darkSpyro

Hey all,
This is a problem with curiosity. I posted over in the TT forum that I was curious how much it'd cost to get a decent TT collection off the ground, and the only reason it even occurred to me to wonder that was because I happened to see that the used disc only cost a couple bucks at gamestop when my kids and I were there to buy a one dollar used copy of SF, because one of them stepped on our original and shattered it. After checking out some internet pricing, I subsequently decided that, at least at this (price-)point, I'd do better to leave TT alone. In doing that internet pricing, however, I inadvertently discovered that the SuperChargers stuff is dirt cheap right now!

Soooo, I bought the starter packs for Wii and WiiU today, and rationalized doing so because that way the kids can use Donkey and Bowser as Amiibo in the few games we have that Amiibo actually do anything. Don't have a Five Below near me for the 5 dollar deal, but Game Stop was selling them for $10, so I figured that's more than low enough to pull the trigger. I knew enough about the game to know that I at least should have one land, air and sea vehicle, and was lucky that there was one used Dive Bomber on clearance for $1.50. Sweet. Land, Sea and Air for 22 bucks. I didn't know at that point WiiU and Wii are different games entirely. I was just planning on ditching the Wii version. More racing, though. Awesome!

Aaaaand, that basically exhausts what I do know for sure about the game. I gave it to the kids this evening, they were over the moon. They played the intro and first level, and nosed around the hub a bit before I shooed them off to bed.

So, my real question is, what am I going to be on the hook to buy to get the "complete experience" out of the game? I need to know more about the elemental gates, dunno if the kids ran into any of them yet. Do you just have to match the vehicle to the gate, or does the vehicle require its corresponding SuperCharger driver? Or does it require one specific element driver to be matched with a DIFFERENT specific element vehicle, like a dual-gate swap zone in SF? Where are they located? I clicked on a couple walkthroughs to the left at random, and didn't see anything in the levels. Do you only do element gates (or are they more like challenges/bonus missions?) in the hub? And lastly regarding them, are they a big enough deal that I should even care? I could do some hunting (TRU has whatever is left in stock, both vehicle and character, for $3), but if it really doesn't make the game any more enjoyable, please tell me it's not worth it. Or, I guess, put another way, is whatever content behind the "undead" element gate worth the 3 bucks it'd cost to play it? If it IS just the element (i.e., driver doesn't matter and I only need Dive Bomber to check off the Water one), and I DID manage to scrounge up 7 other element vehicles I don't have, is there anything wonderful and exciting that happens for getting them all? (and yes, I realize that getting new vehicles that drive and shoot uniquely is all part of the magic, so for that reason, I'm sure I'll end up with a few more of them, but I just meant, does it unlock anything, or something like that?)

Uh oh, it just occurred to me that the Nintendo guys are the only ones whose elements don't match their vehicles'. Is that a problem as far as element gates go? Do those vehicles "not count?" Or, would they count for both? Because if they don't, it changes what I would and would not need to buy.

I was reading through the ign "minimum needed" writeup, which says there are special tasks for both vehicles and characters specifically, but are usually just "run this course in under this amount of time," or something like that. If these are just like bonus challenges from previous games, that don't actually do/unlock anything for you, or provide any other in-game content, it sounds like they're definitely not worth going out and getting every vehicle for. But, I also realize that ign's writeup probably happened before the actual release of the game a couple years ago, and your collective information would be much more complete! So, individual or vehicular challenges? Nice, but unnecessary?

I have gathered that some of the best stuff is in the expansion cups. Looks like they're harder to come by cheap, except for the Kaos one. Are all four of those a definite find and buy?

Do Eon's Elite actually do anything in this game, or are they just OP'd originals?

And lastly, what vehicles and characters would you suggest, if I'm buying them for entertaining gameplay?

