darkSpyro

I want to poll Dark Spyro users and find out how your figure buying habits are changing this time around. Is anyone INCREASING their purchasing this time around? I'd love to hear that too. Although the thread is about who is DECREASING their buying habits, I'm ok with knowing ANYTHING about ANY CHANGES with regards to buying.

1. Indicate what you did in Giants.
2. Indicate any difference moving forward with Swap Force.

For me, I had to have em all in Giants, and basically succeeded (with one or two things needed to be done). I not only collected singles, but triple packs and in game variants and chase variants.

This time around, I'm only getting the new guys only, no in game variants / chase variants / reposes. Legendaries are a coin toss, and we may substitute lightcore for some of the new guys. Camo, Warnado and Spyro are probably exceptions to the repose rule due to family demand (the way it should be).

Giants: Everything, one of each opened. Variants, reposes, giants, lightcores, newlanders, giantkicks. Ended up with a few packaged others due to various mishaps, and a few opened dupes due to package overlaps. 360 Starter, 3DS Starter, iOS Gamestop Starter.

Swap Force: Swappers and newlanders, variants where possible over regular, very few lightcores, maybe a couple also avoiding character overlap. Reposes only where necessarily and maybe one or two favorites depending on son's choices. Might fill in next summer with clearance (hence choosing variants now, so I have that option), but not sure. WiiU Dark Starter, 3DS Starter later on sale.

Only the new guys.

More like the "Can't-Afford-Them-All Club". Can we really last for even two more games? ~$500+ per game and figures hurts!

Giants: 1 of each new+Giant+S2 of ones I didn't have
Swap Force: 13-16 Swaps with 10? New.

Giants: One of each new character and any S2 of characters I didn't have a S1 for
Swap Focre: Same

I'll join. I think I'm gonna skip Nitro Magna Charge just because I hate the color yellow so much lol. The Enchanted's do seem cool so I might bite for those.

1. I got mostly Newlanders and Giants picking up a few of my favs for the Wow Pow. I really wanted Jade Flash Wing but I got Polar W.W. and Gnarly Tree Rex so I'm good. Variants that don't appear different in game I have no interest in. I also skipped most of the Legendaries in Giants because I wasn't in the the figures.

2. Swap Force is a mush larger line than Giants was (double in fact) so I am going to have to spread them out a little. I have no interest in the Nitro line and will get the Legendaries this time around since they are for figs. I wanted anyway. I'm more interested in getting the figures than the variants and I won't mind spreading them out this time.

Same deal as last time

1. Try to get every character (Including those I dont like such as Punk shock this time). Along with any vairents (and for swap force then remakes) for characters I like
2. Try to collect every "gimmick" character of the game (Giants= Giants swap force= Swapforcers)

Giants:at beginning Wanted Everything
Giants:at end just got the everything but some variants and S2 Bash. Not entered ester in ethier.

Nownly the cool varenients, and the S2s along with Camo.

Quote: Diggeh

Only the new guys.

More like the "Can't-Afford-Them-All Club". Can we really last for even two more games? ~$500+ per game and figures hurts!

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind as well

I may bend one or two AWESOME in game variant that speaks to me, but we'll have to see.

defpally: I forgot about lightcores---I'll be deciding to go lightcore or not for the new guys (since functionally they are the same) but won't have dupes. I may decide to get Spyro, Camo and Warnado as repose exceptions (my 7 yo LOVES Spyro and my 11 yo REALLY wants to play an updated Camo). Legendaries are effectively a coin toss for me. The idea is to not buy these guys multiple times like we did in the past.

Legendaries are a requirement for me, my son loves them. Hopefully that won't result in a dupe situation (like normal being available early and Legendary late).

Lightcores, well Wham Shell is a definite rebuy, I'm a fan. I love his design. The rest are "meh", and in some cases, like Smolderdash, the regular one is far superior in my opinion (I like the flame ring around her). Although it will depend on the order in which they come out, I'm not waiting until April for the regular if the lightcore comes out soon (for example).

Trigger Happy repose, I'll get him because he is my youngest's absolute favorite. Prism Break repose I'll get because he is my favorite, I'd get him even I never used him in the game at all. My oldest will have to pick which ones he likes, I'm thinking allowance money can fund his repose preferences.

