darkSpyro

unless the sidekicks are used to trap ppl.

My wife and I are heading to TRU this morning to finish our Giants Sidekick collection. It says 1 per family, but we hope to land at least 2, haha!

So post pics guys of your sidekicks. Me I can't go

I just left TRU. There was no one there (not surprising since I never saw an email blast). They had the sidekicks that others have listed (Gill Runt, Eye Small, Thumpling, & Barkley). My son picked out an Eye Small since his had broken. I didn't see anything major signage promoting it. I forgot to look for the sale tags on the pegs, but now that I think about it, I do remember seeing one, but didn't think to look what it said.

And, in case you're wondering, I was told about a Lego event happening at noon. They said every store may be doing things differently. I did see a sign (that they hadn't put up, yet) that said "Build your own Master Builder" and had a picture of Emmit and Wildstyle in a big armor suit. They also had coupons for $10 off the Lego Movie game if you pre-ordered the movie, today.

Just picked up Eye-Small and Gill Runt. No one was there and they had the 4 listed in the previous post. They had about 10 of each left.

I got to my TRU at 20 minutes after opening. Nobody was there for anything, and I got the only one I needed: Gill Runt. 2/4 SSA Sidekicks down, just need Terrabite and Whisper Elf. The lady at the counter said it looked like there was more Barkley than anything else. Hope that's not true, since that'd be a sucky thing to do if he's going to be in the 3DS starter. I have no image hosting, so I can't post a picture of my Gill Runt.

I too got to the store about 20-30 minutes after opening. I thought that they opened at 10, but it is 9 on Saturdays. My original plan was to get there early just to make sure I got what I needed. When I got there, the store was nearly empty. From what I saw in the box, my TRU only had Giants sidekicks, but a good mix of them all. They gave my wife and I Barkley and Thumpling. I also picked up Special Edition Gill Grunt and Fire Kraken.

Our TrU was pretty quiet this morning to. We we the first ones in the Electronic Department and before I even asked about the sidekicks, the clerk handing my boy an Eye Small. I did ask about pre ordering Gearshift, but they had no information on that. Was anyone else able to pre order Gearshift?

The question is if that Barkley with the 3DS is orange or red base. It's hard to tell with the lighting on the figure. It doesn't look like a repose, but if the sidekicks did anything differently, I would think it would need a new chip to store any new information (unless it just opens something different in the game and not runs as a trap or regular figure). It would be cool it they decided to use them as regular figures in Trap Team, but I'm not sure if they would be able to save any data to it. Though they could use them to unlock things or places. Even cooler if they were somehow playable to get into smaller areas, even if they don't level or need to save any kind of data.

Quote: SkyRolo

Our TrU was pretty quiet this morning to. We we the first ones in the Electronic Department and before I even asked about the sidekicks, the clerk handing my boy an Eye Small. I did ask about pre ordering Gearshift, but they had no information on that. Was anyone else able to pre order Gearshift?

There were cards in the Skylander aisle along with the game preorder cards. I saw them at mine.

Quote: SkyRolo

Our TrU was pretty quiet this morning to. We we the first ones in the Electronic Department and before I even asked about the sidekicks, the clerk handing my boy an Eye Small. I did ask about pre ordering Gearshift, but they had no information on that. Was anyone else able to pre order Gearshift?

My TRU had a few signs up about pre-ordering Gear Shift and Trap Team, but I did not pre-order or ask about it.

Did someone from Canada went and got a sidekick!? Plz reply

Got the lego thing didn't get gill runt
When I waited in line for lego they gave out sidekicks we almost got 2 more barkelys
So we got 3/4

i will be going today to preorder 2.0 and get a eye small or thumpling.

someone really wanted their sidekicks!!

My two TRU's had the same mix. Eyesmall, Gillrunt, Barkley, and Thumpling.

got there at 9:30 hoping to be early BUt it had opened at 9am. got mini tree rex,eye small and mini ninjini which i didn't think they would have.....

My TRU only had Barkley. There were about 15 people in line before they opened.

i got a thumpling.

