darkSpyro

I guess you don't understand what I getting at. I don't care if figures aren't released all on day 1. I'm saying that Skylanders doesn't set specific dates for their releases like Dimensions and Infinity does.

It's going to hurt this brand more than help, because customers never know when to lookout for anything. They have to assume, or visit a site where others will say "hey my stores got this or that Skylanders," which leads them to assume their local stores do, only to be met with disappointment.

As I said, last Friday, I was guaranteed to walk into Best Buy and find the latest Infinity figures. I'll be guaranteed Dimensions wave 3 on January 19th. When am I guaranteed to get the normal Sky Racing pack without ordering online? Who knows. What about Combo Packs 2 and 3? Will they even come out, seeing as they didn't even release triple packs 3 and 4 in North America for Trap Team. So when can I be guaranteed to go to a store and find single packs for wave 4, outside of TRU's hot toy alert? Who knows.

Point is, they don't stick to a set date, which will hurt the brand. Peolle have loves and can't go around hunting for toys like some game of cat and mouse. They don't have to if they support Infinity and Dimensions, and even more sad, Amiibo, but they have to with Skylanders. I grew tired of wasting my gas just to come home empty handed.

Again, though, this isn't about all product coming out day 1. It's about getting solid release dates for figures, and Acti making sure ALL stores are stocked, like whoever handled Infinity and Dimensions making sure their stuff is stocked. It's sad to walk into Targets, Walmarts and Best Buys, and see Skylanders shelves empty of still filled with wave 1 stuff, while Dimensions and Infinity are keeping up with the joneses.

I kind of agree. Not knowing when figures are going to come out really sucks. They should have something that says which figures are in what wave and when those waves will be released on the box. If I recall correctly doesn't Lego Dimensions do this at the top?

Yep, Dimensions goes one step further by actually showing the waves up top. Huge kudos to them for that on top of giving specific dates for each wave.

I just think part of Skylanders downfall will be the lack of properly conveying when stuff can be found at stores. By not giving certain dates for figures and making sure stores enforce those dates, people have to resort to secondhand guessing, which means less sales of figures. I think customers just finally caught on and are tired of it.

I don't get why they have to be so secretive about it anyway. They could at least tell us a few weeks in advance. This whole secrecy thing isn't gaining them any money, so why else would they be disregarding set dates?

Quote: GameMaster78

Yep, Dimensions goes one step further by actually showing the waves up top. Huge kudos to them for that on top of giving specific dates for each wave.

I just think part of Skylanders downfall will be the lack of properly conveying when stuff can be found at stores. By not giving certain dates for figures and making sure stores enforce those dates, people have to resort to secondhand guessing, which means less sales of figures. I think customers just finally caught on and are tired of it.

I couldn't agree more. Acti still feels they can play that game when the competition can clearly give what comes out, and the ability to reserve it. Only very few skylanders, including hot dog's first appearance pack way back in giants and the gamestop exclusives were the only ones that had release dates when they did. At this time they need to suck it up and actually start giving out information, or just expect people to stop buying them with no information. It's what they deserve for this year after everything they've pulled.

Quote: GameMaster78

Don't understand why they don't go with changes like this.

- open world
- areas based on all 10 elements.
- each area has specific areas that act as levels
- each area has a feat of strength
- each area has new Swap Force gameplay
- each area has new vehicle gameplay
- hidden areas scattered throughout
- collecting items is still there
- survival quests
- tower defense quests
- regular side quests given by NPC's in a centralized hub, or hubs (if every area has its own hub/town)

And since it's open world, all previous Location Items unlock mini areas throughout the world, complete with new enemy specific levels, swap force areas, vehicle areas, feats of strength, collectibles, and other things to do.

It allows for your collections to remain viable and exploration is accounted for. Then whatever gimmick they want to introduce is there to add to the already tremendous amount of gameplay. Seeing as both TFB and VV have longer development cycles, it'd be a lame excuse to say they can't pull it off.

O you means like classic spyro?

And see, this is why this franchise needs help. So, going back to the problem this has compared to Infinity, Dimensions, and Amiibo, even when Skylanders tries to place a date on something, it still gets messed up. Infinity, Dimensions and Amiibo never have this problem. When a date for new figures for those brands comes up, those figures are on the shelf.

What happens with Skylanders, though? TRU lists Birthday Pop Fizz as being released today. Guess what? Not all stores will have it, if any have it at all. Roller Brawl was supposed to be released today, but now comes out on the 31st.

How can customers purchase products with all of the mind games going on with the release of Skylanders figures?

I'm a diehard Skylanders fan. Heck, I would even boast I created the trend of superfan for this game, but I,m not gonna lie to sugarcoat the mistakes being made with my beloved brand. I can see Sky6 being the nail in the coffin for Skylanders if Activision/TFB/VV don't start making hard release dates for each figure, while also making sure every figure is actually released, and stop messing with the staple formulas established in the first game by removing them.

Maybe it's because for years I've collected stuff with no set release date but I like that there is no set date for most things (the only that I care about is release day). I like having reports of finding things and going out to see if I can find them.

