Skylanders Giants: Another Blurry Picture

Hello Portal Masters,

I found another picture that is quiet interesting:

 

So, no new news, except a "official picture" of their Starter and Portal Owner Packs. 

But that is all we already knew, except, what is there in the bottom?

The character poster? OMG!

Let's make it bigger...

Ah, good old blurry pictures.. how I missed you.. not!
When will they stop destroying my eyeside?

But I think we can still get lots of information from this.
All characters seem to be in an order: First Giant, Second Lightcore, Third, Fourth and Fith: Series 2, Last New Skylanders.

We again see a tiny bit of Flashwing, Sprocket and the new Giants.

Now, I will try to give guesses of what we see here. Most of it  will be because of the colours we see.

So, I am pretty certain about most of these to be honster.
Stealth Elf is a gues more than seeing, but it really does not look like Camo and I just want all my elfs to get remodeled ;)

Another interesting side note: They will (if everything was right) NOT repose Wham Shell, Camo Sunburn or Warnado, all of them beeing released last. Maybe popularity wasn't that much of a factor after all...

The other "missing ones" would be Boomer, Dinorang, Voodood and Ghost Roaster.

I don't like that Sunburn and Ghost Roaster aren't remodeled, since people who did not want or have the money for Adventure Packs will not get them this time either.

Apart from that, I will miss Warnado, Camo and Wham Shell, but on the other hand, I will still have my Series 1 versions of them all, so I will be fine.

I will update post a new character list soon!

See you next time!

Charon

Skylander: Trading Card Game

Hello Portal Masters,

I found something about the Skylanders Trading Card Game:

I like that you can see Hot Head a little better on the "Flowpack".
I don't know if I will start collecting, but you never know.

But if they really go on sale September 20th, that means we need lots of information in August!
But I did expect that anyway.

Will you collect these?
Let me know in the comments!

Until next time

Charon

Skylanders: Sidekicks

Hello Portal Masters,

The Skylanders Sidekicks are coming out soon

I will not talk a lot about them, because they do not serve any purpose in the games and seem to be hard to get (especially outside the US).
So I will just post some pics.
Please do not ask me how to get them. It has something to do with Frito Lay Chips. 

There are 4 Sidekicks. 

Trigger Snappy

Whisper Elf

Terrabite

Gill Runt

In some youtube videos you can already see them.
e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9eBoOmqRPA

I hate that they only did 4 elements and I don't like the fact that I cannot get them.

So, there will be no further coverage on this matter for now ;)

CU next time

Charon

Skylanders: Sourcers for Information

Hello fellow Portal Masters,

I wanted to take the time to present the sources of my information.

Because although I always missed a Skylanders Blog that has all the news and started my own, you can still find tons of information on the internet.

So here are my top Skylander Sites.

1. Dark Syro (http://www.darkspyro.net/)
By far, the forum here is the best ressource. But of course, you can never be sure about the things posted.
But still they post lots of stuff and the people in the forums are nice... most of the time.

2. Family Gamers TV and Geek Dad
http://www.youtube.com/user/familygamertv?feature=results_main
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/

They do visit the exhibitions and post great videos. They are slower than the forums on Dark Spyro, but the quality of the videos is really good, although in interviews I would sometimes like a little more original and specified questions, but I guess since most of the answers will just be "can't tell" they try to get the best results.
Also, the information are sometimes wrong, but that is because Activision seems to change a lot of things all the time (Booster Pack just having one Giant and no other figures...)

3. Coin-Op TV (http://www.youtube.com/user/coinoptv/featured)
Nice Character analyzes, nice video updates. The information on existing figures and Skylanders Spyros Adventure are better than the ones about Giants.

4. Cheeseworks Planet (http://www.youtube.com/user/CheeseworksPlanet/featured)
If you need a walk through the game they might help.

5.Skylanders official Site, youtube Chanel and Facebook site
http://www.facebook.com/SkylandersGame
http://www.skylanders.com/giants
http://www.youtube.com/user/SkylandersGame

Official information, not the quickest, but reliable.

So, this is it for me.

Let me know in the comments where you look for infos!

CU soon!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Chill and regular fire Skylander

Hello Portal Masters,

I just wanted to share better pictures of Chill and the new Fire Skylander (which I will call Hot Dog, because I read it somewhere and it fits perfectly!).

The more I see them, the more I like them :)

I hope I will be able to post more exiting things soon (especially gameplay footage or the rest of the new characters or series 2 and light core variations)!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Swarm

Hello Portal Masters,

today I tried to take a closer look at Swarm.

I already posted some of his stuff, but let's try to get the full picture.

(source: http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Skylanders-Giants-Swarm-Character-Reveal/10972)

So, he is obiously the Air Giant and his toy looks like this:

I do like the insect idea, since that is something new. 

