darkSpyro

The only reason I'm even asking is that one of my kids managed to shatter our Swap Force disc, no big deal, though, you can get a used copy at gamestop for 99 cents. I did happen to notice, though, that gamestop was selling a used Trap Team disc for 3 bucks as well. And durn it all, it got me thinking.

What would it take to put together a workable collection for the game to be enjoyable? I gather that I would need a new portal ($5 used), but I don't know what else I'd NEED to make the game fun. From what I've read, element gates can only be opened by Trap Masters, but I don't know what's behind element gates in Trap Team. Is it like SF, where it could be hats, collectables, bonus maps, etc, but doesn't really do anything besides get you stars, or are these areas important to further the plot? Basically, would make the game experience better if I only got one or two Trap Masters, or at that point would I just need one of each element?

Can Trap Masters do anything in the game besides open Element Gates that any regular skylander can't do?

Are there Element Gates that AREN'T Trap Master specific, or are all the gates locked to non-Masters?

With the traps, I think I follow how they work, but to be sure: each villain has a specific element, so that villain can only be held and controlled with its corresponding crystal of that element. Have I got that correct? Is that the only reason I'd need one of each element type, so I CAN play using any villain I defeat?

My last question is, how hard (and expensive) would it be to assemble such a collection? It looks like gamestop, f.ex., hardly has ANY used TT characters, where SF had them in droves. That's how I filled out my SF collection. The 5 for 2 deal was pretty dang good. Would I have to find everything online one piece at a time? It seems like Activision made TT pieces a lot more rare than any of the first three. Would I be in for a lot of cash, especially if I needed 10 trap masters and 10 crystals to make it worth my time?

It's okay just to tell me walk away and not be tempted by a $3 deal on a disc that'll end up costing me a couple hundred in pieces, and a hours online just to find it all.

No Traptanium Gate furthers the plot and the zones aren't as enjoyable as in previous games, you should be fine just going for the Trap Masters that are cheap and look fun. They also only deal extra damage to villains, otherwise they don't play any different.

Except Kaos Trap, you only need one trap per element; it allows you to use any villain of it, but one per chapter per trap as they can only be switched in the hub. They're easily the better gimmick, as some have minigames as quests and are very good to get younger players out of trouble.

TT is very hard to complete, because of the final waves. They are pretty expensive if you find them at all.

As far as i am concerned one trap of each element and Kaos trap should be your priority . The villains are the stars of the show in this game and some of them are really powerful .

TrapMasters are a bit disappointing . 90 percent of the elemental gates hold a silly hat for your skylander to wear . The rewards are much better within those traptanium crystals scattered in the levels and you only need one Trapster for that job.

Thank you both for your responses. I did a little ebay recon on pricing, and sadly, I have to say I'm not even going to try it. I'm looking at spending a minimum of $50 just to get (only) most of the element traps. It looks like some of them are lost causes. I dunno if I happened to click on the most expensive trap for each element every time, but $150? Really? How could Activision not know the supply shortage would just make money for internet scalpers? Why didn't they make enough characters/traps to make that cash themselves? Did they take a major hit in production costs and oversupply from Swap Force or something to make them skittish about the next game? There are still dirt cheap SF characters all over the place, and ANYTHING Trap Team (besides water traps, apparently) is at LEAST original retail price, and some are a lot more. Weird!

Last question, though, just to twist my own arm, but, is Trap Team like previous games, where you can take a character from a previous game and switch his upgrade path, and have that "new" upgrade path still active when you go back to the older game? I've got a lot of Swap Force guys, and I'd love to try out all their abilities without resetting. If so, does it work for all SF characters? I'm concerned about the Swappables specifically. Because if that worked, it'd be worth a couple bucks to me (until the kids discovered we owned Trap Team, and I got sucked into buying more and more characters and traps for it, and I end up paying a couple hundred MORE. By this point, I want not to more because it's not even the game developer getting my money, it's scalpers, than not wanting to spend the cash!)

Dark and Light traps might be the issue more than regular ones. Pretty sure those shouldn't be too expensive but it's been a while.

I don't think Swap Force can switch upgrade paths without resetting. The only game that allows free switching is SuperChargers and it's pretty much an endgame reward.

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It looks like some of them are lost causes.

Why dont you try and snoop around a few pawn shops . Nothing wrong with preloved toys .

I've heard and seen that Toys R Us is stocking more stuff from Trap Team. Either that, or they're trying to get rid of it. You might be able to find some stuff there, especially if they have a sale.

I always hear that the shortage of Trap Team figures is because of some port strike or whatever. Apparently a bunch of figures are just gathering dust in warehouses, or at least that's what people say.

Now I've stepped in it (and, found a freaking amazing deal!!!). I just happened to check Craigslist in my local area and searched "skylanders." Only one listing matched the search, but buried in the ad with a bunch of kids' halloween costumes and board games was a "skylanders figures & portal bag full" listed for $25. The accompanying picture was a blurry shot snapped literally INTO a loosely open garbage bag, so you could hardly tell all that was there. But of the Trap Masters, I could for sure see a portal, Wildfire, Bushwhack, and Christmas Lob-Star. I also thought maybe I could make out a Wallop. I could see that there were at least a few others in there, just by the red bases. But I thought, shoot, if the portal happened to be compatible, just what I could see would be worth $25. I also assumed, since all of the characters I could see were Trap Team, that at very least, there would be the starterpack traps. So I emailed, and the guy met me. He clearly just wanted to get rid of the stuff, because I mentioned that the portal wouldn't work for me (XBox doesn't play nice), and he readily agreed to dropping the price to $20 (yes, I'm a terrible person. I know, and I do feel badly about it).

