Tag: skylanders

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Toys & Collectibles

Pop, Pop, Fizz, Fizz: Activision Skylanders In Love

skylanders, activision, pop fizz
New Skylander, Love Potion Pop Fizz, is in the pink for Valentine’s Day.

Lovey Dovey, All the Time…
“The love bug will get you if you don’t watch out”, or so says the song. This Saint Valentine’s Day the Activision Skylanders Team wants to make sure you feel the love so they’ve designed a special edition character to spread some much needed amour in the ether of Skylands.

The punky pink Love Potion Pop Fizz joins the ranks of game piece collectibles that form the core of the Skylanders experience. His hypnotic eyes and heart shaped tongue will surely make him the game’s premiere Valentino.

love potion pop fizz, skylanders, activation, valentines day
Pop Fizz in action on his home turf
Gonna Mix It Up, Right Here in the Sink…
The Activision folks reveal his origin, “When his latest attempt to concoct the ultimate raspberry soda totally backfired, Pop Fizz was caught in a blast that turned him pink and gave him an alluring aroma.  At least that’s how he tells it. But with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the Skylanders are all wondering if Pop Fizz is telling the truth – or if there is a special someone that he’s trying to impress!” Hmmm… seems like he took some lessons from Leiber and Stoller’s Madame Rue.

Love Potion Pop Fizz is a non-exclusive, all retailers, item but limited to a short availability time frame. A neat rarity to add to your collection at $14.99. Seek him out.

skylanders, activision, pop fizz, love potion, valentines day cards
Just a few of the Skylanders themed Valentine’s Day Cards available this season.
Stuck On You…
Outside of game play, a line of Skylanders themed Stickers and Valentine’s Day cards will keep your kids busy – and off your iPad for a while – writing real script on real cards. What a concept.

SkeletonPete Says…
I had to chuckle when I read Pop Fizz’s backstory and saw his psychedelic pink continence. It immediately reminded of the day-glo colors of Fizzies, a do-it-yourself soda pop tablet that was extremely popular when I was a kid. Essentially flavored, sugared up, Bromo-Seltzer for youngsters. “In seven great flavors,” grape was my fave. The whole process definitely fueled my “monster kid” Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde play scenarios. Had’a love the 1950’s.

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Toys & Collectibles

You Got Me Floatin’: Skylanders Join Macy’s 2014 Parade

The Biggest Balloons Ever will fly in the Macy's 88th Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Biggest Balloons Ever will fly in the Macy’s 88th Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Activision Skylanders fans will be looking skyward for real this coming Thanksgiving Day as one of their favorite characters from the interactive toy and screen based game world will invade the 88th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Reach for the Sky…
Eruptor, the always ready-to-blow-his-top ball of lava, will fly high over the streets of New York City as one of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. He’ll join a new fleet of largest-ever helium inflatables with massive dimensions of 50′ long, 36′ wide and 36′ high. Macy’s notes, “…artists used more than 40 gallons of florescent paint and five barrels of glitter!,” to get Eruptor’s smoldering countenance just right. The balloons got a successful test run on November 9th 2014 in the parking lot of New York’s CitiField sports arena. The parade kicks of Thanksgiving morning (Thursday November 27th, 2014) at 9:00 AM. If you can’t be there in person you can catch it broadcast on the NBC network.

Artist's Concept for Skylanders Eruptor Balloon.
Artist’s Concept for Skylanders Eruptor Balloon.

The Skylands native son will join several other new additions to the cherished Macy’s parade line-up. Heres’ the complete lowdown from their press release:

“Six new giant characters will take to the sky including The Weinstein Company’s loveable Peruvian bear Paddington; the always electrifying Pikachu; the warm giggling Pillsbury Doughboy; the vanquisher of evil the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger; the lava spewing Skylanders Eruptor; and the friendly locomotive Thomas the Tank Engine.

Rounding out the ballooning line-up are returning favorites including Adventure Time with Finn & Jake, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, The Elf on the Shelf, Hello Kitty, Papa Smurf, Ronald McDonald, Snoopy and Woodstock, Spider-Man, SpongeBob SquarePants and Toothless of How to Train Your Dragon. In addition, the balloon cast includes new balloonicles (a Macy’s Parade hybrid of cold-air balloon and vehicle) of the famed-spokesduck the Aflac Duck and Cloe the Holiday Clown, as well as the return of the KOOL-AID Man. In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the film classic, balloonheads of The Wizard of OZ characters will also make a special appearance.”

Going Mobile: Skylanders Trap Team Kit for tablet devices.
Going Mobile: Skylanders Trap Team Kit for tablet devices.

Shut Your Trap…
Activision has just launched the newest iteration of the world wide Skylanders franchise called Trap Team. Their tablet based mobile version was featured in Toy Insider’s “Hot Top 20” Toys for the 2014 holiday season. A closer look at Trap Team game play can be read in our previous coverage.

