darkSpyro

I wanted to get your perspective. Although I'm grateful for the fact that S1 characters can be used in S2, they re-released certain characters with new poses but essentially you get the same toy in game except for the wow pow and other stuff. OK I guess, and if your'e a completionist, then it must be bought I guess.

Then add in the additional figure with lightcore. Getting the theme?

I'm feeling they are bulking up their character line with re-hashed or slightly different versions of the same toy.

Don't know about you guys, but if they want to expand their technology, do it on BRAND NEW SKYLANDERS so I feel I'm getting the MOST BANG for my buck. I'm going to vote with my pocket book on the next game if I see the SAME characters in S1 and S2 done AGAIN in S3. I personally think their sales will start dropping precipitously. The characters they MIGHT get away with are the ones they didn't bring back in Giants.

I get the store exclusives, I'm complaining about re-visiting already done characters or having two versions of the same character (Hex S2 and Lightcore Hex for example). It's bordering on ludicrous.

I completely agree with what you've said and would also add that the way activision actually release the figures has opened the floodgates for every cowboy looking to make a small fortune out of parents such as myself who's children see the figures and go on and on constantly about having them.
I've heard so many stories about employees of large games stores keeping the latest figures when they arrive to then stick on eBay or other sources for way over what the shop price is, it's sick.
You worded your post very diplomatically I think I'd of been a little less diplomatic ha ha.
If activision do produce skylanders 3 whatever it may be they should really get their house in order, instead of producing a few figures at a time and dotting them about all over the world they should produce enough for the initial demand and most certainly produce new figures instead of basically cheating and giving the same old existing characters a new power which quite frankly my kids are bored of already.
Think there's a lot of very highly paid executives sitting in an office somewhere thinking up the next way to bleed the wallets dry of parents who a lot of in the current climate can't afford the ridiculous amount of money the game and god knows how many characters cost and I know from personal experience I hate to see the look on my kids faces when they see thumpback on eBay for £36 and can't understand why they can't have it.
Something needs to change or I won't even consider buying the next instalment.
Come on activision get your act together!!!

remember guys this is ACTIVISION were talking about. their at the very top when it comes to milking money to its consumers. marketing at its finest. wow,sc,diablo just look what they did with these beloved franchise. all are about making money. so im not even surprise at all with this happening. yet I always fall for their scheme. lol

Ive been avoiding the S2 figures as much as possible. I'll admit I have bought a few of my faves again. But mostly because the new reposes are better done. I most certainly wont buy the ones i find boring or way too similar to the first series. such as stealth elf, hex, eruptor and ignitor etc...i like s2 bash, stump smash, and sonic boom though. They just really added to the toy and made them feel more like the characters. anyways im rambling. and i totally agree, if youre not buying them from a collectors stand point, theyre pretty pointless.

I also would like to see them release less figures now that we have so many, 30+ characters with each game (1 game per year) is a lot of money and hunting each year. I think now that we have a good variety they should release the 8 missing reposes, 8 new figs with each new game, and then maybe throw in a few lightcores with each game so every toon eventually gets a lightcore version. I think if they reduce the # of figs with each game it will also make it much easier to have every fig available at launch. I also dont care what any one says disney will steal some of there sales, and now that disney has done this other companies are bound to follow. If acti/blizz wants to keep skylanders as big as it is now they need to change a few things.

Besides the 7 released Giants, our household has only 1 Newlander-JetVac- and of course he came with the game.

We also have S2 Slam Bam cuz my little one was oogling over him quite a bit and it was before I realized what an adventure pack was and that we could get Empire of Ice instead. And of course Cynder S2 in in hand, for the same reasons as JetVac.

Every other Skylander is season 1 and I see no reason to purchase the same characters again as one move (wow pow) and some extra ability via Heroic Challenges on already uber-powerful Giants and/or Newlanders isn't that big of a deal to me. 7-12 bucks a pop (depending on the deal you may find) is a tad too much coin for that and in the end, at least for me and my little one, it's more about the experience than collecting. (recalls going to store and my son NOT wanting either Sprocket or Flashwing...)

Simple as this: If the Skylander looks awesome or fun to play and we don't already have him, I'm in and I prefer the cheaper one if it's the same bang for my buck, which S1 would be as compared to S2. So here's to even more new awesome Skylanders with any future releases.

call me naive, but i think at least part of the reason for the series two is for people who are new to the series with giants, like myself. i have never seen a skylanders: spyros adventure figure on the shelf at a shop, i have had to get the 8 not reposed from ebay, as the shops in my area simply don't have the series one figures any more, and when i asked at ebgames, they said they weren't getting any more skylanders: spyros adventure toys in.

lightcore doubles i agree, don't know why they didn't go with the 8 they didn't bring to series 2.

