If you missed the news, now you know. Here is a video highlighting that news and showcasing the Skylanders I was able to track down:
Part 2: Night Shift and Knockout Terrafin
Part 3: Finally--Fire Kracken
Here is a complete list for what we can tentatively refer to as "Wave 2," although I personally like 1.1, but that is a bit technical.
Skylanders SWAP Force
-Boom Jet
-Fire Kracken
-Grilla Drilla
-Night Shift
Skylanders SWAP Force Newlanders
-Riptide
-Scorp
-Star Strike (non-LightCore)
Skylanders SWAP Force Series 2
-Heavy Duty Sprocket
Skylanders SWAP Force Series 3
-Anchors Away Gill Grunt
-Big Blast Trigger Happy
-Knockout Terrafin (Single Pack, not tied to Fiery Forge Battle Pack)
-Twin Blade Chop Chop
Skylanders SWAP Force Triple Packs
-Triple Pack #3: Heavy Duty Sprocket, Twin Blade Chop Chop, Scorp
-Triple Pack #4: Big Bang Trigger Happy, Star Strike, Anchors Away Gill Grunt
Stock Notes
Obviously, since I don't have Fire Kracken or Night Shift we can assume they were either more popular, arrived in lesser quantities, or some combo of the two. I got the last Boom Jet in the house, and after I snagged Grilla Drilla there were only three left.
Star Strike was really hard to find...I am lucky I located her.
If I had to pick out two more that were "harder to find" it would be Knockout Terrafin and Twin Blade Chop Chop. Seemed to be plenty of Trigger Happy, Gill Grunt, Sprocket, Riptide, and Scorp.
Regarding launch day stock there were still plenty of Legendary Free Ranger and Legendary LightCore Grim Creeper...LightCore Smolderdash was fittingly still very hard to locate.
Other Notes
Couple of glaring issues here...
First, with the release of standard, non-LightCore Star Strike the "Walmart Exclusive" Magic Triple Pack is pretty much dead in its tracks to anyone that gets the game near or around launch. It would be far more cost effective to pick up TP 1 and TP 2, then snag a Single of Star Strike than it would to buy the Magic Triple Pack and then have to snag 4 other singles...
I think it is still neat and will appeal to many, particularly those at Walmart and who are perhaps new to the series, or just really big fans of Spyro and Pop Fizz. For hard core collectors and even casual collectors, you are probably going to find more cost effective ways around that pack. Naturally, it will still sell to "completionists," but that is another story.
Knockout Terrafin really surprised me in Single Pack form. Had this been a LightCore Bumble Blast I would have been surprised but not nearly as much. With Giants, the Battle Pack Characters remained tied to that pack to encourage sales as opposed to offering folks with an option to forego that BP right off the bat, in particularly this early.
Scorp is also a big surprise. Given Slober Tooth's appearance in Single, Triple, and Dark Edition Packs it is hard to have envisioned Scorp launching this side of January. His release makes me wonder if we might wind up having to wait awhile for the Earth SWAP Force Characters...Of similar interest, Air, Fire, and Undead already have all their SWAPPERS on shelves. It also seems we will see them in groups of 4, unless they scale back with smaller waves.
Your Thoughts
Did you see this coming? Are you glad they were released early, or would you have preferred a bit down the road? Which characters from this grouping are you most excited about? Are you enjoying SWAP Force thus far?
Good luck and happy hunting!
Wave 2 is not in Australia yet and I think I'd prefer to wait because I'm only prepared for wave 1 not 2. I am glad of grilla drilla because we don't have a drill character yet fire kraken boom jet and night shift ate questionable additions for your reason and that their swap abilities are also already out. I find it questionable as to why rip tide is already out because he is in a 3 pack with hyper beam prism break and s3 whirlwind in wave 3. Despite all unpreferable factors it is good to get access to a total of 10 swappables at this stage. I doubt the effectiveness of having 4 swappables per wave because the last wave will be 4 and it will have 2 swappables. I think that the rest of the waves will have 2 swappers each.
Reply DeleteEnjoy the peace while you can. I know Giants did the Hot Head/S2 Bash, Gill Grunt/Flashwing and Sprocket thing last year after launch, but man this was FAST.
DeleteI can't argue with them coming out early and having more time to land them (especially with that BOGO40%), but I do like to have some to look forward to thru the year.
Do you have a list from EB Games or something? If you've got the Waves and Triple Packs pegged down let me know and I'll get them up on the blog (eventually...I'm backlogged big time) and give you credit.
Riptide looks really good in person. I was excited for him and Scorp and then they appeared, haha.
I actually saw wave 3 here http://www.forbes.com/sites/andyrobertson/2013/10/16/wave-2-wave-3-skylanders-swap-force/
DeleteYeah, I have seen a few different leaks on W3, most characters are the same, but a few alternate etc. I've been really busy just trying to get caught up...Thanks for posting!
DeleteI am surprised that Grilla Drilla is the easiest to find. I guess everyone likes Stink Bomb as a Life character and Rubble Rouser for their Dig character
Reply DeleteThat is just from my local store...Stink Bomb and Rubble Rouser have yet to be released. I am basing Grilla Drilla being "easiest to find" around the fact that on release day for W2 at TRU, there were no Night Shift, no Fire Kracken, and just one Boom Jet while there were still 4 Grilla Drilla...very limited on ALL of them respectively.
DeleteI'm in Australia and wave 2 not out yet:(
Reply Deletebut I still have to get my head around the wave one
characters I would so wait for wave 2 because I
want something to look forward to for Christmas
but I would of loved to have a drill sky lander
and the other swapforce