For $3 at TRU, I see: Eggipede, Night Fall, HoliDive Clops, Splat, and Fiesta (I'm not really interested in reposes of characters I've already got, unless you feel very strongly that my life is meaningless without one that they've added a lot to), and vehicles: Buzz Wing, Crypt Crusher, Sky Slider, Sea Shadow, Burn Cycle, Shark Tank, Jet Stream, and Blue Gold Rusher.

Thanks so much to anyone who's been willing to stick with me this long!

Well first minimum requirements to have maximum fun is just Land , sea and air vehicle , which you have done so already . So dont feel too pressured .

Expansion cups are nothing impressive certainly not worth selling your kidney for. I have Air cup and i have yet to get anything worthwhile from it .

I am not sure how Eon ELites are priced over there but over here , Its cheaper to buy 1 eons elite instead of a skylander and their vehicle both . Yes they are OP and helpful if you have troubles with a boss monster or levels . If you want to avoids sames , these are the "sames"
That said Elites are not necessary but more useful then cup expansions .

All the vehicles and characters are cool . Check the favorite land and sea and air vehicle polls here for the most popular .
The reposed Supercharger characters are not the same as their originals , they have 100 percent total different skill sets and play styles and they wont work in earlier game

Thrilli and Buzz wing
Eruptor and Burn cycle
Night fall and Sea Shadow.

Elemental Gates are like mini-games outside the main story and gameplay. Is not worth of buying a character for the Elemental Gate it unlocks, they're more like an "extra", just buy the ones you like it. Plus, there is no 100% completion, so it's up to you.

For the complete experiencie you'll need a sea vehicle and an air vehicle. That's all. This way you can beat the 3 star in each level. Elemental Gates that'll appear in the story levels are the same that you can access in the hub, so they don't affect game completion.

If you want to pair pilots with their vehicles, it isn't neither necessary. Any skylanders can drive any vehicle. But if you want the "full experiencie", I recommend it. SuperChargers combo allows you the following:

- Buzz missions and SuperChargers challenges. They increase your Skylanders and vehicles stats for both story and racing (only for superchargers paired with their signature vehicles). Challenges works like racing stages/mini-games outside the game, similar to Elemental Gates.

- Unlock SuperChargers gates in story levels (any supercharger can do it).

- Change vehicle mods during the game (any supercharger can do it).

For racing, you'll need the trophies (land, sea and sky) to unlock all the stages and racing modes. So, basically, if you don't really mind about the characters, pick up the 3 action packs (Trigger Happy, Astroblast and Gill Grunt) and you'll have "everything". This is also up to you.

Hope this help you!

coming this late to the show, a decent TT collection is gonna cost you. but if you only want to play the game. all you need is the sea, air, land vehicle with correct figure to that vehicles, and you are go.

Thank you all three for your responses and help. It's actually taken a lot of the pressure off. What I may do is buy one more land, sea, and air vehicle and corresponding driver at Toys R Us for the clearance price, and give them to my oldest for his birthday next month, that way the kids will have a bit of variety.

And it's funny, with Bowser and Donkey, they're both fun characters, but it almost feels out of place to have them there. I played the original arcade game Donkey Kong when I was a little child, and Bowser was the first big boss in the first game in the first home video system my brothers and I ever owned. Until retiring from gaming (just as Nintendo 64 was picking up steam) and before children of my own pulled me out of that retirement in the last couple years, Bowser and Donkey were a part of that "old world", AND, except for when Donkey Kong Country and Mario Kart first came out for Super Nintendo in the twilight of my gaming career, both were villains!!! It's so funny to me that those were the two from that old world that Nintendo and ActiVision chose to cross over, as heroes, no less, into this, my "new world" of video games.

I think for that reason as much as anything, I'd as soon introduce a few more "actual" skylander characters to our Superchargers collection. The kids loved getting to know each new character I found for them in Swap Force, both from a personality AND gameplay perspective. Honestly, the collection bug took over for me, not for variants or anything like that, but for all of the playable characters. After I got a bunch of characters cheap, and after I found out I could get both of the older games used for a buck or two (sound familiar? ), it just made too much sense for me to hunt down the remaining characters, so that we could play everyone they created for the games. Obviously, I won't be doing that for this game, but it would be fun to give them at least a few of the new guys with great moves and personalities.

