darkSpyro

Do you not see HOW DAMAGED IT IS? The bubble is about to fall off!

Make that $265.00...this thing is likly to brake the $350.00 to$400.00 price range. Looks real cool....not $250+ cool, but cool non the less. Wish i could see the water jets an base better tho.

Edit: ...matt i would just carefully use crazy glue an glue it back on....

Everyone does realize that this figure is not mint, right? The blister is pulling away and the lucky winner will probably end up with a nice, loose variant. I put in one of the first bids before this auction was outed, but I was hoping to pay a price for the value of a loose one.

Quote: Phoenix_Lord

Make that $265.00...this thing is likly to brake the $350.00 to$400.00 price range. Looks real cool....not $250+ cool, but cool non the less. Wish i could see the water jets an base better tho.

Edit: ...matt i would just carefully use crazy glue an glue it back on....

True, but sometimes it's tough to re-seal them correctly.

DON'T USE CRAZY GLUE! It's too powerful.

Quote: Matteomax

Quote: Phoenix_Lord

Make that $265.00...this thing is likly to brake the $350.00 to$400.00 price range. Looks real cool....not $250+ cool, but cool non the less. Wish i could see the water jets an base better tho.

Edit: ...matt i would just carefully use crazy glue an glue it back on....

True, but sometimes it's tough to re-seal them correctly.

DON'T USE CRAZY GLUE! It's too powerful.

Also, you realize the resealing a figure will destroy the future collectible value (to the extent these will have any substantial value, that is) in the figure, right? It's fine for your own collections but MUST be disclosed if sold off in the future.

Not another one...I'm going broke. I love gill grunt too.

Quote: SlayerX11

Not another one...I'm going broke. I love gill grunt too.

I hear ya, and green has always been my favorite color! I'm kind of relieved they are just pushing me into the category of "never gonna have every one, just get the ones you really like".

Disclaimer: I am not bidding on this; it is way out of my budget range for toys.

For those of you that are bidding ... for the love of all that is holy ... stop bidding ... stop bidding right now. Don't be stupid. If you are serious about winning this item on auction, you need to decide sometime during the next 72 hours what is the absolute maximum price you're willing to pay. Then, when there is less than 15 seconds left in the auction's time-frame, enter your bid. That's how proxy bidding works ... unless, of course, you like wasting money and inflating the price of something unnecessarily. If anyone is an eBay newb and is nervous or apprehensive about why this is the ONLY good strategy for bidding on auctions, send me a PM and I'll provide you with more details. But, seriously, bidding for an item 4 days in advance of the item's end-point is foolish and counterproductive.

As for whether or not this Gill Grunt will ever be available in retail stores, my gut feeling is "YES". Like I mentioned earlier, this Gill Grunt has a barcode on the box's bottom ... and the E3 Hot Dog box does NOT have a barcode (because it will never be sold at stores). Perhaps someone who is lucky enough to own the Employee Lightcore Prism Break could tell us whether or not that one has the barcode on the box's bottom or not?

Lastly ... ya'll do need to consider the possibility that this Seller is a scammer. I will not go so far as to accuse the Seller at this point, because the Chris @ TFB guy here apparently validated the Gill Grunt's authenticity. But since some observers in this thread seem convinced that the item's plastic bubble/seal is not intact, it is POSSIBLE that the Seller acquired the special Gill Grunt (either legitimately or dubiously) and stuck it into a regular Gill Grunt package and slapped a homemade generic circle-shaped "special edition" decal on the cardboard. Just at least consider that possibility until we have more information.

And, really .. stop bidding. You have DAYS worth of time before it sells.

I may come off as rude when saying this, but I truly and honestly feel sorry for the person bid so highly for a non-collectable plastic toy.

Quote: MugoUrth

I may come off as rude when saying this, but I truly and honestly feel sorry for the person bid so highly for a non-collectable plastic toy.

Well, if you mean the plastic coming off, you should see some other figures.

If you mean toys in general, look at the 1970's Star Wars toys. A complete, brand new set can sell for OVER $10,000.

That is a lot --with so much time left--wow
My question is--why is this the only one that has come up for sale?