Stopped by a TRU this evening around 7 - they still had some Gill Runts and Thumplings left. Got one of each from the employee who couldn't care less. Already have them, but figured there might be something different about them (didn't see anything comparing them) - and figured if they hadn't been claimed by this point, they were fair game...

...now to go sell them on eBay for $50 each...

My TRU only had a box of 50 EyE Smalls what a drag...

My TRU had the 4 listed above, I got Thumpling, My son got Gil-Runt and my wife got Eye-Small. Went back at noon and my son got his Lego Movie character. They also had Gear Shift for preorder (Already ordered him on Amazon). Before the Lego event we went to Target and got the Pre-Oder with the free Trap. Also returned the Wii Dark Starter back to GameStop since it was not the Wii-U that was ordered. All-in-all, It was a good day.

Quote: trixster68

My TRU only had a box of 50 EyE Smalls what a drag...

Same here, actually.

I got there around 3 pm and there was only one gill runt left. All the others were like 15 Barkley. The guy kinda knows me, because he is like the skylanders guy there and I go in all the time. But yeah, I got both gill runt and Barkley. He was just carrying a monsters Inc bag around the store full of them.

I saw that coming LoveProfusion. I don't know what's worse, people don't want Barkley since he's in the 3ds version of Trap team or that Trap team's 3ds version will make Barkley worthless.

When I was there the guy giving them out was handing barkley to little kids but allowed older people like me pick between the other three. my bf and i got gill runt and eye-small.

My son and I got there at 2 or 3pm, not expecting much. After checking at R Zone (the electronics department), they said check customer service. At customer service, they said check R Zone. Classic.

Finally found someone who knew what I was talking about and we got the last two they had, both were Thumplings.

I think I saw more of the level of excitement for Skylanders than anything else yesterday. We have all eight Sidekicks already, so we didn't go Saturday (although they would have loved the Lego thing, but we have tons of Legos too so didn't really feel like adjusting our Saturday at the pool around it). We did, however, drop by TRU on Sunday for some pool toys and so my youngest could use a gift card from his birthday. While at the register, I asked if it was busy, the guy said "not at all" and still had some left, which he then handed a Eye Small and Gil Runt to my boys. I'll probably give them to my neighbor, most of their friends are past Skylanders from what I've found, but we still play it. My youngest was far more interested in the Nerf sword he picked out anyways.

If they don't have enough people showing up at a prime location TRU to give out 50 of them for free over a day and a half, one has to wonder how much legs the franchise has for what looks like a pretty expensive Trap Team game. Me and my oldest still enjoy it though, he has spent the past week playing the first game again and we still play Swap Force together regularly.

It's obvious that the franchise has cooled a *lot*, but this give away was very poorly advertised by TRU (and not just giving TRU crap or anything here). There was *nothing* about it posted at the store about it. The only way anyone would know is if they follow a community like this (in which case, they probably already have the Sidekicks) or they got the e-mail *and* bothered to look at it. Look at the folks on this forum and asked their stores about it, only to be told that there was only a LEGO event going on.

The store I went to Saturday evening had a box, shoved in behind the electronics counter where no one was staffed - I had to go over to the service desk to even ask about it.

The Skylanders fad has cooled - but I'm not sure how much of an indicator this can be used to judge it.

It's not just this one, just the latest example of it. They advertised it about as much as any of their promotions - emails, etc. They didn't have to go nuts with promo advertisement last year to get people to come out for Ninjini or any of the other Hot Toy Alerts. And given they ALSO had a Lego event, people were going to be there anyways, and didn't bother getting them. My store wasn't hiding them either, electronics is always staffed and they aren't shy about telling people about deals and promos if they are looking at the Skylanders. I've yet to see any form of line for any release this year outside of the initial one and a few people for the midnight Wave 3 singles. That includes new Waves, variants and legendaries. It was always just GhostRoaster and me. Variants sit on shelves, you can find just released figures easily (except S2 Hot Dog, who remains strangely rare).

They were literally handing out sidekicks for free, no purchase required. And most average people don't have all of them given they either had to mail in or go to Gamestop and spend $20 for each of them. If that doesn't prompt at least a little excitement, you have to wonder ...