That's also the reason I'm not interested as much in reposes. Especially since their moves and everything are so different in this game (that they're completely incompatible with previous games!!!) it almost feels like it's a betrayal to the characters we've gotten to know in the first three games. I mean, Stealth Elf...gun? What??? So, yeah, new guys would be great, though.

I didn't realize that the Kaos cup doesn't actually unlock any new tracks, so I won't be itching to buy that one. I did think I read that by beating the game, you can actually unlock Kaos and his vehicle to play with anyway. Is this correct? The other three trophies are still quite expensive, both from the retailers I've found that carry them, and on their own online, so I'll wait on those, even if they do unlock new tracks and villain drivers. My little guys love races, though, so eventually I may pick them up if and when they drop in price, to bring in some replayability for them once it gets stale. Did the same for them with Mario Kart and their DLC tracks (before I discovered later that the original packaging of our WiiU included a code to get them free. Oooops. There went 12 bucks. Ha! If only I knew then what a drop in the bucket that would be compared with this crazy franchise! ).

Out of curiosity, are the elemental gate extra levels vastly different for each element? Does the undead content (Race? Time trial?) look different from the earth content, for example? If they are different, which ones do you guys think are more fun? Depending on what inexpensive vehicles I can find, that may factor into what I get.

Also, if I understand what you said correctly, Halvmorke, for the elemental gates, it doesn't matter who the driver is, JUST the vehicle, but for the Buzz challenges, that DOES require a matching vehicle and driver, do I have that correct? (also, this is probably pretty obvious, but the variant guys (Eggipede, HoliDive Clops, the blue guys, etc) will still supercharge their "standard" vehicle, won't they?)

Thanks so much for the help!!!

Kaos' vehicle is a "I win" button for Sky Races. I wouldn't bother with it, especially since one of the kids would be robbed of a fair game every time. Kaos Cup is the only way to get it.

Elemental Gates are all time challenges, just in different ways. You only need the right vehicle, and they're pretty empty and meh.

Supercharger Quests need the right character and vehicle to complete, but you can actually do the first part of the quest with just the character for a decent stat bonus. It'll forever annoy you with the next part, however.

Quote: pjc613

Also, if I understand what you said correctly, Halvmorke, for the elemental gates, it doesn't matter who the driver is, JUST the vehicle, but for the Buzz challenges, that DOES require a matching vehicle and driver, do I have that correct? (also, this is probably pretty obvious, but the variant guys (Eggipede, HoliDive Clops, the blue guys, etc) will still supercharge their "standard" vehicle, won't they?)

Exactly. Vehicles open elemental gates, the driver doesn't matter. But SuperChargers Challenges/Buzz missions are each one based on a driver+vehicle combo, so you need both. They're character focused. And as Bifrost said, the second Buzz mission is usually annoying, but I really like SC Challenges... and they're hard!

Variants counts as regular ones, so yes, you don't have to worry.

And you're welcome! I'm always glad to help, as the rest of us, for sure.

Quote: Dark fhoenix

Well first minimum requirements to have maximum fun is just Land , sea and air vehicle , which you have done so already . So dont feel too pressured .

Expansion cups are nothing impressive certainly not worth selling your kidney for. I have Air cup and i have yet to get anything worthwhile from it .

I am not sure how Eon ELites are priced over there but over here , Its cheaper to buy 1 eons elite instead of a skylander and their vehicle both . Yes they are OP and helpful if you have troubles with a boss monster or levels . If you want to avoids sames , these are the "sames"
That said Elites are not necessary but more useful then cup expansions .

