darkSpyro

I'm relatively new to playing Skylanders, but I see a lot of people complaining about certain characters not getting reposes in the new game. Why are reposes so important? For instance, I've seen people saying that Activision "kicked Spyro out of the game," but it's not like you can't play as him in the new game with the old poses. I also don't understand the claim that it makes the elements unbalanced, since all of the elements have the same number of actual characters.

I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, I just don't really understand since I've only been playing a little while, and I don't consider myself a major collector. Can somebody explain?

I think it comes down to availability for most people. Around me, the stores don't carry the old figures. I'm sure Swap Force stock will be gone in two months, if not sooner. So for characters like Sunburn, it's a good thing I was a Skylanders person back when Spyro's Adventure was the only Skylanders game, because I was able to find him and not resort to eBay.

People are pissed that certain characters have mountains of reposed figures over popularly requested characters that have only 1.

I do understand reposes help those who weren't able to find their first versions... But is it so hard to find them, on the internet?

There are plenty of sites where you can find older characters, but since I managed to get almost every single character released so far in the stores, I never really searched for "rare" ones, such as Boomer, Voodood and Ghost Roaster.

Quote: Drek95

I do understand reposes help those who weren't able to find their first versions... But is it so hard to find them, on the internet?

There are plenty of sites where you can find older characters, but since I managed to get almost every single character released so far in the stores, I never really searched for "rare" ones, such as Boomer, Voodood and Ghost Roaster.

It's hard to find them at a reasonable price. Once they become hard to find through the regular stores, people will sell them online for a hefty markup. Paying $30 for a figure that is regularly only $10 is a bit hard for some people, and those were the kinds of prices I had to pay to get a Boomer or Ghost Roaster before I found them during their very brief resurgence for a few weeks last year. A repose will offer that character again at retail price when it is long gone from the stores.

People complain about some characters getting too much reposes while others never get reposed.
Thorn Horn Camo was really tough to find due to this fact alone, also things like Ghost roaster NEED A REPOSE because nobody in their right mind wants to buy something that is costing them more then they can use to buy 3 figures.

"all of the elements have the same number of actual characters"

I don't think that's 100% accurate anymore, is it? *unsure*

Quote: AzureStarline

"all of the elements have the same number of actual characters"

I don't think that's 100% accurate anymore, is it? *unsure*

Depends what you count. If you include in-game variants, there's a slight imbalance, but that has been the case since SSA, so nothing new there.

As for reposes - Lightcores and Series+ have been balanced up until now (though the game of origin has not), while sidekicks were imbalanced before - STT's Series+ are imbalanced, while the minis have been balanced out (except for game of origin - 4 giants, 1 SG core, 1 SSF core, 10 SSA cores).

For the basics, there are (currently) 4 SSA cores, 1 SG core, 2 SSF cores, 2 STT cores, 1 giant, 2 swappers and 2 trappers per element - 14 different characters per element, 9 of which are cores. The 4 question marks cannot yet be accounted for.

Well the first problem is some characters get 6 reposes while others dont even have one .

The elements are probably unbalanced because every toy including a repose adds to that element i believe .

Technically the game gives more rewards if you have as many different Skylanders as possible and you get your moneys worth and a new experience . Sooner or later weather you like it or not you will end up with a reposed spare and the more Skylanders you have the harder it is to avoid that .

I dont think its a big deal and i am sure if you love a certain toy , you will appreciate the extra options of a wow pow or light core .

I am rather fortunate i can trade my spares with my brother and that helps a bit to keep them different . I fell in love with an S2 Hex so i bought one and that SSF accolade called Blue Lightning sort of teased me into buying a few reposed lightcores too .

Sometimes a repose is helpful to people who missed out on collecting older characters . I am grateful for a lightcore WhamShell . That was the only way i could get a WhamShell . I only ever saw a SSA whamshell once and he disappeared real fast .

Like Shroomboom for example. I love the character, yet you can STILL easily find both his Giants figures. At least everywhere I go I can still find them. And he gets a Trap Team repose!?!?!?!?

