darkSpyro

I tend to be a bit of a completionist when it comes to the Skylanders games. I like to access every area, collect every hat and open every treasure chest. I also like to collect one of every character not counting variants. For example if I have a lightcore Drobot I don't bother buying an S2 Drobot. But I do have at least one Drobot from each series etc.

But I can't get over how many characters there are this time around. I was working it out the other day at AUD prices and even getting double packs of mini's and triple packs of the others to save money it comes to over $900 without counting every trap or the new dark/light characters. That's a ridiculous amount of money for a game that doesn't take that long to complete.

So unlike other years where I brought one of each when they came out only to see a figure that I paid $14 for last year now being sold for as little as $4 I am going to wait. I am going to wait until this time next year to buy the bulk of the characters when they are on sale. Sure I might miss a few here and there and have to pay 'overs' for a few on eBay, but I still figure I will come out way ahead.

In the meantime I am going to buy a trap master for an element I don't have, stick them on the portal in the box they came in just to open their element gate and then take them back and exchange them for another element and then use that one to open their elements gate. I will then take that one back unopened and get a refund and then go to the next store and start the process over again until I have opened every element gate and found everything without buying another trap master at full price.

I tend to agree. I've gone from buying boxed multiples to simply buying what I plan on opening ONLY when there's a sale. It's easy to do with all of the "planned obsolescence" Activision is performing in future games by making characters nerfed.

With you 100%, especially with the Australian prices.

By not buying any of the new characters we're really getting our money's worth on the old characters.

So happy we held off, hopefully when they start selling off the Trap Team characters it will reinvigerate the game in 6 month's time.

Quote: kaosmumishot

I tend to be a bit of a completionist when it comes to the Skylanders games. I like to access every area, collect every hat and open every treasure chest. I also like to collect one of every character not counting variants. For example if I have a lightcore Drobot I don't bother buying an S2 Drobot. But I do have at least one Drobot from each series etc.

But I can't get over how many characters there are this time around. I was working it out the other day at AUD prices and even getting double packs of mini's and triple packs of the others to save money it comes to over $900 without counting every trap or the new dark/light characters. That's a ridiculous amount of money for a game that doesn't take that long to complete.

So unlike other years where I brought one of each when they came out only to see a figure that I paid $14 for last year now being sold for as little as $4 I am going to wait. I am going to wait until this time next year to buy the bulk of the characters when they are on sale. Sure I might miss a few here and there and have to pay 'overs' for a few on eBay, but I still figure I will come out way ahead.

In the meantime I am going to buy a trap master for an element I don't have, stick them on the portal in the box they came in just to open their element gate and then take them back and exchange them for another element and then use that one to open their elements gate. I will then take that one back unopened and get a refund and then go to the next store and start the process over again until I have opened every element gate and found everything without buying another trap master at full price.

There's zero chance that box would stay unopened before the return trip to the store in our household. LOL...Willpower. I'm gonna need it if I truly want to hold out as I hope to. My kid is much more into Enigma than Blastermind and based on scheduling looks like we're not gonna be opening a magic gate until Easter.

Just buy them all, as they come out, no matter the price! This is the right thing and moral thing to do ! Just ask activision they will tell you !!

If you just got the game get one skylander (or trap master) of each element. then get skylanders you want or get one trap of each element. Also if you have say like Fryno and you see S2 Fryno, dont get him and get skylanders you dont have. Thats my recomendation

Quote: kaosmumishot

In the meantime I am going to buy a trap master for an element I don't have, stick them on the portal in the box they came in just to open their element gate and then take them back and exchange them for another element and then use that one to open their elements gate. I will then take that one back unopened and get a refund and then go to the next store and start the process over again until I have opened every element gate and found everything without buying another trap master at full price.

And at current gas prices and your time you will end with having saved little money and nothing more than a number in a video game to show for it. And that's *if* the stores in question don't get wise to your plan and ban you from returns, which they tend to do with frequent similar item returns.

Quote:

There's zero chance that box would stay unopened before the return trip to the store in our household. LOL...Willpower. I'm gonna need it if I truly want to hold out as I hope to. My kid is much more into Enigma than Blastermind and based on scheduling looks like we're not gonna be opening a magic gate until Easter.

My willpower will be fine, but I will have to wait until my boys are asleep to bring them out to open the gates. Enigma looks sweet, he and Eon's Elite Stealth Elf might be my exceptions to the 'wait until they are on sale rule'.

Quote:

And at current gas prices and your time you will end with having saved little money and nothing more than a number in a video game to show for it. And that's *if* the stores in question don't get wise to your plan and ban you from returns, which they tend to do with frequent similar item returns.