All the vehicles and characters are cool . Check the favorite land and sea and air vehicle polls here for the most popular .
The reposed Supercharger characters are not the same as their originals , they have 100 percent total different skill sets and play styles and they wont work in earlier game

Thrilli and Buzz wing
Eruptor and Burn cycle
Night fall and Sea Shadow.

If you are going to buy any more, I agree with the above as being best, plus maybe Stormblade and Smash Hit.

Elements don't matter in SC.

Check out the sale at TRU.

Hey, thanks for the suggestions! Right now I'm trying to get a feel for what is the most interesting/fun. I've had my eye on the TRU pricedown for a couple days now and Buzz Wing/Eggipede and Nightfall/Sea Shadow are definite buys. My little guy actually has a birthday coming up, and so I wouldn't feel like I was going crazy by getting at least a few of the combos.

Still, I would love it if they did a BOGO for online ordering, because I don't live near one...can anyone tell me whether there are any in-store deals right now? May make it worth a bit of a drive. It didn't even occur to me to look at what SuperCharger stuff was on clearance back in December. I just searched for "skylanders deals", and it KILLS me that BestBuy was selling these things for a freaking buck apiece just a few months ago, but now, whatever they have left they've "clearance priced" at two dollars off original retail. What??? Was hoping for an Easter sale, but haven't seen anything yet. The REAL takeaway here is that I should be on the lookout for the exact same thing this coming December with Imaginators, but even then, I doubt there will be prices as low as SC got on clearance, both because Imaginators is apparently more popular than SC was, AND, Activision doesn't have a game coming out this year that the brick-and-mortars need to drive all of the last game's inventory off the shelves for. Sigh.

Annnyway, I've read a few of the previous threads on the characters and vehicles people like, and I can't decide whether I want to stick with my original inclination not to buy the repose guys. I'd appreciate any input the forum has there too, understanding that I'm not going to be hunting down everything. My thought process is this: my kids and I already know and like any of the characters that are reposed, and half of the fun of a new game is playing as a character you haven't played before, getting to know their personalities and their fun moves. I realize that with the SuperCharger "reboots" of the reposes - new moves, new look, they're even backwards incompatible - it's basically like a different character, but in a way that almost turns me off to the prospect. Stealth Elf is the perfect example. And, most of the new guys look like they're really fun, so I'm leaning toward them anyway.

So unless any of the reposes are that much better than the new characters (but please, tell me if any are) then I'm choosing from 10 characters, one of each element. My number one priority is getting an extra vehicle for each terrain type. But here's where I could use some more input. It SEEMS like I should match driver and vehicle, both for the ability to supercharge (bit overrated, maybe?) but also for the supercharged challenges. I realize they're just tasks inside the race tracks that are already playable, but the task-based stuff is still fun to me. So, assuming I can find pairs, am I better off doing that than getting just vehicles that a repose is the driver of?

Lastly, I did find out what you get on Portal Rank 74, and let me tell you, I'm REALLY interested in that. I mentioned in the TT thread that I'd love to have the ability to go back and try out both upgrade paths on the old characters. Do I have any chance of getting fully ranked up if I haven't got extra character missions and challenges to stardust grind with? Since, unless I've missed it, you don't get stardust for inputting all of your old characters (like the collection stars you got in SF), I figure the extra missions the new characters do picks up that slack. Also, I can't imagine there's a rubric for how much stardust any one accomplishment is worth, is there? I know emblems can give you "extra," but the ambiguity is nerve-wracking! It was nice in SF at least knowing exactly how many stars you needed to grind out to rank up! How much is one dose of dust? What tasks give you more? Has anybody figured it out?

Thanks all, any suggestions or leads on remaining retail sales, please let me know!

I KNEW this was going to happen! I caught the bug again. And I swore myself off of it after hunting down all the characters in Swap Force!