No set release dates also gives them the option to do something despicable like pull the plug on a release like they did with the yawn traps. At the end of the day, it's us collectors who pay with incomplete collections as a result of Activision's damage control of the early 2015 water trap glut situation. I wouldn't put in past Activision to do something similar again in the future. Too many fans here like to give Activision the benefit of the doubt despite us already having been screwed out previously on the yawn traps. Whether it's one thing or another, the decisions of Activision and the direction of the franchise has many of us super fans and loyal collectors questioning things, and rightfully so.

Quote: nitendofan92

Quote: GameMaster78

Don't understand why they don't go with changes like this.

- open world
- areas based on all 10 elements.
- each area has specific areas that act as levels
- each area has a feat of strength
- each area has new Swap Force gameplay
- each area has new vehicle gameplay
- hidden areas scattered throughout
- collecting items is still there
- survival quests
- tower defense quests
- regular side quests given by NPC's in a centralized hub, or hubs (if every area has its own hub/town)

And since it's open world, all previous Location Items unlock mini areas throughout the world, complete with new enemy specific levels, swap force areas, vehicle areas, feats of strength, collectibles, and other things to do.

It allows for your collections to remain viable and exploration is accounted for. Then whatever gimmick they want to introduce is there to add to the already tremendous amount of gameplay. Seeing as both TFB and VV have longer development cycles, it'd be a lame excuse to say they can't pull it off.

O you means like classic spyro?

i dont think activision will see their wrong doings before skylanders7... they are so much on rails now that they are totally blinded, and when things just goes on auto in a big company it takes time to shutdown. also this is the 5th game and they still cant put a set release date of the figurines. while the competition do it from day one, thats just one of the things that goes a miss... anyway i have been in the shops before xmas and after xmas when they had sales. the shelves are still full of superchargers, some of the figurines are good but others are really bad designs and the paint is all over the place. and the game gave gotten upates, to add stuff/remove stuff and bug fix stuff, its a serious mess.. i remember skylanders spyro adventure, it was finished when released. no updates and the game was great, and all the great original figurines, some not so good design but no one was really bad. the painting was very good on all of them too. all i missed in ssa is jump and option to skip stuff, other than that it was perfect in my opinion. and here we are in 2015 with superchargers, its incredible that activision can fall off this far of the track. im a huge skylanders fan to but i dont regret not getting superchargers. i am still interested in skylanders and i think skylanders peaked at swap force, but i hope for the best for skylanders6.

Online racing was a disappointment, too. Why didn't they bring back PvP?

The racing systems is pretty decent . I just would've rathered they made it able to have four player racing at home then online though, then at least it could be a fun group game.

Racing people online is pretty dull and with such small rewards for winning there's not much point.
If there was decent rewards in the online racing people would play, but at the moment you get more rewards just breaking crates in the academy.

There's a lot of boo-hooing in this thread, but I will say... Yeah, I'd support better communication and concrete release dates. If nothing else, my closest Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and ToysRUs are all about an hour away. I've managed, through research & luck, to get everything so far... but it sure would be nice to know for sure on this stuff and not show up at TRU four hours early for Crash Bandicoot to not be released.

Solid release dates or not, the figures will be in stores. The game has been around awhile, has plenty of competition, and popularity has clearly plateau'd. I don't stress about day 1 because there is no such thing as hard-to-get or find figures. Of course, this excludes chase variants, which are purposely limited in quantity.

People thought the same with single pack Jet Vac, after they bought the Portal Owners Pack for Giants. People overseas thought that about Series 2 Drobot. People thought that about Giants triple packs 8 and 9 in America, and triple packs 5 and 6 for Swap Force in America. People in America thought that about the remaining three traps for Trap Team in America.

Two days ago was the release of Birthday Pop Fizz according to TRU, yet where is he? No sightings on Ebay and no sightings in stores.

Heck, I half expect NOT to find Roller Brawl today, despite her release date being today.

It's not about day 1 so much as it's knowing Activision and the Skylanders people obviously don't care about their own product and making sure it gets out there and in the hands of customers.

However, I do like to know that when they say a figure is releasing, it will be released that day. No head games. No cat and mouse. Simply release as you list it, and if figures don't have hard dates, give them hard dates and make sure they're ready to go.

To be fair, Activision doesn't have any control over internal release date lists at TRU, BB, GS or WM... so you can't really hold it agaiknst Activision that they didn't make a release date that TRU made up *and* wasn't really supposed to be shared with GenPop.

But Roller Brawl has a set date that's been pushed back once. I'm sitting in the car while my son goes into TRU to look for her. I bet he comes out empty handed despite the release date being today.

And I will have wasted gas. Yep sons walking back to the car now empty handed.

But guess what? I bet on the 19th of January, I can stroll into ANY store and find wave 3 Lego Dimensions.

Now that's Activisions fault. If Infinity and Dimensions brands can make specific dates, there's no reason Activision can't.

Once again, Hyping Lego Dimensions to god level.

I'm not saying Activision can't/shouldn't have specific release dates.

