitely have a chip on your shoulder...you started this thread!

Quote: pakman916

Quote: t7gga

^ no chip on my shoulder.

i collect the figures with my sons. we have every ssa variant including the event exclusives (pearl hex, metallic cynder and chrome spyro) and all are open and get played with

And you see nothing wrong with this? This only makes sense if:

a) You are filthy rich.
b) You found all of the variants and also attended the events for the exclusives. (No extra cost to you)
c) You got a steal off ebay for the variants/exclusives.
d) You have spoiled children.
e) All of the above.

I promise you, no parent on this forum that makes an average to decent salary is going to spend $100+ per variant just for their kids to play with them. You realize that's not good financial sense. Just the base Skylander set alone will run you somewhere between $250-$300. Then to spend somewhere around $1000 for the hard to find variants. To each their own, but you sir...are not an average consumer. You would be up there with GameMaster who is also clearly not your average consumer.

And I have to disagree, you definitely have a chip on your shoulder...you started this thread!

Or they could of just found them in store for a regular price.

Or gotten really lucky on eBay...you'd be surprised the amount of stuff that slips through with almost no bids.

Remember that quite a few of these variants were expo specific and never in stores.

Quote: arceustheprime

Quote: pakman916

Quote: t7gga

^ no chip on my shoulder.

i collect the figures with my sons. we have every ssa variant including the event exclusives (pearl hex, metallic cynder and chrome spyro) and all are open and get played with

And you see nothing wrong with this? This only makes sense if:

a) You are filthy rich.
b) You found all of the variants and also attended the events for the exclusives. (No extra cost to you)
c) You got a steal off ebay for the variants/exclusives.
d) You have spoiled children.
e) All of the above.

I promise you, no parent on this forum that makes an average to decent salary is going to spend $100+ per variant just for their kids to play with them. You realize that's not good financial sense. Just the base Skylander set alone will run you somewhere between $250-$300. Then to spend somewhere around $1000 for the hard to find variants. To each their own, but you sir...are not an average consumer. You would be up there with GameMaster who is also clearly not your average consumer.

And I have to disagree, you definitely have a chip on your shoulder...you started this thread!

Or they could of just found them in store for a regular price.

Was trying to point that with with "b) You found all of the variants and also attended the events for the exclusives. (No extra cost to you)" Meant to say, "You found all of the variants in the store.."

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Or gotten really lucky on eBay...you'd be surprised the amount of stuff that slips through with almost no bids.

c) You got a steal off ebay for the variants/exclusives.

you cant make me open my toys! There for, stop letting it bother you. It bothers me that people re paint them. But they bought them, its theirs to do as they please.

Here's the way I see it. Some of us aren't lucky enough to be able to get a hold of multiples of these, let alone boxes full of them, so much that we can give them away.

Some of us paid more than 100 for each of them. To those who did pay more than 100, I say keep them sealed and hold onto them if you can.

Some of us live in a country full of greedy people who will pull them aside before they even hit the floor, while other people in other countries don't give a hoot. That's when you buy and open them, because it didn't cost you an arm and a leg for each.

I also say to those who have theirs sealed, do what you want with them. You spent the money on them, no one else did. Your money, your call.

I am trying to get rid of mine for 3k. There's no reason to hold onto them. My collection still looks epic without them. Fact is, I have them hanging on my wall, and for the money I spent, they won't do me any good in life. They won't make me a millionaire. They don't determine how my life will play out. They simply... hang there. For the cost of them, it's not worth it, and my insurance only covers the retail cost of them, so... yeah. I'd rather get rid of them, than get 10 dollars each for them if my house burnt down.

It's the reason I swore off collecting the variants for Giants. I've done good so far. I've had chances to go through boxes myself, in order to find the rock variants, but for the first time, I don't give a crap, which isn't a bad thing.

My collection looks just fine with 8 copies of the first game, 11 copies of the second game, 3 Gnarly Tree Rex Wii Bundles, 3 of every character, 2 of every Sidekick, and all of my accessories.

Best of all, I can take that 3k (if it sells), and pay off some credit cards or go on a vacation. Something more productive. Now, if I ever have a chance at the variants again, for cheaper, sure, I may go for them. They would have to be dead cheap, however. This also leaves me room to move my posters back up, since they are so low to the ground.

As of right now, my mindset is that I am better off without them than with them. I will stick to variants that look different ingame, or show up as SPECIAL ingame, like GITD Fright Rider, GITD Cynder, and I assume GITD Sonic Boom.

To those who will forever own the variants (mine may not sell and if they don't I will keep them regardless but still not go after Giants variants unless cheap), do what YOU want with them. Again, your money, your call.

GameMaster selling? I must be in the wrong forum.

Yep. I got to thinking about the variants two days ago, and I started looking at them and what I put into getting them. I started thinking how this is all not worth it. People I've talked to said my collection will look no matter what, and they even said they wouldn't have gone after the variants because some were ugly and or they didn't look different ingame.