And the BIGGEST indicator of the franchise losing ground to me is that I used to pretty much universally get Skylanders for my son's friends for their birthdays. That's what they wanted and I'd always get them cool ones, ones I knew weren't easy to come by. This year I haven't had a single friend of his that wanted Skylanders for a present. Those are the target audience, pre-teen boys - and when I go to the store for birthday gifts, if I'm shopping for Nerf or Legos and not Skylanders that is a huge signal.

If i wasn't on this forum i would have know nothing about this event, i got no emails/toy alerts etc. I wouldn't be surprised how many ppl didn't go because they knew nothing about it.

I didn't get any alerts, either, and I always do. I didn't get the Lego alert, either, in my usual e-mail, but got it in another e-mail that I never signed up with them. I think it was because I had purchased something online with paypal, and it's connected to that email.

Yeah, it's on a downward trend for sure. I just think with this Sidekicks promo, I think by this point, 1-2 years later, fans in the US that would be inclined to go out of their way to get Sidekicks have probably already done it by now.

For the sake of our overseas friends, it would have been cooler if Activision had just shipped all of these figures over to Europe or something to help those folks out.

Quote: defpally

It's not just this one, just the latest example of it. They advertised it about as much as any of their promotions - emails, etc. They didn't have to go nuts with promo advertisement last year to get people to come out for Ninjini or any of the other Hot Toy Alerts. And given they ALSO had a Lego event, people were going to be there anyways, and didn't bother getting them. My store wasn't hiding them either, electronics is always staffed and they aren't shy about telling people about deals and promos if they are looking at the Skylanders. I've yet to see any form of line for any release this year outside of the initial one and a few people for the midnight Wave 3 singles. That includes new Waves, variants and legendaries. It was always just GhostRoaster and me. Variants sit on shelves, you can find just released figures easily (except S2 Hot Dog, who remains strangely rare).

They were literally handing out sidekicks for free, no purchase required. And most average people don't have all of them given they either had to mail in or go to Gamestop and spend $20 for each of them. If that doesn't prompt at least a little excitement, you have to wonder ...

And the BIGGEST indicator of the franchise losing ground to me is that I used to pretty much universally get Skylanders for my son's friends for their birthdays. That's what they wanted and I'd always get them cool ones, ones I knew weren't easy to come by. This year I haven't had a single friend of his that wanted Skylanders for a present. Those are the target audience, pre-teen boys - and when I go to the store for birthday gifts, if I'm shopping for Nerf or Legos and not Skylanders that is a huge signal.

It is weird that two parents are the only ones at a major market location on opening day. Heck, my son just wants the figures...doesn't even care about the game. Why am I propping up the franchise when even my son doesn't care to participate? But hearing here, everyone just loves the same thing, over and over again.

Quote: Dahvoo

My son and I got there at 2 or 3pm, not expecting much. After checking at R Zone (the electronics department), they said check customer service. At customer service, they said check R Zone. Classic.

Finally found someone who knew what I was talking about and we got the last two they had, both were Thumplings.

Classic! Ha.

Quote: defpally

I think I saw more of the level of excitement for Skylanders than anything else yesterday. We have all eight Sidekicks already, so we didn't go Saturday (although they would have loved the Lego thing, but we have tons of Legos too so didn't really feel like adjusting our Saturday at the pool around it). We did, however, drop by TRU on Sunday for some pool toys and so my youngest could use a gift card from his birthday. While at the register, I asked if it was busy, the guy said "not at all" and still had some left, which he then handed a Eye Small and Gil Runt to my boys. I'll probably give them to my neighbor, most of their friends are past Skylanders from what I've found, but we still play it. My youngest was far more interested in the Nerf sword he picked out anyways.

If they don't have enough people showing up at a prime location TRU to give out 50 of them for free over a day and a half, one has to wonder how much legs the franchise has for what looks like a pretty expensive Trap Team game. Me and my oldest still enjoy it though, he has spent the past week playing the first game again and we still play Swap Force together regularly.

I'm with most people. In their defense, TRU did a poor job of getting it out. Had I not logged onto Dark Spyro, I would have never know that they were giving free sidekicks away. Just a thought.