Giants: I only got the ones I like the look of. As for Series 2's, I only bought my favourites.

Swap Force: I'm gonna do the same, but I'm gonna try get at least one swaplander of each element and ability.

Spyro's - Had to have em all but missed out on Ghost Roaster and only got one Varient (Dark Spyro)

Giants - My plan was only get Giants, Newbies and Lightcore's. Ended getting them plus most S2's & Varients.

Swap Force - My plan is to get Swappers, Newbies, Lightcore's and Variant Swappers. (Will be forced to get some S2's / S3's due to triple packs)


Edit, going to end up with 5 Stealth Elfs : S1, S2, S3, S2 Leg and S3 Dark

1.Got the ones from the elements I still needed and a Giant(I didn't buy a Portal Owners pack because they were too expensive,so I bought a loose Tree Rex and a loose game),though I didn't resist and also got an extra Hex and a Lightcore Drobot.

2.Not getting anything,if I have spare money solely the game,the new portal and (if Swappers are required to finish the game/not have horrible completition percentage) a Hoot Loop figure. The game is too much of a downgrade compared to Giants imo,and despite the better graphics and gameplay there's too much wasted potential(Scratch,if you will),and I can't afford to buy a game that I won't play more than once considering how expensive it is to get things from abroad or buying at the local book stores(which are the only ones selling Skylanders for believable prices).

Does it really count if I only buy the available Alt Deco and Legendaries instead of their original counterparts?

For Giants I wanted 1 of everything, the Wife near the end stopped that (though only missing a few light cores, 1 legendary and a variant or two)
For Swap Force I'll stick to just 1 character though variants/legendaries preferred (so since I'm getting Enchanted Hoot Loop, no need for the regular version, etc) Though I'll have to somehow sneak or obtain through gifts the series 2/3s

ShaneG.

Giants: All single characters and Giants. So everything on the poster. Only variants I got were Scarlet Ninjini and Legendary Bouncer. I also got the two battle pack items.

Swap Force: I plan to get all swappers, all NEW single characters, and maybe a few of the reposes, but not all of them (down with Cynder!)

I love the collecting aspect of the game. I have all of the regulars for SSA, including legendaries and two variants. Would like to get a blue Bash and a green Gill Grunt. I have all of SG, including legendaries and 8 variants (LC Hex is on preorder with my dark edition). Still working on trying to find a Granite Crusher, Jade Flashwing, and Royal Double Trouble then I will stop with Giants. I have all the adventure backs, both battle packs, including buying two with the Dragonfire canon so I could get the regular and the gold, and all the sidekicks. I need the Volcanic Vault still to unlock that battle arena. I have already pre-ordered the Dark Edition, Tower of Time, Fiery Forge, and Enchanted Hoot Loop. I even have a launch day strategy mapped out to make sure I maximize my chances of getting Nitro Magna Charge and any legendaries that are out day one. Considering I did not purchase SSA until May 2012 and SG until Feb 2013, and I have only had to purchase just a few of the legendaries on Ebay, I think I am doing pretty good. I also think I am going way more full force with Swap Force, not scaling back like it seems most people are doing. I figure that I love the games and want them to keep making them. The best way I can help make that happen is by continuing to buy the figures. Now if I can just settle on a convenient and stylish way to display them all I will be golden!

Giants: As many newlanders and giants I could get (one of each character), S2s of the S1s I missed, and a varient or two replacing the regular version.

Swap Force: Not changing.

Mine might not be changing afterall. I picked up a second job - still writing though - so I can devote the entirety of my second job to Skylanders.

So, business as usual, if not more.

SSA: Get 3 figs, not including the faithful trio (Back then I was meh)
Giants: Buy alot, but not all (ABout 2 thirds of the whole cast, not counting variants)
SSF: Buy 8 Swappers so I can get all movement types, then buy about 8 of the cores, and Camo, and LC Whammy.

S:SA - everything except the expensive chase figures

S:G - everything except 10 of the chase figures

S:SF - just the regular figures while on sale and in triple packs (if possible). Might even skip the Series 2/3. Not sure yet.

