darkSpyro

Hi, all. A bit of back story about myself; I'm an assistant manager for a particular Game Store that is the largest in the land.

Recently, out of curiosity, I sent an email to our acquisitions department regarding the Yawn Traps. I just received the reply. It reads,

"...my Activision contacts have confirmed with their operations team that there will be no additional new Skylanders Trap Gems that will be releasing in the US."

So, uh... Dang, man. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially on this.

Since all standard traps have used the same UPC/bar code, I wonder if this is true in the absolute strictest sense. "No new traps" could mean no more skus versus no more individual molds. Seeing as they've apparently been released in Australia, Canada and Germany (if eBay is anything to go buy), it looks like they're likely to ship out sometime in the near future, even if we can't get a 100% straight answer about it.

-Doug

That's a good point. I really don't want to have to spend $50/ea to import them from Australia. :/

Kind of bummed, because those were the only ones I needed to finish. If it's true, then why were they pictured in the ad for the past Skylanders Day on 6/27 in the GameStop ad. If they aren't going to release them in the US, Activision should have mentioned it on their Facebook page. That stinks.

My vote is to wait. Activision has never completely skipped a release in the US for any in-game toy/figure in the previous three games. No need to think they'd suddenly start know.

With Trap Team they've now released 254 out of a total of 254 different in-game figures. That's a pretty good record. Now they just need to finish the last 3 traps out of 59 different in-game traps.

It will happen, just wait for it.

Bump...Anybody have any updates?

Someone tweeted activiosion support and posted the pic on Facebook this morning. They said they have no information about it

lol that was us but thank you for joining/liking our group SkylanderGoo!

just seeing if this dark's members heard of anything.

Yeah i'm not getting why Activision is holding these last 3 Traps back for the USA....they have nothing in them to classify as a In-Game Variant/Specialty like the last figure they withheld till the new game release.(Lightcore Hex)

And i agree with Doug that motosada acquisitions department buddy phrased there question to his Activision contacts wrong.

Maybe stores aren't ordering more traps or are already trying to clear out existing Trap Team stock to make room for Superchargers? If it's not profitable, they might not distribute them for US release. That being said, I'm 75% sure these will get an eventual US release...just gotta be patient rather than asking the same old question week after week only to get answers with baseless speculation (like my speculation above).

We will know within 60 days, if they aren't out by the release of superchargers then they are never coming

1 month yawn traps, 1 month til SSC release

Quote: Phoenix_Lord

Yeah i'm not getting why Activision is holding these last 3 Traps back for the USA....they have nothing in them to classify as a In-Game Variant/Specialty like the last figure they withheld till the new game release.(Lightcore Hex)

And i agree with Doug that motosada acquisitions department buddy phrased there question to his Activision contacts wrong.

Main reason I'm seeing is that either they aren't sending them or stores don't want them because of limited space and upcoming game. I think they should go through all of their boxes and take out the water traps...no one wants those....might be the only way they can get rid of what they have if it's sitting in a building somewhere.

These will come when stock starts moving again, my .02. I'm laughing at the $70-$100 price range these are going for on eBay.

Still wish all the people saying they have them on "pre order" would get banned from ebay. They do not have them, would just buy them off the shelves and then make more money. Almost wish I would bid on them if I knew they were not coming, then give negative feedback and report them to ebay as its against the rules, just rarely enforced.

Quote: lamoracke

Still wish all the people saying they have them on "pre order" would get banned from ebay. They do not have them, would just buy them off the shelves and then make more money.

Hello ! Here in Italy Yawn Traps are not arrived ... :-( I have the complete collection of all the Skylanders figures (except foem chase variants) of all the games released until now: I need only the three yawn traps to complete the Trap Team collection.
Is there some one that has been able to speak with Activision and knows what is happening ?!? :-S

Best regards from Modena (Italy),
Ivano Venturi

Quote: lamoracke

Still wish all the people saying they have them on "pre order" would get banned from ebay. They do not have them, would just buy them off the shelves and then make more money. Almost wish I would bid on them if I knew they were not coming, then give negative feedback and report them to ebay as its against the rules, just rarely enforced.

Well, to give them negative feedback you'd have to bid, but you can just straight up report their auctions to eBay as a violation of the rules and they should get removed fairly quickly. I'd have done it already, but there are so many of them up there, it takes a somewhat decent amount of focused time to do each one (5-10 minutes) and with a toddler in the house, I'm lucky if I get that right before I go to sleep let alone when I'm "on duty", lol.

