darkSpyro

Like I have said before, Activision does win in this situation, we will all buy. However, they are kind of damned if you do damned if you don't. (sorry little kids) If they wait they will get yelled at. If they release all now they will get yelled at.

I'm personally just stoked that we are getting some new ones prior to Christmas. I'm far more excited for Hot Dog on in January, but these are great, just hoping a new giant is part of it somewhere in there. I have quite the motherlode for the kids for the holiday (something the wife always gives me crap about), but I like the hunt - and I like it when new stuff comes out. It is all part of the fun. We were chasing new figures into late April last year, and Sidekicks into late summer kept interest high until Giants hit.

I don't think TFB would be bashed for releasing everything at once.

Reason why, is because then casuals whose kids are into Skylanders can window shop at any time. If Little Timmy wants momma to take him Skylanders shopping because he has extra money, he has the whole lot to browse through and pick from.

This, at the same time, means fans or parents can't get mad, because the 75 dollars they spent on the game, hasn't gone to waste, because the fans or parents and their kids already beat the game and have no use for newer figures, since they moved on to other games.

Releasing all at once, allows someone like me to get the money spending on Skylanders out of the way, that way I can focus on saving sooner rather than later for the next Skylanders game.

...... This wave... I don't understand why it is so small. Maybe the whole list wasn't released?

^ Most likely.

Quote: Matteomax

^ Most likely.

I was really hoping for a giant this wave, and why the don't have one is a shocker. I also hope that WB is in this Wave. I am just really hoping.... But sadly looks like it won't.

Sure, releasing all at once works out ok for the consumers. But that isn't the reason for waves. First of all, it allows them to spread out manufacturing - every time a new figure comes out they have to retool the line, the painters, the packaging, etc. It also allows them to garner publicity every time a new wave releases. They were front page news on Joystik and Kotaku 7 months after the game released. Not many games are still generating excitement that long after it is out.

Also, one other thing - something that is good marketing. By not having everything out, it drives sales of figures that may not have been picked up otherwise. Let's say little Johnny wants Hot Dog. He goes to the store, nope not out yet, well he wants a new figure so he instead picks up Series 2 Drill Sergeant, because he wants something new to play right now. Had they all come out at once, a lot of people would just get the new ones and been done. Instead, they consider some of the others to fill in the time before the new one they want releases. Maybe a little underhanded way to drive sales, but it does drive sales to the lesser desired figures. Sure that theory doesn't work for you or me, we get them all anyways, but we aren't exactly the majority. And some people stick to their guns and just wait, but they too aren't the majority. Little Johnny is the majority. And when grandma takes him to the store to get a new Skylander, he isn't nearly as picky. TFB wants to sell more figures, and not just the new ones. All of the Little Johnnys in the world combined buy far more figures than us superfans, they outnumber us by the thousands.

Quote: [url=http://forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=67248&post=3861897

I was really hoping for a giant this wave, and why the don't have one is a shocker. I also hope that WB is in this Wave. I am just really hoping.... But sadly looks like it won't.

I was a little surprised at the selection as well. That most likely means two magic for Wave 4 (three if it includes Ninjini). But then again, we are not privy to the logic and the behind the scenes technicalities, obviously element selection is not a priority. Last year we had an air and a life in both of the last waves, whereas tech was done in the first wave, earth in wave 2, and undead and magic by wave 3.

The main problem is that two of the most heavily-marketed characters that kids want (Thumpback and Hot Dog) won't be out for Christmas. Thumpback's been in a commercial and he's on the back of every box, and most of the Toys for Bob staff even admitted that Thumpback was their favorite giant. Hot Dog is the adogable character that kids are really excited for, especially Molten Hot Dog.

It's understandably disappointing that they won't be available until next year, especially when every other post on the Skylanders FB page is a parent or grandparent whose children asked Santa for Thumpback.

Quote: GameMaster78

I don't think TFB would be bashed for releasing everything at once.

Reason why, is because then casuals whose kids are into Skylanders can window shop at any time. If Little Timmy wants momma to take him Skylanders shopping because he has extra money, he has the whole lot to browse through and pick from.

This, at the same time, means fans or parents can't get mad, because the 75 dollars they spent on the game, hasn't gone to waste, because the fans or parents and their kids already beat the game and have no use for newer figures, since they moved on to other games.

Releasing all at once, allows someone like me to get the money spending on Skylanders out of the way, that way I can focus on saving sooner rather than later for the next Skylanders game.

