darkSpyro

So, I don't think many people pay much attention to the fact that all the starter packs from year 1-4 have a basic run down. Basically many starter characters never get a triple/double/single pack release and I'm pretty sure the same will be said about Trap Team and it might not be a big deal to most but for collectors it can be quite the nuisance. I eliminated most starter pack characters from my mini-list due to the fact they do get a pack release so I'm really only focusing on those that did not. So I'm just going to drop a bit of fact down here:

Spyro's Adventure:

Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt - Had no pack releases but -everyone- had to begin with them so technically unless you bought used you should have them. (Not including the single pre-packs for E3)
Dark Spyro - Only limited supply as a single pack and only in select countries but if you were lucky he was in Wave 5/Final Wave. (DS starter)

Giants:

Tree Rex - Starter with portal or without you should've snagged him up but he never got a pack release.
Royal Double Trouble - Never got a pack release (PC starter if I remember correctly)
Gnarly Tree Rex - Got a single pack release but not until Wave 5/Final Wave (Wii exclusive starter)
Punch Pop Fizz - Got a single pack release but not until Wave 5/Final Wave (DS starter)

Swap Force:

Blast Zone, Wash Buckler and Ninja Stealth Elf - Since everyone had to upgrade their portals everyone should have picked them up by default but they were never in any packs.
Volcanic Eruptor - Never got a pack release. (DS starter)
Dark Edition - None of the darks got any pack releases.

Trap Team (thus far):

Snap Shot and Food Fight - Since everyone had to upgrade their portals everyone should have picked them up by default [I assume they will not be sold in single packs.]
Barkley - DS starter [I assume he will not get a pack release or if he does it probably won't be until Wave 5/Final Wave like previous DS starters]
Dark Edition - [Like the other Darks they probably won't get any pack releases]

So for collectors especially for Trap Team and Swap Force getting the Dark Edition puts you at a disadvantage at least with a DS purchase you get the DS portal a new game and if you don't buy some of the single packs you get the exclusive and 1-2 other characters but with the past 2 games to get the 'normal' addition characters you pay -WAY- too much and you have a useless extra game and portal so it kinda sucks. But what can you do?

[First post I'm new.]

Nice overview!

Royal Double Trouble was in the GS-exclusive mobile starter pack with Battlegrounds. Other, non-GS, versions just had Double Trouble.

IMO, the Tablet Edition for TT is the way to go if you got a Dark console edition. The only disadvantage are some duplicate trap sculpts, but you get a unique portal and a controller, which definitely up the value.

Nice Break Down and Very Interesting! Welcome to darkSpyro!

Nice break down.

its a shame Gamestop in the US doesn't take the disk and portal as a trade in like EBgames does in Australia.

with swap force i got the dark starter at launch, and then got the regular on sale at christmas for $49, traded in the extra game disk and portal for $20 towards a pre-order. so it worked out at $29 for 2 trap masters and a core, cheaper than they retailed at and waaaay cheaper than ebay, especially with postage to Australia.

I plan on doing the same with Trap Team Starter and the nightmare express/legendary nightmare express/blades triple pack, i got all three (for a total of $72) and when wave two comes out i'll trade in my extra blades, location piece and piggy bank towards a figure, they should work out to be very close to covering a core, if past figure trade ins are anything to go on.

though the price difference will be a bit less as there is only 1 trap master and 1 core i want to keep in the regular starter, but $30 for a trap master and a core is very close to retail here.

Hey, thanks for the warm welcome and I'm glad a few people liked and commented on my break down.