-Doug

Hello again ! :-) Any news from the Skylands about Yawn traps ?!? :-T

Best regards from Modena (Italy),
Ivano Venturi

I've heard some people have emailed Activision and either gotten no reply or they've said they're not releasing any new traps in the U.S. Someone on the Toys & Merch section of the forum (forgot exactly who, too lazy to read all the posts again ) said it's likely they simply stopped trap production due to poor sales and don't want to publicly say it.

So my life yawn is.. Rare?
.....
SELLING ON EBAY $150. ANY TAKERS

At this point:

They either aren't coming ever.
They are sitting in a warehouse not moving due to stores not ordering any.


Im hoping they just show up down the road like regular echo did, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Quote: SlayerX11

At this point:

They either aren't coming ever.
They are sitting in a warehouse not moving due to stores not ordering any.


Im hoping they just show up down the road like regular echo did, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I don't think any stores are ordering any traps or any Trap Team merchandise at this point. Those retailers that have decided to stay with merchandise beyond Trap Team are making room for Superchargers. I think the bubble has burst with Toys to Life figures are stores are going to be very cautious from now on about how much stock is being ordered. I stopped by a Walmart store last night which was bursting at the seams with Disney Infinity 3.0 products in 3 different areas within the electronics section. It looked like not even one figure had been bought. Overstocked stores with merchandise that isn't really moving makes that store not want to order that type of merchandise.

Yeah this really SUCKS....looks like i'm/we are never getting these last 3 Traps(Life, Fire an Light Yawn)...really unhappy that Activision's Logistics Department is doing such a bad job with these figures every year...i like to have complete collections.

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: SlayerX11

At this point:

They either aren't coming ever.
They are sitting in a warehouse not moving due to stores not ordering any.


Im hoping they just show up down the road like regular echo did, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I don't think any stores are ordering any traps or any Trap Team merchandise at this point. Those retailers that have decided to stay with merchandise beyond Trap Team are making room for Superchargers. I think the bubble has burst with Toys to Life figures are stores are going to be very cautious from now on about how much stock is being ordered. I stopped by a Walmart store last night which was bursting at the seams with Disney Infinity 3.0 products in 3 different areas within the electronics section. It looked like not even one figure had been bought. Overstocked stores with merchandise that isn't really moving makes that store not want to order that type of merchandise.

I don't blame them with superchargers coming why would a store want leftover stuff. Im just hoping maybe Activ makes a deal with TRu to give these yawn traps away at a later date with some promo.


Quote: Phoenix_Lord

Yeah this really SUCKS....looks like i'm/we are never getting these last 3 Traps(Life, Fire an Light Yawn)...really unhappy that Activision's Logistics Department is doing such a bad job with these figures every year...i like to have complete collections.

Don't think we will ever see the last traps. I need the 3 yawn, plus 1 more light and 1 more dark trap to have 4 complete skylander game sets. I'm fed up now with trying to get the final figures which don't get released in the UK. Even though its a great game series i will not be buying superchargers. With disney infinatey 3 and lego dimensions, i can see superchargers characters being even harder to get this time round.

Quote: Archie

Don't think we will ever see the last traps. I need the 3 yawn, plus 1 more light and 1 more dark trap to have 4 complete sets.

4 complete sets? I can see one unboxed to play, one to keep, but two more sets? Are they investments for reselling?

Quote: fairyland

Quote: Archie

Don't think we will ever see the last traps. I need the 3 yawn, plus 1 more light and 1 more dark trap to have 4 complete sets.

4 complete sets? I can see one unboxed to play, one to keep, but two more sets? Are they investments for reselling?

It doesn't really matter. What makes sense for one person will not make sense to another. Let it be.

Wow, this may actually be the first game in the franchise where they didn't actually release all content before the next game.

Can't say I ever saw them...

Quote: TakeYourLemons

It doesn't really matter. What makes sense for one person will not make sense to another. Let it be.

Nah, I won't prejudge nor dismiss another person off so quickly like that. Asking questions often brings entertaining, if not informative, answers. As a fellow collector, it's VERY interesting why someone would buy four sets, so I just had to ask.