Quote: shelly9871

That is a lot --with so much time left--wow
My question is--why is this the only one that has come up for sale?

He apparently received it from Activision, because he APPARENTLY helped them in some way.

He said that he was given it by his activision contact--I messaged him. But I would think ... if many were given then more would be for sale
Have we ever seen a metallic type like this sold regularly?

I haven't followed patterns closely until recently so I don't know the specifics but I would just think that there would be more given out if they were given out to many people---

What does everybody else think based on history?

Its real...and will sell for $400-$500 like employee prism when he first hit eBay!

I know it is real but I wonder about why there has only been one on ebay..did it just come out? Are there that few?

"What I know is that they are giving these out later this month at an exclusive sales vendor event and they are also being given to people like me. There is still an opportunity for them to show up down the line for sure" ....I think that's why...not sure?

Seems to make sense
Follow up question
What do you mean they are even being given to people like me?
Thanks

Quote: shelly9871

I don't even know what to say. The plan was to sock some money away for Swap Force---

Quote: hardcoreignitor

Waaaaaaaaaaah? My god Activision, You leave us in a variant drought for sooooo long in about January to Juneish And now we get the Blurples, Pumpkin Eye Brawl, Gnarly Rex, and now A S2 Gill Grunt that stayed in the swamp for too long? Gawd, if they spaced theese out reasonably, Everyone woulda been happier...

I think this is funny if this somehow impacts their Swap Force sales, doing this so late in the game. I know it will be a drop in the bucket for them.

OUT OF THE VARIANT GAME.

So I wonder if this seller stole it from where he works--or a friend stole it and they are working together. He kept listing private so either he/they don't get in trouble. That would make sense as to the privacy and the info above about it being released later would explain why they aren't several on ebay yet.

My little scenario.

Quote: bigslam

Just Got A message from Chris And this Is A Real Variant !

are we sure Chris isn't getting mixed up with the Series 1 Green Gill Grunt? he was released during Giants, even tho he is a series 1.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Disclaimer: I am not bidding on this; it is way out of my budget range for toys.

For those of you that are bidding ... for the love of all that is holy ... stop bidding ... stop bidding right now. Don't be stupid. If you are serious about winning this item on auction, you need to decide sometime during the next 72 hours what is the absolute maximum price you're willing to pay. Then, when there is less than 15 seconds left in the auction's time-frame, enter your bid. That's how proxy bidding works ... unless, of course, you like wasting money and inflating the price of something unnecessarily. If anyone is an eBay newb and is nervous or apprehensive about why this is the ONLY good strategy for bidding on auctions, send me a PM and I'll provide you with more details. But, seriously, bidding for an item 4 days in advance of the item's end-point is foolish and counterproductive.

As for whether or not this Gill Grunt will ever be available in retail stores, my gut feeling is "YES". Like I mentioned earlier, this Gill Grunt has a barcode on the box's bottom ... and the E3 Hot Dog box does NOT have a barcode (because it will never be sold at stores). Perhaps someone who is lucky enough to own the Employee Lightcore Prism Break could tell us whether or not that one has the barcode on the box's bottom or not?

Lastly ... ya'll do need to consider the possibility that this Seller is a scammer. I will not go so far as to accuse the Seller at this point, because the Chris @ TFB guy here apparently validated the Gill Grunt's authenticity. But since some observers in this thread seem convinced that the item's plastic bubble/seal is not intact, it is POSSIBLE that the Seller acquired the special Gill Grunt (either legitimately or dubiously) and stuck it into a regular Gill Grunt package and slapped a homemade generic circle-shaped "special edition" decal on the cardboard. Just at least consider that possibility until we have more information.

And, really .. stop bidding. You have DAYS worth of time before it sells.

This auction has EVIL written all over it.

