What?  Fright Rider, New Undead Element Skylander

Where Did You Get It?  GameStop.com

What Did It Cost?  $9.99 plus tax

What Is Included?  Fright Rider, Stat Card, Sticker, and Web Code

What Was Stock Like?  So far, every store I have been to has had stock on Fright Rider...a pleasant surprise.  A few that tend to have more LightCore and Series 2 might just have 1-2, but the next store will have a load of him.

Quick Character Info:

Fright Rider, Undead Element New Skylander

Slogan: "Fear the Spear!"

Card Stats:

Strength: 80/150
Defense: 70/150
Agility: 90/150
Luck: 30/150

Conclusion

I was looking very forward to Fright Rider (he was #2 on my list of anticipated new Skylanders), and so far he has a great story, is incredibly unique, and I think he has a lot of potential to be incredibly solid based on his upgrades.

What?  Swarm, Air Element Giant

Where Did You Get It?  GameStop.com

What Did It Cost?  $14.99 plus tax

What Is Included?  Swarm, Stat Card, Sticker, and Web Code

What Lights Up?  Eyes and Blade/Stinger on upward Fist

What Was the Stock Like?  So far I have yet to run into a store that did not have Swarm.  I'd still be leary of post-Black Friday, but as of now nothing too alarming.  Interesting note is that GameStop.com where I sourced him on release day has been out of stock for awhile...but brick and mortar stores have plenty.

Quick Character Info:

Swarm, Air Element Giant

Slogan: "Bring the Sting!"

Card Stats:

Strength: 110/150
Defense: 150/150
Agility: 80/150
Luck: 50/150

Conclusion

Swarm is a nice addition to the air element.  I had kind of wanted to see a wasp/hornet/bee added to the line-up, but thought it would be as a regular Skylander.  Nonetheless, Swarm fits the bill with his back story and his upgrades look like they could really deliver.  His Heroic Challenge is kind of a pain, but it isn't something a few tries won't take care of...Stay tuned to see Swarm progress in the blind playthrough.

Hey Everyone!

Happy Halloween!  Who has big plans for the night?

I've been working hard to get the Skylanders Giants playthrough on the move...

I recorded up to Part 11 last night and I am currently editing that one as we speak.  Subsequently, I plan to upload all of the recordings tonight!

I will warn you that the first 5 videos are kind of just rambling around and testing things out...We kind of get back in the swing of things in Part 6 where I introduce characters, take on their heroic challenges etc.  I decided that instead of piling characters up into the same video I would take a different approach and keep things singular.  This will allow everyone to find what they want to see easier (searching) and more efficiently (you only see that character etc).  Granted, if you want to see it all you just have more videos to go through.

I figured that some people would want to just see Shroomboom in action and wouldn't care to see Series 2 Chop Chop introduced since they are likely familiar with him.  This new layout will definitely be more efficient.

Anyway, I'm about to go upload that...

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I really enjoy it.  The weather here will be perfect (feel for those of you on the eastern seaboard).

I was able to record some Battle Mode in Giants yesterday and will try and edit it as well.

My other plan for a Halloween gift for everyone is to record the unboxing of Fright Rider...I'm about to get on that.  The "surprise" was going to be unboxing LightCore Hex.  I ordered all the LightCore figures in from Toys'R'Us.com and the "old" characters shipped and arrived today (Drobot, Eruptor, Hex, Prism Break).  The only catch is that I did not get Hex...they sent an extra Eruptor.  All this despite the packing list clearly listing off Hex and the online receipts showing Hex was ordered and shipped.

This is ridiculous.  I really like Toys'R'Us, but their online ordering and shipping is ridiculous.  Keep in mind I ordered these BEFORE launch day.  I could have picked up the LightCore characters in-store, in-person on release day and at BOGO 40%.  I ultimately did that when I saw how SLOW they were in shipping.  I actually decided to cancel it, but there was no option to only cancel part of the order..it was all or nothing.  As I sorted that out, I got an e-mail 4 had shipped...go figure.

