darkSpyro

Does anyone know of any way to obtain the giant portal they use for the demo/display? (After Swap Force is basically over, and the stores are done with them)

eBay or be very lucky. And the ones on eBay will be very likely illegally obtained. I want one too.

I want one too, Ebay had them for $500-$700 recently. If you get in good with a Wal Mart/Target/TRUS manager, maybe...but that's a long shot.

Normally they're supposed to be shipped back to Activision. If they aren't, well, nothing happens, but I'm pretty sure that it's illegal to not send it back.

I want a Giants one, but I guess that won't happen. They're really cool if you get it to work.

Illegal? I think that's stretching it a bit far. I'm sure the stores can get in trouble with corporate if they don't do what Activision wants them to do with it (be it to have it destroyed or sent back) but I don't see Activision calling the police to report one of these displays stolen.

I'll go a step further and tell you that I am 100% sure that if Activision called my local police department to try to prosecute a store for giving one of these displays away or selling it, that they wouldn't get very far. It is considered a civil matter.

Well if the company (Activision) is advised they (the retailer) can destroy it (the display), its pretty much fair game for them to do with it as they please. If they want to give it away to someone rather than smashing it into the dumpster, that's on them.

Activision likely isn't going to care about the sale of the display on the secondary market unless its being used for something that paints the company in a bad light. Then its more the wasted time and money for going to court or lawyer fees than the item itself.

A.) Something can be a "civil" matter and still be illegal. In this case, it's called "breach of contract".
B.) If a company instructs retailers/reps to destroy the product (usually as part of a contract when the company purchases the display space), then that means to destroy it. Sometimes, the retailer/rep is required to break open the product and send in a specific piece that is required for the unit to function, but can be shipped cheaper than the entire display. If an employee or a rep is found to have not destroyed a display as instructed, they can be terminated from their job. No one wants to be out of a job for a plastic toy.
C.) Truth is, Activision probably doesn't care once the display is in the wild, what happens to it. The trick is getting it there - since that's where some poor smuck can end up out of a job and he realizes that it's just not worth it. However - and this is the interesting thing. These displays could easily have unique codes attached to them (like your individual figures do). There's nothing stopping Activision from buying the display from eBay, seeing the specific store that this particular display was sent to and contacting that store to have them follow up and see where the process failed and to hold someone accountable (and, of course, request that the retailer pay the cost that it took Activision to re-acquire the product from the secondary market). Seems a little extreme... but I can assure you, it has happened (Not with Skylanders, as far as I know... but with some video game demo units).

Quote: UncleBob

Truth is, Activision probably doesn't care once the display is in the wild, what happens to it.

This. Even if it is breach of contract, the money that would be spent to prosecute such a case would far outweigh the display. Not worth their time when they are making money hand over fist on the figures.

True. But if they could spend a measly $700, buy the portal off eBay, spend less than an hour to hook it up to a PC, see the serial number of it, then open the big spreadsheet that says which retailer the portal was originally sent to, contact that retailer and say "Hey... this display you were instructed to destroy? Well, we just bought the one that was set up at Store #12345 in Anytown, USA from eBay. So, we'll need the $700 it cost us to get our property back and we'd like you to research how the item managed to make it out and take appropriate action."

So... realistically, no one is going to get sued over one of these... but some retail clerk could easily find themselves out of a job over it. It could be even worse if, say, store management made the decision to "silent auction" the item amongst the employees.

What are you guys actually after? , as you mostly know I work for Tru and I happened to squire the giants display portal from my store when it got upgraded along with the ed card with all the character videos on it, the portal is useless as a portal, must be linked upto a PC and screen to work independently not sure what they are worth together!, any ideas?

I'm after the same thing, but I would've settled for the small case display with characters in it.

Personally, I'd like one of the MEGA HUGE display portals. I'd take a spare SWAP Force portal, gut the two out and make a singular MEGA HUGE portal that will work with the game.

Good idea UncleBob. That would be pretty awesome.

Quote: fateorfear

What are you guys actually after? , as you mostly know I work for Tru and I happened to squire the giants display portal from my store when it got upgraded along with the ed card with all the character videos on it, the portal is useless as a portal, must be linked upto a PC and screen to work independently not sure what they are worth together!, any ideas?

Woah, really? I worked for TRU about 3 years ago and under no circumstances were staff or customers allowed to take anything like that home - Even after they were finished with them. I kinda hated that rule, though it was apparently in place because of numerous people taking them home and putting them on eBay (which I guess makes sense - GAME have the same rule, unless you can really, really prove you won't sell them).

Anywho, I'd love to get one eventually, but I'd never pay any more than £30 for one, honestly. But I'm a cheapskate

Quote: UncleBob

True. But if they could spend a measly $700, buy the portal off eBay

A mere $700 you say? Added to the untold time spent investigating such things and going through the whole process you described ... It would be much more than the $700 or whatever these things cost. No company would ever do such a thing unless it was affecting their bottom line, which this is not.

Quote: UncleBob

So... realistically, no one is going to get sued over one of these... but some retail clerk could easily find themselves out of a job over it.

Retail clerk jobs are a dime a dozen. Losing a low wage job wouldn't deter someone from this.

The displays are created to market their product, plain and simple. They are mass produced, just like the figures, and expensed as a cost of doing business. It's probably more of a cost to Activision if the retailer actually DOES send the display back to them.

Dude - it's happened. I know. Granted, it was video game consoles and not Skylanders displays. But there's little time spent, on the part of the manufacturer, to "investigate" it. Thirty second e-bay search. Bid a crazy high amount to win (because, hell, you're going to get your money back from the retailer). Send payment when the auction is finalized. When it arrives, plug it into a monitor (for the console... plug the portal into a computer, possibly?), check the serial number. Open a spreadsheet, hit ctrl+f, type in the serial number, press enter... blammo - investigation over. At this point, you know what retailer has broken their contract, call 'em up, send them the bill (which could also include fines if it's stipulated in the contract).

At this point, the retailer *is* being negatively affected, both financially and w/r/t their professional relationships. So they do investigate.