I'm saying the dates we've had for Roller Brawl come from internal Toys R Us documents that we're not even supposed to know about. It's not Activision's fault that TRU made up this release date list or that a TRU employee leaked it. That falls on TRU.

Uncle, people are finding Roller Brawl today, on her release date according to TRU.

Talked to a friend at TRU just now. Here's how shoddy this brand has become.

779434 is her number

NO TRU in our DC's region got any in. The DC is saying its at -312, which my friend told me means they're tryin to fill orders to get them into the DC to ship to stores, but guess who isn't filling the product? Activision. That's just for our region, while other regions are meeting the street date.

This means Activision is at fault, because if TRU had set a date, be it internal or part of a HTA, it's up to Activision to send out product to help stores meet said date.

They said they don't know what's going on, or if they will even get any.

But our TRU DC covers Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and another state or two. That many states won't be seeing Roller Brawl and who knows when we will. It's also not on the site for buying, despite the date being today.

As you can see, it's a huge mess. The competition has no problem meeting th dates they give to stores to expect product and even allows for preorders of their products.

Skylanders has become a dead stick I'm afraid.

Here, let me predict something. See if I'm right in my theories.

- L-Roller Brawl won't be as plentiful as past Legendaries
- the U.S., or at least most of it wont see the Roller Brawl and Pop Fizz Combo Packs
- wave 4 and 5 will be very hard to find, if wave 5 even releases at all
- any leftover variants will be very low stock compared to the past

Don't want to be right on any of those, but this is light the brand is begging to be looked at in, seeing as the lack of communication even with their retail partners is thin at best, and the lack of information of product release dates to customers leads to a lot of guessing, which leads to people not even giving a spit, other than those that pride themselves in "hunting" because they think it's fun, because that's what they're used to doing.

>This means Activision is at fault, because if TRU had set a date, be it internal or part of a HTA, it's up to Activision to send out product to help stores meet said date.

You're blowing this way out of proportion with no knowledge of what's actually going on.

TRU had a 'set' date (that changed at least once). Sure.

Did Activision have *anything* to do with setting that date?

I don't know. Without knowing that, it's simply not logicial to blame Activision for not hitting a release date they didn't set. For all we know, the communication from Activision may have been as simple as "Yo, TRU - we can start fulfuilling your LRB orders soon. Logistics says they should start arriving in stores on December 31st" - and TRU took that as "Okay, these will start arriving on the 31st, stock them as soon as they arrive" - thus the 31st release date ON AN INTERNAL DOCUMENT YOU WERE NEVER INTENDED TO SEE.

This is nearly the exact same reason Lesty stopped providing us with Target information. He leaked info early, info that was not intended to go to GenPop, then , when it wasn't 100% accurate, everyone cried about how Target was screwing over fans and took it out on Lesty personally.

There has never been an official statement that LRB was set to release today. You can't reasonably get mad because she wasn't released today. If you get early/secret/inside info, it's not always going to be accurate. That's the nature of the business. Before an official announcement is made, it goes through several checks and balances to make sure it's going to be accurate. Inside info that doesn't go through these checks is bound to be inaccurate at times.

This boils down to a general entitlement that we should get these things at will. We all know Activision gets a bit shaky after the holiday season. Come back in a month GM78 when there's truly no stock on this and other figures and I'll have my torches and pitchforks ready. I'm sure sales are sending them a clearer message to be even more shaky, although I would also suggest they are making it more opaque to try to generate "interest" in the brand...of course this will do nothing than to piss off the loyalists that haunt these halls.

Fine, lets put it this way, Uncle. Some stores are getting them while others aren't. Is that really the way this brand should be handling things when the competition meets certain dates?

I mean here I was, ready to throw 30 bucks at this brand for Roller Brawl and Pop Fizz. Ended up spending it on something else, since I can't successfully find them like others can. Not everyone can take as much time as they want everyday hunting these things and wasting gas. There's no logic in the system this brand has in place when it comes to releasing their figures.

Skylanders -

Customer: So, when can we find the next wave of figures?
Activision/TFB/VV: they'll be out when they're out. Can't tell you more sorry.

Dimensions -

Customer: Oh, look, the waves are listed on top of the starter pack box. let me google the release date. *finds website listing specific dates given by the manufacturer themselves* I know when I'll be goin out for new figures.

Infinity -

Customer: So, when will the newest figures be released?
John whatever his last name is: Just keep up with my Twiiter followed by preorder listings at various stores.

Amiibo (and this is sad) -

Customer: We don't even have to ask, Nintendo tells us way ahead of time.

So, how can I spend my money on Skylanders when I can't just up and hunt for them? How can I spend on Skylanders when product releases aren't relayed to me as a customer of the brand? How can I know when my stores will have them for sure without bugging them each... and... every... day to the point they just tell me no to get me off the phone, just because others found them in their region?

See how many hoops we Skylander fans have to jump through just to get one or two figures? It's more hassle than what it's worth. Will hassle keep the customers coming back, or convienance?

I don't disagree that set release dates would be a great thing. I already stated that I agreed with that. I don't think anyone is arguing against that.