Gamemaster, you know from my posts in the past that I really don't care when they release them. Also, as you know I try and look at everything just not from what I hope or think will happen. So, let me explain the reason behind my comment about getting bashed if they released everything at once.

I probably should have used better words. I know that we had discussed that Activision and Toys For Bob had a problem with empty shelves last year. Some people lost interest, in between waves. Now, I think they should have all characters out before May. When I say out, I don't mean out in having Wham Shells being so hard to find that people would run over someone if they had it. I mean have it out in a full supply so that everyone has a decent shot to pick it up.

If they release them all now, and everyone has them by Christmas. (This is Just hypothetical.) Now what..... game comes out next year. In October. You have 9-10 months of nothing. No skylander hunting, you have lost a lot of interest in the whole game. If you notice most games now have DLC that can extend life of games by months if not years. Take CoD, Sports Games, World of Warcraft has been going on for years. I know that it's a different realm of gaming but it has still been going on for years.

Everyone knows they had a supply issue last year. Part of that was no one could have figured that this game was going to get as huge as it did. Other part was just bad planning on ACtivision and TFB in not ramping up production after they noticed the game picking up.

It seems as if they have almost gone to the other end of the spectrum. With the way everything is going maybe by March. We will have a long six months of waiting. Hopefully when/if I'm going to assume when, Skylanders 3 comes out they will have it mastered.

Anyways, no one is really wrong or right in this situation, it's a matter of personal preference.

Quote: defpally

Quote: [url=http://forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=67248&post=3861897

I was really hoping for a giant this wave, and why the don't have one is a shocker. I also hope that WB is in this Wave. I am just really hoping.... But sadly looks like it won't.

I was a little surprised at the selection as well. That most likely means two magic for Wave 4 (three if it includes Ninjini). But then again, we are not privy to the logic and the behind the scenes technicalities, obviously element selection is not a priority. Last year we had an air and a life in both of the last waves, whereas tech was done in the first wave, earth in wave 2, and undead and magic by wave 3.

Exactly, but I am very confused about these variants they wish to release. They have like 6, and only one is out. So what I wish to see is maybe the last of series 2 I. This wave and the last of the Giants in the next with e variants. But still I am wrong I know. This is just really confusing me, and also frustrating me as well. :/

All I hope, is that they don't space this out for 7 months for such a short game. Even the first game was short, compared to the time it took to complete the collection for the game.

They need to do something to keep people interested in the franchise while they wait to release new characters. One person was over on Facebook complaining about how the characters are released earlier. I don't blame them, in all honesty.

I mean, just to see how each character plays, in a game I've beaten months before, where is the difference in that, when I have already moved onto games like Sonic All Stars Racing and soon Ni No Kuni? Why go back just to see a Skylanders moves, when I don't feel like going through the campaign again, no matter how short?

I agree, that they need to work on something in the game of making it longer. Now, as I have also said before, the game isn't really geared towards you and I. It is geared towards the 10 year olds that have the attention span of nothing. Also, that being said, I feel that they have to walk a fine line with the story mode. You run into problems of it getting to complicated, and long for people who this game was made for. The little kids. That is why when people (not saying you) just jump all over Activision and TFB for doing it this way and not that way, they often forget that the game is not geared to the majority of this site. It just isn't.

People also have to look at while, yes they are making money hand over fist on this, to do ideas that have people have would be great, fine, and dandy, it would also cost big bucks. I know that corporations get a bad rap these days. When in all honesty most of the people doing the work for them are people like you and me trying to make a honest living today. Most of them are good corps. also they just get a bad rap because they make money.

I just wish people would be able to look at it from different views instead of Oh NOES TFB and Activision are such scum they are not releasing X Giant until then, it's been on every package and every commercial. If you would have looked at what they did last year, with S:SA and releasing the figures that tested the best with people last. Wham Shell, Warnado, and one other one tested really well and it was released last. Why? Because they are in the business to make money and keep interest in everything at a high level. Now, could have they done that better? You betcha, Wham Shell is still a pain for people to find. Other than Black Friday at TRU, I have only seen two Wham Shells in the wild.

People also forget about how long it takes to make figures. It was talked about a few posts back so I won't go into detail.

I like having debates with you because you don't usually get too bent out of shape when people have difference in opinions, which is rare on the interwebs these days.


I'm going to take my 100 degree fever back to bed now. I'll check back in later.

