Tuesday was a busy day, for both Skylanders fans and the press covering the events. At one side of Times Square, there were hundreds of people (children and adults) waiting in line at Toys R Us (some as early as 4am) for a chance to get a brand new (and unrevealed) Skylanders Giants Nimiji figure. The TRU launch event for 'Skylanders SWAP Force', featured several one day deals on figures, photo ops with the characters and and a Giants Nimiji figure for free.
By noon, the lines at Toys R Us extended as far as the eye could see with hundreds more queued in line for the open at 4pm. Chilly children and fans were given Skylanders hats and blankets to keep them warm. On the other side of Times Square at the NASDAQ building, Activision held a press event starting at 5pm to formally announce 'Skylanders SWAP Force'. The next wave of the super popular video game/toys now adds interchangeable parts to the new figures (which gives players over 250 possible combinations).
In addition to the new figures, they also announced they had heard the fan outcry, and now our beloved Skylanders figures can jump! Be sure to check out the YouTube video (on the left) of the entire press event, filmed by Neil from SkylandersFigs.com. The sixteen new characters for 'Skylanders SWAP Force' will have interchangeable body parts that will let players customize character attributes , for example, the top and lower halves can be swapped and combined to make your own specific character for the fight or board you are trying to pass.
In keeping with what they did in Giants, all older characters work will work with new game as well. While nothing official was stated at the event, there was a new portal of power shown which was slimmer and wider than ones we had seen previously, and it's assumed you will need this new portal for 'Skylanders SWAP Force'. In the latest release from Skylanders Spyro's Adventure to Giants, you did not need to purchase a new portal for the new game, although an updated version was sold for Giants.
Since 2011, sales have surpassed $500 million faster than any previous toy property according to Activision CEO, Eric Hirshberg , who was on hand along with TRU CEO, Jerry Storch at the event.
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