darkSpyro

ok so i was doing some price research on skylanders expansion as they are needed to 100% the game. Most where cheap until i came to darklight crypt. I research further and figured out why its so expensive. Anyone got a connection or know a guy who knows a guy? Most new ones seem to sell for like $115. I only want new because of the cards and stickers, i look at them as part of the collection stuff and buying used it may not come with them or they might be damaged.

Anyone got any suggestions?

at this point i think you will just have to pay the asking price. because if you want brand new in box, its not magically gonna appear for $25 any day soon.

If you just need it to 100% the game , then there is nothing wrong with preowned or loose .

Both of my Darklight crypts are second hand .

People also sell used figures with card and stickers,you'll just have to ask around.

Somehow some people are selling it for just 50 bucks here in Brazil, but I was short on money at the time and ended up just getting Ghost Roaster with just a card for 10(he isn't with me for the next few weeks,long story). And this place is well known for overpricing anything skylanders,so there are definately cheaper alternatives in the US and Europe.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

at this point i think you will just have to pay the asking price. because if you want brand new in box, its not magically gonna appear for $25 any day soon.

Actually I saw one in the waaaaay back of my walmart's display last year. I just got lucky at Walmart, but if you want a better chance of finding it in stores, try looking at some "mom-and-pop" (one of those tiny usually-non-chain stores) sort of store near you that sells skylanders. Or maybe your walmart just hasn't gotten skylanders in a while like mine Either way it's worth it to check every once in a while.

At this point, beggars really can't be choosers. Expecting to find a Darklight Crypt (or Boomer, Whamshell, etc.) in a normal store at standard retail is beginning to get like expecting to walk in an pick up vintage Kenner Star Wars figures or vintage GI Joe figures for retail instead of their marked up reseller values. The last gasp for these things came when the last country that was going to get a launch of Spyro's Adventure (Japan) got their figures. After that? SSA figures and adventure packs went back out of production, probably for good. My recommendation would be to find it for the best price you can and are willing to pay and pick it up sooner rather than later. With the scalper/collector-centric world that we live in these days, prices are only going to go up while there's still any demand.

-Doug

Quote: darkchylde28

At this point, beggars really can't be choosers. Expecting to find a Darklight Crypt (or Boomer, Whamshell, etc.) in a normal store at standard retail is beginning to get like expecting to walk in an pick up vintage Kenner Star Wars figures or vintage GI Joe figures for retail instead of their marked up reseller values. The last gasp for these things came when the last country that was going to get a launch of Spyro's Adventure (Japan) got their figures. After that? SSA figures and adventure packs went back out of production, probably for good. My recommendation would be to find it for the best price you can and are willing to pay and pick it up sooner rather than later. With the scalper/collector-centric world that we live in these days, prices are only going to go up while there's still any demand.

-Doug

From what I understand, Activision did re-release the other adventure packs from Spyro's Adventure (either that or the local Toys'R'Us stores found a hidden cache of them somewhere). No Darklight Crypt though. It is possible that these were just leftovers from the Japanese launch, but they were in regular (English) packaging.

They must still be making them, because my TRU had a new in box Voodood, that I know wasn't there yesterday.

Quote: DM235

From what I understand, Activision did re-release the other adventure packs from Spyro's Adventure (either that or the local Toys'R'Us stores found a hidden cache of them somewhere). No Darklight Crypt though. It is possible that these were just leftovers from the Japanese launch, but they were in regular (English) packaging.

I'm pretty positive they re-released Darklight Crypt as well, it's just that with its price being as high as it was it tended to disappear pretty much immediately. Unless they're paying people even less than what we imagine, it would cost more to disassemble any unsold Japanese packages perfectly then re-run all of the contents into US packaging.

I saw it a couple of dozen times over the time between the end of Giants and about the middle of Swap Force (pretty much every time I saw a store get in new stock of one of the other adventure packs) but not again since. At this point, though, you're probably more likely to win the lottery than find one in the wild. Time to break out the wallet.

