Skylanders SuperChargers Pt. 1

The last game, Trap Team, sold undeniably well. The game featured 57 characters, 55 trap crystals, and 8 magic and adventure items, not including special editions and variants. The game commanded a massive portion of retail shelves, and an even bigger portion of the toys-to-life market despite heavy competition from Disney. Looking back, it's obvious Trap Team simply offered more than not only its competition, but every past Skylanders game to date as well. But was it perhaps too much?

Activision has officially lifted the veil on the newest Skylanders game SuperChargers, and not a minute too soon. It's later than past unveilings, and trailing behind announcements from not only existing competition, but a new entrant in the mashup genre that many believe promises to rattle the cage of the incumbent beast. And indications are that Activision isn't resting on its laurels as its challengers beat the war drums in the shrinking distance. SuperChargers is arguably the clearest sign from its publisher that they're aware and are reacting to threats in the market.

While it's hard to come by concrete numbers, there is evidence that Trap Team didn't sell as well as previous entries. This doesn't take into account figure sales (NPD and such groups don't track that), but there's more anecdotal evidence that stores aren't restocking Trap Team toys very aggressively—in particular Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of them all.

image courtesy of fairyland from darkspyro.net forums

Fan forums such as this one show recurring reports of Wal-Mart's lackluster stock, and my nearby locations aren't any better. This could indicate high demand in cases where low stock hasn't been a long-term issue, but in this case it seems more that Wal-Mart isn't as interested in replenishing their stock in lieu of Infinity or Amiibo figures. There's also all those damn water traps, which some retailers have nearly resorted to GIVING away. If sales were indeed down for both the game and its figures, it may simply be the result of sharing more of the spotlight with other TTL offerings. Or it may indicate that Trap Team just had too many toys, and too much required investment on the part of consumers.

Sales on previous generation Skylanders are frequent. Toys 'R Us has weekly deals, while Best Buy has many of their figures from Swap Force-back on clearance. They'll undoubtedly want to unload traps as soon as possible, as they continue to weigh down on pegboards and move at a listless pace. They're not restocking, and while not as bad as Wal-Mart, there are other places showing signs of a diminishing inventory. As much as possible, it seems retailers want to go into SuperChargers (and Infinity 3.0; and LEGO Dimensions) with a clean slate. The message they're sending: Less is more. And Activision is listening.

It shows some restraint and self-awareness on Activision's part then that the new Skylanders will only introduce 20 figures to the franchise, and since they're all "SuperChargers", they each come with their own signature vehicle as well. 40 new toys, and no traps. It's the lowest number since the first game.

As a response to lower retail demand, it makes sense. Dropping the traps and lowering the number of characters will require less wall space at brick and mortar stores, at a time when Activision isn't the only player in town, and as such less bargaining power. Retailers may be more accommodating to a toy line that's easier to manage and keep in stock, and consumers may be encouraged to collect them all if such an endeavor costs several hundred less.

Activision's strategy with SuperChargers gets even better. Of those 20 new figures, half of them will be reissues of previous characters, which might be a bit of a bummer at first, until you realize that these reissues are not new series. Every single one will be treated like a complete revamp, changing all of their attacks and drastically modifying their look. Reposes are out entirely, while vehicles will also, astoundingly, work with ANY previous Skylander in the franchise. This game is perhaps the least cynical, and most respectful entry to its fans in years. And sales may respond in kind.

Check back later for part 2, where I leave the sales and market talk behind and focus on what I think of the game itself, and all it entails.