Here's what was in the freaking bag:
Wildfire
Bushwhack
Christmas Lob-Star
Wallop
Legendary Jawbreaker
Gearshift
Gusto
Snap Shot
2 Choppers
Food Fight
Funny Bone
Sure Shot Shroomboom
Tidal Wave Gill Grunt
Bop
Eye Small
Gill Runt
Hijinx
Terrabite
And one trap for EACH of the original 8 elements and the Kaos Trap!

I bet I could put that up on ebay as a single lot and make $150 at least, more if I went piece by piece, and I probably should, but I'm not going to.

Since the portal wasn't compatible with my system, and they're going for at least 10 bucks used on ebay (can't FIND them preowned at gamestop anymore), I figured I'd just get any Nin/PS starter pack I could find (they're all about $12 at brick and morters for whatever they have left). TRU website said my local store didn't have a WiiU starter, but did have a PS4, and since gamestop sells the Trap Team disc used, I thought that'd be my best bet. So I ordered it to pick up, went over to the store, and hey, they had a WiiU starter not in their inventory. Sweet! No extra gamestop...stop!

Despite the haul I made, and the decently priced starter pack, I realized I didn't have any Magic or Undead Trap Masters (or, well, Light or Dark either, but riiiiiight, like I'd find any of those for under $30 each on ebay), and since I was so close, figured I might as well check the TRU website again. Dooooood. For $5 apiece, you could online order Enigma, Short Cut, Head Rush, Tuff Luck, Thunder Bolt, AND BOTH Knight Mare and Knight Light!!! I was only going to get the Engima, Short Cut, and the Knights, but with shipping, that was $27, and if I ordered $29 worth of merch, I got shipping free. I got Head Rush and Thunderbolt for the free shipping, so, in essence, for $4 more. I really should just have added Tuff Luck, but I'm NOT going for everything this time (where have we heard that before?!?!). Seriously, though, I'm not even looking at cores or especially reposes besides the one that came in the deal. I'm honestly kicking myself, because if I'd have seen the Craigslist ad a week ago, I could have bought it, then probably have gotten all of the rest for the TRU $3 apiece deal that just ended. Though, like Xjmmjbn said above, I've heard that TRU is putting excess warehouse inventory up periodically. Many of them may not have been there earlier. Seems like some of the SuperChargers figures showed up at random times while I was hunting them.

Since I've just barely acquired all the SuperChargers guys (and haven't even given half of them to the kids yet), I'm definitely going to wait until the novelty wears off from their new game before I give them Trap Team as well. It would probably be a good week-or-two-after-summer-vacation-starts-and-they're-all-bored-to-tears gift.

But wow, I really want to pop the thing open and explore a bit after the kids are to bed.

So, a question to end this (most recent) novel:

What would I actually gain by chasing down and paying through the nose for the light and dark traps? Amazon says it's at least $50 for each, and forget about the expansion packs. What villains would my life be meaningless without playing as? Is there any content in the game (besides playing as the Light and Dark villains) that I wouldn't be able to access?

Excited to eventually try everything out!

Wow you must have done something epic in your past life to enjoy such awesome bargains . Good on ya laddy .


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What would I actually gain by chasing down and paying through the nose for the light and dark traps?

Nothing . The best strongest villain is Kaos and you have him . Your normal element villains are no better or worse than the light or dark ones . You also cannot play with your villains or traps in super chargers . Wait for a bargain loose light and dark trap .

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What villains would my life be meaningless without playing as?

Its a preference I guess there is a villain for everyone . They hit harder then your TrapMasters against other villains which is kinda sad . There is so many villains ot try out .

Kaos . and Broccoli guy and troll villains are my faves .

Broccoli guy is cool in that he can heal your skylanders . I appreciate that kind of useful

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Is there any content in the game (besides playing as the Light and Dark villains) that I wouldn't be able to access?

I think the only nasty thing is the adventure packs including light and dark adventures hold the soul gems of those skylanders they came with although its not all hopeless , you can get your soul gems powers from Super Charger adventure game

Hey, thanks again for your responses! I'm glad I won't be missing anything besides playing as villains without the last two traps.

Tell me a bit more about the adventure packs. A quick glance though the forum tells me that the Light and Dark adventures are better than the other two, but I definitely won't be getting the light and dark ones. I can, however find the train and mirror packs for pretty cheap. Worth it anyway? How would the levels compare with the Swap Force adventure packs? More/less fun/length/adventure/peril? Are there trappable villains in there I wouldn't otherwise find?

They're decently big, but nothing special. There are trappable villains in APs but their quests are also only in there. I find Mirror of Mystery to be the more enjoyable one, Nightmare Express has a cool concept but only the 3DS version does anything interesting with it.

You could always try buying, scanning, and reselling the Light and Dark adventure packs to basically get those levels for free. But that's only if you're comfortable with selling things on ebay.