Then you have other figures and harder to find ones like Boomer, Ghost Roaster, etc that have nothing. Not everyone was into Skylanders from day 1 nor was everyone able to buy everything that was out even if they were.

I was looking so forward to a Ghost Roaster repose. And would love a lightcore Sunburn or Boomer.

I wasn't going to focus on the reposes and mainly focus on the new characters. But I guess I'm with everyone where I don't understand it. I mean, only five reposes and they're all released in the first two waves?

Quote: TOlofter

Like Shroomboom for example. I love the character, yet you can STILL easily find both his Giants figures. At least everywhere I go I can still find them. And he gets a Trap Team repose!?!?!?!?

Then you have other figures and harder to find ones like Boomer, Ghost Roaster, etc that have nothing. Not everyone was into Skylanders from day 1 nor was everyone able to buy everything that was out even if they were.

I was looking so forward to a Ghost Roaster repose. And would love a lightcore Sunburn or Boomer.

Don't forget his Green "special" version too.

Don't forget that, aside from availability, it's also frustrating that some characters have tons of reposes because others could use a Wow Pow more. Rip Tide is a rather weak character who could become more useful with a Wow Pow and likewise for Dune Bug and Boomer (I love him, but his HP is too low, and his damage isn't high enough for him to act as a glass canon). There are also characters such as Scorp or Wham-Shell who could have a Wow Pow for better gameplay variety. Then there are Skylanders who have two reposes and the second one has a less useful Wow Pow (Chop Chop, Prism Break, Eruptor, Spyro, Trigger Happy).

That said, I'm really glad TT has so few reposes and aside from Gill Grunt/Jet-Vac who have fine Wow Pows already I'm alright with them. I'd be mad about Pop Fizz getting a second repose, but his Wow Pow was kinda bad and I'm assuming this one will help his Beast Mode more since the figure's modelled after it. I'm glad about Fryno and Shroomboom. Heck, I don't even mind Gill Grunt getting another repose too much because he hasn't had multiple extra variants like Spyro and Trigger Happy have, and it actually looks fun to use like his other ones (though I'd still rather have a Rip Tide repose).

Thanks, guys. I can see where you're coming from--I guess I don't see the need since I'm still building my small collection. Ionly have 9 so far, and I wasn't picky about which characters I got, I just wanted enough to get to all the locations. So I didn't know that there were significant differences in power and fighting ability with the reposes. I'd never heard of Wow Pow before, but that makes sense.
Do reposes come with different heroic quests than other versions, too?

Quote: AzureStarline

"all of the elements have the same number of actual characters"

I don't think that's 100% accurate anymore, is it? *unsure*

Well, unless you consider Dark/Lightcore/Legendary versions as different characters. But to me, reposes and variants just seem like the same character but in a different stage of his/her life. Like they grew up, or went on a special mission or something. But otherwise yes, there are 9 cores, 2 traps, 2 minis, 1 giant, 2 swaps for every element.

Quote: Dark fhoenix

Well the first problem is some characters get 6 reposes while others dont even have one .

The elements are probably unbalanced because every toy including a repose adds to that element i believe .

Technically the game gives more rewards if you have as many different Skylanders as possible and you get your moneys worth and a new experience . Sooner or later weather you like it or not you will end up with a reposed spare and the more Skylanders you have the harder it is to avoid that .

I dont think its a big deal and i am sure if you love a certain toy , you will appreciate the extra options of a wow pow or light core .

I am rather fortunate i can trade my spares with my brother and that helps a bit to keep them different . I fell in love with an S2 Hex so i bought one and that SSF accolade called Blue Lightning sort of teased me into buying a few reposed lightcores too .

Sometimes a repose is helpful to people who missed out on collecting older characters . I am grateful for a lightcore WhamShell . That was the only way i could get a WhamShell . I only ever saw a SSA whamshell once and he disappeared real fast .