Quote: UncleBob

I don't disagree that set release dates would be a great thing. I already stated that I agreed with that. I don't think anyone is arguing against that.

Nope. Absolutely would be great. It would mean Acti would have to commit and deliver, two things we all know they suck at.

the skylanders 6 from tfb cant come fast enough... i can barely wait until we are finished with the superchargers. i want a properly skylander games so bad now. i hope we can put this racing stuff behind us for good now. and bring back what made skylanders good in the first place, brawling, dungeons, exploring, adventure, dragons, light rpg and good story.

I just went to my local store where i usally buy my skylanders from & only say
2 skylanders DI,Amiibos & Lego dimesnions where all over the skylanders shelf so for my store for now i guess r.i.p Skylanders

Id like to know release dates, im fine with. Roller brawl comes out in Jan...bday pop in feb. I can deal with monthly. Honestly thou if it wasnt for this forum id prob miss waves as i try not to visit stores mych unless i have to.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

the skylanders 6 from tfb cant come fast enough... i can barely wait until we are finished with the superchargers. i want a properly skylander games so bad now. i hope we can put this racing stuff behind us for good now. and bring back what made skylanders good in the first place, brawling, dungeons, exploring, adventure, dragons, light rpg and good story.

Sad to say that's exactly how I feel right now.
I recently bought Splat, Splatter Splasher, Thump Truck and Shield Striker... But I just don't want to play them.
SuperChargers simply doesn't motivate me enough (and by motivate I mean an 85% of the game after you finished the main Story is vehicles-related content), not to mention this is the first game where I didn't feel the need to buy all the new figures and this is a bad sign for me.

I think SA and Giants were the best in terms of replay value (SWAP Force went close to them but the extra modes aren't just my cup of tea) but I'm fine with Skylanders game being "short" and lacking lots of replayability (not any like Trap Team did)... SuperChargers simply doesn't offer me the replayability I want, not even with path switching and I never thought I would have said that.

So yes, I sincerely hope TfB will announce their next game as soon as possible because I want Skylanders back at the origins and I'm sure they are the ones able to do that.
If they understood the various mistakes and aknowledged SuperChargers strenghts (great story, good lenght, gameplay gimmicks) I'm sure Skylanders 6 will absolutely rock.

Also agree on Wave planning.
Going to the supermarket each week to see if there is something new is not as fun as it might sound.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

the skylanders 6 from tfb cant come fast enough... i can barely wait until we are finished with the superchargers. i want a properly skylander games so bad now. i hope we can put this racing stuff behind us for good now. and bring back what made skylanders good in the first place, brawling, dungeons, exploring, adventure, dragons, light rpg and good story.

Sad to say that's exactly how I feel right now.
I recently bought Splat, Splatter Splasher, Thump Truck and Shield Striker... But I just don't want to play them.
SuperChargers simply doesn't motivate me enough (and by motivate I mean an 85% of the game after you finished the main Story is vehicles-related content), not to mention this is the first game where I didn't feel the need to buy all the new figures (Skylanders excluded) and this is a bad sign for me.

I think SA and Giants were the best in terms of replay value (SWAP Force went close to them but the extra modes aren't just my cup of tea) but I'm fine with Skylanders game being "short" and lacking lots of replayability (not any like Trap Team did)... SuperChargers simply doesn't offer me the replayability I want, not even with path switching and I never thought I would have said that.

So yes, I sincerely hope TfB will announce their next game as soon as possible because I want Skylanders back at the origins and I'm sure they are the ones able to do that.
If they understood the various mistakes and aknowledged SuperChargers strenghts (great story, good lenght, gameplay gimmicks) I'm sure Skylanders 6 will absolutely rock.

Also agree on Wave planning.
Going to the supermarket each week to see if there is something new is not as fun as it might sound.

I just want VV and TfB to work together. Imagine what they could make *-*

Maybe as the last Skylanders game? TfB and VV finish they're baby's journey with a grand finale.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Drek95

Quote: CountMoneyBone

the skylanders 6 from tfb cant come fast enough... i can barely wait until we are finished with the superchargers. i want a properly skylander games so bad now. i hope we can put this racing stuff behind us for good now. and bring back what made skylanders good in the first place, brawling, dungeons, exploring, adventure, dragons, light rpg and good story.

Sad to say that's exactly how I feel right now.
I recently bought Splat, Splatter Splasher, Thump Truck and Shield Striker... But I just don't want to play them.
SuperChargers simply doesn't motivate me enough (and by motivate I mean an 85% of the game after you finished the main Story is vehicles-related content), not to mention this is the first game where I didn't feel the need to buy all the new figures (Skylanders excluded) and this is a bad sign for me.

I think SA and Giants were the best in terms of replay value (SWAP Force went close to them but the extra modes aren't just my cup of tea) but I'm fine with Skylanders game being "short" and lacking lots of replayability (not any like Trap Team did)... SuperChargers simply doesn't offer me the replayability I want, not even with path switching and I never thought I would have said that.

So yes, I sincerely hope TfB will announce their next game as soon as possible because I want Skylanders back at the origins and I'm sure they are the ones able to do that.
If they understood the various mistakes and aknowledged SuperChargers strenghts (great story, good lenght, gameplay gimmicks) I'm sure Skylanders 6 will absolutely rock.

