darkSpyro

I've been thinking for a bit about the popularity of certain characters, and I seem to notice a little contradiction in the usual beliefs. Like, I noticed that a LOT of people say Flash Wing wasn't popular because she filled the shelves, but I've also heard otherwise, especially considering the (unconfirmed) fact that she's going to be in Swap Force. Another one I've been thinking of is Lightning Rod. Again, sometimes I notice people say a character isn't popular when they actually are. For starters, I notice quite a lot of Sonic Booms or Whirlwinds in stores, but Lightning Rod is harder to come by. Is this a sign of better sales? Also, he also got his own graphic novel, as did Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Terrafin. Is this another sign of popularity? I'm not sure.

But anyway, I'm wondering if the popularity of certain characters is often under, or even OVER estimated at times. Cause remember: This forum makes up a tiny fraction of Skylander's fanbase.

It depends on your location like where i live is common here so it's not rare, i see it alot in the stores but i notice S2 single pack is hard to come by & i only see him in the triple packs.

My local Sainsburys had a shelf of Sprocket and Lightning Rod.

That said, a S2 Spyro languished with them for ages.

I don't think considering the random-ness of shipping quantities with Skylanders we can take shelf numbers as a sign of anything other than how many are on the shelf.

My local target has nothing but whirlwind, Cynder, and sprocket

Quote: Hexblazer

It depends on your location like where i live is common here so it's not rare, i see it alot in the stores but i notice S2 single pack is hard to come by & i only see him in the triple packs.

Ironically it is the other way around for me
Barely found at TRU the otherday


Some rare guys where I live
Hex (but getting her LC when I pick swap force up.)
Lightning Rod (found his s2 the other day)
and wrecking ball ( WHERE IS HE? D: )

I've seen everyone but Legends, Molten Hot Dog, and S2 Drobot.

Quote: MugoUrth

I've been thinking for a bit about the popularity of certain characters, and I seem to notice a little contradiction in the usual beliefs. Like, I noticed that a LOT of people say Flash Wing wasn't popular because she filled the shelves, but I've also heard otherwise, especially considering the (unconfirmed) fact that she's going to be in Swap Force. Another one I've been thinking of is Lightning Rod. Again, sometimes I notice people say a character isn't popular when they actually are. For starters, I notice quite a lot of Sonic Booms or Whirlwinds in stores, but Lightning Rod is harder to come by. Is this a sign of better sales? Also, he also got his own graphic novel, as did Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Terrafin. Is this another sign of popularity? I'm not sure.

But anyway, I'm wondering if the popularity of certain characters is often under, or even OVER estimated at times. Cause remember: This forum makes up a tiny fraction of Skylander's fanbase.

Flashwing is not popular. For better or worse, female characters did not sell as well in the Series 2 Skylanders. I'm not a sexist (I actually think Flashwing, Whirlwind, Chill, and Ninjini are some of the best characters in-game) ... that's just the facts. There are plenty of girls (and women) that play Skylanders, but that number pales in comparison to the number of boys (and men) that play/collect Skylanders. The male character bias is just one factor influencing the ridiculous overstocking of Flashwing, in particular though. Flashwing was shipped in multiples in two of the first 3 Giants "waves", I think. That may not be 100% accurate, but it's close if not. Regardless, Activision shipped way too many of her early on, and thus Flashwing continues to warm the retail store shelves nationwide (especially at Target stores in seems) ... serving to clog the inventory and prevent re-stocking .... and thus my disdain for Flashwing!!

What I don't understand is why Flashwing is so... Disliked... She is amazing in my opinion! I think it is (and no hate and/or sexist intent here). Younger boys think that she looks girls so that's probably why. I also (again on the remark above) think she looks girly but she can fight. So that's why I don't understand why littler kids can't see that. But anyways that may be why Flashwing is not popular.

For the Lightning Rod thing I don't understand why at all. At least not for the older demographic. We are going back to the young kids thing here now. Younger kids can't master him as well. Yes while he's strong he is a harder character to gt a hang of. So that's why he's not gameplay populate. Your thinking probably "But ninja if they can't master him they would have to have him first!" Well kids talk to friends and they don't gt him. Also if when you were young you wanted a mystic beast rather than a cloud man right? So there's why they don't even buy him.

Wreaking Ball surprised me on the smaller kid thing. I would have thought 6-8 year olds would love the way he looks but nope. I'm glad that they weren't fooled by the looks of him being cute. But I still think its odd some places have lots.

Spyro is rare because he's never shipped.

Swarm is awesome (lol autocorrect put wasp). But he's undersold because he's in excess and most people got him at launch,

Thumpback, overstocked.

