Photo-A-Day #2753
I visited five retail stores today on a Skylanders Giants Hunt. While at the stores I spoke with a lot of people and answered a lot of questions. Mostly parents or grandparents who were a little vague on the game and the figures. I saved a few people from being very disappointed and I’m going to help you too. Ready, read on…
Ten Things You Don’t Understand About Skylanders Giants
1. Will my existing figures work with Skylanders Giants? YES! All of your Original Skylanders Figures will work with Skylanders Giants.
2. Will the Skylanders Giants figures work with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure? Some will, some will not. Standard Series 2 figures that are new poses of Series 1 figures will work if they have this symbol.
This figure is compatible with BOTH Skylanders Giants and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure
Some Series 2 figures are NOT compatible with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. You will know based on this symbol.
This figure is NOT compatible with Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure
3. Why should I buy Series 2 figures if I already have them from the first game? Do they do anything different? In addition to some cool new poses the Series 2 figures can also switch upgrade paths. In Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure you could choose an upgrade path for each figure and the character was “locked in” on that path. However in Skylanders Giants the figures can upgrade both paths and then switch between them. Series Two figures also have another power, their “Wow Pow”.
Skylanders Giants Series 2 Figures
4. What about LightCore Figures? Is there Anything special about them? I was in Toys R Us and people were asking the employee about it and he said that they were no different in the game. WRONG! In the game the LightCore Characters have a special power that kills every baddie on the screen when they are placed into the game. Also, each giant has LightCore technology but they do not have the special defeat all baddies ability. LightCore figures also have shiny cards in their packages.
Three LightCore Figures released in Wave 1
5. How can I tell my figures from Series 1 and Series 2 apart? All series 1 figures have GREEN translucent bases and all Series 2 figures have ORANGE bases. The Series 1 Portal base is GREEN and the Series 2 Portal base is ORANGE.
6. Can I use my Series 1 Portal of Power with Skylanders Giants? Yes, you certainly can. There is a Portal Owners pack that comes with the game and with the new Skylanders Giant Tree Rex. You don’t need the full set with the portal but if you do buy that set you get two additional Wave 1 figures that are not sold individually at this time, Cynder and Jet Vac.
7. Are there Exclusive Figures? Definitely! The great thing (or maybe frustrating) about Skylanders and hunting for them is that there are cool exclusives at different stores. For Wave one there are a few exclusives.
- Starter Pack Exclusives – Walmart has a Glow-In-The-Dark Cynder figure in their Starter packs.
- Exclusive Giants – Target has an exclusive of Crusher (Granite). Toys R US has an exclusive of Bouncer (Legendary)
- Legendary Figures – Toys R US has a Legendary 3 pack with Slam Bam, Ignitor and Jet Vac
- Battle Pack – Game Stop has an exclusive Golden Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack
Target Exclusive Granite Crusher and Standard Crusher figures.
Standard Bouncer and Toys R Us Exclusive Legendary Bouncer figures.
There is also a figure that you can only get with the 3Ds starter pack – Punch Pop Fizz (Red deco figure). Not really an exclusive but a special decorated figure like Dark Spyro from Spyro’s Adventure 3Ds starter kit.
8. What figures came out in Wave 1? I posted about the Skylanders Giants Wave 1 release last week but can officially confirm all of these today
Giants
- Tree Rex – In the Starter Pack
- Bouncer – There is a Toys R Us Exclusive Legendary Variant to this figure.
- Crusher – Granite Crusher is a Target Exclusive Variant to this figure.