Also agree on Wave planning.
Going to the supermarket each week to see if there is something new is not as fun as it might sound.

I just want VV and TfB to work together. Imagine what they could make *-*

Maybe as the last Skylanders game? TfB and VV finish they're baby's journey with a grand finale.

Oooooh, that is my secret dream.
I sincerely think part of TfB cooperated a lot with SuperChargers from a design and characterization point of view but it definitely feels more like a V.V. game.

If they would fully cooperate I think we could easily reach the peak of this series and, dare I say, of the whole TtL genre.

Well, not news I ever wanted to hear, but honestly, Skylanders brought it upon itself.

http://www.ign.com/articles/20...m_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=6&utm_campaign=Blogroll

Says it's due to people going out and buying the Force Awakens set after seeing the movie. That brings me to the point I've been getting at. People knew they could go get the new stuff on a specific day, and that there would be plenty.

Meanwhile, two days after the release of Roller Brawl, my TRU's have only said their stores have 12 coming in. TWELVE! They have no idea when, however. That kind of miscommunication with retail partners will hurt the brand.

Again, a mere 12 per store. That means my entire state will only see 36 Roller Brawls when they finally come in. How do you meet demand by sending stores a single box of exclusive figures? Question is, is that TRU's fault or Activision?

Quote: GameMaster78

Well, not news I ever wanted to hear, but honestly, Skylanders brought it upon itself.

http://www.ign.com/articles/20...m_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=6&utm_campaign=Blogroll

Says it's due to people going out and buying the Force Awakens set after seeing the movie. That brings me to the point I've been getting at. People knew they could go get the new stuff on a specific day, and that there would be plenty.

Meanwhile, two days after the release of Roller Brawl, my TRU's have only said their stores have 12 coming in. TWELVE! They have no idea when, however. That kind of miscommunication with retail partners will hurt the brand.

Again, a mere 12 per store. That means my entire state will only see 36 Roller Brawls when they finally come in. How do you meet demand by sending stores a single box of exclusive figures? Question is, is that TRU's fault or Activision?

This doesn't mean it'll last forever. While some people won't see DI's faults, a ton of them will. DI has many more problems game wise than the Skylanders games. The playsets are still rushed and full of fetch quests and the variety of how characters play is obviously not as good. They all have melee attacks and most have ranged attacks with horrible upgrades that barely improve your character. Not to mention the subpar graphics and textures.

Not sure Disney will see this success again, Star War was their biggest thing they added and now, they can't add another franchise and expect the same results.

Quote: GameMaster78

Well, not news I ever wanted to hear, but honestly, Skylanders brought it upon itself.

http://www.ign.com/articles/20...m_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=6&utm_campaign=Blogroll

Says it's due to people going out and buying the Force Awakens set after seeing the movie. That brings me to the point I've been getting at. People knew they could go get the new stuff on a specific day, and that there would be plenty.

Meanwhile, two days after the release of Roller Brawl, my TRU's have only said their stores have 12 coming in. TWELVE! They have no idea when, however. That kind of miscommunication with retail partners will hurt the brand.

Again, a mere 12 per store. That means my entire state will only see 36 Roller Brawls when they finally come in. How do you meet demand by sending stores a single box of exclusive figures? Question is, is that TRU's fault or Activision?

Seriously, it's not the end of the world that you can't find a Legendary Roller Brawl this week. If you have so many anger issues over releases, I really do feel it's in your best interest to move onto something else other than Skylanders. It doesn't seem to fun and healthy for you since you refuse to accept the distribution/release issues. If it's one thing that TRU has shown us, it's that their Legendary figures are vastly overproduced. I don't understand why you're ruining your own health getting frazzled over a toy which will be in plentiful supply soon enough. It is quite childish and ridiculous to be throwing out numbers like 36 is all your state will ever see. Demand is low right now...it's far fetched to be throwing a tantrum saying that they can't meet demand just because you didn't get your toy right away.

As far as Disney Infinity is concerned, they've played all their cards between Marvel and Star Wars. Everybody and their mother knew that the Star Wars movie would bring in a spike in revenue for merchandise including Disney Infinity. Pointing out an article which shows this isn't exactly surprising news. They have nowhere to go but down next year if and when Disney Infinity 4.0 comes out.

DI 3 is definitely getting a boost due to the movie hype, but in my mind sales for Skylanders have been sluggish from the start....so many "one TTL franchise only" consumers basically made up their mind a long time ago. Also, I trust this type of "news" like I do pretty much everything else. Also notice there was no specifics mentioned...just "#1" and "200 million". How much of a gap are we talking about?

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: GameMaster78

Well, not news I ever wanted to hear, but honestly, Skylanders brought it upon itself.

http://www.ign.com/articles/20...m_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=6&utm_campaign=Blogroll

Says it's due to people going out and buying the Force Awakens set after seeing the movie. That brings me to the point I've been getting at. People knew they could go get the new stuff on a specific day, and that there would be plenty.