SSA: I tried to get every single figure and a couple of variants, I got every single skylander except ghost roaster i did get a couple of variants like dark spyro

SG: All i wanted was to get all the new skylander, Series 2 didnt interested me, i would only get them if it was in a triple pack with a newlander, i ended up getting some variants

SSF: Aiming for 1 of every Skylander, Going to get dark edition so im going to get doubles of slobber tooth, wash buckler and blast zone, Also want some variants like Legendary night shift, Enchanted hoot loop, ect

Quote: GhostRoaster

I want to poll Dark Spyro users and find out how your figure buying habits are changing this time around.

1. Indicate what you did in Giants.
2. Indicate any difference moving forward with Swap Force.

For me, I had to have em all in Giants, and basically succeeded (with one or two things needed to be done). I not only collected singles, but triple packs and in game variants and chase variants.

This time around, I'm only getting the new guys only, no in game variants / chase variants / reposes. Legendaries are a coin toss, and we may substitute lightcore for some of the new guys. Camo, Warnado and Spyro are probably exceptions to the repose rule due to family demand (the way it should be).

I'm a member of this new club, for sure.

1. My family has one of each character from the Giants generation. Not every single possible variant (or even close); just one of each character.
2. We will not be doing that for SwapForce, for two reasons: A ) we couldn't afford that, and B ) we have no desire to purchase characters that have been reposed repeatedly.

We started with giants and initially I didn't realize the difference between SSA and giants characters, I've learned a lot in less than a year. We have collected one open box of each character except wham shell. We have LC prism break, LC drobot, Scarlet ninjini and Jade flashingwing, but otherwise we have the regulars.
For SF, I want LC Wham Shell to complete our collection other than that and the ones coming with the Preorder I don't plan to buy any reposes. I will likely get variants in place of the regulars just to mix things up, but I only if I find them in store... No chasing online and paying big prices for us.
My son and I both enjoy collecting the characters. Well I enjoy collecting th and he enjoys opening them :-)

Collect in-game variants: all yes, they apply to the same rules as below.

In Giants and SA I kept tossing up the idea of getting two sets for both paths. At one point, I actually did have a collection like this(sans whatever wasn't out by that point, and anything that switched paths). However, I ended up trading it into EB Games so that I could spend the time it would take to upgrade them on Infinity.

However, I lost interest in Infinity a while ago, and since then I've been tossing up the idea of getting a second set again. I have most of them now. I'm missing 30 at the moment, and the only ones that I think I'll have trouble getting are Boomer and Ghost Roaster. My second set is currently on my shelf, not opening it until I have all of them. I will be buying a second set in SWAP Force under these rules, since resetting SWAP Force characters when I want to switch their path would become utterly tedious. We now have 80 characters, and it would be frustrating resetting ones I got bored with at some point.

I also used to collect chase, non-game variants(I had about 22/41), but it's going to be impossible to get two or even one of each, so I gave up since I could not realistically "complete" this set under my rules, and it just wasn't fun having another 30 figures to re-do. It's worse, since their releases are so crazy... Blurples and S2 Gill Grunt were the last straw. You could buy a whole extra collection for the price some are going at. The only ones I collect now are Tech ones- my favourite Element is Tech, so I'm more than happy to dip in and get that slight bragging right with it.
My current variant collection is: Red Drill Sergeant, Sparkle Sprocket, Platinum Treasure Chest (I might get rid of this in the future- not sure) and Employee Prism Break(same as Chest... I never use him ). They're all unboxed and loved with. I'm not sure wether I'll get two of each of these... I already have two Sprockets and Drill Sergeants so I'm only missing the other three, but those ones are much more expensive, which makes it no unless they don't release too many I want in the future. Plus, these are just-for-fun extras like my custom figures, so they don't apply to my main collection's rules. But I love both of Boomer and Drill Sergeant's paths. I'm just looking for Silver Boomer and Gold Drill Sergeant, but after that it's it until they release more Tech re-shells in SWAP. Since they already pretty much confirmed there will be a "Special" Trigger Happy repaint I will have to get that when it comes out.


Giants: Had second set, searched for all chase variants
SWAP Force: Will get second set, not collecting any but Tech chases

i probs will get all new figures and swaps
some s2/3's but NO VARIANTS THIS TIME!