His story though, I don't like that much:

"Swarm was once a prince from a proud race of mysterious insect warriors that had built their entire civilization inside a giant honeycombed pyramid. Growing up as one of the 9,000 members of the royal family, he was never permitted to leave the hive. But unlike his brethren, there was a magical quality to Swarm that caused him to grow much larger than the rest of his kind. No longer able to fit amongst the rest of his colony, the young prince broke the long standing tradition and stepped out into the open world - where his size and strength would be put to good use in the legendary battle between the Giants and the Arkeyans."

It is just a little borring in a way.

But ok, they never do much with the stories anyway. 

So let's look at his powers:

First, he shoots stings:

(source: http://www.youtube.com/user/SkylandersGame)

Ok, that was expected.

Secondly, his second attack is a combo melee thing: 

Hm, yeah, nothing we haven't seen before.

Ok, so what else can he do? 

Well, in the video that is all we see. 

So, that was kind of disappointing. 

According to this, let me rate Swarm:

Looks: 4/5

Orignality: 3/5 

Powers: 1/5

Variety: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

That did not go well. He just seems a little borring right now, but I hope that will change as soon as we get to see some more powers (this just seem to be the two basic starting ones).

What do you think?

You enjoy the bee?

Let me know and talk to you soon!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Update

Hello Portal Masters,

I updated my article on the Intro and Booster package.
Activison seems to want you to buy additional portals. Very fan unfriendly if that all stays this way.

CU next time.

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Amazon Leak Take Down

Hello Portal Masters,

Amazon.de must have been slapped by Activision for leaking the infos and removed them from their site.

I honestly don't understand it, since the infos are now all over the internet anyway.

If you still wanna see the information, there is sort of a trick:

Watch this youtube clip where Family Gamer's TV shows the leaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5upMOoO3SU

Of course, you can find all the info on my blog but for those of you who do not believe the information existed you can see it in the video.

I really hope we will see the last new figures soon! And will finde out who will not get a series 2.

Until next time!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Picture

Hello Portal Masters,

There is not much going on on the Skylander's front.

But at least I have a better picture of the fire giant, who may be named Hot Head

(source: http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/pictures/620xAny/8/5/1/13851_skylanders-giants.gif)

Hope to get other news soon!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: New Picture

Hello Portal Masters,

I used this pic in a lower quality version for the fire elemental and the water elemental posts, but since this is better quality I wanted to share it (and will change the pics in the article for the Skylanders):

(source: http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/2e0dd95eca2011e1aee522000a1e8a5f_7.jpg)

I think, this pic now show, that the elf is a girl.

Amd I still love the dog! On of my new favourites!

CU next time!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Intro Packs

Hello Portal Masters,

Man, I just look through my blog and saw, I never posted the content of the intro pack, to I want to do this right now.

As far as i know, there will should be four versions:

1. Starter Pack for PS3/Wii/Xbox 360 and eventually Wii U including

 (PS3/Xbox 360 74,99 €, Wii 69,99 €)

 2. Booster Pack for PS3/Wii/X-box 360 and eventually Wii U including
(PS3/Xbox 360 59,99 €, Wii 54,99 €)

3. Starter Pack for 3DS including
(69,99 €)

4. Booster Pack for 3DS including
(54,99 €)

I don't know, if the toys are gonna be these versions or if there will be differences, but these are the characters included.

I am a little upset, since I never played the 3DS game and I LOVE Pop Fizz, but I will hopefully be able to get them all anyway, so it is alright.

But I really don't like that 2 of 3 characters are the same for the packs (I mean comparing 3DS and home console versions, since the games are different and not many people would buy the game for PS3, Wii and Xbox).
They should have included a different Giant and Series two so that it is worth buying both.
Spyro's Adventure had three different charactes, for the 3DS version so for me, this seems a way to make more money, not considering the players's wishes (who wants another 2 Cynders, especially since series 2 can change their upgrades).

I also think, if the pricing stays like this, who buys the booster pack?
I mean you get two more characters and a new portal for just 15 more Euros?
That seems sooo wrong. (console version)
And again, the same Giant for 3DS and console? So NO new character if you bus both boosters?
That does not seem fan friendly to be honest. And you can't even sell him cause everyone who wants to use him needs the game and therefore has him. What is Activision thinking?

Do like the choices for intro packs?

Let me know in the comments!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Battle Pack Update

Hello Portal Masters,

I found some new info about the battle packs.

According to http://gotgame.com/2012/06/19/e3-2012-preview-skylanders-giants/ they will include:

2 exclusive figures and a special battle-mode arena
and will be 24.99 USD
 
The first pairing will be Undead vs. Life

so I wonder, if they will do more battle packs including pairings like Water vs. Fire, Air vs. Earth and Magic vs. Tech.

