Basically what that means to you is that GameStop will be your only option for picking up the Battle Pack for the first 30 days or so.
The Battle Pack, as with the previous, will retail for $24.99...don't pay more than that!
I know the screen grab below is small, but if you click on it you can see the release date of New Years Day and their bragging rights of having it a full month before anyone else.
Check it out:
This shouldn't be too big of a surprise given that they had (and still have) the "Golden" Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack (other stores have the standard issue, or non-"golden" Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack).
Several people across the net picked this combo of Zap and Hot Dog out as the previous battle pack featured contrasting elements (ie Undead and Life by way of Chop Chop and Shroomboom).
Why were so many able to predict this combo? Simple.
We already have the other 7 new Skylanders out, so only Hot Dog remained. Similarly, we already have Slam Bam and Gill Grunt from the reposed Water Element so that left Zap (Wham-Shell is not getting a repose).
That said, still cool to predict it.
And just fyi, the way we knew of the "catapult" ahead of time was a few pictures from a tour of the Toys for Bob studio where it was sitting next to both the standard issue Dragonfire Cannon and GameStop Exclusive Golden Dragonfire Cannon!
The Scorpion Striker should unlock a new arena and possibly some re-skins AND serve as a magic item for gameplay.
The big draw is of course going to be Hot Dog as this will be our first chance to play the new Fire Element Skylander!
I have to be honest and say that I am very excited to obtain the S2 Zap. If you recall from my SSA Upgrade vids, Zap is one of the Skylanders I was very torn on picking an upgrade path. This time around I can take the other path first and then decide which I truly like better. The coolest thing about S2 Zap will of course be his Wow Pow Power AND the ability to switch upgrade paths...
I nearly ordered this when the link went live, BUT that would mean I had to pay freight and wait on it. That is probably not a horrible set up given the unknown of winter weather (ie will it be 60 and clear 1-1-13, or will it be 25 and icy).
That said, I will probably run by my favorite GameStop later tonight and pre-order there. I don't think it will be hard to come by...I've yet to see the Golden Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack out-of-stock at any GameStop or their website.
I guess if bad weather prevents me from getting it on release day, it will be paid for and awaiting my arrival to join the Skylander force!
If you want to pre-order the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack from GameStop, you can click here.
I hope to do the Weekly Update and I'll let you know if I get the pre-order tonight!
UPDATE 12/6/2012
I went in to GameStop tonight and locked up the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack. The big news is I got a 100% Confirmation on the 1/1/13 Street Date!
Sadly, I also got 100% confirmation that they know nothing on when Wave 3 might hit.
UPDATE 1/9/2013
As many have said/reported across the net, GameStop.com changed the release date on their place holder for the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack to 1/10/2013.
You can see a screen grab here:
Perhaps the bigger story than the one-day push back is that you can't pre-order the item anymore! What this means for those who did not pre-order remains to be seen...That said, if you want it and planned to pick it up without a pre-order I would advise you to act fast. With this one getting pushed back 3 times now, it could very easily be an item we see stocked and then exhausted. That said, it could also be sold out Day 1 and then GameStops everywhere could get a full stock within a week...the bottom line is we just don't know at this point.
The BIGGER NEWS, however, came to me at 12:25 PM via text message.
It says:
"GameStop: Your Skylanders Giants order avail Fri PM. Bring your trades to reduce price. Info# xxx-xxx-xxxx. End txt msgs reply STOP"
That is the exact transmission, minus me omitting the number with x's. And that is straight from the source, to someone who pre-ordered. I now have no reason to believe the Battle Pack will be there today (as expected), tomorrow (as the website indicates), but rather FRIDAY, JANUARY, 11TH, 2013 as their text message and direct communication indicates.
That is a bit of a bummer, but I will try to get up there Friday. I usually make my rounds in the evening the night before, so it is kind of throwing me for a loop...Sad thing is, with the stock possibly being very limited I don't want to wait and find that my pre-order was accidentally sold...crazier things happen.
Anyway, my best guess right now is straight from GameStop...we can all expect to get our hands on the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack this Friday.
If more dealys or bad news arise I will post it here...if Friday holds true I will have an unboxing up to end the vicious cycle! Stay tuned!
i wouldnt mind getting that pack cos i want to see if hot dog is good cos fire is my favorite element and i like zap so i would be a good pack.
Reply Deleteim going yo toys r us saturday and i hope there will be a legendary pack or 2 there so i can get.
Yeah, I've missed not having the "new" Fire Element...I keep having to use Ignitor instead.
DeleteI'm just as excited about Zap, lol...so yeah, you will definitely enjoy this Battle Pack.
Hope you can land the L-Triple Pack. I haven't seen as many as at launch, but they still seem to have a peg or two of them...if you don't see it try to find an employee as I bet there will be a few in the back. Good luck!
in australia wave 2 was delayed by a week! unbeleivable. but at least i did get hothead and the sprocket 3 pack and l-stealth elf. i will definately get this when it comes out cos the id only need flashwing then id have all the new ones apart from giants
Reply DeleteSorry to hear that, but I'm not shocked. Maybe the next Wave will hit y'all with a new variant like Crystal Wham-Shell last year.
DeleteVery cool you landed them all so quick though...it took me quite awhile after the US release to get Sprocket and Flaswhing and a very long time to get Hot Head. I think you will really like him.
Flashwing looks very promising too.
Hope this battle pack isn't delayed on you. It will be nice to have the new Skylanders in place.