On release day, I'm going to get the Dark Starter Pack, and then attempt to get at least enough swappers to have one of each zone. That will likely be it for me until after the 1st of the year. In Giants, I bought everyone I could find, the minute I saw it anywhere. Mainly because of how hard it was to find figures when the first game released. It's clear that they have production better suited to meet demand now, so this time I will wait and watch for sales, wait til all the triple packs are released and try to get them more economically. I have major OCD where the game is concerned, so eventually I will want each and every one, although I could care less about the chase variants, I do like the in game variants. Lightcores are a complete waste, but some of my favorites are only available that way. Still it bugs me that Lightcore Whamshell will be no different than my series 1 whamshell. No new upgrade, and the smartbomb effect when placed in game doesn't impress me.

I buy 3-10 figures per game, don't intend to change the habit. Consider me in.

Spyro- Ones I thought were cool and all 4 Tech. (Still need Boomer)
Giants-Ones I thought were cool and all Tech again. (Still need LC Drobot and DS)
Swap Force- Adventure packs (not many levels) at least a swapper from each element, maybe more, all Tech.

I only bought five characters during Giants life cycle. Don't know about Swap Force.

We are scaling way back!!!

For both S:SA and S:G, we bought 2 of EVERY character. 1 to keep in the package for a collection and 1 to open and play with.

However, for S:SF, we will only be buying 1 each of the 32 new characters to open and play with. Perhaps, once we have all new 32, we'll go back and buy some favorites. But, at this point we're no longer "collecting" them and just buying them for play.

Is anyone INCREASING their purchasing this time around? I'd love to hear that too. Edited the initial post so we know what the trend is overall.

SSA: one of everyone: NO VARIANTS
SG: One of everyone but variants not including LC and S2.
SSF: Same as SG.

SSA: Bought one of everyone, as well as Legendaries and Blue Bash/Red Drill Sergeant/Green Gill Grunt
SG: Bought one of everyone (lightcores taking precedence over regular figures), plus all the in-game variants (except Royal Double Trouble).
SSF: Will buy one of everyone (with lightcores again taking precedence), plus all the in-game variants.

In the previous two games I got one of each element, plus any others that I really wanted, I ended up with 11 from SA and 10 from Giants, my current list for Swap Force has one of each swap force ability, and two cores in addition to ninja stealth elf, so if I do get all of them on my list I will end up with

SSA: 11
SG: 10
SSF: 11 (but more expensive because most of those will be swappers, bleh money)

So the amount of money is increasing this time, but not the number of characters

Quote: Arc of Archives

Collect in-game variants: all yes, they apply to the same rules as below.

In Giants and SA I kept tossing up the idea of getting two sets for both paths. At one point, I actually did have a collection like this(sans whatever wasn't out by that point, and anything that switched paths). However, I ended up trading it into EB Games so that I could spend the time it would take to upgrade them on Infinity.

However, I lost interest in Infinity a while ago, and since then I've been tossing up the idea of getting a second set again. I have most of them now. I'm missing 30 at the moment, and the only ones that I think I'll have trouble getting are Boomer and Ghost Roaster. My second set is currently on my shelf, not opening it until I have all of them. I will be buying a second set in SWAP Force under these rules, since resetting SWAP Force characters when I want to switch their path would become utterly tedious. We now have 80 characters, and it would be frustrating resetting ones I got bored with at some point.

I also used to collect chase, non-game variants(I had about 22/41), but it's going to be impossible to get two or even one of each, so I gave up since I could not realistically "complete" this set under my rules, and it just wasn't fun having another 30 figures to re-do. It's worse, since their releases are so crazy... Blurples and S2 Gill Grunt were the last straw. You could buy a whole extra collection for the price some are going at. The only ones I collect now are Tech ones- my favourite Element is Tech, so I'm more than happy to dip in and get that slight bragging right with it.
My current variant collection is: Red Drill Sergeant, Sparkle Sprocket, Platinum Treasure Chest (I might get rid of this in the future- not sure) and Employee Prism Break(same as Chest... I never use him ). They're all unboxed and loved with. I'm not sure wether I'll get two of each of these... I already have two Sprockets and Drill Sergeants so I'm only missing the other three, but those ones are much more expensive, which makes it no unless they don't release too many I want in the future. Plus, these are just-for-fun extras like my custom figures, so they don't apply to my main collection's rules. But I love both of Boomer and Drill Sergeant's paths. I'm just looking for Silver Boomer and Gold Drill Sergeant, but after that it's it until they release more Tech re-shells in SWAP. Since they already pretty much confirmed there will be a "Special" Trigger Happy repaint I will have to get that when it comes out.