Meanwhile, two days after the release of Roller Brawl, my TRU's have only said their stores have 12 coming in. TWELVE! They have no idea when, however. That kind of miscommunication with retail partners will hurt the brand.

Again, a mere 12 per store. That means my entire state will only see 36 Roller Brawls when they finally come in. How do you meet demand by sending stores a single box of exclusive figures? Question is, is that TRU's fault or Activision?

This doesn't mean it'll last forever. While some people won't see DI's faults, a ton of them will. DI has many more problems game wise than the Skylanders games. The playsets are still rushed and full of fetch quests and the variety of how characters play is obviously not as good. They all have melee attacks and most have ranged attacks with horrible upgrades that barely improve your character. Not to mention the subpar graphics and textures.

Not sure Disney will see this success again, Star War was their biggest thing they added and now, they can't add another franchise and expect the same results.

I agree. That's why Infinity is my least favorite TTL game. Still though, if a game that didn't get it's start until right before the release of Swap Force can handle releases better than a game that had been around 2 years prior, Skylanders can as well.

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: GameMaster78

Well, not news I ever wanted to hear, but honestly, Skylanders brought it upon itself.

http://www.ign.com/articles/20...m_medium=IGN%20(front%20page)&utm_content=6&utm_campaign=Blogroll

Says it's due to people going out and buying the Force Awakens set after seeing the movie. That brings me to the point I've been getting at. People knew they could go get the new stuff on a specific day, and that there would be plenty.

Meanwhile, two days after the release of Roller Brawl, my TRU's have only said their stores have 12 coming in. TWELVE! They have no idea when, however. That kind of miscommunication with retail partners will hurt the brand.

Again, a mere 12 per store. That means my entire state will only see 36 Roller Brawls when they finally come in. How do you meet demand by sending stores a single box of exclusive figures? Question is, is that TRU's fault or Activision?

Seriously, it's not the end of the world that you can't find a Legendary Roller Brawl this week. If you have so many anger issues over releases, I really do feel it's in your best interest to move onto something else other than Skylanders. It doesn't seem to fun and healthy for you since you refuse to accept the distribution/release issues. If it's one thing that TRU has shown us, it's that their Legendary figures are vastly overproduced. I don't understand why you're ruining your own health getting frazzled over a toy which will be in plentiful supply soon enough. It is quite childish and ridiculous to be throwing out numbers like 36 is all your state will ever see. Demand is low right now...it's far fetched to be throwing a tantrum saying that they can't meet demand just because you didn't get your toy right away.

As far as Disney Infinity is concerned, they've played all their cards between Marvel and Star Wars. Everybody and their mother knew that the Star Wars movie would bring in a spike in revenue for merchandise including Disney Infinity. Pointing out an article which shows this isn't exactly surprising news. They have nowhere to go but down next year if and when Disney Infinity 4.0 comes out.

I can't accept that token retort. Everyone here is fine with the way our beloved brand is treating us, to the point we say, "oh well let's just bury our head in the sand and take what they give us and how they give it to us."

My worries aren't stemming from not being able to get a figure the week it's released. My worries are if this brand is even going to give us every release or be around another year.

I want someone here to logically tell me why all TRU's are receiving a single box of Roller Brawls, when we know darn well legendaries are always in ample supply? TRU DC's are having a hard time getting them in even. Tell me that's a good sign and why?

Does everyone remember why we had a shortage of Skylanders at the start of 2012? I can give a guess everyone else probably had. Activision made the first two waves only as a fail safe. Product fails, pull the plug. It wasn't until they saw it take off that they scurried to make wave 3 and get it out after the new year.

That's probably why Skylanders doesn't adopt a release date strategy. Game starts losing sales, it's cut and run. Save yourself.

Again, for the first time were seeing a mere box of Roller Brawls being sent out and our DC is empty outside of that. Doesn't make sense when you have competition that's meeting demand.

It says something about this brand. Is Activision already cutting back on us? That's what worries me.

Quote: GameMaster78

I can't accept that token retort. Everyone here is fine with the way our beloved brand is treating us, to the point we say, "oh well let's just bury our head in the sand and take what they give us and how they give it to us."

i am not one of the yes men, thats for sure. i voted with my wallet and have not bought any super chargers.

I'm not one of the yes men either. I think a lot of people have brought their criticisms to the table with regards to the direction of the franchise, the decisions of Activision, and the problems they have with Superchargers. I guess I suggest taking the time to read the comments of others. On the other hand, this is the umpteenth time I have heard about your same issues with distribution...not to be offensive, but it starts to sound like a broken record. Write a letter to Activision to express your views and be done with it.

Quote: GameMaster78

]I can't accept that token retort. Everyone here is fine with the way our beloved brand is treating us, to the point we say, "oh well let's just bury our head in the sand and take what they give us and how they give it to us."

My worries aren't stemming from not being able to get a figure the week it's released. My worries are if this brand is even going to give us every release or be around another year.

I want someone here to logically tell me why all TRU's are receiving a single box of Roller Brawls, when we know darn well legendaries are always in ample supply? TRU DC's are having a hard time getting them in even. Tell me that's a good sign and why?