^ This

I just got into Skylanders with Giants, so I don't have any S1. I started to buy them from eBay, but after 10 characters I decided why get S1 when S2 are so much better. So I sold those characters for more than I payed for them! Now I have 10 series 2's. So it is helpful for kids like me who don't have any S1's, but Lightcores being $2 more than S2 and not having wow pow or switch path is ridiculous! I'm not gonna buy the 8 reposed off eBay, because we know Boomer is coming back, and I have a feeling the other 7 will to. I am still getting the adventure packs though, because they can be found at stores like Walmart and TRU.

Look at all these long posts. The forecast is light showering of tl;dr.

Quote: WUMBOSIMPSON

Look at all these long posts. The forecast is light showering of tl;dr.

tl;dr.

Anyways I hope they remake Warnado. He'll be the only Skylander that I'll get two versions of.

Not going to lie but this was always going to happen. It happens with toys all the time, just because the figures really live when used with the game doesn't mean they aren't being treated as toys. In fact, the only surprising thing about this whole S2 business was the fact 8 of the original were not reposed. I'm guessing they and a few from this game will be reposed for the next game along with S3 and new lightcores (Flashwing is definitely a contender).

The crazy thing is that I know I have a collecting obsession, so getting the characters is fun for me and my son (dare I say more fun for me). And from the posts I get that many have just started on SG and not SSA, so these characters are new (I also know that SSA characters are now htf and from what I hear--supposedly out of production).

I'm simply saying--do we need multiple skylanders in the same series? Do we need Lightcore Hex, Slightly Intoxicated Hex, Forgot What She Did The Night Before Hex, Totally Rad Evil Hex, etc. in one iteration of the game?

I'm suggesting that executives say YES, while highly concerned parents watching their pocketbooks are saying NO. Activision doesn't want their star to burn so brightly that they have nothing left, do they? I understand that their fps game franchises are aging, and frankly we actually need cool games for this age bracket.

I've been unable to say NO yet, but I'll be saying it on the next one. Unless they can actually come to life and help me clean the house.

I'm definitely getting Series 2/3 Sunburn and Dino-Rang if they are ever released.*crosses fingers*

Quote: GhostRoaster

I'm simply saying--do we need multiple skylanders in the same series? Do we need Lightcore Hex, Slightly Intoxicated Hex, Forgot What She Did The Night Before Hex, Totally Rad Evil Hex, etc. in one iteration of the game?

Actually, I REALLY want Slightly Intoxicated Hex and Forgot What She Did The Night Before Hex. LMAO! Hangover Hex also has a nice ring to it. Her attacks look nastier and more violent the louder an enemy is.

But yeah, I totally agree that it's ridiculous to re-release characters. This fabled Wow-Pow thing I've heard about just seems like a feeble excuse to try to make the new characters seem worth getting on top of the SSA characters you may already have.

Still, one good thing: I feel nearly no desire to get any reposed character, at least the ones that I already have the SSA version of, with the exception of Hex because I like her and would get a kick out of seeing her able to light up. That really keeps the count down of characters I want.

Has it ever actually been stated that the S2 re-poses were made because the S1 figs weren't as forward-compatible as they wanted them to be? I have read at least one person in this forum make that claim, but I would like to see it from an official source (if it even exists).

If the S2 re-poses are, in fact, better than the S1 originals, then I will probably try to get them (and also try to convince my son to sell his S1 figs - less the 8 that have yet to be re-posed, of course).

The S2's are better than the original. This is a hard to dispute fact. They allow path switching, have an extra power (Wow Pow) and unlock material in S:G that previous figures won't (HC's). I have used and enjoyed all three of these benefits.

As far as forward compatibility goes..... It is not a guarantee that TFB won't release new figures with additional benefits in another generation or two of the game. I was one of the people talking up forward compatibility several months ago. Its not like me to pull things completely out of my butt, but at this point I could not originate the source of the forward compatibility argument. The fact activision failed to supply both path switching and WowPow's to the new characters and giants easily compromises the premise of forward compatibility being a major reason for character reissue in giants.