Giants: Had second set, searched for all chase variants
SWAP Force: Will get second set, not collecting any but Tech chases

You are the only person I know who has a 2nd set besides myself at this point.

I’d like to sign up for said club even though (at this stage) I’m planning on buying them all.

Not only is not buying them all a valid option – I think it’s actually more fun. In my experience, Skylanders is more interesting when you play through and complete the game with your own custom, hand-picked team of characters. You get to know the move-sets of your team more, you’re able to utilise all their skills more effectively, you have to think about how you’ll handle any given situation with your limited number of figures, and you’ll get to really know and appreciate each character.
But when you play with a horde, they all kind of blend together. You’ll never your all their powers (normally relying on only two), you don’t have to manage your crew so closely and you never really build that bond with each hand-picked figure.

I did end up buying the whole lot, but each time I play through I try and limit myself to 10 or so figures in the team (one of each element + two giants).
I do have to say, it’s looking like they have gone WAY overboard with variants this time… 14 or so already, and the damn game isn’t out yet?! If that is a pattern, there is a very good chance that I’ll be skipping the ‘special’ versions of characters this time around (or, at the very least, only get the ones that come to New Zealand naturally and ignore the imports).

SSA: all
SG: almost all, need that dreaded s2 ignitor
SSF: 32 news, PC, HBPB, and the S2s

Only buying the 32 new characters, but will mix lightcores into it, such as Smoulderdash since she will come out before the normal version. And possibly a variant if I find it before the original.

I got one of each character except Drill Sergeant for S:SA (never found it, but got the S2 one eventually). For Giants, I bought all the newlanders, all the Giants, and a few variants of my favorites (S2 Bash, Molten Hot Dog). For SF, I will do the same: buy all the newlanders, buy all the swaplanders, and then buy Fire Bone Hot Dog, Thorn Horn Camo, and LC Flashwing.

I plan on getting variants if I find them first (i.e. Nitro Magna Charge, Enchanted Hoot Loop) otherwise I am happy with the regular one. I did the same with Granite Crusher vs. regular Crusher.

I bought one chase variant (white Stump Smash) but sold it cause I realized it was worth more to someone else than to me.

Sticking with just first editions and true variants of each. Series 2's, 3's and Lightcores other than Legendary Chill can go hang. I'm still up in the air if I'm going to keep Dark Spyro Mk. II if he ends up not that different than the regular, though the site seems to indicate he will be.

For Giants we got 1 of each new character and magical item.

For Swap force, we mgiht not even collect that many things.

DEFINATELY not interested in any reposed or repainted characters.

I'm honestly curious if anyone buys the reposes and sells off the originals. Not something I do but I can see it *being* done.

Quote: Kung Fu Man

I'm honestly curious if anyone buys the reposes and sells off the originals. Not something I do but I can see it *being* done.

I did a lot of this during the Giants release cycle.
I don't plan to do this, however, during this new release cycle. Other than Mega Ram Spyro, I don't particularly like any of the new reposes. I find the "Big Gulp" Pop Fizz, "Big Bang" Trigger Happy, "Anchors Away" Gill Grunt, and "Heavy Duty" Sprocket to be particularly ridiculous.

Giants: I bought much less than Spyro's Adventure due to the lack of characters that interested me. I only collect the ones that are animals/mythical animals because those are the only ones that interest me. So the only Giant that interested me was Thumpback. He's my only Giant and I was fine with that. I also bought Hot Dog, Flashwing, Jet Vac and Fright Rider (I like the sort of 'equestrian' theme to that figure and since the skeleton is an ostrich, I made an exception with that one despite Rider not being an animal). I also got many of the reposes just 'cause I liked the new figures and the idea of being able to switch paths enticed me. The only ones I didn't get were Series 2 and Lightcore Drobot and Series 2 Bash since I can't find the last two. Also Lightcore Drobot seems a bit disappointing since it doesn't have much of an appearance, light wise. When it comes to variants, I used to get the Legendaries, but this time I won't as I've lost interest. However, if it's a variant I like, such as Jade Flashwing or Dark Spyro, I'd get it.