Hot Head, overstocked.

Ninjini is different. Not only is she understocked but girls want her because she's the only girl giant. Also she was last so few have her.

Shroomboom, way overstocked.

LC Shroomboom, kids with $ conscious parents probably already had normal Shroomboom so LC Shroomboom didn't stand a chance.

Chill, most people have her.

Sprocket, unknown hate source for people? Explanation please. I would like to think kids like her. If only Nibelet was still here she would probably explain it..

Anyways there's my attempt to explain to underestimated popularity syndrome or UPS. Which is also the name of the something can't think of it... (Sarcasm)

Flashwing also had the misfortune of appearing much more popular than she actually was. She slipped out on day 2 in the limited Wave 2 shipments (along with Hothead and Sprocket) and quickly disappeared. Among the swarm of Wave 1 stuff on the shelves, people went for the ones stocked in much smaller numbers, hence it looking like those were the ones people wanted. Rarity created demand.

Once stock levels stabilized and Christmas rolled around (thereby reached many of the kids who now wanted figures), things settled down. Flashwing (a pink girl dragon) and Sprocket didn't go over as well with young boys, the primary audience. A pre-teen boy doesn't "have them all", so when presented with an option to get a new Skylander with their Christmas money, Flashwing isn't it. For better or worse, they want the cool, tough looking figures when getting them all isn't an option.

Jade Flashwing also gave the appearance of popularity, but in reality it was only the rarity creating demand as well (although green goes over much better than pink).

In my opinion, Ninjini also applies here - but she is actually pretty cool looking. Ninja Barbie is still a Ninja. She also benefits from being the last one out and not being as common. Kids think, oh I haven't seen her before, I want it. All things being equal, she wouldn't be nearly as rare as she is now.

In the end, is was a bit of miscalculation on TFB/Activision's part. Flashwing appeared popular, so they adjusted the Waves to have more of her. You cannot make these decision on the fly, and by the time the glut is noticed, the contents of the next two Waves have been set and packed. Marketing isn't an exact science, it involves a bit of educated guessing.

Quote: ninja9351

For the Lightning Rod thing I don't understand why at all. At least not for the older demographic. We are going back to the young kids thing here now. Younger kids can't master him as well. Yes while he's strong he is a harder character to gt a hang of. So that's why he's not gameplay populate. Your thinking probably "But ninja if they can't master him they would have to have him first!" Well kids talk to friends and they don't gt him. Also if when you were young you wanted a mystic beast rather than a freaking GOD? So there's why they don't even buy him.

Just my two cents on Lightning Rod. Yeah, mythical creatures, dragons and griffons and such are cool, but again, Rod's a God. How many kids wouldn't want to be the strongest of the strong? And that's basically what a god is. ...Okay, Lightning Rod isn't the absolute strongest character in the game, but do you get what I'm saying?

Quote: ninja9351

Wreaking Ball surprised me on the smaller kid thing. I would have thought 6-8 year olds would love the way he looks but nope. I'm glad that they weren't fooled by the looks of him being cute. But I still think its odd some places have lots.

Eight year old boys don't want cute. They want cool looking, with swords or guns or tough looking. And when in the store, most of them have no idea what they play like, all they have to go by is what they look like and what they see when they put them on the demo portal.

My son is fortunate enough to have a wider selection than most, given we are into the collector aspect. But, given the choice of who to play, he started with Tree Rex, and later Gnarly Tree Rex. He wanted Polar Whirlwind, Jade Flashwing and Lightcore Hex, but how many times has he pulled them out and thrown them on the portal? None. I play those.

My youngest though, is a bit more flexible given he is four. He prefers Trigger Happy. He very much dislikes Eye Brawl, I think the figure scares him. If we get him out and aren't using him, he will always put him back in the box and close the lid.

Quote: defpally

Quote: ninja9351

Wreaking Ball surprised me on the smaller kid thing. I would have thought 6-8 year olds would love the way he looks but nope. I'm glad that they weren't fooled by the looks of him being cute. But I still think its odd some places have lots.

Eight year old boys don't want cute. They want cool looking, with swords or guns or tough looking. And when in the store, most of them have no idea what they play like, all they have to go by is what they look like and what they see when they put them on the demo portal.

My son is fortunate enough to have a wider selection than most, given we are into the collector aspect. But, given the choice of who to play, he started with Tree Rex, and later Gnarly Tree Rex. He wanted Polar Whirlwind, Jade Flashwing and Lightcore Hex, but how many times has he pulled them out and thrown them on the portal? None. I play those.