I honestly don't see how that could happen (unless they put one inside a Starter Packs, and only Eon knows how glad I am that they decided to put two completely new characters, in this year).

I always try to buy only single packs, when possible.
If they aren't, I wait for those characters to be released as single in later waves, or simply buy them online.

I don't like reposes at all... just a stupid way to make more money :/ wish they kept selling the old Skylanders for people who didnt get them

Reposes are also cool to have different posses of u fav characters I have all cynders s1 s2 s3 even bash I like some reposes only saying this to people who like collecting em like skylanders boy and girl coin op t.v and family gamer And our other buddy known as Asian guy gamer show saying his intro

Quote: conquertronina

Thanks, guys. I can see where you're coming from--I guess I don't see the need since I'm still building my small collection. Ionly have 9 so far, and I wasn't picky about which characters I got, I just wanted enough to get to all the locations. So I didn't know that there were significant differences in power and fighting ability with the reposes. I'd never heard of Wow Pow before, but that makes sense.
Do reposes come with different heroic quests than other versions, too?

Over Series 1 Skylanders, reposes can switch paths without having to be reset, and get an extra upgrade (called a Wow Pow) which often gives a significant boost to one of their moves or can feel like a new attack entirely.

With the exception of... I think Cynder, Chop Chop and Zook (who unlock different Heroics than they did in SA), they have the same Heroics the S1 version would. However, only the new Skylanders, reposes of the originals and LightCores unlock them in Giants, not figures from SA. Heroics disappeared after Giants, so you don't need reposes to unlock them SF-onward.

I'm guessing to most fans, since reposes are considered fan-favorites, it would mean that they are also not forgotten. But...

"No S4 Spyro! That means he's not in Skylanders anymore! NOOOO!!"'

I just find comments like these a little ridiculous. Just because Spyro wasn't reposed for the third or fourth time in a row, it doesn't mean he's forgotten or he's no longer in Skylanders. We already have enough existing figures of him that he won't be forgotten that easily. In place of his S4, we get new/updated forms of Spyro like Spry, sidekick version, and Eon's Elite.

Availability:
Us who were with the game since it came out had the opportunity to buy each character at least once. New people who are just getting into the game might see a character they want (out of interest or completion) and can't find it. Because it hasn't been on the shelf in 2+ years. Which also makes its resale value go up which makes it a less desirable purchase. There's also the feeling of missing out on something already on the game disc that's linked to a physical object you cant find/afford.

Figure:
The sculpts on the toys from the first game aren't as accurate or expressive as they've been from Giants onward. Look at s1 and s2 Bash. They are almost like two different characters! I'm not calling any of them bad, but some could really use an update. Or even some cases like Pop Fizz - people wanted his alternate beast form as a toy (non-Mega Blok) and finally got one with the s3 version.

Game perks:
Reposes get patch-switching (extra replay value and freedom) an extra ability that can be really good on some (s2 Spyro, Camo) characters.

Quote:

I honestly don't see how that could happen (unless they put one inside a Starter Packs, and only Eon knows how glad I am that they decided to put two completely new characters, in this year).

I always try to buy only single packs, when possible.
If they aren't, I wait for those characters to be released as single in later waves, or simply buy them online.
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Sometimes they have a clearance sale on a triple pack. Starter pack D,s contained[ a stealth elf . Starterpack for Swopforce console also had a stealth elf . The Battlepacks usually only have one i dont have and you cannot get the artillary toy any other way except ebay . Portal owners Pack for Ds Giants and Starter pack Giants both have a Tree Rex


Quote:

So I didn't know that there were significant differences in power and fighting ability with the reposes.

Not that significant but if you find S1 and S3,s selling for the same price buy the S3 .

The only reason I bought reposes at first was because they had wowpows so I guess the reason why people want reposes of their favourite characters so badly is not only because they're becoming rare but also because characters that never got reposes (such as the forgotten seven from SSA) miss out on getting a wowpow.

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

Quote: newkill

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

That's funny.

Quote: newkill

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

I'm moving there!

