darkSpyro

The Frito-Lay naming competition has officially begun and has revealed the three brand new Skylanders that have been lined up for you to name.


Once you've entered your details you'll be asked to name one of the three and to give some background on the Skylander, who they are, why they've got that name and why you chose to name them.


You're not limited to just naming one though, you can name all of the characters and can even submit different names and backgrounds for the same Skylander. Take care not to submit the exact same name for the same character more than once though.


The competition is only open to residents of the United States who are 18 years or older, if you're not old enough then perhaps try getting an older relative to help.

You've got a little bit of thinking time but don't take too long as you only have until March the 21st at 11:59:59 AM Central Time to submit your entries before the competition closes.

The finalists for each Skylander (as decided by the judges) will be revealed around April 21st and then from the 19th of May to the 12th of June online voting will be run to select the best of the three names to win the grand prize of "a $100,000 scholarship in the form of a check" as well as to make the name official. The other two finalists don't go away empty handed though and will each get a "Skylanders prize package" with an approximate retail value of $1000.


Although last week's Toy Fair didn't bring us a reveal of Skylanders 4 a few other possible new Skylanders were accidentally revealed by Mega Bloks in promo photographs of upcoming sets.


Due to the nature of the reveal it is unclear whether they are actually all playable characters (or even if any of them are) and no names were directly attributed to them.


Skylanders fans in the UK may be interested in the Skylanders SWAP Force Spectacular event that is currently running at the National Media Museum in Bradford. The event started on the 22nd of February but runs through half term to Sunday the 2nd of March so there's still time to go. It is free entry but you'll need to reserve your place in advance for a couple of the activities. Thanks to Skylanders Dad for spotting this one.


And finally, in Swap Force toy news, Enchanted Star Strike has been spotted in several Canadian Walmarts over the weekend.


Enchanted Star Strike is an in-game variant of Star Strike who also happens to be LightCore. She'll be exclusive to Walmart in the US much like Enchanted Hoot Loop.

Another upcoming release has been unveiled, on the 23rd of March Nitro Freeze Blade is due to be made available exclusively at Target. Forum member star kitty spotted listings for a single pack of Nitro Freeze Blade as well as a single pack of Nitro Magna Charge for the first time.


These look to be arriving two weeks before the Easter themed packs, although in the UK Amazon have given those three a release date of the 7th of March.

Frito-Lay are gearing up to launch a new Skylanders promotion, this time instead of simply winning a toy Skylander you'll get the chance to actually name one. There'll be a choice of three Skylanders who are each in desperate need of a name, the grand prize for the best name is a $100,000 scholarship. The promotion is due to start on the 24th of February.

And some perhaps disappointing news on the next game announcement front, GamerHub.tv have posted a short interview with Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg where he seems to confirm that they won't be announcing a new Skylanders game at Toy Fair this year, instead waiting for "later in the year" to reveal it. So it's still coming this year and still being made by Toys For Bob but we'll have to wait a bit longer to find out what it is going to be.

Forum member Diggeh has spotted that Best Buy have posted pre-orders for several new characters in special "Spring Edition" egg shaped packages. So far only Springtime Trigger Happy, Punk Shock, and Fryno have been revealed as part of this wave but it is unclear if this is going to be the entire selection of Skylanders in the wave or if these are just the first few. They're due for release on the 6th of April, which is still an agonising two month wait away.


Springtime Trigger Happy is an in-game variant, much like Jolly Bumble Blast, who not only looks different to the regular Big Bang Trigger Happy but he will also unlock the Springtime Hat in your collection once you place him on the Portal of Power.


With the annual American International Toy Fair happening on the 16th-19th of February we should be expecting news of the next entry to the Skylanders series any day now.



Curse are exclusively giving away half a million beta keys for The Elder Scrolls Online. Curse Premium members can get access to the keys today and everyone else from tomorrow (the 6th). The giveaway and beta period only lasts until the 10th of February so act quick!