I got to thinking about it today and I believe that Archie meant all four Skylanders SERIES sets complete. Not four complete traps sets. I just saw his tagline and it seems that my thinking is correct. Silly me for making that mistake. LOL! Sorry Archie for making you sound weird! Hope it won't be too long before you get those last ones!

You know...last summer it was my plan to buy a complete trap crystal set off ebay this summer for something like $50 when everyone was so tired of them. I fully expected them to be all available at all times and 100s of sets on ebay by now. Boy was I so wrong! So I'm thinking I'll just skip the traps in counting my TT set as "complete" as I never really liked them anyway. The real figures are much more interesting to collect and the traps are just hunks of coloured clear plastic to me.

Anyway, like I said in another yawn trap tread a few weeks ago, I believe we'll see them someday at some discount outlet store. Probably 5 Below like the normal card Punk Shocks. I see that some other tread is saying that they are appearing in California TRUs, so perhaps they'll appear just yet before SCs hit the stores. I hope so for all the super serious collectors out there!

Quote: fairyland

Quote: Archie

Don't think we will ever see the last traps. I need the 3 yawn, plus 1 more light and 1 more dark trap to have 4 complete sets.

4 complete sets? I can see one unboxed to play, one to keep, but two more sets? Are they investments for reselling?

I'm guessing he means all four Skylander Games, not four sets of trap team. On a side note, I actually saw a full rack of those 8 pack traps at Target so they must still be getting shipments in. I haven't seen those in a long time.....

aw what?! they restocking? man i didt Got that for long itme

I know there was a thread that was closed about this, but... Apparently there were a few reports on the official Skylanders page on Facebook that folks had started seeing the yawn traps in new trap assortments in areas of CA and FL. The thread got closed pretty quickly because an admin didn't see any in-hand US eBay auctions.

I got curious today and took a look. It seems that most of the preorder auctions are now down/missing (possibly due to those sellers actually finding the things and having to curb how many auctions they let through versus how much stock they can get their hands on). Additionally, there are at least three auctions in the US now for in-hand examples of the yawn traps. Please note that the below links aren't my auctions or anyone I'm associated with and here purely as an educational example to show that there is some evidence that stock may have finally started hitting US shores.

Light trap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item33a9095fda
Life trap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item33a90972b7
Fire trap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item33a909697f

The traps shown don't have US peg holders showing, but if all of the speculation about how short the run of these was is true, Activision may have simply shifted stock meant for overseas markets to the US to quickly quench the thirst for these missing traps. Additionally, in the past year I've seen more than a few shipments of non-US figures to Walmart and TRU, so this could be the beginning of this being the norm. Food for thought.

-Doug

that ebay seller states "I got this overseas and they were never released in the US. Bid on the other Yawn traps to complete your collection!"
Gotten from Overseas
not gotten from within the US

$356 for one $7 trap? I'm not that crazy. Wow. And it's got 7 hours to go.

Newsflash Activision: No one can buy traps because of the fact that you pack water traps with everything and they aren't selling so stores aren't restocking. Water traps (by the dozens) is all I see everywhere.

Reminds me of Rime of the Ancient Mariner...
"Water, Water everywhere..."

the traps was handled horrible, i just hope the supercharger vehicles dont get the same treatment.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

the traps was handled horrible, i just hope the supercharger vehicles dont get the same treatment.

Well, it's a little different. I'd argue that some people may decide "one" land vehicle which means that if land vehicles are packed into vehicle cases you "might" see a glut of land vehicles. I don't think that will happen since the vehicle itself is unique and provides content in of itself.

Superchargers will be such a tremendous flop after the beat down Star Wars Infinty is going to give it, they'll be giving away Supercharger Starter sets with each Yawn and Water trap purchase. LOL

Quote: INTIMIDAT3R

Superchargers will be such a tremendous flop after the beat down Star Wars Infinty is going to give it, they'll be giving away Supercharger Starter sets with each Yawn and Water trap purchase. LOL

I wouldn't say that just yet. Keep in mind that they delivered the game faster, but the movie isn't really going to be seen until it's almost too late to buy for Christmas. There's nothing I've seen in the game that screams "must have" and I'm a SW fan (just not fanatic). I mean, who REALLY wants to re-play the movie? Doesn't sound inspiring. I'd rather take on Battlefront for that in November. I think the introduction of yet another TTL contendor (Legos) is what's going to decrease marketshare for EVERYONE. I'm not convinced we can support Nintendo, Activision, Disney and Legos for long. Someone will flop in the next two years I think. Also keep in mind that Activision is going to compete against itself with Guitar Hero as well.

