darkSpyro

Really disappointing. Blackout is so rare and it makes it impossible to find him. And now with Superchargers out, Not sure if I'll have any luck. Anyway, I can't find my favorite character

They really screwed up with the distribution of Trap Team's Light and Dark stuff. What's the point of introducing a new element if the figures, traps, and expansion packs are so underproduced that hardly anyone gets to experience the new element? I think the individual releases of Knight Light and Knight Mare were the only things to get a decent amount of distribution, but why did they even bother selling them individually when you need the expansion pack in order to fully upgrade their movesets?

I agree. I never saw the Light and dark packs on the shelves--be it traps, cores or expansion packs. I saw the individual figures on the pegs exactly one time.

I don't think they were underproduced, I think they just suffered from distribution problems seeing as they fell squarely at both ends of the dock workers' strikes that happened late last year and early this year. I saw all of them a handful of times and even managed to snag a Blackout for the Extra Life stream that Matt and I will be doing in about a month, but nowhere near as frequently as I saw everything else. If Activision's habits over the last couple of years hold true, we should be seeing these things dumped at discount wholesalers before too long as all of the excess stock up through Swap Force has been seen to thus far.

-Doug

I'm hoping since everyone will want Superchargers stuff instead, I'll find Blackout. But the thing is, The only Dark thing I have is Sea Shadow

Quote: darkchylde28

I don't think they were underproduced, I think they just suffered from distribution problems seeing as they fell squarely at both ends of the dock workers' strikes that happened late last year and early this year. I saw all of them a handful of times and even managed to snag a Blackout for the Extra Life stream that Matt and I will be doing in about a month, but nowhere near as frequently as I saw everything else. If Activision's habits over the last couple of years hold true, we should be seeing these things dumped at discount wholesalers before too long as all of the excess stock up through Swap Force has been seen to thus far.

-Doug

I wouldn't be so sure about them showing up at discount stores. The only discount store I've seen in NJ with Skylanders is Five Below and I didn't see anything there from Swap Force other than QuickDraw Rattle Shake, Jade Fire Kraken, and Punk Shock. A bulk of the junk is Spyros Adventure and Giants era stuff. We'll see with time, but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. Another point to note is that the light and dark element stuff disappeared off shelves in Europe and international markets quickly as well without restocks which most likely indicates not many were produced. The only thing that's disappeared in the US from Trap Team which is abundant in Europe is Echo (still available at Amazon Germany last I checked).

I cant find echo
My store had like 2 and I got enigma instead
And they never restocked

I should be glad then that I managed to get Blackout and Spotlight from Best Buy online while they were there. We all had the chance, but other people took it. Hope you can find Blackout soon...

Quote: darkchylde28

I don't think they were underproduced, I think they just suffered from distribution problems seeing as they fell squarely at both ends of the dock workers' strikes that happened late last year and early this year. I saw all of them a handful of times and even managed to snag a Blackout for the Extra Life stream that Matt and I will be doing in about a month, but nowhere near as frequently as I saw everything else. If Activision's habits over the last couple of years hold true, we should be seeing these things dumped at discount wholesalers before too long as all of the excess stock up through Swap Force has been seen to thus far.

-Doug

I don't know. I think that story works up to a point...going by this hypothesis then they're mountains of this stuff sitting somewhere still? At some point, beyond the strike...you'd figure we'd see it. I bet people simply aren't ordering the stock because they're given even LESS space on shelves and people aren't willing to stock 2-3 games of skylanders anymore now that Amibos, Dimensions and Infinity are crowding the market.

I guess when tons of this shows up at discounted retailers will we know the truth I guess.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

I don't know. I think that story works up to a point...going by this hypothesis then they're mountains of this stuff sitting somewhere still? At some point, beyond the strike...you'd figure we'd see it. I bet people simply aren't ordering the stock because they're given even LESS space on shelves and people aren't willing to stock 2-3 games of skylanders anymore now that Amibos, Dimensions and Infinity are crowding the market.

I guess when tons of this shows up at discounted retailers will we know the truth I guess.

Hey, it's the best educated guess I can make. We've been seeing stuff from every game so far freeflowing into stores for five years now, even the formerly numerous then impossible to find Boomer and Darklight Crypt. It stands to reason that there is going to be a large amount of stock somewhere and with the Light and Dark elements supposedly being such a big deal, I would think that Activision would tend to make more of those than other figures, bordering on starter pack numbers rivalry, versus less. I'd bet that their initial thought was to put out the packs then temporarily shortpack the figures to drive demand through artificial scarcity then dump them out onto the marketplace in a later wave, which obviously never came. If you think about everything that happened, we ended up with all of the stuff for the new elements coming both at the beginning and end of the dock workers' strikes as well as a brand new marketing manager/VP/whatever being hired on to take over Skylanders at roughly the same time. A lot of the rockiness of everything could have been the previous manager/VP/whatever's plans being initially put into play then the new person that they hired attempting to tweak those ideas and everything coming up belly up.

Unfortunately, until Activision actually says something officially (or we get a whistleblower), we don't know anything for certain, even if/when stock starts showing up on shelves, with or without the deep discount.

-Doug

Black Out was here too but then he also disappeared . We snooze we lose I guess ?

Good luck getting him for a normal price on eBay.

OH, UM. WHAT. OH. OK. NO. UM. WHAT. WHY.

Quote: Drawdler

He's still hanging around here, actually. I've seen bunches of him in quite a few stores. Sorry you missed out on him man.

Which country are you located in? Blackout has disappeared in US stores and pretty much all online sites internationally. It's funny what warms the shelves in other countries...I found quite a few brand new single pack Punch Pop Fizz and Jade Flashwing figures when I stopped by stores in Germany and Norway during a cruise this past May. They also had a ton of Wii Fit Trainer Amiibos which people stateside are apparently still looking for.

Quote: mega spyro

Good luck getting him for a normal price on eBay.

The one sold was for $35. Very misleading to link to an inflated price auction like that. Nobody is buying Blackout at over $70...much less over a grand like that clown is asking for! Most Blackout figures sold are scattered in the $30-60 range last I checked.

This might sound a little strange, but I suggest going to comic book stores... you might be pleasantly surprised. I tend to do my figure shopping at comic book stores, and they sell them for insanely cheap too... both used and new. There's a chance you might find Blackout at a comic book store, I mean it's a small chance but if you're near one, go in and look.

Remember Ghost Roaster, that really rare and expensive guy? *Especially* rare and expensive if unopened with his adventure pack? Well I went to a comic book store just a few weeks ago and bought that adventure pack for just $10. If you see a comic book store, go in and see if they have any... you might even find other rare characters you've wanted.

Thanks! I'll try sometime.

I had a dream last night where I went to a decoration store and they had a few Skylanders. 2 were Blackout and Spotlight and one was this strange looking Dark Krypt King. But it wasn't Dark. Lol