Does everyone remember why we had a shortage of Skylanders at the start of 2012? I can give a guess everyone else probably had. Activision made the first two waves only as a fail safe. Product fails, pull the plug. It wasn't until they saw it take off that they scurried to make wave 3 and get it out after the new year.

That's probably why Skylanders doesn't adopt a release date strategy. Game starts losing sales, it's cut and run. Save yourself.

Again, for the first time were seeing a mere box of Roller Brawls being sent out and our DC is empty outside of that. Doesn't make sense when you have competition that's meeting demand.

It says something about this brand. Is Activision already cutting back on us? That's what worries me.

You've been very specific about product fulfillment of specific figures. Don't muddle it with the "future of Skylands" ... (where's Wolfgang where you need him). If anything everyone here is showing concern about your distress.

Post Holiday product has ALWAYS been a mixed bag. You won't catch me hyperventilating that I didn't get L Roller Brawl on 12/29 and that I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to get her and the Skimmer and the illl painted Fizz. Not sure about you guys, but I'm betting TRU is buried in Sky Racing Pack stock and may have pulled the plug themselves on L Roller Brawl...at least until stock gets in check. I've personally yet to see a non Legendary Sky Action Pack in the wild, which I think is interesting.

In my mind Skylanders is MUCH better positioned to weather a storm than ANY of the other TTL franchises, although you can argue that a multinational like Disney can financially endure longer. My feelings are that their choices and over dumping of figures relative to value and constant price increases are going to do themselves in faster than their development houses and their game design choices. I feel like someone at Activision has failed Economics 101 Elasticity of Demand and Pricing given competition.

Of interest is the fact that they have announced this BattleCast card game this year, this year of all years when they ripped the card we got with our figure. I'm specifically wondering if they are dumping that altogether.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

In my mind Skylanders is MUCH better positioned to weather a storm than ANY of the other TTL franchises, although you can argue that a multinational like Disney can financially endure longer. My feelings are that their choices and over dumping of figures relative to value and constant price increases are going to do themselves in faster than their development houses and their game design choices. I feel like someone at Activision has failed Economics 101 Elasticity of Demand and Pricing given competition.

Of interest is the fact that they have announced this BattleCast card game this year, this year of all years when they ripped the card we got with our figure. I'm specifically wondering if they are dumping that altogether.

the thing is that tfb should never had gone to activision, they should have gone to disney. is it any company that can weather a storm and financially endure longer, it is disney.

activision have shown time after time their greed and how easy they will drop something when it dont give them enough money. that battlecast thing is a good example, they actually took the cards from the figurines and made you pay for them.

also a sign of activision not caring much anymore is that they gave supercharhers to beenox. there have never been so many bug fix patches before. to change and add stuff to the game after release as it have now... its beyond no doubt that beenox is one of the worst developers in the world. activision hires beenox because they are cheap. you can just look at the latest beenox product the black ops3 for the xbox360 and ps3, its horrible..

i am looking forward to skylanders6 from tfb and i hope beenox never touches it, because if they do we know what to expect..

You can weather the storm so long as you don't give set release dates and should sales be slumping you can shorten product so not to lose so much money, which then means scalpels come back in full buying up all the stock to sell for double the price on EBay.

I'm just curious as to other people's assumptions (that's all anything is here as no one knows what they're thinking) as to why TRU DC's would only get enough to send one store 1 box each of Roller Brawls, when we know that since L-Trigg, all legendaries have been in ample supply?

To me that doesn't send a good signal. That's my take.

I don't think Legendary Roller Brawl is a good example. These figures are made months in advance. Those figures were probably made last September or earlier, before stores were swimming in Legendary Sky Packs. What TRU is doing is sending a small amount via "quick shipping" and will send more on their regular trucks to save money. It also allows them to cater stock to stores with more demand.

Activision screwed up big time on the pricing of merchandise in Superchargers. The MSRP is a joke. Outside of Skylanders fan forums, virtually nobody is buying stuff at MSRP. Seeing high prices with this game has helped parents leave the franchise putting Skylanders in the rear view mirror. Rather than have a steady flow of customers purchasing figures at $10, people are balking at the $13/figure and $15/vehicle prices so much that sales of 50% or more are an absolute necessity just to move merchandise. Look at prices on Amazon. Smash Hit is under $6. High Volt is just above $6. Sea Shadow was in the same range a while back. The PS4 dark starter pack is about $36 already. GameStop is holding a Skylanders Day BOGO sale in consecutive months. This all stinks of desperation. Activision's greed of raising the MSRP of the cheapest figures seems to have taken a huge toll on the general fan base & there's no way they are going to regain the customer base that have left even if they backtrack to a lower MSRP of figures with future games...the damage has been done. I'm not complaining...I have been making out like a bandit getting pretty much all my Superchargers stuff at 50% off with ease. I simply don't understand the mentality of people rushing out to purchase new figures at full MSRP the second that they are released. This game above all others has proven you can stretch your dollar farther by being patient and waiting a few weeks until a big sale pops up. I see a lot of people pointing fingers at Disney Infinity thriving because of Star Wars and mentioning there being a lot of Toys to Life competition, but both the pricing and production of a game not well received by those who dislike racing are big pitfalls and the blame for that rests squarely on the shoulders of Activision. It's no wonder Skylanders isn't doing to well.