I still think this is Activision's battle to lose, but I agree there are some major chinks in their armor in terms of number of figures and abysmal shipping for Trap Team.

Quite honestly, if sales do suffer, I don't trust Activision to deliver on all the vehicles...not after their radio silence on the yawn traps. If it's not profitable, Activision won't release it. That's how these big corporations work and we have no reason to believe otherwise as we've already seen it first hand with Trap Team. Keep in mind that Skylanders is the Toys to Life franchise on the greatest decline...Disney Infinity has hit it's high note (and you have no place to go except down after Star Wars), Nintendo Amiibo are still chugging along quite strongly despite losing that insanity-inducing shortage earlier this year, and Lego Dimensions is the new kid on the block. Don't ask me for facts or figures...it's common sense where Skylanders stands...not on it's death bed, but a definite decline.

I've been loyal to the franchise collecting all in-game variants to this point, but seeing as loyalty goes to waste on Activision, I'm rethinking my purchases with this upcoming game. I certainly won't be rushing out day one to grab one of everything like many here plan on doing.

Serious decline? Not yet. We currently have a blip, where 3 games have sold over 5 million and the last entry was about 30% less. If this game doesn't exceed Trap Team's sales, then it would be "decline confirmed". I can tell you that the energy (both here and at the stores) has declined. Go ask any TRU employee, they'll more than likely agree.

That being said, this entry looks great. I'm not without my preferences and concerns, but I can tell VV has put it all on the line for us to have a great time with this game.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Serious decline? Not yet. We currently have a blip, where 3 games have sold over 5 million and the last entry was about 30% less. If this game doesn't exceed Trap Team's sales, then it would be "decline confirmed". I can tell you that the energy (both here and at the stores) has declined. Go ask any TRU employee, they'll more than likely agree.

That being said, this entry looks great. I'm not without my preferences and concerns, but I can tell VV has put it all on the line for us to have a great time with this game.

I never said serious decline, but the current decline rate is the largest of the Toys to Life franchises (can't count Lego since it hasn't been released yet). I am not sure where you went to school for math, but 30% less mapped on a graph is a decline. You confirmed the decline in your own post and seem to be contradicting yourself. And I'm willing to put money on the fact that the downwards trend in sales on the graph will continue...there is no more knock your socks off innovation. I believe they threw all their best cards on the table in Trap Team with the ability to play as Kaos and the introduction of 2 new elements. This game should be a good entry to the series despite the downwards trend in sales. As long as the game brings in profits for Activision, you bet they're going to keep giving the go ahead to produce more Skylanders games.

Anyway, the point of my post wasn't to point out a doom & gloom decline. It's the point that Activision can't be trusted and will stop releasing product as they did with the yawn traps when sales are sluggish. Feel free to comment on that or elaborate if you wish.

I wasn't contradicting myself, if a franchise has run 3 years straight with the same starter pack sales and then #4 is a 30% decline, in my mind we don't truly know if 1. people are tired of the franchise or 2. the game simply wasn't well received or 3. increased competitors in their space; that's why I'm saying if THIS game gives us similar results it would be more credence that people are both tired of the franchise and we have newer fresher entries.

In terms of comparing Skylanders against its competitors, I have no data other than to say that Infinity's starter sales still wasn't besting Skylanders on its worst day.

I honestly believe we'll see equal distribution of "share" between the franchises this year. I expect Skylanders to hold given a 10-15% swing in either direction, for the reasons that the franchise is in a weaker position given its competition and because we're sharing the pie with 3 other companies now. People forget that even with our pie being cut up we're still a formidable franchise.

I'm personally worried because the "big deal" is vehicles, yet Legos support those out of the box with their game and Infinity has done that for a while. I think the game itself (and the story) will save this year, not the gimmick. I hope they in turn realize what we've been saying for a while---the game itself is what is important...not the flashy gimmick. I hope they review the need for the gimmick and concentrate on game style enhancements or story telling (which they appear to do very well in this game)...

In terms of being jaded by Activision--I can't say I've been personally duped by them before...so perhaps someone can educate me.