-Doug

its been about a month sense i been to my local TRU but i remember seeing every expansion there, but for the life of me i cant remember seeing this one, ill have to check one of these days.

darkchylde28- yea i know the prices are only going to go up, im a little tight on money right now so im trying to figure out my options, ether way if i want it im going to have to pull the trigger soon.

o yea. just so it clear i would like the full expansion, the level item 2 magic items and Ghost Roaster too. They all only come in the expansion and ill want them all eventually so might as well get them all at the same time.

Quote: Alphawolf

its been about a month sense i been to my local TRU but i remember seeing every expansion there, but for the life of me i cant remember seeing this one, ill have to check one of these days.

darkchylde28- yea i know the prices are only going to go up, im a little tight on money right now so im trying to figure out my options, ether way if i want it im going to have to pull the trigger soon.

o yea. just so it clear i would like the full expansion, the level item 2 magic items and Ghost Roaster too. They all only come in the expansion and ill want them all eventually so might as well get them all at the same time.

Hey, if you can find a good deal for each piece separately, over time, complete, pull the trigger. People will always be selling the various adventure packs and figures loose, separately, and has been mentioned earlier in this thread there are plenty of folks who sell things complete. If you get a price you can't refuse on an individual piece, cards and stickers are normally extremely cheap and not hard to come by; my Empire of Ice came with two Empire of Ice cards (one of which replaced the one for my shield) and I ended up picking up the missing card for $2 shipped on eBay. Good luck!

-Doug

A complete set with all figs, cards and stickers sold 2 days ago on ebay for $42.09 + $3.58 shipping. If you can settle for loose as long as it has everything, you can get it substantially cheaper. You can probably get it cheaper yet with some patience and acquiring it piecemeal. Check Craigslist in your area as well.

I feel lucky for getting mine when it was out.

Quote: DM235

From what I understand, Activision did re-release the other adventure packs from Spyro's Adventure (either that or the local Toys'R'Us stores found a hidden cache of them somewhere). No Darklight Crypt though. It is possible that these were just leftovers from the Japanese launch, but they were in regular (English) packaging.

I have no idea where TRU has been getting their supply. I know in Christmas 2013 they were getting all sorts of SSA stuff in. People were getting excited because you could find it, again, but it was mostly stuff from the last wave of SSA that didn't include Darklight Crypt. Same for the singles that didn't include Boomer. Some said they were finding 3-packs that had Boomer, but I saw several cases in my store unopened, went through them, and found nothing. At the time, I actually happened to look at the cases of SSA stuff that were stacked up on the top shelf. They had shipping labels on them that were dated for 2012. It's hard for me to imagine that TRU would have just been sitting on them for that long, but that's what it looked like. Our TRU hasn't gotten a fresh shipment of SSA stuff in for a long time. It seemed to dwindle after that big Christmas push. The only older thing I saw come in, recently, was a case of Legendary 3-packs from Giants a little before Christmas. They sat for a long while. I kept hoping we'd get sales like the previous year when they had that pack for $10. I had come close to buying it at the time. It said it was in stock, but when I got there, they had just sold it. I didn't want to pay $25 for it, though, even if it might be worth that being hard to find, now.

Well some company,s that cannot sell their stock ship it back to where it came from where it stays in storage until that same shop requests it back to fill demand . Its better than selling it at uber discount prices which certain company,s do that have no way of moving their stock except through the front door.

well update on my search. most darklight sets still selling for about 70- 90 dollars. but i think i found a better deal. a guy on ebay selling me all 32 figures the 4 expansion packs and 8 magic times with cards stickers and code card for $250. all used but in mint condition. minus the boomer and ghost roaster stickers. missing the name sticker on the sticker sheet on both of them. havent finalized it yet but will be done tomorrow. so is this a good deal? i only got the stared kit figures so far ( spyro, trigger happy and gill grunt).

So he wants pretty much what he paid for them? "Mint" doesn't mean anything...they are either "new" or "used". That's quite a bit for "used". My .02. There is such a glut of used skylanders new packaged skylanders are going to start going up (once the stores finally get rid of their stock, right now they're dragging all prices downward)...which makes used the way to go for aspiring new portal masters. Nice starting place for any used collection is 60% off new price. I'd give them an extra 10% if they have all cards and stickers and they haven't been used. So somewhere around $150 would be MY starting place...$175 if they have cards/stickers.