Quote: newkill

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

Parallel universe me would be saying "Oh great, another Sunburn figure. Where's S2 Eruptor?"

Quote: newkill

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

"seriously? series 4 and a mini boomer? i need my trigger happy mini!"

Quote: newkill

In a parallel universe:

"Series 4 Ghost Roaster? Why not make reposes of Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy? They really need it."

Remind me to go there and bring all of the reposes and bring the "forgotten Skylanders" reposes back. Then everyone will be happy!!!!

I did this in another thread, but I'll do it here again just to shed some light on the matter via images. Images are taken from Skylandercharacters.com

Ghost Roaster. Only came out in the first game. No variants or reposes. At one point I sold one for $60 on eBay.

Chop Chop. Released in every game so far, with variants for each Series.


Voodood. Only released in the first game. No variants or reposes, however unlike GR, can be had at great prices (found hi9m at Five Below a few weeks ago)

Whirlwind. Released in every game so far, with variants.


Boomer, one variant, though due to being easy to fake, it wasn't popular. Released with the first game, been gone since.

Trigger Happy. Been in every game, only S2 didn't have a variant.

Frankly speaking, there is just a huge imbalance, characters like Spyro and Gill Grunts who have been reposed on EACH game WITH variants while Dino-Rang just sits there, or Sunburn waits to rise from the ashes. They are basically giving people reposes of reposes, instead of fresh reposes. What's worse is some of the characters such as Sunburn and GR and Boomer have become fan favorites who NEED Wow-Pows, while Gill Grunt just throws wow-pows away because he has so many.
- Unreall

I think it just bothers me that the characters they choose don't even seem to be chosen with purpose. It seems like somewhat unpopular characters. I have never heard anyone say they that either Jet Vac or Gill Grunt art their favorite character. In fact I kinda think they are the two lamest characters. The least inspired. Just my opinion, yet Gill Grunt had always had a repose, will have a mini, and had a glitter variant.

My thought process for reposes would be popular characters and characters with limited availability would be the first in line to get reposes. This to me would explain Boomer's absence. I got my free, courtesy of Frito Lays, as did both my best friend and my brother. In fact Boomer wasn't very popular in SSA. Sunburn and Ghost Roaster on the other hand would make sense to get. Neither had a repose and we're only available in expansion packs. They were also the two hardest expansions to find. Both highly deserving of reposes, in my opinion. Whirlwind, Trigger Happy, Spyro, Hex, Cynder, Stealth Elf, and Prism Break always made sense getting reposes because they each have a large fan base ( I mean I have all of Cynder and Hex myself).

My choices for reposes would have been drastically different. I would have picked: Sunburn, Ghost Roaster (though Fright Rider was close), Dino Rang, Punk Shock, either Drobot or Boomer, either Voodood or Wrecking Ball (though Pop Fizz isn't a bad choice), either Sonic Boom or Scratch (Pop Thorn was also in the running), and either Camo or Zook. Just my picks and opinion.

Also I find it weird that not a single repose is a female skylander this time. I honestly would have been in line first day if they released a repose of Punk Shock, Scratch, or Smolderdash. Some of my favorites from SF. Punk Shock became my favorite Skylander (sorry Sunburn). I would have even purchased a repose for Roller Brawl.

What I will say?

I hope in the next game, while they will never 'revisit' old games with a Giants II or SFII - I would love if they did reposes of the game specific characters. Give Thumpback a 'Wicked' Wow-Pow just for giggles. MAybe a Wow-Pow for Stink-Bomb to make him somehow useful.
*shrug*
- Unreall

In my opinion, this strategy is also making Activision loose money.

Trap Team seems the best game so far (except SA), from this point of view, having only 5 reposes and all the other "variants" (Minis, Dark, Eon's Elite and so on) sold separately.

But back when SWAP Force came out, there were 16 reposes, and it was really a pain when I wanted to buy a Triple Pack, containing one of my favorites Skylanders (*coff*Star Strike*coff), but couldn't, because they brilliantly decided to put two reposes along with her, instead of new Cores, making the price completely unworthy.