^ Pricing is a big problem with me this year. I know I will not accept another price increase. I'm waiting for sales or retailer programs/discounts as it is. I can afford retail price (and have been a day 1 type of customer) but their pricing changes is now forcing me to wait so I send the message back to them that enough's enough.

Quote: defpally

I don't think Legendary Roller Brawl is a good example. These figures are made months in advance. Those figures were probably made last September or earlier, before stores were swimming in Legendary Sky Packs. What TRU is doing is sending a small amount via "quick shipping" and will send more on their regular trucks to save money. It also allows them to cater stock to stores with more demand.

That and it's inventory time, post holiday, yada yada yada.

Pricing is not an issue with me, but I can see what people are getting at. There is no logical thinking in why the Superchargers had to be 12.99/13.99. Oh wow, they have different skill trees. That doesn't justify the cost.

That's just another way to throw a knife in consumer loyalty.

Quote: GameMaster78

Pricing is not an issue with me, but I can see what people are getting at. There is no logical thinking in why the Superchargers had to be 12.99/13.99. Oh wow, they have different skill trees. That doesn't justify the cost.

That's just another way to throw a knife in consumer loyalty.

A lot of gamers are casual, and would impact purchase from consumers who want to simply try it. It's bigger than some of the spotty product availability.

Quote: GameMaster78

Pricing is not an issue with me, but I can see what people are getting at. There is no logical thinking in why the Superchargers had to be 12.99/13.99. Oh wow, they have different skill trees. That doesn't justify the cost.

That's just another way to throw a knife in consumer loyalty.

You're speaking as a dedicated fan of the franchise which represents a very small segment of the purchasing population. 50% off is the new norm to look forward to as it seems to be a necessary price point to move merchandise. The people have spoken with their wallets. Target just jumped on board the discount train...50% off all starter packs and figures/vehicles with the Target Cartwheel app.

Numbers on vgchartz* as of January 13th.

Skylanders Superchargers: 1.71
Disney Infinity 3.0: 1.69
Lego Dimensions: 2.0

*I still don't think it is reliable but it is pretty much the only numbers we have.

i found this on amazon product reviews, it looks like the wii owners are not very happy with the superchargers either....

Quote:

Our son has been raving about this game for weeks and so today we collected this new Skylanders adventure from Game. We quickly got home to set the system up but the initial excitement and exhilaration from my son soon turned to tears as he struggled to find a way to get the skylanders into foot battles as they had done in the previous games. I have since found out that Nintendo and Activision have decided to launch a completely different game for us ‘mere mortals’ who happen to still be using a Wii system.

Quote:

Activison and Nintendo RIP-OFF. It’s just a racing game. SHAME ON YOU. I’ve been a collector of every Skylander until today. This is a complete disregard of every one whom as bought the Wii console. How I wish I could face the ones that decided this to be, so I could properly call you for what you are: scammers, incompetents, greedy little people, etc.

Quote:

This starter pack is not an adventure game – it’s a sub-standard racing game. My son has all the other Skylanders games plus around 50 Skylanders figures and he loves them. He was distraught on his birthday when he tried out this piece of rubbish.

and there is many more of these, its not the smartest thing to make parents angry and children cry. when you are competing against lego and disney. and it sure dont help jack up the price tag and make the game a racer either...

Quote: CountMoneyBone

i found this on amazon product reviews, it looks like the wii owners are not very happy with the superchargers either....

Quote:

Our son has been raving about this game for weeks and so today we collected this new Skylanders adventure from Game. We quickly got home to set the system up but the initial excitement and exhilaration from my son soon turned to tears as he struggled to find a way to get the skylanders into foot battles as they had done in the previous games. I have since found out that Nintendo and Activision have decided to launch a completely different game for us ‘mere mortals’ who happen to still be using a Wii system.

Quote:

Activison and Nintendo RIP-OFF. It’s just a racing game. SHAME ON YOU. I’ve been a collector of every Skylander until today. This is a complete disregard of every one whom as bought the Wii console. How I wish I could face the ones that decided this to be, so I could properly call you for what you are: scammers, incompetents, greedy little people, etc.

Quote:

This starter pack is not an adventure game – it’s a sub-standard racing game. My son has all the other Skylanders games plus around 50 Skylanders figures and he loves them. He was distraught on his birthday when he tried out this piece of rubbish.

and there is many more of these, its not the smartest thing to make parents angry and children cry. when you are competing against lego and disney. and it sure dont help jack up the price tag and make the game a racer either...

1) It's not Activision's fault that these people don't read the Racing word in the game title.

2) It's better to make a spin-off game like Racing than the bad ports on Wii since Swap Force.

3) I agree that they could have made some on-foot gameplay, like... Make a game with the style of Crash Tag Team Racing, which mix on-foot and racing gameplay.