And given the glut, I think the above is even perhaps too much. I really do see these things going for $1 each max on eBay once people REALLY start dumping their collections. And trust me, it's going to happen. And good news is it will put downward pressure on the stores to get real with all of these prices that have gone up 20% or more over the years. Bad news if you've hoarded them and want collector prices, but great news if you want to get all of em on the cheap.

Well, if you're OK with just 100% completion without buying/keeping the figures, you can just borrow one if possible. That's what I did with one of my friends who had quit Skylanders, I just borrowed his Darklight Crypt.

interesting. i do want to collect them all, im focusing more on 100% right now but end result i want 1 of each. Ive done some pricing on ebay. cost of stickers, individual character and such. If i get them all 1 by 1 on ebay it will cost alot more, even on amizon. My local TRU only has like 15 of 3-5 characters so buying a full set for retail will never happen. And interesting idea on the pricing GhostRoaster. Maybe a mas collection dump will happen maybe not, to many variables to really know for sure.

o yea. the collection of just the 44 figures was about $144, the sticker, stat cards and download cards he sells for about $50 for the full set.

But im going to do it. I feel like its a good deal and a huge step to my goal of collecting them all. Thanks for the input and i know i wont regret this because im never going to look back and see if there was a better deal. i got what i wanted. Plus i looked around at similar offers, same set selling for $350 also on ebay.

Quote: Alphawolf

its been about a month sense i been to my local TRU but i remember seeing every expansion there, but for the life of me i cant remember seeing this one, ill have to check one of these days.

darkchylde28- yea i know the prices are only going to go up, im a little tight on money right now so im trying to figure out my options, ether way if i want it im going to have to pull the trigger soon.

o yea. just so it clear i would like the full expansion, the level item 2 magic items and Ghost Roaster too. They all only come in the expansion and ill want them all eventually so might as well get them all at the same time.

There's enough folks selling complete collections on eBay that I see good deals to be had...the auction you just bought at I was looking at very closely. Retail wise There are some very good deals now if you know where to look. It would take longer, be more challenging etc but I don't think you'd pay much more for a NIB SSA set than what it cost in 2011...Darklight crypt notwithstanding.

Quote: Alphawolf

If i get them all 1 by 1 on ebay it will cost alot more, even on amizon..

This may be true depending on what you buy, however, there are tons of figures that are much cheaper to get through Amazon or eBay if you just go for the deals. For example, I just got Quickdraw Rattleshake on Amazon for 8.99 brand new (he goes up and down), Lightcore Countdown for 8.99, Jade Fire Kraken for 10.99. And that was just one order. The savings on just those three was $13 off retail, if I'm not mistaken. Generally the figures that cost more on eBay are always the ones that people can't find in stores (including Amazon). I would bet you my house that if you went to every store in your area you wouldn't come across a Fire Bone Hot Dog, for example. So in a sense, yes, you'd be paying $30 more than retail for him. On the other hand, that's assuming you could have ever found him for $9.99 in a store, which is not likely.

Quote: Friendzie

Quote: Alphawolf

If i get them all 1 by 1 on ebay it will cost alot more, even on amizon..

This may be true depending on what you buy, however, there are tons of figures that are much cheaper to get through Amazon or eBay if you just go for the deals. For example, I just got Quickdraw Rattleshake on Amazon for 8.99 brand new (he goes up and down), Lightcore Countdown for 8.99, Jade Fire Kraken for 10.99. And that was just one order. The savings on just those three was $13 off retail, if I'm not mistaken. Generally the figures that cost more on eBay are always the ones that people can't find in stores (including Amazon). I would bet you my house that if you went to every store in your area you wouldn't come across a Fire Bone Hot Dog, for example. So in a sense, yes, you'd be paying $30 more than retail for him. On the other hand, that's assuming you could have ever found him for $9.99 in a store, which is not likely.

QuickDraw Rattle Shake and Jade Fire Kraken are about that same price on Bestbuy.com as of the last time I checked, but it's been reported in one of the Punk Shock threads that they're being sold for $5 at Five Below.

^Yep, so good deals if you look. Takes more time (and if you factor in gas over time I'm sure more), but they are out there if you look.