My youngest though, is a bit more flexible given he is four. He prefers Trigger Happy. He very much dislikes Eye Brawl, I think the figure scares him. If we get him out and aren't using him, he will always put him back in the box and close the lid.

That is actually pretty funny.

Quote: defpally

Quote: ninja9351

Wreaking Ball surprised me on the smaller kid thing. I would have thought 6-8 year olds would love the way he looks but nope. I'm glad that they weren't fooled by the looks of him being cute. But I still think its odd some places have lots.

Eight year old boys don't want cute. They want cool looking, with swords or guns or tough looking. And when in the store, most of them have no idea what they play like, all they have to go by is what they look like and what they see when they put them on the demo portal.

If I were still 8, I wouldn't want any female characters, I would only want cute ones like Shroomboom and Wrecking Ball.

Quote: MugoUrth

Quote: ninja9351

For the Lightning Rod thing I don't understand why at all. At least not for the older demographic. We are going back to the young kids thing here now. Younger kids can't master him as well. Yes while he's strong he is a harder character to gt a hang of. So that's why he's not gameplay populate. Your thinking probably "But ninja if they can't master him they would have to have him first!" Well kids talk to friends and they don't gt him. Also if when you were young you wanted a mystic beast rather than a freaking GOD? So there's why they don't even buy him.

Just my two cents on Lightning Rod. Yeah, mythical creatures, dragons and griffons and such are cool, but again, Rod's a God. How many kids wouldn't want to be the strongest of the strong? And that's basically what a god is. ...Okay, Lightning Rod isn't the absolute strongest character in the game, but do you get what I'm saying?

He's not a god, he's a storm giant. Also they are probably Christian and, own top of that don't know about Greek Mythology at their age.

Quote: defpally

Quote: ninja9351

Wreaking Ball surprised me on the smaller kid thing. I would have thought 6-8 year olds would love the way he looks but nope. I'm glad that they weren't fooled by the looks of him being cute. But I still think its odd some places have lots.

Eight year old boys don't want cute. They want cool looking, with swords or guns or tough looking. And when in the store, most of them have no idea what they play like, all they have to go by is what they look like and what they see when they put them on the demo portal.

My son is fortunate enough to have a wider selection than most, given we are into the collector aspect. But, given the choice of who to play, he started with Tree Rex, and later Gnarly Tree Rex. He wanted Polar Whirlwind, Jade Flashwing and Lightcore Hex, but how many times has he pulled them out and thrown them on the portal? None. I play those.

My youngest though, is a bit more flexible given he is four. He prefers Trigger Happy. He very much dislikes Eye Brawl, I think the figure scares him. If we get him out and aren't using him, he will always put him back in the box and close the lid.

Going more for the female demographic here thank you.

I was kind of making a joke, though.

Quote: dinoah2005

That is actually pretty funny.

Yeah it is. He is actually a pretty brave little guy, doesn't get scared much, has no problems sleeping in his own bed at night, very outgoing and inquisitive. But he absolutely dislikes Eye Brawl. If you get him out and set him down while he plays with the others he will say "NO! No Eye Ball!" and put him back. He won't do it if we are using him on the portal, but he will move away from it.

Flashwing is rather appealing on appearance and I mostly like using Jade for playing. For the most part she just got overstocked like Sprocket did on their initial release. If the design of female characters and now with the voices done like in giants people will play them. The problem is just they only made 8 newlanders for giants so she's the only one female wise like Sprocket they can ship that would be new.

I think the other thing that fools people is that we see what's in stock, not what was made. We can mistake what is in stock for items that did not sell.
So you might see a lot of Flashwing in stock at your local store, but it could be that Activision made a lot more of that figure. It could well be that after she vanished from wave 2, they made lots extra of her, while other figures from wave 2 stuck around on the shelves.
Conversely, {your favorite character} might be hard to find - but that might not mean they were popular - it might just mean that not many were made in the first place (bash s2, I'm looking at you).

Quote: defpally

Quote: dinoah2005

That is actually pretty funny.

Yeah it is. He is actually a pretty brave little guy, doesn't get scared much, has no problems sleeping in his own bed at night, very outgoing and inquisitive. But he absolutely dislikes Eye Brawl. If you get him out and set him down while he plays with the others he will say "NO! No Eye Ball!" and put him back. He won't do it if we are using him on the portal, but he will move away from it.

I almost feel compelled to do that and I'm a teen! He's just so... Ugly...

Quote: defpally

My youngest though, is a bit more flexible given he is four. He prefers Trigger Happy. He very much dislikes Eye Brawl, I think the figure scares him. If we get him out and aren't using him, he will always put him back in the box and close the lid.

This is hysterical :-)
Love kids!