I know it's geared toward kids, but think of it like this, kids lose their attention toward any given thing faster than adults do. That's why TFB could learn something about how they release these figures in whatever time span they do, which only benefits them in the end, so the kids don't lose their patience playing the waiting game. On March 21st of last year, it was spring break. My kids were the only kids that showed up at my local TRU and they were only helping me get Lightning Rod, Zook, and Dragon's Peak.

The rest were adults who were bragging about how much they made over Christmas, as they scalped these things. Not one person there, said they were there for their kids. I imagine my TRU wasn't the only one who had scalpers looking for big bucks. That means the game shifted from a kids game, to a scalpers haven. Sure, parents were probably the ones buying them up on Ebay, but who knows how many that was.

Now, had they not dragged it on that long, TFB probably could have had more sales of figures during the holidays, where kids had either gotten it on day 1 or got it for Christmas but also got some cash from grandma. That cash could either go toward another Skylander they don't own, or it could go to a Beyblade, another video game, Nerf, Power Rangers, etc.

I just really hope they end Giants figures in March, and I hope TFB seriously gives thought to releasing Adventure Packs next game, and release as many as months they're stretching the release of figures. If it's 4 months, 4 waves, have 4 Adventure Packs. If they want to stretch the releases out to 7 months, and do waves bi-monthly, have 7 Adventure Packs, once a month. That allows for a Skylander to come out once a month, a new level to come out once a month, and for the customer to have new magical items to play with once a month. It renews the replay value of the game more so than registers a newly released character, buying his moves, and saying "oh, cool, he does this and that. Too bad I beat the game already, so there's no need to test these moves out on enemies."

I love this franchise, and I want to see it last forever (so long as they don't overkill it with endless amounts of the same character; ie Series 2, 3, 4, 5 and Lightcores of the same characters). However, one day, customers like the one complaining today on the Facebook Skylanders page, is going to grow and grow, as they feel they spent 75 bucks on a game that doesn't offer them everything at once, so by the time they can complete it, they're already waiting for the sequel, while the previous game they beat, has nothing more to offer them gameplay wise, other than characters who can level up.

At my TRU on March 21st, I was first in line and not a single person in the fairly long line was there your scalping, or at least owned up to it. They all had a list from their kids on which ones to get.

Having figures out prior to Christmas would have done nothing but glut the shelves. The shelves were FILLED at every store I went to up until December 26th. You could find anything. The stores thought the game was a bust. So they didn't re-order. Activision didn't think it was going big, so they didn't ramp up production. The day after Christmas it all went away. It was that Christmas money that did it. Then the scalpers caught on. Scalpers are triggered by demand, when kids went nuts over the figures, they jumped into the fray and made demand even worse. Since shelves were already empty, it wasn't hard to keep them cleared when a new shipment came in and then they could set their price. Activision was playing catch up until April. It had nothing to do with how long it took a new wave to come out.

Wish my stores would have been like that. However, I live in a republican state. It's all about free market and people making money any way they can, even if it means crushing kids' chances at getting toys (any toys not just Skylanders).

Starting around mid-November, when TRU's got in tons of boxes of wave 2, that's when it started. Scalpers would load up baskets and sell those suckers on Ebay. In Janurary, the only thing on shelves, were tons of Boomers.

It was really bad around these parts. Now, that's not to say my TRU's suck at getting stuff in. That's not the case. It's the line of thinking of people in this city I live in.

I live in a red state too, in a major metropolitan area. I got Wave 2 off the shelf. I had no idea my kids would take a liking to the game as much as they did, so at that time I hadn't gone full on "Collect em all" and had no idea when stuff was coming out. I knew they would like it, but at the time I boughts figures one of each element. I went in maybe a week after Wave 2 hit and thought Hex and Wrecking Ball looked cool, so I got them to go with the others.

Don't get me wrong, we have plenty of douchebags around here that will kick a kid in the stomach for a dollar. But they didn't do it for Skylanders until January. I distinctly remember going in TRU the end of December and seeing empty shelves, so I asked if they were discontinued or something. The employee told me the day after Christmas they went nuts.

What makes me happy now though is there are zero scalpers on the local Craigslist. The only Skylanders are average people just selling their own stuff. Sure, at the beginning of Giants there were a bunch, but restock kept coming so they moved on. Just like with the WiiU. The manager at my store told me they had a guy that tried to put his credit card down on their whole first shipment of Giants. They refused, and when he came back after they had them on the shelves, I'm sure his credit card wilted at the two massive displays and he changed his mind about trying to create artificial demand again. And when I went in today, there were almost as many on the shelves as the first day it came out.