Sure, had I found them for MSRP, I could see myself hanging onto them, but the sad fact is, I paid stupid amounts for things to just hang on a wall. Even if I had opened them, that doesn't make them worth the cost of the money, when there are better things to spend that kind of money on.

Heck, I was able to buy 5 of everything - through various sales - to get all of the first games collection for my kids and I, for less than the price of those 16 variants (4 were cheap or free).

I will have more room to make my Spyro's Adventure wall look more tidy. I had always wanted to place the Adventure Packs in a row of 4, going straight across, underneath the Triple Packs.

So, yeah, they are for sale on Ebay as we speak. After 2 days, I have 5 watchers and around 100 views. I have someone already interested, but I had to send them closeup pics of each one.

Spending that slightly less than 3k on something productive will make it worth it in the end. I am now only after variants that look different in the game.

so i guess you will be sending the chrome e3 spyro that you got for free back to activision?

you only got it because you were crying so much about not getting one over on neogaf saying you deserved it because you were the ultimate collector ... now you don't give a rat's ass about it anyway

Yeah, that's how frustrated I got with getting these variants, although I didn't come out and flat out say I deserved one for whatever reason, and if I did, please post a link to said post to refresh my memory.

I won't be sending it back. However, I don't see them sending me anymore variants from conventions anyhow, so there's simply no point. Like I said, if I found them at retail, that would have been one thing, but as of late I've been thinking about ways to better spend money.

It's ironic to say that, seeing as I;m a person who bought 8 copies of the first game, 11 copies of the second, 3 of every figure for this game, and 3 Wii's for Gnarly Tree Rex, but those are coming at sale prices or recouped costs. The variants I paid for, weren't gotten during B1G1-B2G1 half off or free.

The entirety of my Giants collection so far was bought through a glitch at Best Buy on the first day of release for Giants, where I got every third figure for free. TRU price matched that when wave 2 came out, and I got 3 of everything for far cheaper than originally costed. The Wii's I am buying, I am buying with lots of gift cards saved from past promotions, plus I am recouping costs on all but 1 Wii.

So basically, yeah, I don't care about variants anymore. There's more to life than making sure I have variants that don't show up ingame, but can hang on my wall. After doing a survey with people I know, they even said I shouldn't keep them, because they seem like a waste of time, so variants with ingame looks that reflect the figure it is, and I'm not gonna regret this at all.

I will still be getting 3 of everything for Giants and 2 of everything thereafter. But long gone are the days of hunting for the impossible and buying the impossible for the cost of an arm and a leg. My collection won't look any worse without them.

Life doesn't equal Skylanders. It's just a hobby. I control it, it doesn't control me.

Hmm...well for me personally, I collect a lot of things. I certainly don't expect them to be worth anything down the road, but I've always kept all of my things neat and in very good condition. As a collector, I like having them up on the walls along with other lines I collect, although that's not to say I don't open other things. My entire SSA collection is opened and I intend to open any regular characters I get.

Currently only Granite Crusher, L-Bouncer and the L-3 packs are in the blister but I also have a set of the SSA ones opened and in the blister. Thankfully the characters can be played through the packaging but I'll definitely be opening some other ones and of course duplicates.

GM78, mate, I don't want this to be a "bashing" session but you really do vex me and I am doing this publicly to call you out.

1/. You just admitted that you got 4 of the variants for free or cheap. By my calculations, you spent nowhere near $3000 on the variants so by trying to get significantly more than what you spent on them, you have now entered the realm of scalper, I am afraid.

1a/. You actually entered that realm some time ago, to be honest. You used deceptive practices at BestBuy to get multiple Volcanic Vaults and now use them as currency (in the realm of $70-80 was the last number I recall you using when discussing their trade value). If you were as truly altruisti as you claim, then you would have given some away to people less fortunate. I do not agree with all of t7gga's statements all of the time but at least he has put his money where his mouth is.

2/. If you spent so much money on toys rather than clearing off your credit card in this current economic climate then you are no longer the entertaining "eccentric" but just plain foolish.

Yeah, that's how frustrated I got with getting these variants, although I didn't come out and flat out say I deserved one for whatever reason, and if I did, please post a link to said post to refresh my memory.

You claim to have a "photostatic" memory (your word as I don't believe it is the correct one but have made allowances for possible regional variation in language. The terms are either eidetic or colloquially photographic) so you should remember this. After all, so many others do.

Oh, yeah, for the record the Stone variants come up in the game as Special, as well. Some may fail to do so but the intention is that they do.

Personally, I would keep the cool-looking ones like Chrome Spyro. But the golds, silvers and GID I would get rid of. Maybe even the crystals. The ones like Chrome Spyro are truly unique, since no other figs were done like that.

I understand doing so would significantly hurt your asking price, but whatever.

Heh, I got a Gold Drill Sergeant for $30.00 on Amazon.
And its REAL.

EXACTLY!!!! i tried to do that with my sonic boom, lasted 2 hours