darkSpyro

I finally got my first big shipment of Wave 3 stuff today (grrr...) and wanted to share:

In the W3 boxes of core figures, there are 4 Trail Blazers, 4 Cobra Cadabras, and 4 figures from Wave 1 (Chopper, Funny Bone, Gill Grunt, Fryno).

I thought this was interesting, because I have seen several people on various sites reporting that Bat Spin and High Five are part of W3. Based on what I am seeing, that isn't the case.

Unless Activision changes course or sends a special batch of Wave "3.5" to TRU sometime soon, I don't think we are going to see High Five or Bat Spin regularly in the wild until at least March or April.

Also, considering the number of cores that are left to release as singles (Echo, Fling Kong, High Five, Bat Spin, Flip Wreck, Rocky Roll, and maybe Blades and Deja Vu), I think it is pretty clear there are going to be 5 waves of cores. That being the case, it is possible we may not see High Five or Bat Spin until after Easter.

The Fritos Lay deal has halted the release of High Five and Batspin temporarily in NA..
They are apart of wave 3 but they won't be released in NA until later.
Those who want batspin or high five need to import them.
I did import Batspin and will wait patiently for High Five.

I could be wrong, but my experience in 3 years of selling Skylanders is that the mix of characters in wave boxes are all the same throughout the wave. Last year, Activision changed up the mix of figures they shipped after Wave 4 ("W4") by switching to Wave "4.5" (marked "W4.5" on the boxes), but technically that was a new wave (and my recollection is that the new wave didn't introduce any new figures, it just changed the number of each in the box).

You are probably right about the North America limitation, but I now seriously doubt whether they are going to release High Five and Bat Spin any time soon, at least in the US.

Based on the serious glut of figures and traps they have in this game, and given the fact that the entire month of January has seen ZERO new or even slow filtering in of Wave 3 tells me they will drag out this year's release MUCH further into the upcoming months than perhaps we initially thought. I absolutely believe they'll be adding figures into the May timeframe at this point.

Of course, I find that amusing since most of us have (or close to have) gotten 100% on the game.

I will be interested to see how sales end up for Waves 4 and 5. My personal experience has been that sales of cores have been disappointing...much worse than Swap Force. Between cores not being able to open elemental gates and/or potential character fatigue, I just don't feel that people are that excited about them. For me, minis haven't been selling that great either.

People love the traps and the light and dark packs, but now that Blastermind is out and everyone can now open everything in the game with characters from Waves 1-3, I fear that sales may drop off for Waves 4-5.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Based on the serious glut of figures and traps they have in this game, and given the fact that the entire month of January has seen ZERO new or even slow filtering in of Wave 3 tells me they will drag out this year's release MUCH further into the upcoming months than perhaps we initially thought. I absolutely believe they'll be adding figures into the May timeframe at this point.

Of course, I find that amusing since most of us have (or close to have) gotten 100% on the game.

Agree on the first part.

Regarding the second, one could say so for every game, so far.

Why bother buying Voodood, Double Trouble or Wrecking Ball, when we already had Spyro as a Magic Skylander, in the Starter Pack versions of SA?

Or, why bother buying any other Giant (or Core), when we already had Tree Rex, in the Giants Starter Pack, and probably a Core for each Element, from SA?

Or why bother buying more than one Swapper per movement-type, if only 6 are needed, since Wash Bucker and Blast Zone came in the Starter Pack, the Dual Elemental Gates can be opened by two players and every single new Core is almost useless?

I'll tell you why.

Because I can't wait to play as Blackout, Enigma and Flip Wreck, no matter at which completing percentage I am, with the game.

And if other ones think the same, they you have no reason to be amused.

Just for the info.

there have been no single pack releases of any wave 3 core figures that i have seen.

What we got was the Triples with S2 Fryno/Bat Spin/Cobra Cadabra and High Five/Trail Blazer/S3 Jet-Vac.

Quote: min8or

Just for the info.

there have been no single pack releases of any wave 3 core figures that i have seen.

What we got was the Triples with S2 Fryno/Bat Spin/Cobra Cadabra and High Five/Trail Blazer/S3 Jet-Vac.

I didn't even think of the triple packs because I haven't seen any yet. Are you in the US min8or? If so, I need to call and see when those are coming in. Thanks!

Bat Spin has been available here (Finland) for a while now, bought her for a friend recently. She has one crazy strong attack by the looks of it. Can't recall if I saw High Five on shelves yet, though I know some stores in Finland have him already. Interesting that Bat Spin's so elusive there. I guess it's nice for us over here get some things earlier at least, heh.

Forget Bat Spin and High Five, my area hasn't even gotten the wave 3 traps yet! They're really holding back on what they said would be in wave 3, aren't they?

Quote: tvih

Bat Spin has been available here (Finland) for a while now, bought her for a friend recently. She has one crazy strong attack by the looks of it. Can't recall if I saw High Five on shelves yet, though I know some stores in Finland have him already. Interesting that Bat Spin's so elusive there. I guess it's nice for us over here get some things earlier at least, heh.