Yeah, not like that here, but good to hear about your local TRU's. I am curious how the 23rd will go. I will be there early, naturally, with my son and his 3 friends in tow, incase they limit to 1 each.

I went to a GameStop today. They had a good selection. But I can see the stock running dry soon.

Most of the stock was S1 of , , and .

That also had the giants, but no wave 2 or singles of . Plenty of 3 packs though.

But what they had the most of was the battle pack. And believe it or not, that applies now.

If they got a **** ton of their exclusive, then if TRU gets wave 3 early, we can expect wave 3 to be all over the place come TRU's date. Because exclusives matter.

Quote: GameMaster78

Yeah, not like that here, but good to hear about your local TRU's. I am curious how the 23rd will go. I will be there early, naturally, with my son and his 3 friends in tow, incase they limit to 1 each.

Any New on the Giant In this wave?
Is It ThumpBack and Eye Brawl or just Thumpback

Quote: zap18

Quote: GameMaster78

Yeah, not like that here, but good to hear about your local TRU's. I am curious how the 23rd will go. I will be there early, naturally, with my son and his 3 friends in tow, incase they limit to 1 each.

Any New on the Giant In this wave?
Is It ThumpBack and Eye Brawl or just Thumpback

So far none of the above. The only thing that has come in so far that is reported are the singles.

WTF! I just checked my TRU hours and they are opening at 6am now?

Why did I have to have kids

I'll be happy if Prism Break makes the cut in a triple pack.

I'm sure he will in wave 4. Seems they release 2 singles packs in a wave and then in the next wave those 2 singles come in a 3 pack with one that hasn't been released yet. I have a few extra SSA characters in a dresser collecting dust because of that.

Remember, at least half - probably closer to 75% - of their target audience hasn't even PLAYED Giants yet. Interest in the "old" Waves will skyrocket again come December 25th.

If anything, they've released too MUCH content already. We've got four new figuers to look forward to, and that's it for another TEN MONTHS. Nothing more than gimmicks and repaints until October 2013.


For a game called "Giants," there should have been more. Sixteen giants. One of each element available now before the holidays. Another new giant released ONE a month from January through August of next year to fill the gap between games.

Sure, the 'waves' would be smaller, but a lot more marketable: "Ten thousand years ago, on March 19th, the mighty [Enter Earth Giant #2's Name Here] single-handedly defeated a giant Arkeyan Robot with his bare hands! Now, on the anniversary of that event, [Enter Earth Giant #2's Name Here] awakens from his slumber! Have him join the cause! Place him on the Portal of Power and use his awesome strength against the evil Kaos!"

Obviously, the release date for that character would be March 19th. Kids would KNOW it, and they'd want their parents to go out and get the new figure on that announced release date.

Hate that acti can't win no matter what they do. There will always be complainers.

Guys, if you check out the Skylanders Giants section, go to the Official Wave Three release date topic or the What we can pretty much confirm topic, to see the giant that has been confirmed for wave three.

Well, you do seem like a very honest person (no sarcasm) but your.sister could have misplaced something for Thumpback. Tell her to try to take a picture.

Why do people continue to think that wicked thump back is real? Every variant scarlet ninjini, royal double trouble, etc is on skylanders universe and has been since the first release date of giants. There is no wicked thump back and that picture is fake. Activision would not mail out boxes that say something stupid like "I did not type this up in word" However the orange stickers are legit and this is the worst release date activision could've ever picked. Everyone going to TrU anyways BC its the last day to shop.before Christmas now add wave 3 in the mix. All hell will break loose and these figures will be next to impossible to get BC of this. For those that miss the toys in store eBay will not get them shipped by Christmas. This is the day the world will end
Hopefully it ends on the 21st so I don't have to stand in line for hours BC activisioncant make enough to keep shelves stocked. Worst release date ever.

Nobody thinks that wicked Thumpback is real. And that one picture saying he didn't type it in word was a joke and nobody thought it was real because it was a joke...

HA, That picture was made by Yuckmouth trying to convince me the pictures with the orange stickers on the boxes could be faked. I called him a troll (and he is) so he printed that and posted it to show me how easy it was to fake.

Quote: ZapNorris

I went to a GameStop today. They had a good selection. But I can see the stock running dry soon.