And I wasn't even able to buy her regular single, until Wave 3, since they first put out the Lightcore one...

And don't even get me started about reposes inside Starter Packs...
It didn't bothered me until SWAP Force, since I bought the Giants Portal Owner Pack, but I cannot say how glad I am, they didn't make this choice, with Trap Team...

Pre-post summary: The way reposes have been executed is pretty terrible, though SSF did improve upon some aspects (both new BP figures available outside of the BP, no LCs of Series+ skylanders), while making one big mistake with Series 3. STT went even further in improving it (Starter Pack void of reposes, better triple pack ratio, no pointless LCs), while trying something new with Minis. STT's mistake is introducing a lone S4.

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Series+ Reposes
I agree fully with Triple/Battle/Starter Pack reposes being annoying. (Fortunately, TPs have inverted the new to old ratio, BPs aren't in STT, and the Starter is free of them.) For BPs, the Scorpion striker was particularly annoying, since you couldn't get Hot Dog outside of it, while Shroomboom, Grim Creeper and Bumble Blast have all been available outside of their BPs, though only as lightcores.

I think there was never any need for reposes of reposes - and especially not STT's repose of a reposed repose - even if the S2 and S3 wow-pows were nearly identical, it does not excuse an S4. If they had 16 spots for reposes in SSF (not counting LC), why not make Series 2 figures of the 8 SSA skylanders who didn't get an S2 in SG, along with the 8 SG cores?

Besides that, they could just re-release the same figures. It doesn't matter that the base color doesn't match that of the newest game, it actually helps, since you can easily see that they work in older games as well. And, they wouldn't have to make brand new figures, just keep producing the same ones they already have.

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Lightcore reposes were always pointless, but at least SSF only used skylanders without an S2 counterpart, so that it didn't cheat you out of a wow-pow, unlike the SG lightcores of SSA skylanders. Happy to see that they are not part of STT.

Minis... Not quite sure how I feel about them currently, but it's an interesting new take on the idea of reposes/re-releases.

Quote: Nightmoon

Series+ Reposes
I agree fully with Triple/Battle/Starter Pack reposes being annoying. (Fortunately, TPs have inverted the new to old ratio, BPs aren't in STT, and the Starter is free of them.) For BPs, the Scorpion striker was particularly annoying, since you couldn't get Hot Dog outside of it, while Shroomboom, Grim Creeper and Bumble Blast have all been available outside of their BPs, though only as lightcores.

I think there was never any need for reposes of reposes - and especially not STT's repose of a reposed repose - even if the S2 and S3 wow-pows were nearly identical, it does not excuse an S4. If they had 16 spots for reposes in SSF (not counting LC), why not make Series 2 figures of the 8 SSA skylanders who didn't get an S2 in SG, along with the 8 SG cores?

Besides that, they could just re-release the same figures. It doesn't matter that the base color doesn't match that of the newest game, it actually helps, since you can easily see that they work in older games as well. And, they wouldn't have to make brand new figures, just keep producing the same ones they already have.

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Lightcore reposes were always pointless, but at least SSF only used skylanders without an S2 counterpart, so that it didn't cheat you out of a wow-pow, unlike the SG lightcores of SSA skylanders. Happy to see that they are not part of STT.

Minis... Not quite sure how I feel about them currently, but it's an interesting new take on the idea of reposes/re-releases.

This, so much this. I would rather have had a repose of those that didn't get reposes before hand since well some are quite rare now(I'm looking at you Ghost Roaster), then have gotten 15 spyro's or 15 gil grunts

I'd actually like reposes if they reworked a LOT more of the existing characters. Yeah, right, if we DO need another Gill Grunt that much, why not give him a new path? Mix up his path upgrades? Give us an entirely new moveset by taking the animation apart and doing new stuff? They're skylanders, they could surely get brand new moves. A Wow Pow to balance a character is cool, but after the second time it's not enough to get one more dupe in my opinion.

