darkSpyro

Now that Christmas has passed, what do people think about Skylanders and how well its done this year?

I've been in plenty of stores and see the shelves stocked with most of the figures from the various waves. Some figures are hard to find (Hot Head, LCs), but you can find them if you're willing to search. I went to TRU on the 12/26 and all wave 3 figures were there. I remember that last year Skylanders were difficult to find anywhere after XMas and New Year's. Either TFB has increased the supply, to reduce shortages, or Skylanders just isn't selling as well as it once did. That may not be surprising since reports are saying that spending was down this holiday season.

Yeah, Toys for Bob did well this time, with keeping up with demand. That is, when it comes to Core Single Pack Skylanders. Giants still kind of get the shaft when it comes to keeping up with demand.

I went to Walmart and Target yesterday, and both had Skylander Single Packs instock. A lot more than what people had to choose from after Christmas last year.

They just need to help keep Giants stocked.

They need moar hot heads.

I don't understand why the giant characters are the ones harder to find, I mean the whole new gimmick of skylanders giants is the giants, right? so there should be more giants on shelves than any other characters.

From what it seems to me:

-Stores are all pretty stocked well all around. Even smaller stores and the ones out in Podunk, Nowhere.
-Single pack figures are abundant, and I've been able to find any Wave 1/2 figured I want in stores pretty easy. Unlike last year where it was a gamble for you to find anything at all, if I go to one store and they don't have what I want, I can easily go to another one and find it.
-Lightcores seem to be in a bit over-abundance. While I think LCs are a neat idea, it seems to be the one part of the line that's lacking, even compared to the S2 characters which I figured would shelfwarm for the next 10 months.
-Giants seem to be pretty good in stock, but only the first ones that were out (Crusher, Swarm and Bouncer). Hot Head I've seen a handful of times so either he's somehow super popular, a commodity that scalpers are trying to target, or some combination of that and low stock numbers. Hopefully in future Giants boxes though, they'll pack in more Hot Head and whatever the next giant out is. (I don't remember what the count for Giants boxes are, but they ought to have half Hot Head, half new Giant)

I think the biggest problem that's happening now, is they're not getting new boxes of stuff out at a good pace. Unless TRU had some sort of deal with Activision, they really should have had a bunch of boxes of Wave 3 stuff out at ALL Stores. (although part of me is assuming that they'll have more whenever Scorpion Striker drops)

While Christmas hit hard at least not all the figures were sold out.

Quote: spyroflame0487

-Giants seem to be pretty good in stock, but only the first ones that were out (Crusher, Swarm and Bouncer). Hot Head I've seen a handful of times so either he's somehow super popular, a commodity that scalpers are trying to target, or some combination of that and low stock numbers. Hopefully in future Giants boxes though, they'll pack in more Hot Head and whatever the next giant out is. (I don't remember what the count for Giants boxes are, but they ought to have half Hot Head, half new Giant)

I see PLENTY of Swarm and Bouncer in stores. Did TFB make tons of those figures or are people not interested in them. It seems they should slow down their production. Definitely for the release of the newer giants, TFB should step up the production. Reading forum posts, people are excited for Thumpback, Eye-Brawl, and Ninjini. Here's hoping there not as hard to find as Hot Head.

Lately I've been having a really hard time finding crusher, I haven't seen one since Black Friday

Crusher has been rare for me also. I did see him and a few granite crushers at a target a few days ago. I think they are selling well this year. TFB just had more of an idea that they would sell well and are doing better with stock this year.

Quote: Bazinga

. TFB just had more of an idea that they would sell well and are doing better with stock this year.

I agree.
I check my local stores often for variants and notice that the figures are moving off the shelves. One day they will have the shelves full and less than 5 days later they are low and a couple days after that, they are full again. I also talk to the employees at my local TRU/Walmart and they pretty much get a couple of shipments a week. I say TFB was ready for GIANTS. I dont think any kids were dissapointed for Christmas this year accept for not having Thumpback released, at least 75% of the GIANTS are now available. Unlike last year, they were too busy trying to keep up with the current figures they could not make new ones.

Exactly. Last year they didn't know how these were going to sell. This year have an idea and they are better prepared for it.

Quote: Dsi568

I don't understand why the giant characters are the ones harder to find, I mean the whole new gimmick of skylanders giants is the giants, right? so there should be more giants on shelves than any other characters.

There are only four giants that you can buy right now. (Not including the store-exclusive alternates.) Tree Rex doesn't count for obvious reasons.

By comparison, there are over two dozen different standard size orange-based Skylanders that can be bought in stores. (Again, this doesn't count store-exclusives or starter-only characters.)

With less options to buy, it's not surprising that specific Giants might be hard for some people to find. It's also not surprising why the stores won't want to stock TOO deeply into any individual Skylander, Giant or no. If you have six DIFFERENT Skylanders in stock, it's possible for one person to buy all six of them - but typically, most people aren't ever going to purchase more than one Hot Head.


The shelves are pretty bare of Skylanders right now where I live, which again was to be expected. More people are buying them now, and a couple minor snowstorms have probably slowed down the planned restocks. It hasn't quite hit the level where there's only Wrecking Ball and Bash everywhere you turn (my experience last summer), but it's getting there.

Here's my list:
Crusher: Semi hard to find, see him a lot at ToysRUs.
GRANITE Crusher: Forget it, haven't seen him since his release.
Hot Head: Haven't seen him for WEEKS.
Bouncer & Swarm: Overstocked.

Pop Fizz: Getting rarer..

Chill: Same as Pop Fizz.

Fright Rider: Same as the above 2.

Trigger Happy: Kinda.. kinda rare in a single.

Other S2's: Common, with some becoming rarer.

Sprocket: Overstocked in some stores, gone in others.

Flashwing: Less stock with her; I only see 2 or 3 at a store.

Legendaries: L-Bouncer all the sudden is gone, L-Stealth Elf is overabundant, the L-Triple is losing popularity.

Variants: Gnarly Bundles NOT selling, Xbox w. Green Gilly is GONE, GITD Starter is ALMOST gone. GITD Sonic Boom is overabundant, and all other variants (of course) are VERY difficult to find.

Quote: Matteomax

Legendaries: L-Bouncer all the sudden is gone, L-Stealth Elf is overabundant, the L-Triple is losing popularity.

At my toys R Us, thats not really true. Yeah, the three pack is losing popularity, but at my Toys R Us, they have tons of L-Bouncers and hardly any L-Stealth Elfs.