I can definitely see how Skylanders is declining. However, I don't think it is going anywhere anytime soon. Just imagine the new gamers that will jump on for Trap Force. Some of those individuals will turn into collectors, but couldn't tell you what a sidekick is at this point and time. To me, there has to be a better way to tell how Skylanders is doing than how many people show up for a TRU event that I bet half the buyers didn't know about.

Well, I understand some say they did not get the email - but it did go out on Friday. I got it twice, once in my email and my wife also got it (she has a Reward Zone thing too) - she always forwards emails to me from them that have Skylanders in them. One thing to consider is that these emails also do not generate the excitement they once did, I know when one went out most people would read through it thoroughly and post it. Now, people see it and go "eh, another sale on Skylanders" - which is kind of my point. Lack of excitement. The notification isn't much different, it is our reaction that has changed - TRU has never really done any hoopla beyond a Hot Toy Alert emails (which I've always felt they could do better with in store signs/etc. about events).

BTW, if you aren't getting the emails, you might want to check your spam folder, because I can't imagine why they sent it to some people and not others.

While I dont disagree that some of the excitement of these events has probably lowered, I also think they should be sending out emails sooner than the day before these events. Kids are getting out of school for the summer, parents make plans on the weekend. You cant expect people to just suddenly drop everything last minute when there is little notification on it.

Quote: defpally

Well, I understand some say they did not get the email - but it did go out on Friday. I got it twice, once in my email and my wife also got it (she has a Reward Zone thing too) - she always forwards emails to me from them that have Skylanders in them. One thing to consider is that these emails also do not generate the excitement they once did, I know when one went out most people would read through it thoroughly and post it. Now, people see it and go "eh, another sale on Skylanders" - which is kind of my point. Lack of excitement. The notification isn't much different, it is our reaction that has changed - TRU has never really done any hoopla beyond a Hot Toy Alert emails (which I've always felt they could do better with in store signs/etc. about events).

BTW, if you aren't getting the emails, you might want to check your spam folder, because I can't imagine why they sent it to some people and not others.

You make some great points. I can't really compare things to the past. I have been in and out of Skylanders. I simply don't get the emails because I haven't signed up. I NEED to do that, haha.

Quote: GothamLord

While I dont disagree that some of the excitement of these events has probably lowered, I also think they should be sending out emails sooner than the day before these events. Kids are getting out of school for the summer, parents make plans on the weekend. You cant expect people to just suddenly drop everything last minute when there is little notification on it.

True.

Quote: GothamLord

While I dont disagree that some of the excitement of these events has probably lowered, I also think they should be sending out emails sooner than the day before these events. Kids are getting out of school for the summer, parents make plans on the weekend. You cant expect people to just suddenly drop everything last minute when there is little notification on it.

Yes, absolutely I agree they should be better about it and greater notice. However, that's my point - parents found a way to drop everything on a moment's notice (email at 5:30 the day before) to get Ninjini on a Wednesday morning. Or to line up for Thumpback and Eye Brawl during the week. Or to show up in large numbers to get Dragon's Peak. Or to get to TRU at 6:30 in the morning for Wave 3 singles in Giants (which was only reposes). I guess you can sum up the general feelings about Skylanders releases in this way: People can't be bothered. They still sell, of course, but parents don't go out of their way for it anymore.

I can confirm anecdotally that I never got the email for this promotion. I was looking for them after seeing them here and checked junk/regular. It didn't happen, and I've gotten all of them in the past. For whatever reason, this one did not come.

But again, those were brand spankin' new figures that (aside from Ninjini's very limited release in NYNY) - vs figures that have been out for 1-2 years (and, frankly, don't add *anything* to the game).

Those who care enough to seek out the information like already had these through the previous giveaways or didn't really care about them much.

Again, I totally agree that the Skylanders train is slowing down - but I just don't put a lot of weight behind *this* particular event. I think the lackluster response to TRU's Kickoff Countdown release says way more than this.

^To me, people are done buy 3 variants of the same character in the same release. They should never do this again. Two someone can justify if they want both paths, but that's it. But I also think people are just being pickier about that they buy---it tends to happen when you have hundreds of figures. Duh, Activision.

To me most ppl are done with swap force and have no interest in going to TRU for anything. besides sidekicks arent anything new and those that wanted them prob already have them.