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The Comic-Con exclusive cover for issue #0 of the upcoming Skylanders comic-book series has been revealed.


The issue will be released at San Diego Comic-Con which runs from the 24th of July to the 27th, limited to 700 copies.

Skylanders Trap Team will also be at San Diego Comic-Con showing off the game and hosting a panel called "Skylanders: The Creative Process of Bringing Toys to Life" which will also feature a costume contest with more than $5000 in prizes to be awarded ($4000 to the winner, $1000 to the runner up and a collection of rare Skylanders toys for the 2nd runner up).

Quote: Press Release

Panel speakers include comic book writer Ron Marz (Green Lantern, DC vs. Marvel), famed voice of Kaos Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim, Billy and Mandy), Activision's Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing, John Coyne, and Toys for Bob's Director of Toy and Character Development, I-Wei Huang.

The panel will be on July 24th at 6PM.

Skylanders Lost Islands continued with June's Air theme and started an Earth theme for July.

• June 9th: New Troll Lockup (200 Gems) and Golden Shear (175 Gems) upgrades and the introduction of a 5000 Kudos tier for the Molekin Market.
  
• June 16th: Nitro Freeze Blade arrived and a new Windmill premium community building that costs 700 Gems was added.
  
• June 23rd: Following the pattern set in May an Air Toy Link Tower that gives out gems every four hours on Air Element Days, with an initial cost of 25 Gems, was added. The Air Sanctum briefly became available to buy if you missed the quest (1200 Gems) and Buttered Pop Thorn's Hut also briefly became available through a paid gem pack.
  
• June 30th: Kickoff Countdown was added.
  
• July 1st: Sundae Slobber Tooth became the Wishin' Well Alter Ego for July kicking off the Earth themed month. A July 4th weekend sale temporarily had Buttered Pop Thorn's Hut on sale for 350 Gems along with various other offers and discounts.
  
• July 7th: Doom Stone was finally added and the quest for the upgraded Earth Sanctum began.

A brand new Trap Master for Skylanders Trap Team has been announced, Gearshift is a Tech Skylander who uses a Traptanium gear as her weapon of choice.


Quote: Back Story

Gearshift was created on the Tech island of Metallana by King Mercurus, who considered the young robot to be his own daughter. But rather than performing royal duties, Gearshift preferred to spend her time in the oily depths of the kingdom among its workers, secretly tending to the huge subterranean machines. When her father discovered this, he was furious - but then a squadron of Undead Stormriders suddenly attacked. Learning that these marauders wanted to capture her father, Gearshift used her knowledge of the labyrinth below to hide him. Seizing the emblem of her people - The Great Gear - she used it to fight the Stormriders, inspiring the workers to rise up. Together, they drove the Stormriders out of Metallana and saved the kingdom. For this, Gearshift was made part of the Trap Team, using her new awesome Traptanium-forged gear to help defend Skylands.

She will initially only be available at launch by pre-ordering her, you won't be able to find her on a shelf until sometime in 2015. So far only Amazon.com have put up their pre-order page, and they've priced her at $14.99.

E3 2014 is on next week (June 10th-12th) so keep an eye out for even more news and reveals soon!

Skylanders Lost Islands has completed its Life themed month of May and kicked off June with an Air theme.

• May 19th: New companion Duff who gives you a chance for trees to drop a chest when you clear them, he costs 150 Gems.
  
• May 26th: A new Life Toy Link Tower that gives you better rewards the more Life Skylanders you have linked to the game. It costs 25 Gems and will reward you with coins or gems (on a Life day) every three hours.
  
• June 1st: The Air themed month of June kicked off with a new Alter Ego, Buttered Pop Thorn added to the Wishin' Well.
  
• June 2nd: A new timed quest to earn an upgrade to your Air Sanctuary, the Air Sanctum, has begun and the Bird House has made a return for the week. Two more small islands appeared, one for people with kingdoms at level 44, Chompy Island, which costs 40 million coins and one for those who've managed to reach level 45, Greeble Island, which costs 50 million.
  