Sniping is the way to go. I want to see a few more here sell before I reluctantly buy this. I also want someone to confirm what it says on the portal. Private auctions is a sure fire red flag for me personally, as it also prevents someone from seeing someone bid on it that was created by the seller to inflate the price (zero fb bidders constantly bidding on item). I personally feel like that's happening here. With over a decade of collector buying on eBay, I know most of the tricks in the book. This auction is a money trap. I expect this to hit close to $450 due to the potential artificial bidding. I also think the blurple variants are more interesting than this--we got this carp back in SSA.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Disclaimer: I am not bidding on this; it is way out of my budget range for toys.

For those of you that are bidding ... for the love of all that is holy ... stop bidding ... stop bidding right now. Don't be stupid. If you are serious about winning this item on auction, you need to decide sometime during the next 72 hours what is the absolute maximum price you're willing to pay. Then, when there is less than 15 seconds left in the auction's time-frame, enter your bid. That's how proxy bidding works ... unless, of course, you like wasting money and inflating the price of something unnecessarily. If anyone is an eBay newb and is nervous or apprehensive about why this is the ONLY good strategy for bidding on auctions, send me a PM and I'll provide you with more details. But, seriously, bidding for an item 4 days in advance of the item's end-point is foolish and counterproductive.

As for whether or not this Gill Grunt will ever be available in retail stores, my gut feeling is "YES". Like I mentioned earlier, this Gill Grunt has a barcode on the box's bottom ... and the E3 Hot Dog box does NOT have a barcode (because it will never be sold at stores). Perhaps someone who is lucky enough to own the Employee Lightcore Prism Break could tell us whether or not that one has the barcode on the box's bottom or not?

Lastly ... ya'll do need to consider the possibility that this Seller is a scammer. I will not go so far as to accuse the Seller at this point, because the Chris @ TFB guy here apparently validated the Gill Grunt's authenticity. But since some observers in this thread seem convinced that the item's plastic bubble/seal is not intact, it is POSSIBLE that the Seller acquired the special Gill Grunt (either legitimately or dubiously) and stuck it into a regular Gill Grunt package and slapped a homemade generic circle-shaped "special edition" decal on the cardboard. Just at least consider that possibility until we have more information.

And, really .. stop bidding. You have DAYS worth of time before it sells.

This so much, I cringe whenever I see ebay listings with 5+ days to go and it already has like 10 bids on it from different people.

Found another one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item4ac82c850f
Starting at $199.99

isn't that the same one from the other pic?
actually maybe the backgrounds are different, I cant tell.

Quote: DraculauraXXX

isn't that the same one from the other pic?
actually maybe the backgrounds are different, I cant tell.

Already checked. The wood grain is different.

So both of these are coming out of Minnesota. The second one is out of St Paul. Both Target and Best Buy have their corporate HQ within a 20 minute drive of St Paul (Minneapolis and Richfield, respectively).

Alternatively, Activision has a sales office just outside of St Paul in Eagan.

Good detective work

Quote: dinoah2005

Found another one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item4ac82c850f
Starting at $199.99

I would stay away from this particular Seller.
More than 1.5% of his Feedback over the past 12 months has been Negative or Neutral.
That may not seem like a lot, but it's too high for my liking.
Reputable eBay Sellers (in my opinion) have 1.0% or less, and as a Seller you ideally want 0.5% or less.

Quote: portalflip

Quote: DraculauraXXX

isn't that the same one from the other pic?
actually maybe the backgrounds are different, I cant tell.

Already checked. The wood grain is different.

So both of these are coming out of Minnesota. The second one is out of St Paul. Both Target and Best Buy have their corporate HQ within a 20 minute drive of St Paul (Minneapolis and Richfield, respectively).

Excellent observations, as always, Atlus.

If I'm not mistaken, our good friend and informant, Lesty, is based in Minnesota (I think?). Perhaps he will chime in on this.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Quote: largemarge133

Someone's bidding against me up over $150 now...lol hope its real

Holy mackerel ... stop bidding ... there's 4 days left on the auction. If you're serious about bidding on this, at least wait until it's about to end, so that you don't end-up paying any more than necessary.

Also, there's a good chance this could all end up being a big fish story ... and you don't want to end up on the hook for buying a fake.

Also, can't believe nobody caught on to these ... maybe I'm not as funny as I thought ... ::sadface::

Geez--I live on the gulf of mexico--I should have caught it--we go.fishing all the time...and how perfect with gill.. lol!

