Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure first launched October 12, 2011 in Australia for the PC. It has since spread worldwide and released on the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo 3DS, and Mac OS. It is slated to launch in Japan later this year. This title is the definition of a blockbuster and employs marketing techniques from several different series allowing for unparalleled success.
Activision has stated that they have already earned over $200 million in the US alone and are gearing up for a sequel, Skylanders: Giants. This game is redefining gaming, marketing, and collecting in one fell swoop. How did they do it?
Skylander Gameplay
For starters, it is a great game to play. It is fun, it looks good, and it is available across every major gaming console. The story is written by Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, both of whom worked on Pixar's original Toy Story film, guaranteeing appeal to children and adults alike.
The controls are easy to pick up and the game is fun and fast-paced but long enough to allow for time investment and sentimental attachment. It has colorful characters and is a stark contrast to today’s video game market oversaturated with bloody, gritty war simulations. The PC version earned a 93.00% aggregate score on GameRanking.com.
Skylander Marketing
Activision has outdone themselves and everyone else in the gaming industry with the marketing behind this project. They worked with Nickelodeon to create a tour as well as heavily invested in their own website and web games.
However, the number one marketing ploy that they have utilized is an incredible media blackout on their shipments for figurines. Release dates are hard to track down and they do not even tell their vendors what they are going to be sending them. Each shop has something different. Some stores do have exclusives and some exclusive are later on revealed to not be exclusives at all. This combination of misinformation and lack of information creates an interesting mix and is the exact same as the marketing employed to sell Beanie Babies.
Skylander Collecting
Just how many figurines are there? This is a hard number to find, but there are 70 know Skylander figurines. That number includes all known variants, items, promos, sidekicks, and levels.
Collecting the figures is not just for completionist purposes, these figures often unlock something in-game. They are tangible DLC (Downloadable content). You actually have to buy them to continue on in the game itself. However, several of these figurines are simply rarer variants that function the exact same in-game as their more common counterparts. Nowhere on the box does it say that, though. All of this is just part of the mystique.
Gamestop has realized the value of these figures and recently started buying and selling used figurines to capitalize on the success of the title. If you want each of these figurines, be prepared to spend several thousands dollars.
Below is a complete list of the 70 known Skylander Figures
List of Skylander Figures
Skylander Characters:
1. Lightning Rod (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
2. Sonic Boom (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
3. Warnado (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
4. Whirlwind (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
5. Bash (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
6. Dino-Rang (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
7. Prism Break (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
8. Terrafin (Pirate Seas Adventure Pack)
9. Eruptor (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
10. Flameslinger (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
11. Ignitor (3DS Starter Pack ,Single Pack, and Triple Pack)
12. Sunburn (Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack)
13. Camo (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
14. Stealth Elf (3DS Starter Pack, Single Pack, and Triple Pack)
15. Stump Smash (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
16. Zook (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
17. Dark Spyro (3DS Starter Pack)
18. Double Trouble (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
19. Spyro (All Starter Kits except 3DS)
20. Voodood (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
21. Wrecking Ball (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
22. Boomer (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
23. Drill Sergeant (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
24. Drobot (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
25. Trigger Happy (All Starter Packs except 3DS)
26. Chop Chop (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
27. Cynder (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
28. Ghost Roaster (Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack)
29. Hex (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
30. Gill Grunt (All Starter Kits except 3DS)
31. Slam Bam (Empire of Ice Adventure Pack)
32. Wham-Shell (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
33. Zap (Single Pack and Triple Pack)
Skylander Legendary Characters:
34. Legendary Bash (Legendary Triple Pack Toys'R'Us Exclusive)
35. Legendary Chop Chop (Legendary Triple Pack Toys'R'Us Exclusive)
36. Legendary Spyro (Legendary Triple Pack Toys'R'Us Exclusive)
37. Legendary Trigger Happy (Legendary Single Pack Toys'R'Us Exclusive)
Skylander Items:
38. Anvil Rain (Empire of Ice Adventure Pack)
39. Sky-Iron Shield (Empire of Ice Adventure Pack)
40. Time Twister Hourglass (Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack)
41. Healing Elixir (Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack)
42. Sparx the Dragonfly (Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack)
43. Winged Boots (Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack)
44. Ghost Pirate Swords (Pirate Seas Adventure Pack)
45. Hidden Treasure (Pirate Seas Adventure Pack)
Skylander Levels:
46.Darklight Crypt (Darklight Crypt Adventure Pack)
47. Empire of Ice (Empire of Ice Adventure Pack)
48. Pirate Ship (Pirate Seas Adventure Pack)
49. Dragon’s Peak (Dragon's Peak Adventure Pack)
50. Volcanic Vault (Best Buy in the US, GAME and Gamestation in the UK Single Pack Exclusive)
Skylander Sidekicks:
51. Whisper Elf (Summer 2012 release)
52. Trigger Snappy (Summer 2012 release)
53. Terrabite (Summer 2012 release)
54. Gill Runt (Summer 2012 release)
Skylander Promo Variants:
55. Flocked Stump Smash (Frito Lay Spring 2012)
56. Metallic Cynder (Toy Fair 2012)
57. Pearl Hex (Toy Fair 2012)
58. Translucent Blue Bash
Skylander Random Collectible Color Variants:
59. Silver Boomer
60. Silver Dino-Rang
61. Silver Eruptor
62. Gold Chop Chop
63. Gold Drill Sergeant
64. Gold Flameslinger
65. Clear Wham-Shell
66. Clear Cynder
67. Clear Stealth Elf
68. Glow-in-the-Dark Warnado
69. Glow-in-the-Dark Wrecking Ball
70. Glow-in-the-Dark Zap
When you purchase any color variant, you must beware. Only buy them sealed in their box. Anyone with a can of spray paint can create a rare color variant. That is why Activision has changed the variants to harder-to-fake versions such as clear or glow-in-the-dark to reduce the likelihood of forgery but you can never be completely safe. Be careful when buying these figurines. You can lose a lot of money with one fake purchase. All of the collectible color variants and promo variants are valued at anywhere from $500 to $900 each. Never pay more than $30 dollars for any individual Skylander figurine unless it is a variant. The Legendary characters are worth more.
It is also important to remember that this is not a stable market at all. Prices vary wildly day-to-day and something that sells for $5 dollars today can sell for $50 tomorrow. This will even out after the hype dies down but right now, this is a seller’s market and buyers should expect to pay a premium price to get what they want to complete their collections.