A brand new Skylanders comic-book series is on its way, set to debut in July at the San Diego Comic-Con the first issue will be a prequel to Skylanders Trap Team. It'll give back story to a few favourite characters and a first look a some of the brand new characters from the upcoming game.

Quote: IDW Publishing

In conjunction with Activision, IDW Publishing is proud to announce the first-ever Skylanders comic-book series, penned by renowned comic-book writer Ron Marz, and Mike Bowden and David Baldeon as lead artists. In the world of video games, Skylanders is a global phenomenon and the best-selling kids' game franchise since its launch in 2011. Now fans have the opportunity to follow the adventures of all their favorite characters from Skylands through the magic of comic books.

The videogame sensation is making the leap to the pages of comics this July, debuting at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2014. Skylanders #0 features an introductory 16-page story as well as character guides and additional back-up information. The issue will be launched in both print and digital during SDCC weekend.

The writer, Ron Marz, has previously written for Skylanders Swap Force. For an exact date this year's San Diego Comic-Con runs July 24th-27th.


In toy news, Kickoff Countdown has been given a solid release date, it's due out this Sunday at Toys R Us stores in the US and at "retailers worldwide the following week". The final Swapper, Doom Stone, was also released this week in the US and the UK.


Kickoff Countdown is an in-game variant who will appear exactly as the toy looks when you play with him. He also unlocks a special hat for your collection. Doom Stone's release means that it is finally possible to make all of the 256 different combinations, something that forum member GameMaster78 has really taken to heart.

And now another round-up for the Android and iOS game Skylanders Lost Islands where they've made May a Life themed month.

• April 21: Springtime Trigger Happy became available without the toy. Beatrees began collecting from the Sheep Topiaries in addition to the Energy Fields she usually does.
  
• May 1: Brand new Alter Ego "Builda Grilla Drilla" arrived in the Wishin' Well.
  
• May 6: A long timed quest to earn an upgraded Life Sanctuary, the "Life Sanctum", began and a new tiny island, "Sugarbat Island", appeared. At level 43 you can buy the island for 35 million coins.
  
• May 12: A new feature was added, now plants will randomly grow on your islands. You can spend gold to clear them away and they'll sometimes drop gems or energy along with their regular kingdom xp. And Punk Shock was added to the store along with a permanent way to add any Skylander by their code.
  

On Wednesday the 23rd of April Activision will be revealing the next Skylanders game at a special press event. In a separate event for the regular fans on the same day they will also be giving away 500 free Doom Stone figures at the Times Square Toys R Us store in New York, Doom Stone being the last remaining unique character still to be released for Skylanders Swap Force.


Quote: Press Release

Activision Publishing, Inc. and Toys"R"Us are giving fans the rare opportunity to receive a complimentary Skylanders toy at a special Toys"R"Us Times Square event celebrating Skylanders Day! Before the final Skylanders SWAP Force character, Doom Stone, is released to the public, the first 500 Portal Masters to line up at The World's Greatest Toy Store on Wednesday, April 23, will be among the first to get their hands on this must-have figure.

Fans attending the event will get the chance to meet Skylanders costumed characters, experience the bestselling kids' videogame franchise at in-store gaming kiosks and receive other fun Skylanders giveaways.

Last year had a similar event with Ninjini at the time of the reveal of Swap Force and saw the regular release of Ninjini around a month later, which hopefully bodes well for those of us who can't make it to New York.


A listing for one of the two remaining alt-deco figures from Swap Force, Kickoff Countdown, has been spotted on a couple of European Amazon websites along with a few different release dates including the 14th of May.


Target in Australia are giving away 25 limited edition flocked Springtime Trigger Happy toys. To be eligible to enter you must spend $30 or more on Swap Force gaming products, you then need to answer the question "Why would you like to add Limited Edition Trigger Happy to your Skylanders collection?" in 25 words or less and the best 25 answers will win the figure. The promo runs until the 30th of April.

And Skylanders Lost Islands has been getting into the update spirit again over the past few weeks with things like an increased level cap, new islands and a new companion.