I ended up breaking down and buying the wave 3 traps on ebay cause I just couldn't find them! When it comes to ebay prices though i actually just almost paid double what they were worth about 10 dollars each with free shipping but figured i'm saving on the gas it would take to keep on checking target, toysrus, gamestop and walmart who just didn't seem like they were putting out the wave 3 traps other then the Water Helmet trap and occasionally life snake trap.
it seems like almost everyone else here who's been looking for the traps has no problem finding them but Wave 1, wave 2, wave 2.5 traps all easy to find but It seemed impossible to find wave 3 traps.

All Wave 3 stuff is a bit challenging to find now because it is inventory season, so keep that in mind. Stores slow down shipments to the bare minimum because everything that comes in can mess up their counts. They aren't going to ship in a bunch of new traps and stuff until inventory is passed, and only Target really got them prior to January. I have a feeling we will be seeing lots more of them going into February, as they are most likely the only ones going out and store stock is probably down.

And I would bet this has a lot to do with the whole light/dark pack rarity/discontinued thing. It's probably an artifact of inventory.

Quote: defpally

All Wave 3 stuff is a bit challenging to find now because it is inventory season, so keep that in mind. Stores slow down shipments to the bare minimum because everything that comes in can mess up their counts. They aren't going to ship in a bunch of new traps and stuff until inventory is passed, and only Target really got them prior to January. I have a feeling we will be seeing lots more of them going into February, as they are most likely the only ones going out and store stock is probably down.

And I would bet this has a lot to do with the whole light/dark pack rarity/discontinued thing. It's probably an artifact of inventory.

Based on my discussions with some of their reps, it is also my understanding that Activision slowed things down at their warehouse right around the holidays, and are just now getting caught up. I know I have some product that I ordered the first week of January that just now came in. I still haven't been able to get any W3 traps yet (although those are supposedly coming soon).

Could it be possible that Bat Spin and High Five would be coming out with the Wave 3 Traps?

Quote: Drek95

Quote: GhostRoaster

Based on the serious glut of figures and traps they have in this game, and given the fact that the entire month of January has seen ZERO new or even slow filtering in of Wave 3 tells me they will drag out this year's release MUCH further into the upcoming months than perhaps we initially thought. I absolutely believe they'll be adding figures into the May timeframe at this point.

Of course, I find that amusing since most of us have (or close to have) gotten 100% on the game.

Agree on the first part.

Regarding the second, one could say so for every game, so far.

Why bother buying Voodood, Double Trouble or Wrecking Ball, when we already had Spyro as a Magic Skylander, in the Starter Pack versions of SA?

Or, why bother buying any other Giant (or Core), when we already had Tree Rex, in the Giants Starter Pack, and probably a Core for each Element, from SA?

Or why bother buying more than one Swapper per movement-type, if only 6 are needed, since Wash Bucker and Blast Zone came in the Starter Pack, the Dual Elemental Gates can be opened by two players and every single new Core is almost useless?

I'll tell you why.

Because I can't wait to play as Blackout, Enigma and Flip Wreck, no matter at which completing percentage I am, with the game.

And if other ones think the same, they you have no reason to be amused.

I am amused. I've been through this 4 times now. Buy a figure, I'll play with it for a couple of hours (3 if I'm lucky) to upgrade it etc, maybe a level or two...that is the sound of dis-satisfaction.

I've been to Target & Best Buy, only to see a small amount of Wave 3 traps as well as Trail Blazer & Cobra Cadabra. Hardly any of the light/dark packs in sight, nor any signs of bat spin or high five in sight.
Though most of us have already completed the game multiple times, there are figures that interest us.
I had heard earlier this month that a strike had happen in the ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles for job security, which ended on the 18th.
I also believe that some stores (TRU) are trying to clear out those that have been on the shelves & racks for long periods of time.
I'm sure that our fellow Portal Masters around the world are feeling lack of certain figures and/or traps as well. Activision & TFB don't have the resources or distribution that Disney does. Nintendo is hurting as well, for I have seen small amounts to almost nothing for their Amiibo other than the regulars like Mario, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong & so on.
Hopefully, my fellow Portal Masters, there will be a light at the end of this dark tunnel where we'll see plenty of shelves stock with the figures we want. Right now, patience is what's important. Fortune may, one day, smile upon us.

Quote: wah543

Could it be possible that Bat Spin and High Five would be coming out with the Wave 3 Traps?

I know for a fact that Wave 3 traps have been shipping, i just don't have mine yet.


Also one other tidbit: After the reference above to High Five and Bat Spin being in the 3-packs, I called today to see about ordering a bunch of Wave 3 triple packs. I was told that I couldn't order triple packs right now in the US.

That could mean that they have suspended sales of W3 triple packs and will start allowing orders and shipping those out at some point in the future, or it may even be that there are no W3 triple packs and they will be releasing them in the US as part of W4. However, they wouldn't let me order any at the moment.

hmm, apparently when i was rewording my post i removed one of the most important bits of info.