Swap Force, however will be much different. Almost all of the swappables are animals and I like these guys a lot. So we've got a panther here (I think... Trap Shadow could be a sabertooth tiger), cat, skunk, rattlesnake, Chinese dragon, gorilla, chicken, owl, octopus and not quite sure what Boom Jet is. Also the cores look cool so I'll definitely be getting Scratch, Fryno, Slobber Tooth and maaaybe Punk Shock. Haven't decided yet. Plus more reposes with old characters like Camo and Warnado draw me in not to mention Lightcore Flashwing on top of that. So yeah. I'll be spending much more in Swap Force simply because there's more characters that I like. In my other collections, I have to have all of them. But in Skylanders that's different for me. So if I don't like it, I don't buy it just for the sake of completing a collection.

It's interesting how things have changed so much since SSA for my family and I. We were late to the party and ended up collecting all of the SSA characters and adventure packs out of convenience, considering we started collecting right before Giants was released and everyone was trying to get rid of their inventory.

Giants was a little different for us, because my boys and I got caught up in the "hunt", making our trips to Walmart, BestBuy, Target and Toys R Us a monthly habit. Again, we ended up getting all of the characters to complete the collection, but tried to stay away from variants since we weren't very lucky in that aspect and I refused to pay some of the prices I saw on eBay. I'm all for collecting, but not to the extent that it takes away from the fun of the game.

That said, I think this time around I'll be focusing on the new characters and Swappables. I thought about getting some of the reposes and LCs, but I'm afraid the way my boys have been with the current set of characters they have, they'll play them for a week or two, get bored, then move on to the next thing. Compounded with the fact that Pokemon X and Y are coming out a day before Swap Force releases, I've actually been surprised at how little interest they're showing in anything Skylander related. When we were at GameStop yesterday, they seemed more interested in the box art for Pokemon than they did for SSF. It's too early to tell if they're actually losing interest, but I'm going to use this as a bit of financial relief since we all know collecting them all doesn't come cheap.

I didn't buy them all before and will continue not to.

Of SSA:
-I have my favs (Chop Chop, Stealth Elf, Flameslinger, Hex, Zap, Ignitor, and Drobot)
-L-Chop Chop and Dark Spyro
-The Forogtten 8
-Slam Bam and Terrafin because of Adventure Packs

Of Giants:
-I have only 5 Giants. (Pumkin EB, Ninjini, Scarlet, Gnarly, and Bouncer.)
-All 8 newlanders
-Only 3 LCs (Drobot, L-Chill, and will get Hex)
-Most S2 since I started during Giants (Only missing )
-Polar and L-Stealth Elf.

Plans for SSF:
-Only get 1 SF of each movement, already chosen which 8.
-Reposes of Chop Chop, Stealth Elf, Cynder, and maybe a couple of others.
-Star Strike, Wind Up, Smolderdash, Punk Shock?, Roller Brawl, and Grim Creeper.
-LC's of Star Strike and L-Grim Creeper.
-Variants instead of regular: L-Night Shift, L-Free Ranger, Enchanted Star Strike, Nitro Manga Charge, and All 5 Darks.

Giants: I was purchasing all new characters first. If there was a repose of a character I really liked, I bought them first as well. I figured the reposes wouldn't be so hard to find later because everyone would be looking for the new figures. Don't you believe it!

Swap Force: Not going nuts over the first adventure/battle packs. Saving them for a little later. Getting the variants and new characters as normal. Paying close attention to what will be packaged together (double/triple pks) so I don't get doubles. Get favorite reposes. May only get the repose LCs.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Quote: Kung Fu Man

I'm honestly curious if anyone buys the reposes and sells off the originals. Not something I do but I can see it *being* done.

I did a lot of this during the Giants release cycle.
I don't plan to do this, however, during this new release cycle. Other than Mega Ram Spyro, I don't particularly like any of the new reposes. I find the "Big Gulp" Pop Fizz, "Big Bang" Trigger Happy, "Anchors Away" Gill Grunt, and "Heavy Duty" Sprocket to be particularly ridiculous.

THANK YOU. I feel the same way. We still don't know if they plan on "stringing us" with DLC related content; that may be my only reason to do it--and if that's the case I'm a buyer when they get to $5 or less. I don't think it will be the case since Heroics aren't there, but I'll be monitoring that one closely.