Quote: Bifrost

I'd actually like reposes if they reworked a LOT more of the existing characters. Yeah, right, if we DO need another Gill Grunt that much, why not give him a new path? Mix up his path upgrades? Give us an entirely new moveset by taking the animation apart and doing new stuff? They're skylanders, they could surely get brand new moves. A Wow Pow to balance a character is cool, but after the second time it's not enough to get one more dupe in my opinion.

Here is the other way, either have other skylanders get reposed or have new skill tree for the skylander to use, not just a new wow-pow

The fact that Grim Creeper, Roller Brawl, and Scorp did not get reposes is somewhat baffling considering how wildly popular they seem to be (and in GC's case, how badly they need a Wow Pow). My theory is that someone somewhere miscalculated the amount of those figures being made, with the result being large numbers both being sold, and yet also still in stock, giving the illusion that they were not well recieved. I see them on shelves all the time, yet everyone I know likes them (although it doesn't help Creeper that he had three different versions last game).

In the case of Scratch (and largely Ghost Roaster and Boomer; to a certain extent Sunburn and Voodood; and of course all of the rare variants), small production runs make sense if increased rarity (leading to higher prices in the secondary market) drives and maintains interest in some way. It's a trick that Wizards of the Coast seems to use with Magic: The Gathering.

This is speculation here, but is it possible that Vicarious Visions somehow has certain rights to certain characters that allow them to be played in-game, but prevent reposes of figures? I know that it's all owned by Activision, just thinking out loud. Perhaps VV asked to reserve certain character reposes for their future Skylander games (except Fryno, of course).

How many of us would be surprised to see reposes of Rollerbrawl, Scorp, and either Wind-Up or Countdown revealed soon? Haven't the elements always been even? Is there really less interest in undead, earth, and tech skylanders? So many questions...

I don't like the reposes, cuz they sort of 'retire' my Series 1 Skylanders because of the new Wow Pow.
But I still buy some of them to test how cool the Wow Pow would be.
Activision should at least make reposes of the SSA characters who doesn't have one yet (excluding LC)

Boomer - 1
Spyro - It's over 9000!!!

Quote: Plordigian

The fact that Grim Creeper, Roller Brawl, and Scorp did not get reposes is somewhat baffling considering how wildly popular they seem to be (and in GC's case, how badly they need a Wow Pow). My theory is that someone somewhere miscalculated the amount of those figures being made, with the result being large numbers both being sold, and yet also still in stock, giving the illusion that they were not well recieved. I see them on shelves all the time, yet everyone I know likes them (although it doesn't help Creeper that he had three different versions last game).

In the case of Scratch (and largely Ghost Roaster and Boomer; to a certain extent Sunburn and Voodood; and of course all of the rare variants), small production runs make sense if increased rarity (leading to higher prices in the secondary market) drives and maintains interest in some way. It's a trick that Wizards of the Coast seems to use with Magic: The Gathering.

This is speculation here, but is it possible that Vicarious Visions somehow has certain rights to certain characters that allow them to be played in-game, but prevent reposes of figures? I know that it's all owned by Activision, just thinking out loud. Perhaps VV asked to reserve certain character reposes for their future Skylander games (except Fryno, of course).

How many of us would be surprised to see reposes of Rollerbrawl, Scorp, and either Wind-Up or Countdown revealed soon? Haven't the elements always been even? Is there really less interest in undead, earth, and tech skylanders? So many questions...

Not going to dig too much into it, but the whole 'rights' thing goes out the window with Fryno being reposed, and characters like Whirlwind getting reposed in the last game.

Characters aren't reposed because they don't think they will sell. Ghost Roaster had his chance, and sold horribly when the game first came out. It wasn't a small run, just no one liked him (despite him being so fun in game). The same goes for Voodood. No one wants him, hence why he doesn't have a repose (and when I say all or none, I'm talking figuratively, there is always a few people who do/don't).