Oh that's right, my Five Below did have one Jade Fire Kraken for $5. I think it's kind of weird that Five Below got dumped with old Skylanders stock, especially becuase I feel like the ones they got would actually move at normal retail price in any of the regular Skylander vendors. What will they get next, shelves of Fire Bone Hot Dog?

What I find weird is that there was no reason to "dump" this stock...Punk Shock can easily retail at $10 and be sold out in hours if placed on Amazon.

It's funny how some Skylanders that get released late in the annual cycle (late Spring or early Summer) end up becoming ridiculously rare (Wham-Shell, Scratch), while others collect dust for a LONG time in stores (Spy Rise, Rubble Rouser, Ninjini).
And even others, apparently, get passed on to discount stores, like Five Below (or Big Lots, For Your Entertainment, etc.) in large quantities, like Punk Shock.

Over time, I think the community has done a good job of predicting how, when, and where Skylanders will be available for Waves 1, 2, and 3 during each annual cycle.
However, Wave 4 and 5 stuff continues to be a major mystery and relatively unpredictable.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

It's funny how some Skylanders that get released late in the annual cycle (late Spring or early Summer) end up becoming ridiculously rare (Wham-Shell, Scratch), while others collect dust for a LONG time in stores (Spy Rise, Rubble Rouser, Ninjini).
And even others, apparently, get passed on to discount stores, like Five Below (or Big Lots, For Your Entertainment, etc.) in large quantities, like Punk Shock.

Over time, I think the community has done a good job of predicting how, when, and where Skylanders will be available for Waves 1, 2, and 3 during each annual cycle.
However, Wave 4 and 5 stuff continues to be a major mystery and relatively unpredictable.

its always the first and the last that get rare, the stuff in the middle always end up going nowhere.. i think this has to do with productions quantity and interest of the game.

at first everyone want the new game and they dont produce enough... then in the middle they produce more, but people aren't that interested anymore. at the end they just produce not much at all, because of the low interest and a new game is on the way...

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: BahamutBreaker

It's funny how some Skylanders that get released late in the annual cycle (late Spring or early Summer) end up becoming ridiculously rare (Wham-Shell, Scratch), while others collect dust for a LONG time in stores (Spy Rise, Rubble Rouser, Ninjini).
And even others, apparently, get passed on to discount stores, like Five Below (or Big Lots, For Your Entertainment, etc.) in large quantities, like Punk Shock.

Over time, I think the community has done a good job of predicting how, when, and where Skylanders will be available for Waves 1, 2, and 3 during each annual cycle.
However, Wave 4 and 5 stuff continues to be a major mystery and relatively unpredictable.

its always the first and the last that get rare, the stuff in the middle always end up going nowhere.. i think this has to do with productions quantity and interest of the game.

at first everyone want the new game and they dont produce enough... then in the middle they produce more, but people aren't that interested anymore. at the end they just produce not much at all, because of the low interest and a new game is on the way...

Actually, it probably has more to do with stock space in stores. Many of the first wave figures collect dust for a while, but end up being the hard to find ones, in the end. Activision stops putting them in the case assortments, so they eventually dry up. By the time the last waves come out, stores are full of stock from the middle waves (and some of the first waves that haven't dried up, yet), so they don't order as much. If stock is popping up in discount stores (like Five Below and Big Lots), then that means that they did produce them, they just didn't get ordered. Stores don't care whether or not they have plenty of current stock. They just see their inventory full of Skylanders, in general, so they don't order as much, even if that means they are missing out on selling more because the new stock would have new figures people are looking for. It's not just with Skylanders, but practically any toy line like this. I remember when I used to collect Star Wars. It was the same way. Stores would get full of the least popular figures that got left behind that they never would order new stock. So it would get harder and harder to find the new figures. I stopped collecting after the first prequel came out (mostly due to me losing interest in collecting much at all, since I was boxing everything up to get it out of my way), and I remember there were figures from Phantom Menace that actually became worth something (at least, at the time) because they were released in the last waves. No one could find them because most stores were full of leftover stock from previous waves and wouldn't order the new ones. I worked at KB Toys and we ended up getting a shipment of them much later with them marked down real cheap because KB Toys had bought out a closeout deal from Hasbro, so the inventory just got dumped at a discount. It's not really an interest thing or even solely related to the Skylander release pattern, but how stores tend to order the stock.