I am a fan of Skylanders. It is just plain casual fun for me. To sit down, explore levels that aren’t exceptionally difficult and unlock the hidden items and secret paths is something that helps put me at ease. Not that there are a lot of mainstream games that are hard anymore with a few exceptions, there’s something I just enjoy about kicking back and playing Skylanders or checking out the stack of them on my shelf. But there is one thing I don’t like: The Release Schedule

When I play a game, I binge on it. I start playing it and I am content to go from start to finish and in most cases, that’ll be the majority of the time I spend with the game. Though I will go back to occasionally achievement hunt or if someone wants to hop on multiplayer or even have a party game while over my place, things usually wrap up once I have beat the game and move onto the next.

But because of the level design of the games and release schedule of the Skylanders figures, there are times that it is actually impossible for me to get as much out of the game as I want until months after release. This time with Skylanders: SWAP Force it ended up being three months and one week before I had the proper combination of figures to experience the majority of the title.

At its inception, one of the first things I thought Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure needed was an app to help keep track of which characters anyone had. At first, a fan made app popped up but before Skylanders Giants was out, the app stopped getting updates. A few others popped up but often didn’t have special edition figures or get updates as new waves were released. But, after long wait, Activision has released the Skylanders Collection Vault app for iOS and somehow turned it into yet another game.

One of the things Activision has done right through its iOS releases for Skylanders like Skylanders Cloud Patrol, Skylanders Lost Islands and Skylanders Battlegrounds was linking the characters in the game to their real life counterparts that the player needed to have. Whether it was the code received when purchasing the figure or one obtained from the characters in game profile, people needed to unlock characters in the game which of course has lead to the “gotta buy ’em all” mentality that has skyrocketed the franchise. That same collector itch is scratched when players can compare their full collection to that of their friends by showing the characters they have unlocked because they actually own them, not just playing for hours on end or using in app purchases.

So as previously mentioned, yesterday was the new release for Skylanders SWAP Force. As expected, it was not a cheap endeavor. One special edition Starter Pack, one Adventure Pack, one Battle Pack, four SWAP Force, three Lightcore and one standard Skylander later and my tally between Gamespot, Toys R Us and Target had hit the $250 mark. Now, I am not complaining. I bring it upon myself and I enjoy it. That’s what the appeal of Skylanders is. Combine a video game with the ongoing geek desire to collect things and you have an addicting formula. And that’s why we have a fantastic unboxing video for you to check out to check out and help decide which Skylander SWAP Force starter set to get yourself.

There is one piece of the Skylanders formula that does get a little frustrating though. To access all of the game’s content, it does require you to purchase real world products. To play through all the areas that are travel power based, you need eight different SWAP Force characters. Granted, two come with any Starter Set you buy but that leaves six more to go at $13 each, and at launch there are still two modes of transportation not yet available as only six of the sixteen are available so far.

Now I understand the arguments that they are releasing them in waves to keep up demand and all that, but my problem lies with content being locked. The other argument that this is to keep players coming back later and maintain replayability. Let’s be clear, (gravelly old man voice, “Get off my lawn”) back in my day we went back to games often even when there was no such thing as expanding shy of a sequel.

The collection mentality is a dangerous thing, especially amongst the geek world. Nowhere else do you see the level of completionist mentality as you do amongst gamers. Trophy Whores and Achievement Hunters are both signs of this obsession to get them all. On Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th, both the Pokemon and Skylanders franchises intend to bankrupt me in both time and financially.

I bought my first copy of Pokemon Blue back when it first released fifteen years ago in 1998. With that, I set out on my mission to get all 151 of the original Pokemon. Though I never finished the list, I still spent way more time than I should have on that mission. Two years ago, I got my hands on Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and a few hundred dollars later, an entire shelf in my room is filled with the damn things.

Next weekend, I get to deal with a double whammy as both Pokemon X/Y and Skylanders SWAP Force are released.

Right now, I am counting down the days until my savings account basically becomes non-existent. On one side, I have a new console generation so there goes a few hundred bucks instantly. On the other, we have the next version of Skylanders with the largest launch lineup of new characters since the game’s inception in Skylanders SWAP Force. In other words, “Goodbye monies.” But I can’t complain. I am the one choosing to buy them after all. But of course, Vicarious Visions can’t help but make the wait and anticipation worse by showing off the new characters.

Skylanders SWAP Force will take place in a new location called the Cloudbreak Islands. Here, there is some mystical volcano that erupts every hundred years and this is the source of the SWAP Force’s SWAP ability. Back to his old habits is the series’ antagonist Kaos. But this time he isn’t alone as he is accompanied by his mom. Because if there is one thing more intimidating than a horrible wizard, it is one that needs to bring his mom to a fight.

With Gamescom came a slew of announcements from Activision. While you’ve probably already seen the latest BTS on Destiny or heard the news on Call of Duty: Ghosts, you may have not been privy to an exciting tidbit about Skylanders SWAP Force. In addition to revealing two new Core characters and two new SWAP Force characters, Skylanders SWAP Force will be making its way to the next gen consoles.