The characters that gt reposed either sold well, or are part of their over-arching 'consistency' - the characters we expect to see 'Elite' versions of so to speak. The characters that if they did a Skylander movie - would be the main characters. I think lightcore whamshell was them saying "this is a hard to find one, we can add a lightcore without doing any actual development work, so here is a cookie". If we ever see Ghost Roaster again, it most likely will be in a similar vein - a ightcore or a re-release like Dino-Rang.
- Unreall

Quote:

this is a hard to find one, we can add a lightcore without doing any actual development work, so here is a cookie".

I was very glad for that cookie .

Also, most young children are genuinely afraid of Ghost Roaster...

Quote: Plordigian

Also, most young children are genuinely afraid of Ghost Roaster...

Really? I've never met or heard of any actual children being afraid of him and I make sure to attend all of my local TRU's events. Are you basing this statement off of real world experience or just repeating guesses that others have made in the past?

-Doug

Never have I heard about children having problem with ghost roaster. Religious/sensitive parents on other hand, but I doubt they are a large enough group to have tremendously affected sales.

A lot of kids (or parents...?) were also scared by Fizzy Frenzy Pop Fizz figure.

I mean, how we can even hope to have more mature or "scary" content, if kids AND PARENTS think a skeleton ghost and a magical gremlin's beast form are already too frightening...?

Did they even tried out the normal Pop Fizz?
He has that form too...

Just one more thing.

Ghost Roaster uses his head as it was a basket ball!
How can he be scary in any way...?

Sorry for the rant, but I talked to my cousins yesterday, and they too found this thing ridiculous (and they were 7 and 5 years old when they bought the Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack)...

You will never know a true video game fear, if you never had a game-over in the first Crash Bandicoot game... Uka Uka gave me nightmares...

All five of the children under the age of 11, and some adults, who I have personally played the game with, upon hearing his Skull Charge attack, responded with comments like "he's scary, i don't like him."

Of course the tweens older than 11 like him a lot. Spiritual beliefs don't have anything to do with it here, and actually, those kids who were the most frightened by him came from a home that was staunchly agnostic (but that's a topic for a different place, and possibly even a spurious correlation).

People have all kinds of different fears. Do we bow to them? No, of course not. Courage isn't the lack of fear, after all, but the ability to face and overcome it. Growing up, because of scary movies i saw as a child, i was horrified of any skull with eyeballs for some strange reason lol. Does Ghost Roaster scare me now? Of course not, he's one of my go-to Undead. I'm not saying he should be forgotten or anything, it just makes sense that that would be a reason he wasn't as popular. I too would like to see more creepy figures, but it's a gamble most companies will not take. The broader the audience, the more moolah, especially when young kids are part of the target audience.

Yeah, for every kid that is scared of GR or any parents that think Undead guys are literally the devil, there's probably some older audience that loves them to death(pun not intended).It's hard to tell once one will be too spooky to be sucessful, specially since the families of the character designers are probably used to the weirder ones by now, but as long as it's not crossing any lines it's a gamble worth trying out if you want to keep older fans interested, and I'm grateful TFB is did that a few times but not enough to feel like they're trying to be the cool teenager appeal.
Not to mention, as they also said in a recent interview, the more clever kids are quick to notice even the scary ones have the twist of being something else entirely. Enigma was loyal to new friends enough to sacrifice ever seeing his (supposed) family and friends again despite not really having any hint of a face and mysterious powers; Hex's somber personality is because she is shunned by people she saves and not because she's naturally stoic; Cynder is easily irritated but hasn't actually intended to do real damage to someone ever since she was rescued. It's those characters that get remembered over boring heroes like the ones with 'had X signature power and used it to beat the bad guys' backstories, even if they aren't going to be appreciated in the present.

Agreed. It is that attention to detail, and creative and intelligent world-building, that has made TfB such an exceptional storyteller even since the Star Control days.

I found ghost Roaster pre owned for $25 aud at my local eb. I didn't get him as I don't want to collect him. I really don't understand why gill grunt gets lots of reposes. It seems like he isn't that popular.