Quote: j32bass

Quote: SlayerX11

Not another one...I'm going broke. I love gill grunt too.

I hear ya, and green has always been my favorite color! I'm kind of relieved they are just pushing me into the category of "never gonna have every one, just get the ones you really like".

I'm already there and this green gill will join the "ones i really like"

If this is fake, the sellers are gonna have a whale of a time trying to get out of this one... It was already fishy from the beggining, but the scales have been tipped. The sellers are luring these poir buyers in with an irrisistible hook.
...
...
...
...
I am too punny for my own good...

pretty good, Hardcoreignitor!

Lol---made me laugh--nice one

Quote: BahamutBreaker

As for whether or not this Gill Grunt will ever be available in retail stores, my gut feeling is "YES". Like I mentioned earlier, this Gill Grunt has a barcode on the box's bottom ... and the E3 Hot Dog box does NOT have a barcode (because it will never be sold at stores). Perhaps someone who is lucky enough to own the Employee Lightcore Prism Break could tell us whether or not that one has the barcode on the box's bottom or not?

Just to follow up on this. If you check out this eBay listing for the Employee Prism Break

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item43be9e4f57

You can see that it too has a barcode even though it never went to retail. I would not expect to see this one in stores.

I don't see why there's all this anger at the idea of variants being released this close to the launch of SWAP Force. We had at least one S:SA variant released *after* Giants (and it was in a $200 bundle!)...

Quote: SkylandersEzra

Quote: BahamutBreaker

As for whether or not this Gill Grunt will ever be available in retail stores, my gut feeling is "YES". Like I mentioned earlier, this Gill Grunt has a barcode on the box's bottom ... and the E3 Hot Dog box does NOT have a barcode (because it will never be sold at stores). Perhaps someone who is lucky enough to own the Employee Lightcore Prism Break could tell us whether or not that one has the barcode on the box's bottom or not?

Just to follow up on this. If you check out this eBay listing for the Employee Prism Break

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item43be9e4f57

You can see that it too has a barcode even though it never went to retail. I would not expect to see this one in stores.

Great follow-up, Ezra!

Quote: UncleBob

I don't see why there's all this anger at the idea of variants being released this close to the launch of SWAP Force. We had at least one S:SA variant released *after* Giants (and it was in a $200 bundle!)...

The anger is silly, but in some minds, it's undoubtedly justified. There's at least a dozen frequent contributors to this forum that have been VERY active collectors of the Giants series ... and I'm quite sure that most of them were trying to enjoy a respite from buying Skylanders before October, and/or trying to enjoy the self-defined satisfaction of being "done" with a collection.

I have to say that is how I feel. No anger--at all. I was just looking forward to putting away a little money for the $1k swap force day. Could that estimate be high--yes--it likely is. I want to be over prepared for the day. Is anybody forcing me to buy anything--no--I know it s my choice--but I just thought we would have the couple months.

Yup Yup...they are rare ..duh....so the price is going to be high, because they didn't make very many....and only a few of those employee's are letting them go.(i would never let mine go) Wish i could have gotten one of those Employee Edition Prism Break's. Because Lightcore Prism Break is one of my fav's......but the only thing i can do is copy it an paint one for myself....but would prefer the real thing.

Theres many of the collection that i don't have, and im fine with that.

Quote: shelly9871

I have to say that is how I feel. No anger--at all. I was just looking forward to putting away a little money for the $1k swap force day. Could that estimate be high--yes--it likely is. I want to be over prepared for the day. Is anybody forcing me to buy anything--no--I know it s my choice--but I just thought we would have the couple months.

Yep, the combination of escalating prices (at least in the short term) of these variants and the fact that there's no finish line on these, when we all thought we'd be over the finish line right now...does disappoint. I'm not angry, but my disgust is justified. I'll be glad to stay with numbers that are true moving forward.

Got my blurple Lightning Rod...115 skylanders, 139 items total. Yikes. The only one I don't have yet is Employee Prism and this new one...and whatever the heck they decide to throw at us.