• March 17: Fryno and Scratch became available for purchase with gems or using the Skylander spinner.
  
• March 24: A new Adventure Clock building that lets you instantly finish all active Adventure Balloons. The building costs 500 Gems, you can use it once every 24 hours and it costs 250 Energy per active balloon.
  
• April 1: The kingdom level cap was raised from 40 to 45 and a new small island called "Sheep Island" now becomes available for purchase at level 41, it'll cost 25 million coins once you're there.
  
• April 7: A visual upgrade to the Summoning Stone. It costs 15 million coins and ups the amount you get from Orville each day to 2,500 coins.
  
• April 14: New companion Willowbark who costs 200 Gems and doubles the XP bonus effect of your decorations. And another small island called "Troll Island" that becomes available for purchase at level 42 for a sum of 30 million coins.

The beginnings of Wave 4 are trickling in with findings of newcomers Fryno and Scratch as well as the last two of the older reposed characters Fire Bone Hot Dog and Turbo Jet-Vac. So far these have only been found in Walmarts but they're not going to be exclusive in the long run.


In Canada there have been sightings of Freeze Blade and Trap Shadow at EBGames. Again this won't be an exclusive.


And, provided the date holds this time, the UK will see release of the special Spring Edition packaged Springtime Trigger Happy, Punk Shock and Fryno this Friday as well as Enchanted Star Strike, who will be exclusive to GAME.


In their first content update of the year Skylanders: Lost Islands adds a new companion and a couple of new Skylanders.

• The Chieftess is a brand new (or, rather, old) companion, just like Hyde and Maboo you need to find her wandering around your kingdom each day in order to tap on her, she'll give you a load of coins for doing so. You'll need to spend 200 Wishstones to get her.
  
• Two new swappable Skylanders, Freeze Blade and Trap Shadow, have been added. You can buy them for 300 Gems each or take a spin (remember that you get Gem refunds if you use the toy later but not coin refunds from spins).
  

The first stages of Wave 3 of the toys for Skylanders SWAP Force are starting to hit shops, the five new core Skylanders toys hit Toys R Us yesterday in the United States.



Here's what makes up the rest of Wave 3, they're not quite yet available in the US but are already available in some other countries like Germany and Italy.









The winners of the Frito-Lay sweepstakes for Quickdraw Rattle Shake are starting to report receiving their prizes so be on the lookout for it if you've won one (or more).



In other Wave 3 news, today saw the introduction of the five new Wave 3 characters in Skylanders Lost Islands, you can now get Rubble Rouser, Stink Bomb, Spy Rise, Dune Bug and Wind-Up in the game, which means that at long last it is possible to match the Earth element Sugarbats. Last Friday saw a specially squeezed in Christmas update for the game as well:

• Jolly Bumble Blast makes his festive debut. It'll be 250 Gems if you don't have the toy.
  
• A new SWAP Force House has been added, buy them for 350 Gems to put your SWAP Force characters in for the chance to earn Gold, Gems, Energy or Kingdom XP.
  
• Another new companion, Fiznik, he'll double the Kingdom XP you get for the rather pricey sum of 3000 Gems.
  

And earlier last week they posted the regular Monday update.

• New companion Diggs who you can use to trade in large amounts of Gold and Energy for Gems once a day. He'll cost you 2000 Gems but is said to be only available until January 1st.
  
• The Legendary Skylanders are here, all four of the new Legendaries from SWAP Force have been added. That's Legendary Night Shift, Legendary Free Ranger, Legendary Grim Creeper and Legendary Zoo Lou.
  
• A new system has been added so that Kingdom XP is still moderately useful after reaching the maximum kingdom level of 40. Your bar will again start to fill up as you gather it and will eventually give you some bonus gems and wish stones as a reward.
  

The Skylanders Collection Vault also recently saw an update which allows you to now add characters to your collection even if you don't have their webcode.

Skylanders: Lost Islands gets a wintry update this week.

• Softpaw, another character from Swap Force who's joined to become a Companion. He'll double the number of Sugarbats you get for just 50 Gems.
  