Though the specific release dates are not set, the Skylanders SWAP Force will be on the XBox One and PlayStation 4. As you’ll see in the screens below, the engine behind the game is able to take the simple and cartoonish style of Skylanders SWAP Force and translate it to gorgeous next gen visuals.

Take a look below at the profiles and vignettes for Zoo Lou, Slobber Tooth, Grilla Drilla and Boom Jet as well as a horde of next gen screen shots as well.

While some arguments still rage after the E3 Press Conference backlash between the PlayStation 4 and the XBox One, what one can’t argue is the power of Activision/Blizzard in 2013. Whether or not you like their games, there is no denying that Activision/Blizzard is set to make a mint this year with the multiplatform releases for Diablo III, Destiny, Call of Duty: Ghosts and, of course, Skylanders SWAP Force.

In spite of Disney’s attempt to make its way into the collectible interactive figure game market with Disney Infinity, the legacy of the current Skylander player bases’ collections is going to continue to drive sales of both the game and the record setting release of new figures along with this iteration of the franchise.

In addition to the 256 combinations of new characters made by the 18 two part new SWAP force characters, there will be a horde of other figures both new and remodeled from previous series for players to collect as well leading to the largest expansion of the franchise to date.

After seeing 100 million Skylander units sold between the games and figure packs, one would imagine it is fair game for Activision to overextend the popularity of the series. That was the model back in the 80s though. Create a toy line and use TV to promote it to the point where feature films become an option. Then capitalize on the success of the film with more new figures. But this isn’t the 80s and Activision is being more responsible with the Skylanders franchise. (Yes, I know. The guys who drove the Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk franchises into the ground are doing the right thing!)

In a recent interview with MVC, Activision Publishing VP of consumer marketing John Coyne said “the game is the entertainment.” Along with further statements, it sounds like the Skylanders will be kept to their gaming and toy mediums alone for the near future at the least. Whereas a game is usually the way for a popular TV series to capitalize on its fame, this apparently isn’t the way Skylanders wants to go with telling its stories. (Probably a good thing I didn’t waste the time drafting up those Skylander comic book submissions.)

With Skylanders Swap Force already on the horizon for this upcoming holiday season, the final Giant figure is being released for Skylanders Giants with Ninjini. Ninjini is the 8th Giant, representing the Magic element and is the only female of the Giants. Our bank accounts are happy that Ninjini has finally seen the light of day as this is the last of the $15 Giants to complete our collections (totaling a cool $105 on just Giants if not counting Tree Rex who comes with the Skylanders Giants game.)

Make sure to check out Ninjini’s trailer and screen shots after the break and stick to The Flickcast for more on Skylanders Swap Force and the 32 new Skylanders coming out for it as it becomes available.

On Tuesday, Activision announced the third installment of Skylanders with Skylanders SWAP Force. You can check out the trailer here. Skylanders SWAP Force uses new dual “brain” technology to enable swapability between 16 special SWAP force figures. The top and bottle pieces can be reconfigured to create 256 unique combinations of characters and like all other Skylanders can be swapped on the fly during gameplay to accommodate for whatever the current gameplay situation calls for.

Take an exclusive look at the first live gameplay footage from the reveal event from New York city on Tuesday. We apologize for the quality but this was the only way to capture a first look at the new Skylanders SWAP Force in action. Also check out CEO of Activision Eric Hirshberg and CEO of Toys R Us Gerald Storch talking about the power of the Skylanders franchise.

Yesterday, we got to head into New York City for the worldwide reveal of Skylanders SWAP Force. The third installment in the Skylanders franchise, the game will be backwards compatible with all current Skylanders figures, be releasing a horde of new Skylanders and new gameplay mechanics including swapability. For the first time, the team at Vicarious Visions will be heading the production of a Skylanders title.

As you’ll see in the trailer below, the new SWAP Force Skylanders will be two pieces, a top and bottom half. These pieces can be split and recombined with any other SWAP Force Skylander. When reconfigured, a new Skylander is created. For example, take the top of Wash Buckler, a pirate squid, and combine it with the bottom half of Blast Zone, a flaming robot, and you get Wash Zone who has all the combative powers of a pirate with the jet boots of a robot. With this new release, there will be 16 SWAP Force Skylanders released, which leaves 256 possible top and bottom combinations for players to explore.

As much as we have enjoyed some of the new Skylanders introduced in Skylanders Giants, there is nothing cooler than adding one of the eight new Giants to your shelf. Up until now, only five of them have become available. That changes with the release of the Undead and Water Giants, Eye-Brawl and Thumpback.

Not only have the Giants been the focus of the latest Skylanders game between the title and the focus on putting the lightcore technology in all of the Giants figures, they have also been given some of the coolest concept design and detailed crafting towards the actual toys.

Eye-Brawl touts itself as being one of the most powerful Skylander in addition to being one of the most visually impressive. Thumpback looks to be a huge powerhouse and will likely become a favorite for players with a preference for Water Skylanders as well.

Check out the full character bios, trailers, screen shots and toy gallery for both Eye-Brawl and Thumpback after the jump.