In terms of the Traps, there's a good reason why those haven't been seen: Too many Traps. Activision really blew it on guessing the number of traps people would buy, especially Water Traps, so it's likely that we won't see the Yawn Traps for a while, until the stores begin clearing their inventory of Traps. Shouldn't happen too much later I reckon either, considering the fact a new game is on the horizon.

My son and I have been collecting since the beginning of SSA and a completion-ish. However, since Activision has not released the last 3 traps in the US and we are not much in to racing games, we will not be there on day 1 for SC. We felt let down on the traps and if they (activision) cant sell all in game traps, I don't trust them when it comes to SC. This is hard to say since we have been very loyal to Skylanders, but when you let the fans down, don't expect the loyalty to stay.
So long for now.

P.S. I hope they get the point and earn back our loyalty. However if they wait to long and some exclusives come and go, that will not earn my loyalty either.

I am considering stopping skylanders purchases completely.
I am bored with skylanders that do not get released at all in my country (France). With Giants and swap force, it was a couple of characters missing but with Trap team, it's 4 of the 8 mini packs, the yawn traps and half of the eon's elite.
If you want to collect them, it costs 3 to 10 times the "normal" price on ebay. It is manageable for 1 or 2 items but not for a dozen; it just does not make sense.

One could say that nobody forces me to have a complete set for each game... that's true but I can also not buy the game at all, maybe it is the wisest choice.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

I wasn't contradicting myself, if a franchise has run 3 years straight with the same starter pack sales and then #4 is a 30% decline, in my mind we don't truly know if 1. people are tired of the franchise or 2. the game simply wasn't well received or 3. increased competitors in their space; that's why I'm saying if THIS game gives us similar results it would be more credence that people are both tired of the franchise and we have newer fresher entries.

In terms of comparing Skylanders against its competitors, I have no data other than to say that Infinity's starter sales still wasn't besting Skylanders on its worst day.

I honestly believe we'll see equal distribution of "share" between the franchises this year. I expect Skylanders to hold given a 10-15% swing in either direction, for the reasons that the franchise is in a weaker position given its competition and because we're sharing the pie with 3 other companies now. People forget that even with our pie being cut up we're still a formidable franchise.

I'm personally worried because the "big deal" is vehicles, yet Legos support those out of the box with their game and Infinity has done that for a while. I think the game itself (and the story) will save this year, not the gimmick. I hope they in turn realize what we've been saying for a while---the game itself is what is important...not the flashy gimmick. I hope they review the need for the gimmick and concentrate on game style enhancements or story telling (which they appear to do very well in this game)...

In terms of being jaded by Activision--I can't say I've been personally duped by them before...so perhaps someone can educate me.

I think that this is being looked at from the perspective of an adult. When I was around the target age of Skylanders, so about 6-7 years ago, I didn't care about the story of anything, I cared about the flashy gimmick. But, once I got involved in something, it came down to the story. I.e. Pokèmon.

I honestly think it takes both to make a successful game. The difficult part is finding a balance. Younger kids might want a better gimmick, while older kids/adults may want a better story.

You are correct ninja. Activision knows kids "of all ages" play this game, and while they will not admit it, they are in fact balancing the needs of their entire loyal customer base, while attempting to hook new customers in the fold. The net/net is if they increase market share, they are rewarding their shareholders. That's the bottom line of an "evil, cold" corporation. The reality is if they fulfill needs in the market, they survive.

Quote: Kefran

I am bored with skylanders that do not get released at all in my country (France). With Giants and swap force, it was a couple of characters missing but with Trap team, it's 4 of the 8 mini packs, the yawn traps and half of the eon's elite.
If you want to collect them, it costs 3 to 10 times the "normal" price on ebay. It is manageable for 1 or 2 items but not for a dozen; it just does not make sense.

Here in Italy the situation has been a little better, but not too much ! :-T If am remembering well, here in Italy have been missed one lightcore character (Bumble Blast) of Swap Force and the three yawn traps and last two Eon's Elite of Trap Team ... it is really, really frustrating ! :-(

Best regards from Modena (Italy),
Ivano Venturi

The Traps are selling well, the problem is people keep buying anything that is not Water when it's out at the stores.

Quote: WickedRogue

The Traps are selling well, the problem is people keep buying anything that is not Water when it's out at the stores.

Thats because you got to get the other traps whilst you can. All i need now is the 3 yawn plus an extra dark.

They'll never come, just like how Series 2 Drobot and Lightcore Bumble Blast were never released in Europe.