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It's Clobbering Time: On Thanksgiving Day 2014 this guy will be dwarfed by his Macy's Parade balloon big brother.
It’s Clobbering Time: On Thanksgiving Day 2014 this guy will be dwarfed by his Macy’s Parade balloon big brother.
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Toys & Collectibles

Toy Insider Kicks Off 2014 Gifting Season

TI_HoP14flt
Pete & Andy’s Play Date…
On a gorgeous late October afternoon co-editor Adriana “Andy” Melendez (@sylverwhisper) and I joined other members of the press and blogger community on the 44th floor of New York City’s Hearst Building for a grand event to kick off the coming gift giving season presented by the folks at The Big Toy Book.Com, in partnership with The Toy Insider and Woman’s Day Magazine. Dubbed “The HoliDAY of PLAY” the gathering was aimed at affording social media and online reporters a jump on building buzz for the best toy options of late 2014.

Top Toy Tips…
Attendees enjoyed a couple of hours of hands-on experience and information gathering directly from manufacturers with a focus on the annual Toy Insider Hot 20 and Top Tech 12 lists. These lists (broken into age appropriate categories) and the entire 2014 Gift Guide can be found in the November issue of Woman’s Day magazine, as well as at Toy Insider online.

Following an introductory period of play and networking Big Toy Book Founder Laurie Schacht (@toyinsidermom) addressed the group. She delineated emerging trends in the toy industry using onsite vendors’ wares as examples punctuated by a video featuring highlights from last summer’s Sweet Suite event and soundtracked by my favorite EchoSmith tune “Cool Kids.”

HoliDAY of PLAY Attendees Got First Hand Info from Toy Vendors, and Spun Up 16 Million Twitter Impressions.
HoliDAY of PLAY Attendees Got First Hand Info from Toy Vendors, and Spun Up 16 Million Twitter Impressions.

Big Toy Book Founder Laurie Schacht Hoists a Bag-O-Swag for a Lucky Winner.
Big Toy Book Founder Laurie Schacht Hoists a Bag-O-Swag for a Lucky Winner.

Laurie called up several brave volunteers to participate in a couple of only mildly embarrassing competitions, one of which had participants emote their best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle “Cowabunga Dude!” Winners walked away with nicely filled swag bags. She also treated attendees to the first announcement of the 2015 Blogger Bash and Sweet Suite, which will be held on July 16 and 17 at Pier Sixty in New York City. In a little over 3 hours attendees managed to spin up 16 million Twitter impressions for the #HotToys14 hashtag and hundreds of Instagram images.

SkeletonPete & Andy Say…
It’s an anything goes marketplace, with tech and retro play products holding equal footing. We saw choices ranging from the robotics of the constantly expanding HEXBUG line to the return of the much loved 1980’s Pound Puppies from Funrise. LeapFrog offers the movement motivating immersive screenplay of their new console system, while creative stalwart Crayola straddles the classic vs. digital worlds with their Virtual Designer Pro kits.

Those only represent a smattering of the multitude of possibilities which is why the helpful guidance of the annual Woman’s Day/Toy Insider supplement and Toy Insider is so valuable.

Below is a list of the vendors who presented their wares at the event, with live links to their respective websites – you’re welcome. 🙂

Andy and I will be giving you a closer look at some of our favorites in the coming weeks.

Featured Manufacturer’s Sites

Battat
Build-A-Bear
ChizzComm
(representing Tech 4 Kids, Aliquantum International, Bravo Sports Corp. and Zuru Toys)
Cloud b
Crayola
Funrise Toys
Hasbro
HEXBUG
Jakks Pacific
Jazwares
Laser Pegs
LeapFrog
Little Scholar
Makey Makey
Rubie’s Costume Company
Spaghetti Headz
Thames and Kosmos
Toca Boca
Tomy
VTech

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Categories
Toys & Collectibles

Big Game Hunting: Activision Skylanders Adds Traps & Tablets

Capturing Villains in the New Portal is Key to Skylanders Trap Team Game Play.
Capturing Villains in the New Portal is Key to Skylanders Trap Team Game Play.

Better Late Than Never(land)…
Excuse this late #ToyTuesday edition. Just as I was about to post my feature about the newest update to super the popular Skylanders toy based video game I received an email with important news I know you’ll be excited to hear. Activision has announced its development of fully powered gaming on your TABLET! That’s right Skylanders will soon be available to experience on your mobile tablet device for super convenient take-along game play. Keep reading…

Lion Hearted Wildfire on New Prison Portal with Crystal Trap.
Lion Hearted Wildfire on New Prison Portal with Crystal Trap.

Shut Your Trap…
At the recent Sweet Suite Toy Event, held in conjunction with Blogger Bash in NYC, Activision gave us a look at The Trap Team, their next Skylanders iteration along with the character toys that will inhabit its virtual gamescape. The game heralds the The Trap Masters, heroes returning to Skyland after Kaos’ destruction of CloudCracker Prison frees his contemptible cohorts. As a result of the explosion multi-colored hunks of Traptanium now litter the landscape and can be used to power up for battle with the escapees.

Characters Wildfire, Gear Shift, Snap Shot, Chopper, Torch, Wallop, Food Fight, Krypt King, many armed with awesome translucent weapons, will join the already over 175 figures available for the Skylanders game experience. As before, older game characters move forward into the new environment.