Anyway, my order from GameStop (which was placed Sunday morning) came to me Tuesday of that week. Toys'R'Us.com took a full 10 days since release to get to me...pretty sad.

In store it is great (aside from the times they promote some huge Skylander event only to have 3-6 of the new character).  As annoying as that is, I really do like buying from TRU because they have the best sales most of the time, better stock, and the employees will usually work with you.  Their online ordering and shipping is just archaic.  These LightCore, including my "Eruptor/Hex" will be going back.

So, while it is sad I couldn't bring LightCore Hex into the Halloween mix...I can give you this:



http://www.target.com/p/skylanders-giants-lightcore-triple-pack-target-exclusive/-/A-14307986#prodSlot=dlp_medium_1_5&term=Skylanders Giants

If you held out ordering in LightCores, or were looking for a better deal...this is it!  This is a Target Triple Pack and includes LC Prism Break, LC Eruptor, and LC Drobot.  It will save you a few bucks and will definitely be unique.

As mentioned, I plan to do some more "blog only" hot links like that one...If you are reading this, you might note that the other recent addition was Granite Crusher who you can snag online from Target too.

That said, I am going to film the unboxing of Fright Rider and the heavily requested....

.....
.....

Swarm!

I will try to get both edited and uploaded tonight.

Stay tuned for updates on the blog post archiving the blind playthrough too!

Happy Halloween...stay safe and have fun!

Well here it is on Halloween.  10 days ago at this time I was trying to piece a strategy together to pick up Skylanders and land the characters I was hoping for (Granite Crusher, Legendary Bouncer etc).  I've been really busy, but have managed to get a few unboxings uploaded.

That said, I have already started recording the Giants Playthrough.  As of typing this, I have Part 11 editing and am about to start uploading all the other parts (just edited Parts 3-10 this evening/tonight).

I warned early on that the playthrough's first few videos could be somewhat meandering...as fate would have it that is exactly what happened.  Right after the opening cut scene we were thrust into Chapter 1...After wrapping up Ch. 1 we found ourselves in Chapter 2.  This made things a bit more complicated than I had intended and kind of altered my plans.

With that under my belt, I have kind of found a point of equilibrium here.  After the chaos that was the initial recordings, I spent the next few videos just trying to address what characters work, how they show up in the game, what their stats are compared to their counterparts, Wow Pow, LightCore, etc.

Luckily, in Part 6 we kind of got the ball rolling and I think the meandering and rambling will kind of stay in the past.

The plan right now is to take things just like we did in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, which is just how they come.  If I go in tonight and record Chapter 3 and 4 and then run to the store and find Sprocket, Flashwing, and Hot Head I will introduce them all, take on their heroic challenges, and then proceed to Chapter 5.  It isn't the way I'd like to do it, but it is the only way to really keep a continuous story line in my opinion.

For people following the playthrough, I want you to see a new character (Sprocket) etc get introduced.  I don't want you to have to watch the next Chapter and wonder why you didn't know I had gotten Sprocket or Hot Head etc.

This keeps things on par with a true blind playthrough.  I don't know what is coming next and neither do you...it makes things more interesting.  I'll probably complete all the levels and then go back to pick up missed items, but this strategy may vary...

Similarly, if anyone is directly opposed to "taking things as they come," fear not!  My ultimate plan is to beat the game and then record a walkthrough in Nightmare Mode.  Since you have to defeat Kaos to unlock Nightmare Mode, I figured the best thing to do was make this one fun and free-styled and kind of stick to business on the other...Hopefully everyone will like it.

Nonetheless, enough rambling...Let's get started with the playthrough!

 I will basically embed the vids here on the blog (they will almost all link to this post), and I will have a bit more detail here than in the description.

Stay tuned as I will post the videos here...I'll also put a priority on answering questions posted here on the blog over YouTube, Twitter, Google +, and Facebook.