- Swarm – Single Figure only
Skylanders Giants – Swarm, a new Giant
Series 2 Skylanders:
- Trigger Happy (S2) – Single Figure and in Three Pack with Pop Fizz and Whirlwind
- Slam Bam (S2) – Single Figure only
- Cynder (S2) – In the Starter Pack – Exclusive Glow-in-the-Dark version in Walmart Starter Packs
- Zook (S2) – Single Figure and in Three pack with Ignitor and Chill
- Ignitor (S2) – Single Figure and in Three pack with Chill and Zook
- Chop Chop (S2) – Only in the Battle Pack with Dragonfire Cannon and ShroomBoom
LightCore Skylanders:
- Drobot
- Prism Break
- Eruptor
New Skylanders:
- Fright Rider – Single Figure only
- Chill – Single Figure and in a three pack with Ignitor and Zook
- Pop Fizz – Single Figure and in a three pack with Trigger Happy and Whirlwind
Punch Pop Fizz (Red one in the 3Ds starter pack) - Jet Vac – In the Starter Pack only
- ShroomBoom -Only in the Dragonfire Battle pack with the Dragonfire Cannon and Chop Chop
(Standard) Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack
Triple Packs:
- Triple Pack – Pop Fizz, Trigger Happy (S2) and Whirlwind (S2)
- Triple Pack – Chill, Ignitor (S2) and Zook (S2)
- Battle Pack: Chop Chop (S2), Shroomboom, Dragonfire Cannon Golden Dragonfire Cannon – Game Stop Exclusive
Skylanders Giants Three Packs
Legendary Figures:
- Triple Pack – Jet Vac, Slam Bam and Ignitor – Toys R Us Exclusive
- Bouncer – Toys R Us Exclusive
Legendary Skylanders Giants Figures – Slam Bam, Jet Vac and Ignitor
9. Are there other Skylanders things happening? YES, Walmart had a little scavenger hunt to find stickers throughout the store. The portal Adventure Map. This comes with an exclusive code that you can use in Skylanders Universe.
Portal Master Adventure Map
Best Buy had a set of exclusive giants items like a drawstring backpack, carabiner and poster. This was free with a perchase of a Starter pack or a Portal Owners Pack.
10. What is the difference between a Starter Pack and a Portal Owner’s Pack? If you have Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure then you probably already have a portal of power and so you can buy the Portal Owners Pack and save a few bucks. If you are just getting into Skylanders then get the Starter kit.
BONUS 11. Why is Skylanders so cool? Collecting fun looking figures is fun. Video games are fun. Playing with friends is awesome. Being able to play with your own figures that you have worked hard to level up on your friend’s gaming system even if you don’t have the same system is amazing! Skylanders is such an amazing game with a rich story and clever colorful characters that you can “bring to life” and who will “remember” their training when you play them anywhere. Skylanders can be played on the Wii, Playstation 2, Nintendo 3Ds, XBox 360, the upcoming Wii U, Online at Skylanders Universe and on Skylanders Cloud Patrol on the iOs system. They are fun to play and fun to display.
I have seen all the ones you listed above in the wild and I also bought a Lightcore Jet Vac at Toys R Us. It was the only one they had though.
Mike,
I have to update the list with the Wave 2 figures that came out today. I missed out on Jet Vac and Hothead but bought 9 other figures today alone.
I have not seen hot head yet. Will love toget him. I may go searching after work.
Simply said, thanks for the help on understanding what should be a base piece of knowledge on the skylands website! It is really appreciated.
David,
I am glad to help with that. I finally got my own copy of the game so many more tips will be coming.
Finally got the game last night. My son and I only played two levels but from what I can tell about those this is going to be better than the first game. Activision has made some minor changes that go a long way. I really like the fact ypu can go in houses and caves in this game. Another great Skylanders game. Now only if I could find all the giants.
Mike,
Glad you like the game. I’ve found some nice things in it that are improvements over the other. I have found some glitchy stuff too that I never found with the original. Might be from the fast turnaround might be somethign else. Not sure what the deal is there.
I have noticed the portal seems to get “confuse” when you are playing two players. Still a great very addictive game though. I find myself wanting to get enough coint to upgrade everyone.
Mike,
What I noticed is that the game has locked up once or twice. I’ve been taking each and every character through all of the heroic challenges that are available and three figures had their info on completing those challenges completely wiped out. I had to redo them.