Snap Shot is Ready for Battle with Escaped Baddies.
Snap Shot is Ready for Battle with Escaped Baddies.

Crystal Blue Persuasion…
Totem like sparkling crystal icons of Traptanium are the media into which the digital villains are pulled and stored, like flys in amber. Freshly captured baddies can be heard squawking in protest of their confinement in the new portal’s cellblock. They can then be brought back into the screen game reversing their powers for heroic deeds. Traps, like the toy characters, have various elemental designations (Water, Fire, Life) and can be collected separately, swapped as needed to achieve various goals. Traps can also be transported to a friend’s house, bringing with you the powerful players you’ve subdued.

Tablet Starter Pack Contents Revealed (Photo Courtesy of Activision)
Tablet Starter Pack Contents Revealed (Photo Courtesy of Activision)

Keeping Tabs…
In addition to the expanded game play of the Trap Team, Activision has just announced a major move into the world of tablet apps. Offering all the power of its console versions Skylanders Trap Team will be available to tablet users through a hardware starter kit and downloadable app.

Supported Tablets are:
Apple iPad 3rd Generation, iPad 4th Generation, iPad Mini Retina, iPad Air
Kindle Fire HDX (7” & 8.9”)
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro (8.4”, 10.1”, 12.2”)
Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4”, 10.5”)
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014), Galaxy Note Pro 12.2

Activision Says…
“The Skylanders Trap Team Tablet Starter Pack gives fans everything they need for a rich gameplay experience wherever and whenever they want to play. Tablet players will experience the Skylanders Trap Team innovation through a Bluetooth© version of the Traptanium Portal and Bluetooth© controller. They can also play the full game on their tablets using touch controls and two digital Skylanders characters and two digital Traps.”

SkeletonPete Says…
Developing the Skylanders gaming platform for portable tablet was an Activision stroke of genius. Giving us access on such a wide range of iOS and Android devices, along with same date as console launch (Oct 5, 2014) availability, will surely keep Skylanders a top of the heap gift for the upcoming holiday season.

Categories
Toys & Collectibles

Mash-Up In Skyland: Activision Adds Swap-Ability

Washbuckler, One of the New Skylander SWAP Force Collectibles
Washbuckler, One of the New Skylander SWAP Force Collectibles

Skylanders’ New Adventure…
Mid-October 2013 will see the world-wide release of Activision’s next step in the overwhelmingly popular Skylanders game series. Started back in 2011 with Spyro’s Adventure, the game offered play via collectible toys, which when placed on the power portal entered the video game. Skylanders matured last season with larger “Giant” game pieces, light features, and more articulate play capabilities.

Bombs Away Dream Babies…
Now Activision expands the possibilties exponentially with Skylanders SWAP Force, adding 16 new characters with detachable upper and lower sections that can be mixed and matched according to game task needs.

It’s a whole new adventure and mythos for the SWAP Force. Activision explains, “In Skylanders SWAP Force, Portal Masters embark on an all new adventure in the mysterious Cloudbreak Islands, home to a mystical volcano that erupts every hundred years to replenish the magic in Skylands.  During an epic battle, a brave group of Skylanders were caught in the volcano’s eruption, which blasted them apart and sent them to earth.  But, the magic of the volcano gave these heroes a remarkable new power — the ability to swap halves – turning them into a special team known as the SWAP Force.  Meanwhile, Kaos is back with a new evil plan.  And now, Portal Masters everywhere must reassemble the SWAP Force — in their original form or in new combinations — and send them back to Cloudbreak to save Skylands!”

These previously unexplored areas of Skyland will be accessed via all new powers of the Swap Force heroes. Along with jumping for all characters – including legacy pieces – SWAP Force will add flying, digging, climbing and even teleporting to the various figures’ attributes, all the better to thwart the villainous Kaos.
SwapForce_RollerBrawl
I’m A Little Bit Country, I’m A Little Bit Roller Brawl…
SWAP Force characters will share each other’s powers and take on new screen names based on the pieces attached. For instance the top of Magnacharge added to the base of Washbuckler would become MagnaBuckler on screen. Additionally, 16 new Core Characters, 8 Lightcore pieces and 16 re-imaginings of favorite legacy characters, like the new Ninja Stealth Elf, will join the team. I’m particularly found of scorpion tressed roller derby queen Roller Brawl, with her skull helmet, gloves and base.

Parental Units Should Know…
SWAP Force continues the forward compatibility for all previously purchased game pieces and even adds additional powers to them in the SWAP Force realm. All legacy characters will get power boosts (“Wow-Pow”) and Level Caps of 20. The Skylanders series has offered exciting though reasonably mellow game play for the younger set, but don’t be surprised if you get hooked on the fun too.

Expect the multi-platform hit to be available on October 13 in North America, October 16 in Australia and October 18 in Europe. As usual, platform specific starter-kits will include the new portal of power, game disc, and several game characters.

Activision’s 2013 NY Toy Fair Display