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For the past few years, my son has been asking for (and is now finally getting) a bunch of Skylanders stuff for Christmas. I held out for a long time as the series looked a bit too kiddie for my tastes, his patience for games was short, and the principle of the buy-figures-to-get-the-full-game thing irritated me. But I'm not as curmudgeonly in real life as I may appear here on the boards and the kid has my heart, so I finally caved and he's going to be through the roof on Christmas morning.

Specifically, I got him Skylanders Giants for the Wii U (for in the living room) with about 7-8 characters and I got him the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack for the PS4 (for in the game room). It is my understanding that all old Skylanders figures can be used on games that come out subsequently but not the other way around - right? So I can use the Giants characters in Swap Force, but not vice versa? And the basic idea is that a new model opens a new level in a game? Yes? Is Trap Team (the newest and most expensive one) an important purchase?

What do I need to know? What do I need to get or worry about? Is there a good storage case/solution for keeping all this stuff straight? Is a figure locked to a console? Is it worth getting some of the older games too?

I know there are likely many FAQs and what not out there that I could Google, but I wanted to turn to the hivemind here first...

dsheinem wrote:
Specifically, I got him Skylanders Giants for the Wii U (for in the living room) with about 7-8 characters and I got him the Skylanders Swap Force starter pack for the PS4 (for in the game room). It is my understanding that all old Skylanders figures can be used on games that come out subsequently but not the other way around - right? So I can use the Giants characters in Swap Force, but not vice versa? And the basic idea is that a new model opens a new level in a game? Yes? Is Trap Team (the newest and most expensive one) an important purchase?

Yes, you can use previous iterations of figures in the new games. How levels work is that, as you progress through the levels there are various challenge gates that are tied to an element. To go through them, you must have a character that has the same element. Some gates also require you to be a Giant figure.

With Trap Team, they introduce a new feature where you can capture enemies with the purchasable traps. When trapped, you can then use the enemy much like you would one of the character figures. These traps are tied to particular elements and thus you can only capture enemies of the same matching element. You only need one trap for each element, but in doing so required time as you have to enter your vault and select a trapped enemy to put into your trap for use in game. I would stick to one trap per element as that would get faaaarrrr to pricey.

There are also traps for bosses that need to be purchased individually which allow you to use the bosses.

dsheinem wrote:What do I need to know? What do I need to get or worry about? Is there a good storage case/solution for keeping all this stuff straight? Is a figure locked to a console? Is it worth getting some of the older games too?

I know there are likely many FAQs and what not out there that I could Google, but I wanted to turn to the hivemind here first...

Your number one concern is storage. There are various accessories that can be purchased, but most feel cheap and do a horrible job of keeping your figures organized. I would suggest perusing the internet for a great storage solution. There is a plethora of information out there on the best and most efficient way to store the characters, so that should be the bulk of what you need to do to be prepared.

Also, the figures are not locked to the console, but the bases are, so you need to have the specified console base for the particular game. As for getting older games, I think you are at a good point. Maybe later look into it, but I feel that the older versions lack some of the cool features that make the Skylanders series interesting and fresh.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the response!

Although, to be honest, I think I am now a bit more confused Trap Team sounds especially insane, so I'll stay away from that for now.

I'll have two bases - one that comes with Giants for the Wii U and one that comes with Swap Force for the PS4. I know I can use Giants figures in Swap Force, but not vice versa (right?).

If I use a Giant Figure on the Wii U base when playing Giants, can I still use that same figure on the PS4 base when playing Swap Force?

Also, can you still finish the games without needing to purchase tons of other characters? How much content is in the base game, how much content is in the figures? How much of the figure-based content is worth seeing?

dsheinem wrote:Thanks for the response!

Although, to be honest, I think I am now a bit more confused Trap Team sounds especially insane, so I'll stay away from that for now.

I'll have two bases - one that comes with Giants for the Wii U and one that comes with Swap Force for the PS4. I know I can use Giants figures in Swap Force, but not vice versa (right?).

If I use a Giant Figure on the Wii U base when playing Giants, can I still use that same figure on the PS4 base when playing Swap Force?

Also, can you still finish the games without needing to purchase tons of other characters? How much content is in the base game, how much content is in the figures? How much of the figure-based content is worth seeing?

No problem. Gaints work for Swap Force, but not vice versa, yes. If you used a figure for one system, you can use it for the other. It isn't locked in for that system.

Yes, you can finish the game without purchasing tons of characters. Having a variety of characters will unlock challenges within the levels and help you 100% the game, but that is absolutely unnecessary. I would say that the base game is 70% content and with the various elements of the figures would be 30%.