The current petrol prices in Australia won't impact on my cunning plan as I have two shops within walking distance, one of which I am 99% positive I could pull the whole stunt off with without the need to use a buy>return swap>return refund>start again at the next store strategy with. But I also have 5 other shops that are within a 6-7 minute drive that also sell Skylanders and I go to these reasonably regularly so there is no need to make a special trip, therefore the cost of fuel is irrelevant.

And there is no way that the stores will get wise to my cunning plan because they don't even understand how the game works nor do they care. Now yes the EB Games (Aussie version of Game Stop) guys would, but the large chain stores definitely won't so for me personally this strategy is perfect. Besides if I was that worried about people catching on to strategy I could simply use a buy>return for refund strategy at each shop in my local area. So there is no need for me to pay full rack rate on Trap Team. I'm sure Activision won't mind this once given the thousands I have spent with them over the course of the past 3 games where I have paid full price.

My purchasing strategy:

• Buy what I like (and chase variants)
  
• Don't buy what I don't like
  

I'm obviously not going to 100% any game after Giants, but I'm okay with that. I'd rather buy duplicates of favorite characters (ex. series 2, mini) than ones I have no interest in just to open a door in the game.
But everyone values something differently. My priorities are more on the toy aspect than the game.

I am similar to Okaps strategy.

I'll buy the ones I like, dragons and some animal ones.
Which is why I'll skip wave 2 and hope I get what I want in wave 3.
I don't really care for traps

I got into the game in Giants, and bought every Skylander released that year, plus the "Forgotten Eight" (except Boomer, which I cannot find anywhere) that didn't get reposed. When Swap Force came out, I bought the 16 swappers, and the two characters per element I didn't have. This year, I'm buying the Trap Masters and the two per element cores I don't have. I don't purchase reposes or variants if I already have a Skylander. If I want a variant, I don't purchase the normal Skylander.

It's not so bad getting 2 per element and the Trap Team. Essentially I'm getting 32 Skylanders this year. I am buying one a week that I want, and once I get all the ones I want, I'll wait and buy the others when there are sales happening.

I'm not as financially able to collect Skylanders this year as I have been... I'll be buying what I need to complete the game and probably not completing my collection. Just as well, this may be my last foray into Skylands.

The problem is that the characters from the previous game get axed from store shelves before the new game comes out. These characters do not go on clearance or appear to get sent to another discount store for purchase, some characters sell out and are flat out not available other than the secondary market. Heck just now characters from SSA are showing up at Five Below for $5 each.. so its taking at least 3 years for these to make it to a discount retailer. Plus stock dwindles to nothing after the releases stop, as no store gets any more shipments after the waves are released, unless its a rare shipment. The only store getting constant shipments is the mostly overpriced without a sale Toys R Us. They obviously have more room for the figures but they choose to charge $1-3 more for everything, so if its not on sale, its not worth going there. Plus I don't have a TRU store that is close enough to me to visit it all the time, I have to make a special trip to visit one.

So now I have shifted my buying strategy to when things first come out, or else I will pay secondary market prices, which in some cases are very expensive.

I only buy what is needed to complete the game, sometimes I end up with a little more, but that is OK with me. If I started swap force now, I would have a very tough time tracking down the figures needed to complete the game.

Quote: SaraAB87

The problem is that the characters from the previous game get axed from store shelves before the new game comes out. These characters do not go on clearance or appear to get sent to another discount store for purchase, some characters sell out and are flat out not available other than the secondary market. Heck just now characters from SSA are showing up at Five Below for $5 each.. so its taking at least 3 years for these to make it to a discount retailer. Plus stock dwindles to nothing after the releases stop, as no store gets any more shipments after the waves are released, unless its a rare shipment. The only store getting constant shipments is the mostly overpriced without a sale Toys R Us. They obviously have more room for the figures but they choose to charge $1-3 more for everything, so if its not on sale, its not worth going there. Plus I don't have a TRU store that is close enough to me to visit it all the time, I have to make a special trip to visit one.

So now I have shifted my buying strategy to when things first come out, or else I will pay secondary market prices, which in some cases are very expensive.

I only buy what is needed to complete the game, sometimes I end up with a little more, but that is OK with me. If I started swap force now, I would have a very tough time tracking down the figures needed to complete the game.

Yes it's a risky strategy, to wait to buy them because some will have sold out and become hard to find, but personally as someone who likes to collect one of everything I am willing to wait 2-3 years to buy these characters dirt cheap.

Because there are so many new Skylanders released with each new game - Trap Team having reached the point of being ridiculous - I don't think many if any characters will be worth much in years to come. I might have to wait even longer to buy them on the cheap, but seeing toys that I have paid full price for now selling in clearance bins for a 1/3 of the price I paid or less has motivated me to wait.