Skylanders Trap Team Tablet Edition

Skylander Trap Team is coming in October to all the major consoles. It was also recently announced that Trap Team is also coming to the Tablet, meaning iPad, Android tablet and even the Kindle Fire. 

The tablet requirements are a bit tight and cut out a few tablets that really aren't that old. Plus the folks that choose Android tablets, well if they can't upgrade the operating system to the latest they are out of luck. This does make sense since we are talking about console grade graphics. My iPad 2 struggles as it is. So we are on board with our iPad 4th Gen. 

A new Traptanium Portal comes with it. This is no ordinary portal. I has a slot on the side to support the tablet of your choice. Underneath it has a storage spot for the controller. Both portal and controller a Bluetooth based. It also comes with Snapshot and Food fight and two traps. The game will be the same as the console version which makes it very tempting but also hard to spend another $75 just to play on the iPad. They do have a special digital mode for Skylanders and Traps so you don't have to haul around the portal, figures and traps. That is a nice touch.

You can play with the controller or switch to touch controls on the screen. 

The starter pack will include a code to download the game from your specific app store.

As a side note, there will also be a downloadable trial version of the game that can be played with the touch controls. 

Questions that come to mind:

1. Will this be one player only? If not, then does the portal support more than one Skylander? The images only show one player and there is no mention of two player support. 

2. Will I be able to buy the controller separately, if something were to happen to the first one, say it got lost or if the answer to the first question is two player? 

It is available for pre-order today! Or in stores on launch day, 5 October 2014. 

Skylander Day was a success

We headed out early to make sure we were going to get a Sidekick. We have them all but wanted to get one for our cousins that just got Skylanders Swap Force for Christmas.
Mom and Tucker went to a play at the library with the Cub Scouts. I took Grant to a merit badge clinic with the Boy Scouts. So that left me with Evan and Lindy for two hours. <evil Ha Ha Ha> Oh the fun we could have.
First stop: GameStop. Interesting side note: The particular store we went to only had one employee scheduled for the first hour the store was open. There was a long line with lots of technical questions, it wasn't all Skylander stuff either. As soon as we walked in the door Evan saw series 2 Bash and he let everyone in the store know with a very loud scream. A quick look around soon told us that the Swappers we were after would not be found here. GameStop was doing a special of by $20 of Skylanders and get a free "mini" Skylander. Yeah, they lost some credibility on that one. Hello! They are Sidekicks. To get above the line of $20 I gave in and bought Lightcore Flashwing. We picked out Barkley as our sidekick and plan to send it to our cousins as they recently started into the Skylander world.
Next we headed to Toys R Us. They had a deal of buy 3 guys for $35 dollars (on figures priced 14.99 and above). So that pretty much left Giants and Swappers. And we have all the (standard) Giants. Everyone knows who we were looking for: Spy Rise, Rubble Rouser and Stink Bomb.
The first 2 were easy finds sitting on the shelf with the rest of the Skylanders. Also in the aisle with us were two other families. One boy was trying to pick out a Swapper for his birthday. He didn't want Rubble Rouser and I could tell he was an amateur because he wasn't looking deeper on the racks. I stepped in front of him and nabbed Spy Rise that was hiding behind someone on the front row. Oh well! It turns out he was after Stink Bomb. And so was the boy from the second family. He wanted the deal of 3 for $35 but couldn't find Stink Bomb either.
So there we are, three families staring at the shelf, all looking for the same guy that wasn't there. I have done this enough to know that staring at the shelf doesn't help the figure appear. I grabbed the Arkeyan Crossbow battle pack and made a quick exit.  This is where it gets interesting. In looking for the best line to check out from I glanced around the front of the store. My eye caught something I hadn't seen before, a very small section of Skylanders hanging out in the iPod/Tablet area. I took off immediately to see the selection. I moved so fast (because I was excited) that I left my two little ones by themselves to figure out where I was going. The packages were high which made it easier to see behind the ones in the front. It only took a second but I found him, STINK BOMB! There was only one and for a split second I thought about giving it away to one of the other kids looking for it. I don't think Evan would have taken too kindly to that as he was hugging the box and saying, "My Stink Bomby!" After quieting him down we uneventfully checked out.
Next to Toys R Us is another GameStop. I was feeling generous and wanted to get 'free' sidekicks we went in. I made the observation that normally their prices for Skylanders are higher than today (10.99 vs 9.99) so to exceed $20 I would have to get more than two regular guys. Two at 9.99 just wasn't going to cut it. We would have to get another lightcore or Swapper. After seeing the customer in front of us fail at talking the employee into letting 2 @ 9.99 qualify, I didn't want to waste my time or breath. We called it a day and left.

Our haul for the day:

• Series 2 Bash (finally)
• Lightcore Flashwing
• Arkeyan Crossbow with Grim Creeper and Thorn Horn Camo
• Stink Bomb
• Spy Rise
• Rubble Rouser

Where is Skylanders Swap Force Wave 3?

Wave 3 should be here before Christmas. I hope. To satisfy the need we picked up Jolly Bumble Blast. Review on him is coming. Stay tuned.

Here are the expected Skylanders to be released in Wave 3. Who will you be getting? Which is your favorite? Leave a comment below.

Spy Rise - Looks awesome! His laser from above attack looks super sweet.	Rubble Rouser - EvanTubeHD unboxed him on a recent Skylanders Boomcast. Finally... Earth Element!
Dune Bug - His attacks look pretty nice and he flies.	Grim Creeper - Regular
Smolderdash - Regular	Windup - He reminds me of the guys from Tower of Time. Maybe I just don't know the backstory.
Platinum Sheep	Sheep Wreck Island - Looks like a Star Gate.
Light Core Countdown - He is the Bomb!	Light Core Whamshell - He's baaack!
HyberBeam Prism Break (series 3) - Crystals are now red but he still kinda stinks.	Phantom Cynder (series 3) - She is a bit translucent. But do I need another Cynder?
Thornhorn Camo - He's baaack too!	Hornblast Whirlwind - My boys like to play as her and heal the other player.

Swap Force is OUT!!!

As of midnight today Skylanders Swap Force is available for purchase. But you already knew that.

WSD (wannabe Skylander Dad) went to a local Toys R Us for the midnight launch. There were about 20 people in line at midnight. WSD picked up his xbox pre-order with a free light core Hex. He also picked up all the characters he set out to buy. The list was documented in the last post. 

Legendary Free Ranger

Legendary Light Core Grim Creeper

Enchanted Hoot Loop

At Walmart the employees knew about Swap Force but did not know if they had recieved any shipments. WSD explained that the game "launched" 30 minutes ago so a good bet would be that they have something. After a radio call to the back the stock guy came out to talk with WSD about what exact character(s) he was looking for. He was super helpful and nice and did not seem put out at all that he was being asked to do random things in the middle of the night. 

Tomorrow will be Gamestop and Target. Maybe even Toys R Us. 

No school or work makes it a great second day after launch.