But only time will tell.

Will you get the battle pack?
I am still not sure if the arena is worth as much as a third Skylander (since battle packs and tripple packs seem to be at the same price) but so far, it seems to be the only way to get Chop Chop remodeled and Shroomboom non Lightcore (I don't think the battle pack will include the Lightcore version, but who know).

C U next time!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Characters known so far

Hello Portal Masters,

Wow, I feel like there is sooo much going on, I lost my overview, so I thought, I will do a short summary of what we know about Giant Characters. It includes the info released by amazon.de, so if they did something wrong, it is included in here :)
This will include speculations! So be warned that the information might not be 100% corrrect!
I tried marking them in italic

There will be

8 Giants
8 Light Core Skylanders (4 returning and 4 new)
8 New Skylanders
24 Series 2 Skylanders 

Let's start:

-------------------------------------

Giants:
Earth: Crusher
Air: Swarm
Fire: Hot Head
Water: (big whale with anchor)
Undead: -------
Life: Tree Rex
Tech: Bouncer
Magic: -------
----------------------------------------
There are still 2 Giants we have not seen yet. Water Giant's name is still missing!

----------------------------------------
Light Core:
Earth: Prism-Break
Air: Jet-Vac
Fire: Eruptor 
Water: ----
Undead: -----
Life: Shroomboom
Tech: Drobot
Magic: ---
---------------------------------------
There are still 3 Lightcore missing, one should be an old Skylander, 2 should be new. 
I speculate Hex for undead, leaving Chill and Pop Fizz for Light Core.

--------------------------------------
New Skylanders: 
Earth: Flashwing
Air: Jet-Vac
Fire: [fire dog]
Water: Chill
Undead: Fright Ride
Life: Shroomboom
Tech: Sprocket (no pic yet)
Magic: Pop Fizz
--------------------------------------
One name and one image still missing!

--------------------------------------

24 Series 2 Skylanders: 
(I will asume, that the lightcore characters also get a series 2 version!) 



Earth: 
1 Bash
2 Terrafin
3 Prism Break


Fire: 
1 Flameslinger
2 Ignitor
3 Eruptor

Undead:
1 Hex
2 Chop Chop

3 Cynder 

Tech:
1 Drobot
2 Trigger Happy
3 Drill Sergeant


Air:  
1 Whirlwind
2 Sonic Boom 
3 ---- (my guess: Warnado)
 
Water:
1 Gill Grunt
2 Slam Bam

3  --- (my guess:Zap)


Life:
1 Zook
2 Stump Smash
3 ---- (my guess: Strealth Elf)
 
Magic:
1 Double Trouble
2 --- (my guess: Spyro)
3 --- (my guess: Wrecking Ball)
-------------------------------------
 So, there are still 5 characters missing. 
I have to say, if this is correct, I am suprised. I would have guessed they would release all adventure pack characters, but there is no space for them left. 

So we can make a little, no reprint list
Earth: Dinorang
Fire: Sunburn
Undead: Ghost Roaster
Tech: Boomer

Air:  --- (my guess: Lightning Rod)
Water: ---  (my guess: Wham-Shell)
Life: --- (my guess: Camo)
Magic: --- (my guess: Voodood)

So, that's it for today!

Man, amazon really made me do lot's of work.
But we are getting closer to figure it all out! 

CU next time (hopefully comic con brings more news!)

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Battle Pack

Hello Portal Masters,

why is today so super busy?
Well, I don't know, but here you have the latest news.

On amazon.de (I love them for leaking all this) there is another pack you can order:

Skylanders: Giants - Battle Pack Chop Chop, Shroomboom, Cannon Piece

Speculation time:
Ok, Cannon Piece does not sound like a new character at all, so I assume, it is a new item.
Maybe it can be used in the arena and also to equip your air ship?

The price at amazon.de is 24,99€.
This means: 30,70 USD or 19,97 GBP.

For me, it really matters, what the Cannon Piece does, because paying 7 € for one item seems a bit much.

What do you think? Do you like the idea of the Battle Packs?

Talk to you soon!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Series 2

Hello Portal Masters,

Soo much new stuff just because of amazon.
I wanted to provide the last updates, so fasten you seat belts.

I wrote down all single characters you can find so far on amazon.
I will sort by element:

Earth:
Terrafin
Bash
Flashwing (my guess)


Wind:
Whirlwind
Sonic Boom
 
Fire:
Ignitor 
Flameslinger

Water:
Chill (my guess)
Gill Grunt
Slam Bam 

Undead:
Fright Rider (my guess)
Hex

Life:
Zook
Stump Smash

Magic:
Pop Fizz
Double Trouble

Tech:

Sprocket (my guess)

Drill Sergeant

Trigger Happy

I seems kind of balanced with some elements having two some having three characters.