Before I get into my rant, I gotta say, I AM psyched about Rank 74. My little guy has gotten about half way through the story, and not really done much peripheral stuff, and he was already ranked up into the 30s. Youtube helped me figure out that I can grind stardust, so I took a couple hours (that I should have been sleeping) and leveled up to 74 today. It's SWEET that I've got access to any upgrade paths. I'm trying out all the new moves on my Swap Force guys. That'll be a fun tool when the younger kids start aging into the first three games. Sweet. And now, I can actually play the last half of the game with my son, and we can change upgrade paths all we freaking want!!!

NOW on to the rant:

I decided I wanted to match any characters I got with their vehicle. Aaaaand with Toys R Us having the decent sale going, I decided that I wanted each of the new characters and their rides, so I got most of them for $3 apiece. I had to pay $6 new at Game Stop for three of them, but overall, it could have been worse. The only pair I'm missing is Astroblast and Sun Runner, and I'm tempted just to pay the 20 bucks to get them and the Sky trophy online, because I'm not finding them alone not in the combo. It's actually a bit cheaper to get the legendary ones, but, umm, who the bleep decided to make a LIGHT elemental Skylander a variant that turns the thing BLACK??? Ugly. Not a chance. I'm willing to pay the extra buck or two.

Okay, here's where I KNOW I'm a collecting addict (but let's be more accurate here, at this point it's a scavenging addict). Game Stop is doing a ridiculous clearance sale on preowned skylanders. They're trying to get rid of any of them leftover at any of their stores, so whatever is left is now 5 for $5, or $1.50 apiece, but, expectedly, there aren't any more near me (I actually grabbed the last Hot Streak at my local GS today). BUT, you go on GS's website, and for whatever reason, there are a BUNCH of preowned ones in a town 80ish miles away between 3 or 4 stores. And like the geek I am, I mapped out exactly how far it would be, how much it would cost in gas, and subtracted whatever I'd be able to return of my GameStop and ToysRUs purchases of characters I could get on the preowned deal for cheaper. It would "cost" me about $20 (and 4 hours of driving) to get me a net 9 repose characters or vehicles, and that's on top of the game's new characters/vehicles I've already gotten. Which is actually really good at this point, only about two bucks each.

Here's the thing though, JUST of the reposes and their vehicles, I'd still need to find Eruptor, Pop Fizz and Skimmer (Eruptor and Pop Fizz wouldn't be hard or expensive, but I haven't seen Skimmer anywhere for any kind of a deal), Roller Brawl and Tomb Buggy (haven't seen them anywhere except ebay), and Trigger Happy and Gold Rusher (which I could get online in the combo pack with the Land Trophy if I REALLY wanted to pay out the nose, but haven't seen elsewhere), and that's not even counting Astroblast and Sun Runner (only online in combo pack).
But if I get that close to having them all, I'm going to want to find the rest. That's A LOT of hunting that I'd still have to do to finish off the collection, for the more rare and more expensive ones, AND if I did that, I probably WOULD feel the need to get all three trophies, which are a bunch of different variations of pain even used online. The whole point of this was that I could get the game and everything I'd need for it cheap!!!

Please just talk me out of it! At the moment, I'm only the Light Element set away from having all of the new guys and rides! I'd have one of each element if I spend only 20 more to get the Light guys and sky trophy, and I'd be able to access everything that doesn't require the other two trophies, except for the reposes' specific supercharged challenges. That's more than enough for this thing, that I'm already 90 bucks into, right? RIGHT???

Quote:

Please just talk me out of it!

Why ? its your money and you worked hard for it . Buy what you want . I think Legendary Sun Runner looks awesome .

You are also enjoying some sweet SC bargains that i never have . 20 bucks is what I pay for any vehicle at TRU.

That's fair, and I thank you for your candor, fhoenix. My point in asking to be talked out of it is not that I don't want them, it's that I know there is always something "better" to either spend money on or save money for. But, at length, and due in part to your (hopefully well-meaning) reproof, I decided that more than anything, I enjoy the scavenger hunt, and while I pride myself on being frugal, I also realize that I don't spend much money on things I enjoy.