Most of the stock was S1 of , , and .

That also had the giants, but no wave 2 or singles of . Plenty of 3 packs though.

But what they had the most of was the battle pack. And believe it or not, that applies now.

If they got a ton of their exclusive, then if TRU gets wave 3 early, we can expect wave 3 to be all over the place come TRU's date. Because exclusives matter.

which battle pack?

Dragon fire.

oh few......... i thought you meant scorpion striker! i would have to move to America to keep my rage down!

Ok,
So as I type this standing in from of the Sylander section here at TRU at about 12:30
They have about 3 Hot Heads on the shelf.
First time of seeing him NOT onlinr at tru.com

Which tells me, that Thumpback should be in the next wave like folks are saying.
Which neans at about this same time on the 23rd they will all be sold out.

-M

How does hot head on the shelf mean thump is in wave 3?

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

How does hot head on the shelf mean thump is in wave 3?

Agreed. That makes no sense.

Oh yeah, I went to Walmart today and they had five Flashwing triple packs on the shelves, which means S2 Prism Break should be in wave 3.

Ok,
So as I type this standing in from of the Sylander section here at TRU at about 12:30
They have about 3 Hot Heads on the shelf.
First time of seeing him NOT onlinr at tru.com

Which tells me, that Thumpback should be in the next wave like folks are saying.
Which neans at about this same time on the 23rd they will all be sold out.

-M

Heard your nonsensical post the first time. Still don't understand the reasoning of hot head on the shelf meaning thumps in wave 3. I saw l-trig on a shelf so that means eye brawl wave 4?

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

Heard your nonsensical post the first time. Still don't understand the reasoning of hot head on the shelf meaning thumps in wave 3. I saw l-trig on a shelf so that means eye brawl wave 4?

No, L-Trig indicates LC Hex for Wave 4.

Found the new "case" at TRU today. No new Giants, but that small list is true. Picked up S2 Prism Break and S2 Eruptor. There were tons of repeats, S2 Cynder and S2 Stealth Elf. Only a couple S2 Lightning Rods.

If you're picking up S2 Prism Break, be sure to look at his back crystal first--almost all of them had three very obvious air bubbles.

It'll be very disappointing if the year ends out with a ton of S2 and no Thumpback.

Here's the list for reference:
Quote: Contents

Flashwing x2
Pop Fizz
S2 Lightning Rod
S2 Eruptor
S2 Terrafin
S2 Cynder (Single)
S2 Stump Smash
S2 Stealth Elf
S2 Whirlwind
S2 Prism Break
S2 Drill Sergeant

NOTE: Bold means new releases.

Quote: Diggeh

Found the new "case" at TRU today. No new Giants, but that small list is true. Picked up S2 Prism Break and S2 Eruptor. There were tons of repeats, S2 Cynder and S2 Stealth Elf. Only a couple S2 Lightning Rods.

If you're picking up S2 Prism Break, be sure to look at his back crystal first--almost all of them had three very obvious air bubbles.

It'll be very disappointing if the year ends out with a ton of S2 and no Thumpback.

Here's the list for reference:
Quote: Contents

Flashwing x2
Pop Fizz
S2 Lightning Rod
S2 Eruptor
S2 Terrafin
S2 Cynder (Single)
S2 Stump Smash
S2 Stealth Elf
S2 Whirlwind
S2 Prism Break
S2 Drill Sergeant

NOTE: Bold means new releases.

Hey Diggeh, what state do you live in? I'm wondering across the country how far wave 3 has gotten.

Post pics, Diggeh?

When you say "picked up" were you able to purchase them?

^ Most likely, no.

My local TRU has them in storage and will release them on the 23rd - California.

Nice, could you ask if they could take them out and show you?

Like I stated earlier, they only confirmed the Series 2 figures. At this time they do not have any LC or Giants.

i'll be honest. this is a good move. it ensures that their are figures on the shelf for kids getting the game for christmas.

but man.

i wish they would've released at least one new skylander that is exclusive to giants. preferably a giant. or even shot that hot dog set out a week before new years. i won't be buying any of these because i already have them. so hopefully plenty of kids will be able to get a figure they want after christmas. don't care about reposes.

but whatevs.

Yes, I bought them. Walked out of the store with them. And they're gorgeous! Much better than the LightCore versions.



Got them at a TRU in California. Every Skylanders was also on sale for $6.99.