We have not seen the remodeled Bash, Flameslinger, Gill Grunt and Stump Smash. 

All the others were on the big picture in the trailer (although Slam Bam and Ignitor were just legendaries and we do not know if some of them were Light Core versions).

I will do an update on all the characters we know so far later!

And I am happy (if this is correct) that I get a new Flameslinger!

Yeah!

CU soon!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Light Core

Hello fellow Portal Masters,

since the amazon.de info, I want to give you the newest update on lightcore characters.

On amazon.de you can order rhe following ones:

Eruptor

Jet-Vac

Prism Break

Drobot

In addition we know about Shroomboom

I really did not see Jet-Vac getting a Light Core. I guess his JetPac will light up, but who knows? Maybe amazon.de just got it wrong....

But that would leave us with 3 open spots for Lightcore:

Undead

Magic

Water

I speculate that Hex will ligth up (wishful thinking), so that Chill/new regular water and Pop Fizz get a Light Core version, if they split 50/50 old and new.

What do you think? Did you see Jet Vac coming? Who do you want to light up?

Let me know in the comments!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Tripple Pack

Hello fellow portal masters,

on amazon.de they leaked the first four tripple packs, to I wanted to share them:

Triple Pack A: Pop Fizz, Trigger Happy, Whirlwind

 

Triple Pack B: Chill, Zook, Ignitor 

I do not know who chill is yet, but it should not be fire, since ignitor is in the same pack, I am sure, I know who undead is and it does not fit that well for me for tech or magic, so I think it is water

also, I do not have the new Ignitor as non legendary, that's why I took this pic.

Triple Pack C: Sprocket, Sonic Boom, Stump Smash

I think Sprocket is the new teck skylander, since it sounds like soemthing with rocket, so there is no pic yet

Also I have no pic of remodeled Stump Smash, so there is just Sonic Boom

 

Triple Pack D: Flashwing, Gill Grunt, Double Trouble

 No new Gill Grunt yet, Flashwing for me is the new earth Skylander (he seems to have wings and is flashy)

How do you like the new tripple packs? Which one is your favourite?

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time

Charon

Skylander Giants: Names

Hello Portal Masters,

Amazon.de has leaked names!

That is so exiting! I like to have names, without knowing who is behind that.
So "mysterious".

So, let's try to get all the names we know and the new one:

Giants:
Crusher
Swarm
Tree Rex
Bouncer


New according to amazon.de (based on price)

Hot Head (my guess: Fire)-------------------------------------

Regular Size:
Shroomboom
Jet-Vac

New according to amazon.de (based on price):

Sprocket  (my guess:Tech)
Flashwing (my guess:Earth)
Chill (my guess: Water)
Fright Rider (my guess: Undead)


That would mean, that only the regular Fire Skylanders name and the Undead, Water and Magic Giant names are missing.

I like the new names, but who knows if they are true?

What do you think!?

CU next time!

Charon

Skylanders Giants: All characters.. kind of

Hello Portalmasters,

I know, most of you might have seen this elsewhere and I wasn't sure if I should post it, because I try to figure out what exactly to see, since I first saw it, but you should help me figure it out :)

What we see here is a merchandise booth that was on the E3 (as far as I heared) and what you can see is a poster of all characters:

Ok, I admit, that is really blurry.. Which is really sad, based on what this poster would show.

I tried to figure out some, but I am more or less cerain I am wrong with A LOT! ;)

So let me know your guesses, and c u next time! ;)

(Now that I look at it, the last row seems to something completely different)

Charon

Skylanders Giants: Swarm

Hello fellow portal masters,

I already did a post on the new Air Giant, but I just wanted to do this quick update.

His name was revealed! His name will be Swarm.
So we do know: Bouncer, Crusher, Tree Rex and Swarm. 4 of 8.

I like the names so far. Kind of simple but nice.

His story was also revealed:
Swarm was once a prince from a proud race of mysterious insect warriors that had built their entire civilization inside a giant honeycombed pyramid. Growing up as one of the 9,000 members of the royal family, he was never permitted to leave the hive. But unlike his brethren, there was a magical quality to Swarm that caused him to grow much larger than the rest of his kind. No longer able to fit amongst the rest of his colony, the young prince broke the long standing tradition and stepped out into the open world - where his size and strength would be put to good use in the legendary battle between the Giants and the Arkeyans.



I don't really care about the story. I mean, most of the previous game did not pick up any of the story lines, so I don't know. That story sounds kind of forced...
And they don't do anything with the story yet (Where's Gill Grunt's Mermaid? What is with Ignitor's witch hunt?)

Do you like Swarm?
Let me know in the comments.

Until next time,

Charon