Update: Skylanders Giants figures have finally appeared in stock at Amazon.com. Click here to browse the Skylanders Giants selection and grab them while you can.
Original article: Skylanders Giants and the myriad of exclusive figures will take stores by storm tomorrow, unlike last year when the unproven concept quietly launched and didn’t take off until literally the day after Christmas when kids suddenly realized they needed more figures to access every part of the game and complete their collection.
Also unlike last year, there are different types of Skylanders available for purchase – four to be exact – which can be daunting for parents and kids to try and figure out. Don’t expect stores to neatly separate one type of character for another. Aside from the Giants, I expect them all to end up being jumbled together.
Before I dive into your Skylanders Giants launch day guide, let me be clear by stating this: if you liked Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure then you will love Skylanders Giants. It plays virtually the same, only there are tweaks in just about every facet of the game and, of course, the inclusion of the Giant characters. Those cool Giants with their light-up features are going to be the ones kids want most. Trust me on this.
Click any of the hyperlinked Skylanders Giants to view images of the Skylanders and/or purchase them at Amazon.com.
Giants Characters
There will be three Giant Skylander characters available on launch day with a fourth from wave 2 expected as early as next week. Each Giant carries a retail price of $14.99 and includes LightCore technology that illuminates parts of their body via LEDs when they are near a Portal of Power. Another Giant, Tree Rex, is available with all Skylander Giants game packages.
Store Exclusive Giants Characters
Target and Toys R Us will each have a store exclusive repaint of a Skylanders Giants character. In each case, the character will appear as their repainted counterpart in the game which makes them somewhat of a unique character.
- Legendary Bouncer (Toys R Us exclusive)
- Granite Crusher (Target Exclusive)
A third exclusive Giant character is Gnarly Tree Rex with the only confirmed appearance being in a Wii console bundle at Toys R Us that will go on sale beginning November 4.
New Characters
These are the all-new regular sized Skylanders Giants characters with a retail price of $9.99 that will be available October 21. Two more will arrive as early as next week.
- Chill
- Pop Fizz
- Fright Rider
- Shroomboom (available only in Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack)
Coming out in Wave 2 in the very near future are these guys:
Series 2 “Repose” Characters
Toys for Bob and Activision have decided to repose several Skylanders from the first game and give them a unique Wow-Pow power. These characters will also work in the first Skylanders game sans the new power. Unfortunately these are the most likely candidates to clog store shelves.
LightCore Characters
These are regular-sized Skylanders with the same LightCore technology that the Giants have. None of these characters are exclusive to LightCore, but all are in exclusive poses and will cost $12.99.
Other Store Exclusives
Toys R Us is the place to go if you want some old characters in new colors. In addition to Bouncer, they will have repaints of several other characters in new Legendary colors available on launch day.
- Triple Pack: Legendary Ignitor, Legendary Slam Bam and Legendary Jet-Vac (Toys R Us exclusive)
- Legendary Stealth Elf (Toys R Us exclusive, may be available a couple days later)
- Triple Pack: Ignitor, Camo and Warnado (Toys R Us)
- LightCore Three Pack: Prism Break, Eruptor and Drobot (Target exclusive, available November 27)
- Glow-in-the-Dark Cynder (Series 2) and Portal of Power with Starter Packs (Walmart and Sams Club exclusive)
The Rest
Here are the rest of the Skylanders Giants figures and packs you can expect to find tomorrow.
- Triple Pack: Pop Fizz, Whirlwind (Series 2), Trigger Happy (Series 2)
- Triple Pack: Chill, Ignitor (Series 2) and Zook (Series 2)
- Batlte Pack: Dragonfire Cannon with Chop Chop (Series 2) and Shroomboom
- Batlte Pack: Golden Dragonfire Cannon with Chop Chop (Series 2) and Shroomboom (Gamestop Exclusive)
There you have it, your launch day and window Skylanders Giants figures and exclusives. There are some variants that could pop up as well including “stone” versions of some characters, but those aren’t confirmed in North America just yet. I’ll be sure to let you know if/when they are.
Head over to Amazon.com if you still need to pick up your Starter or Portal Owner pack with the benefit of free shipping.