The figure-based content isn't bad. Think of them like sidequests. There are some areas that are mini-game challenges, where others are actual quests with a very small storyline attached to it. It would be better to really test the waters, play through it and see if they have the completionist drive.

My 12 year-old brother-in-law has the full set of all the Skylanders stuff excluding Trap Team, so I have spent a bit of time doing the co-op with him.

The thing I would mention is that you can only have a Skylander figure associated with one portal. Say you want to use a Giant or older Skylander in Swap Force but they were already registered on your Wii U portal. You can still use them in Swap Force to fight with and open areas but they won't be able to register unless you want to delete the prior registration, not hard to do. I'm not positive but I believe they can only accrue stats and levels while playing on their registered portal and if you reset them they go back to level 1. We had this happen with a few used figures we got when playing Giants but it's been a while.

This thread will answer a lot of your questions:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=34148&hilit=+skylanders

Storage - there are multiple options, hard cases, soft cases, walmart exclusives, toysrus exclusives, etc. I'd recommend none of them. Unless you are getting a finite amount of characters - then you will outgrow whatever case you get.

I would suggest to either display on a shelf, or to store in a clear rubbermaid bin.

The cards and online codes we do not use - rather we put them in a baseball card binder to look through (and protect, keep in one place).

Characters:
1st Gen - Skyanders Spyros Adventure - all characters work in all games (green base). All characters are "general"

2nd Gen - Giants - work in all games except Spyros Adventure (orange base). General characters but introduces the Giants (2-3x size of normal character)

3rd Gen - Swap Force - work in all games except Giants and Spyros Adventure (blue base). General and Swap-able characters. The swapping magnets are STRONG - very impressed w/build quality of these. Elements of characters come heavily into play in this game.

4th Gen - Trap Team - work only in Trap Team (red base). General characters, trap team leaders, and trap element pieces.

All games have optional, add-on levels. Typically $25, comes w/a level, a weapon, and a character. Think of it as DLC. These are MUCH cheaper if you wait. I'm still picking up add-on levels for the first 3 games for $10-12 apiece.

The games can be challenging - both with platforming elements and puzzles. You will need to help your son quite a bit.

There is also a melee feature, open world fighting, a la Power Stone, which is great fun.

You will need to grind some characters (their data saves game to game - but not system to system). Meaning, Ghostroaster will start w/like 400 health, through battles he'll get up to say 2,000, which is necessary in some sections. You can also (and need to) upgrade weapons. You do this by collecting gold and silver.

This site is helpful:
http://skylanderscharacterlist.com/getting-started/

Skylanders > Infinity > Amiibo. For real. Not close.

mjmjr25 wrote:Skylanders > Infinity > Amiibo. For real. Not close.

Preach Preacher! Unless Nintendo gives us a Skylanders like game for Amiibos...

Skylanders is Gauntlet Legends that is super family friendly. We have Skylanders and Giants - mostly complete sets, and have had a ball with them - well worth the money we put into it.

I think a great way to store your Skylanders is to use plastic tubs/cases designed to hold Christmas tree ornaments. They are inexpensive, often have individual holders/dividers, and stack easily. A medium to large size case costs less than $10 and will hold 20-25 figures easily.

So I am going to be in a similar position to Dsh coming up soon. My son has discovered Skylanders thanks to his aunt who collects them. Recently my wife and I came across a large Skylanders lot on a Facebook yardsale posting. We got the first three games on Wii, the wireless Spyro's Adventure portal, the wired Giants portal, and 38 figures for good price. We plan to start rationing games and figures to him at Christmas this year.

I think I have pretty good handle on how everything works and what is compatible with what but I do have a question about the upcoming SuperChargers portal. I've read that older portals will work with the SuperChargers game. Do you guys think it would be best to be on the look out for a Trap Team Wii/Wii U starter pack to go on clearance after SuperChargers is released? Will I lose any functionality in the SuperChargers game by not having the SuperChargers portal?

The new portal is larger than the first 3 so while they are compatible...it doesn't mean they are idea. The first ones with 2 regular skylanders are fine - get a giant on there and it's tight. If you put one of the new vehicles and a giant on it...it'd be clumsy at best - the new portal appears to be a decent amount larger.

All that to say - there isn't a huge price break from portal owners pack to starter pack - at least not after the first month or so. Stores overbuy on these big time - Target had Trap Team Starter Packs for Wii for $20 last I was in there. Best Buy also has them hugely discounted from day 1 prices. If you look on ebay - you can get almost all of the different games on the platform of your choice for about $20 shipped.

We are definitely getting SuperChargers - but we are also definitely waiting about 6 months after release to do so.