I have also been researching RFID chips over the last few months. It seems quite plausible that the Wow Pow could have been added to series 1 figures as was the level increase to 15. The path switching is an arguable point as it involves knowing more about how data is formatted on the chips than is public knowledge. The fact that Lightcore and new figures were not included in the features that activision added to S2's would indicate the strategy involved more improving product for financial gain than forward compatibility.

This may be something consumers want to be conscious of moving further into the series.

Activision would have had to run more production of the old figures to fill out the shelves. Why not update the figurines while they are at it? This gives access to the old figures for everyone that missed out last year, and new poses for those who already own the old figures.

The only possible benefit that the new figures could have technically, is more data storage on the chip. This is unlikely, as the actual data stored is less than the amount I have typed in this post so far. It is literally plain text stored in XML format. Even the smallest of memory chips available to manufacturers would hold enough. I wouldn't be surprised if the electronics in the series 2 figures is identical to the old figures.

Any compatibility problems in the future will be software limitations intentionally programmed into the game. For example, wow pow and the dual upgrade paths.

Yes, but they won't do a Spyro game without Spyro. They would be kicking themselves in the teeth to stop now. They know this. They know we know this.
Kapeesh?

I'm one of those people who sees the Series 2 figures simply as an option when it comes to buying Skylanders altogether: If I want to buy a particular character and there is a Series 2 version of that character available, I will buy the Series 2 version instead of the Series 1 version. Other than that, I stay away from buying the Series 2s en masse. There is no point in getting the Series 2 version of a character that you already own the Series 1 version of, Wow Pow or not.

If you look at my signature, I only have two Series 2 characters in my repertoire due to the above.

Quote: jet-vac6000

Yes, but they won't do a Spyro game without Spyro. They would be kicking themselves in the teeth to stop now. They know this. They know we know this.
Kapeesh?

Kaposh.

My problem? They make the S2s better than the S1s! They make one character better than another! That's stupid!

That's money making. Derp.

Quote: Ryanator20x6

My problem? They make the S2s better than the S1s! They make one character better than another! That's stupid!

They did that to make Series 2 more marketable, so that if you own the Series 1 figure, they might still entice you into buying the Series 2. Now that I know Newlanders and Giants can't change upgrade paths but reposes can, it's obvious to me that this is the only reason they added this feature (for example). Same story with WowPow. I don't have ANY reposes, so I have yet to see either of these two features, so I find it quite noticable.

On my opinion you shouldn't buy Series 2 characters unless their pow wow is useful like and also you should buy giants who don't have sidekicks except tree rex because you need to buy him with the game, because the ones who have sidekicks should make a return as a 3rd series figure, just take a look at the last game, Gill grunt, Trigger Happy, Stealth elf, and Terrafin has sidekicks and they all made a return as a series 2 characters, also you shouldn't buy all of the series 1/ series 2 skylanders because it will be a complete waste of time + money but however, there are some S1 characters that are worth it such as zap , stealth elf, etc because their pow wows are useless

lastly s2 are made for late starters like us who just started playing Skylanders last christmas. they were made to the late comers wont feel left out, kinda.(lol some s1 figures and Adventure pack are extinct). besides your are given the choice to spend your money how you like it anyways as they are not forcing you to buy what you dont like. as for us we like collecting stuff and completing the series so in the end we opted getting all the seires 1 just for collection purposes

people forget the video game part of this equation as well. Creating a character and 3 upgradable powers requires time and play testing. New characters require designs, new molds, new animation, new voice work. These new characters need to be balance tested with previous characters. They managed to make 16 of these in a year. And given that Boomer is a character in Skylanders, I really don't want to see what *didn't* make it. the 24 reposes were marketing for people like me who came on board with the second game.

I'm guessing many of you weren't even born when Star Wars came out and Kenner started releasing toys for it. First we got Luke in his white Tatooine clothes, then there was Luke in X-Wing pilot gear then Luke in Hoth clothing, luke in jedi training clothes.... and how many Snake-eyes GI Joe figures are there? Releasing multiple versions of a character is nothing new. At least here, that new character actually can do a little more in the video game half of this toy/video game line.

They didn't make boomer because he didn't sell well. It costs them hundreds to design and make these toys and they wouldn't do all that just so no-one buys it. They want to make money, not lose it.
It's not being lazy,
it's called making money.

I hope that wasn't directed at me. I never said they were being lazy. I fully understand that their goal is to make money and to design and sell toys that will best do that. My point was that for the people clamoring for more new characters to realize that new characters are hard to make en masse, and that we could wind up with more Boomers if they feel obligated to create too many at once.

No offense meant, pal. Our wallets are all in this together, I suppose.