It's a double-bonus that the toys are mostly for the kids. If I'm playing, I seriously spend most of the time grinding for gold or XP to fully upgrade and level up the characters, or, in the most recent case, to stardust my way to being able to purchase both upgrade paths for all of the previous ones. I just like unlocking everything they do. I think that's why I'm not particularly interested in the hardcore collecting that involves variants and the like. I collect all of the characters and bonus level pieces so I can unlock everything in the game, be it each character and all of their moves, or places within the game. My folks live near a GREAT used books/games shop that usually has a decent selection of skylanders and paraphernalia. I asked that they text a quick photo of what was there, and I was excited to see an arkeyan crossbow from SF sitting there for $1.50 that I had them grab. It was the one piece I hadn't found yet that unlocks content (though modest that particular item's content might be, which is why I didn't really go looking for it on Ebay). That kind of stuff is fun for me.

So, I decided to find the best deals I could and get all of the SC figures, both the new characters and their reposes. Regarding the roadtrip I wasn't going to go on, I actually went into my local GameStop and told the guy that there were the 10 figures on clearance I'd LOVE to get but they're at stores too far to drive to. He suggested I give the stores a call and just ask to ship them over to his store (intimating that if I called, they'd say yes, but if he called, they might say no). Sweet! And all three stores said sure, they woudn't mind sending them at all. I actually feel a bit bad, I'm sure they spent more in shipping than they will get on the sale, but they all said they're more than willing to get the pre-owned stuff out of their stores. Win win, and I'll get 25% of the characters for $10 total. The other 75% hurts a bit more!

The fact that five of those ten were reposes or their vehicles is really what pushed me over into deciding to get all of the reposes and vehicles too. Shoot, with Stealth Elf in the starter, I was a third of the way there!

I was facing the prospect of spending a bunch more money for some of the harder-to-find ones, but providentially, I happened upon a private seller who sold me three of the higher-ebay-priced driver/vehicle sets and the sea and sky traps all for a very reasonable price. After that, it was just piecing together a few random ones on ebay that I couldn't find elsewhere, and to cap it all off, getting the Land Racing Pack on Amazon for $26. That one hurt a bit, but I realize the land trophy alone has been going for more than that online recently, which makes the purchase more palatable.

So I'm done. I have all 44 figures either here and being played with by the kids, or paid for and on the way, in addition to two portals, the WiiU and Wii versions, and a second Stealth Elf. The variants I ended up with were Nitro Soda Skimmer (a buck cheaper than the regular one on ebay...weird), Birthday Pop Fizz (same price, but it was the one of the two I could pick up in-store and not have to pay to ship), and Frightful Fiesta, Missile-Tow Dive-Clops, and Egglipede (couldn't find the standard versions except on ebay much more expensive). All the rest are the standard characters.

Total cost was $168.49, which is pretty good, all things considered. Shoot, I think my final tally for the 80 characters, all extra level pieces and game discs for SF, SG and SSA ended up at around $350. I actually got a better per-piece deal on SC! And, as an aside, 9 days has got to be something of a record, doesn't it?

I know, I know, tl:dr, and who cares about a dude starting a game a year and a half too late, but I actually found it a bit therapeutic to document what I did this time around, so thanks to the few of you who actually read it.

I wish you all the continued best. It appears that this board slows down about this point in the newest game's lifecycle, and this time, there isn't a 2017 offering to pick the conversation back up in a couple of months. So if another game doesn't materialize next year and the board falls into disuse, thanks especially to all of you who were kind enough to click back and respond to my questions about SF, TT and SC. Your insights were most helpful. And thank you to everyone else who has assembled a delightful consortium of information about the games, not the least of which being the walkthrough authors. Your help has been amazing.

Awesome . Now you can focus onto Trap Team collecting ......

I see nothing wrong with waiting a year or two and taking advantage of clearance sale and preowned toys .
I do have regrets over some toys that were available here but no longer and I will need to make an extra ebay effort to get my hands on them but thats the risk of waiting them out .