What the last sentence should have read was

"Here in Australia, what we got was the Triples with S2 Fryno/Bat Spin/Cobra Cadabra and High Five/Trail Blazer/S3 Jet-Vac."

apologies for causing any confusion

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Drek95

Quote: GhostRoaster

Based on the serious glut of figures and traps they have in this game, and given the fact that the entire month of January has seen ZERO new or even slow filtering in of Wave 3 tells me they will drag out this year's release MUCH further into the upcoming months than perhaps we initially thought. I absolutely believe they'll be adding figures into the May timeframe at this point.

Of course, I find that amusing since most of us have (or close to have) gotten 100% on the game.

Agree on the first part.

Regarding the second, one could say so for every game, so far.

Why bother buying Voodood, Double Trouble or Wrecking Ball, when we already had Spyro as a Magic Skylander, in the Starter Pack versions of SA?

Or, why bother buying any other Giant (or Core), when we already had Tree Rex, in the Giants Starter Pack, and probably a Core for each Element, from SA?

Or why bother buying more than one Swapper per movement-type, if only 6 are needed, since Wash Bucker and Blast Zone came in the Starter Pack, the Dual Elemental Gates can be opened by two players and every single new Core is almost useless?

I'll tell you why.

Because I can't wait to play as Blackout, Enigma and Flip Wreck, no matter at which completing percentage I am, with the game.

And if other ones think the same, they you have no reason to be amused.

I am amused. I've been through this 4 times now. Buy a figure, I'll play with it for a couple of hours (3 if I'm lucky) to upgrade it etc, maybe a level or two...that is the sound of dis-satisfaction.

Don't tell me there isn't a character you have spent more than three hours on, Ghost...

So far in Australia we've had releases of every Trap Master and Trap from the current waves, but releases of core Skylanders has been more-or-less lacking. Look on any store shelf and you'll find plenty of Torch, Tidal Wave Gill Grunt, Sure Shot Shroomboom, Funny Bone and Chopper. And that's it. Singles from waves 2 and 3 are nowhere to be found where I live, and it's a fairly large city as well (I think I once saw one of each of the third and fourth triple packs, and would have bought one or both of them if it weren't for the fact that two toys in each one weren't on my checklist).

There are also copies of the Nightmare Express Adventure Pack, but no sign of Mirror of Mystery anywhere. And as for Minis...the Earth, Undead, Magic and Tech packs are cramming Target shelves, as are the Fryno and Gill Grunt Buddy Packs, but still no sign of the Air Pack or any others. Perhaps the most bizarre thing to hear, however, is that according to the EB Games systems, both Wildfire and Krypt King are discontinued. Now, while I have my doubts of this claim, if this is true then I will likely have to track down the only Fire and Undead Trap Masters on my checklist online, and run the risk of contributing to the sky-high prices - pardon the pun - of a reseller (I already need to track down the Tempest Timer and Oak Eagle, but don't want to pay AUD$15 for each one).

I have a fixed list of 10 Trap Masters, 31 Traps and 14 core Skylanders to collect from the current series, but out of those I'm still missing 2 Trap Masters, 9 Traps and over half of the core Skylanders on it. It was my impression that core Skylanders were supposed to be "core", as in central to the entire experience no matter what new gimmicks may be present. Now, it seems that Skylanders is going the way of amiibo, and I don't know if I can handle two hard-to-find NFC toy-lines with practically no confirmation of restocks or replenishes by the distributors. I'm starting to think that Trap Team might be my last Skylanders game, because as both a gamer and an autistic my patience isn't a toy - again, pardon the pun - and it can only be stretched so far before it wears out for good.

With the way things are going, I don't think we'll see Bat Spin and/or High Five until next month.
However, I haven many sellers on EBay and Amazon that are located in the US that have the Wave 3 triple packs, Bat Spin & High Five that are being scalped for any where from 2x to 7x the retail prices in stores. I, in my honest opinion, am starting to see a pattern here that also applies to Amiibo. I'm wondering if some stores did get them, but employees hide them and then put them on EBay & Amazon for ridiculous prices. Look at the fossil on EBay....$10K for Gear Shift? I saw on Amazon some collectible store selling two Bat Spins for $75 each.
Makes you think how trustworthy some of the stores we go to for our Skylanders. I'm not saying all employees are this way, but it makes me wonder how far someone would go to make some money on the side knowing how hard it is for some of us trying to find figures we want, but aren't out yet. Unless you import them or go through another party.

I managed to purchase the triple pack with bat spin on ebay for $40 when it comes in I hope to sell Fryno and Cobra Cadabra (I already have them) on ebay back (not ridiculously over priced) and get some money back. Other triple packs I saw were like $70 thats too much

The sentence above the listed Wave 4 cores mentions that & will so appear with the cases, so it looks like that they maybe delayed to Wave 4. I hope not, but it sure looks that way.
This was mentioned on myskylanders.de