• Quickdraw Rattle Shake follows Jade Fire Kraken in being released before the toy. He'll cost you 300 Gems.
  
• Snowler Brawl's Hut gives this month's Alter Ego a place to stay for 350 Gems.
  
• The Snow Globe House has returned, it costs 500 Gems and houses 600 Mabu. Perhaps wait for another Premium House Sale.
  
• A timed quest gives away another new Alter Ego "Holiday Wash Buckler" if you own Skylanders: Battlegrounds.
  
• And your islands have been given a suitable new winter style.
  

Skylanders: Lost Islands kicks off December with a new companion, a new Skylander and a brand new Alter Ego.

• Tessa, another new companion from Skylanders: Swap Force, has joined and for the price of 3000 of your Gems she'll boost the Mabu population by 25%.
  
• Jade Fire Kraken has been added, despite the fact that he hasn't even been released as a real toy yet. It'll cost the usual 300 Gems or a spin to get him.
  
• Snowler Brawl was released yesterday as December's Alter Ego version of Roller Brawl, throw your Wishstones in the Wishin' Well to win her!
  

A brand new free official app has hit the iTunes Store, called Skylanders Collection Vault it allows you to catalog your collection by entering their webcodes.


The festive themed Jolly Bumble Blast has been given a release date, according to GameStop it's due out on the 7th of December in the US, Best Buy have it listed for the 8th.


The recently Androidified Skylanders: Lost Islands has seen another of its weekly updates, since Thanksgiving is this week in the US it's the Week of the Bird!

• A new Bird House for your "Bird" Skylanders, they'll cost you 200 Gems each. Only available until Sunday!
  
• During the Week of the Bird all of your Bird Skylanders will get double gold.
  
• On Friday morning all Skylanders will be 80% off, it runs from 4AM to 12PM so try to get on early if you want to buy one.
  
• December's new Alter Ego is going to appear in the Wishin' Well on Sunday so make sure to have won Birthday Bash by then!
  

Skylanders: Lost Islands has joined Cloud Patrol and Battlegrounds in finally launching on Android! They've also provided the usual weekly update:

• New companions Gorm and Tuk who double gold and hero points for Swap Force Skylanders, they cost 400 Gems.
  
• Enchanted Hoot Loop becomes available if you don't have the actual toy, it'll set you back either 300 Gems or the cost of a spin.
  
• And three new timed quests for shrines involving Avril, Nitro Magna Charge and Birthday Bash.
  

To celebrate a year since the launch of Skylanders: Lost Islands they're gearing up for even more birthday celebrations this week.

• Another character from Skylanders: Swap Force becomes a companion, for 400 Gems Avril will double the kudos awarded to you from gifts and visiting.
  
• November's Alter Ego now has Birthday Bash's Hut to use.
  
• Nitro Magna Charge is available to those without the toy, it'll cost the usual 300 Gems or a spin.
  
• A couple of timed quests, one for last week's companion, Wheellock, and one for last week's new Skylander, Volcanic Eruptor.
  
• The #1 Fans are returning for free at the weekend as part of the Birthday Celebration that'll also offer 50% off all companions and have past alter egos in the Wishin' Well as top prizes.
  

Some mobile Skylanders news again. After last week's update to the iOS version Skylanders: Battlegrounds has now also joined Cloud Patrol in becoming available on Android.

The Dark Days event in the still-iOS-exclusive Skylanders: Lost Islands has concluded and a new companion has arrived.

• New companion Marshal Wheellock from Skylanders: Swap Force has joined in, he doubles the Hero Points you get but'll cost 900 Gems.
  
• If you don't have the toy then fear not, Volcanic Eruptor can now be bought for 250 Gems.
  
• This week's Super Tuesday has brought back all of the Giant and Sidekick Houses for one day only.
  
• And last Friday saw the release of Birthday Bash, the new Alter Ego for November. Win him in the Wishin' Well all month.
  

And the Frito-Lay sweepstakes for Quickdraw Rattle Shake has officially begun, albeit with a bit of a rocky start.

Toys R Us are due to release their remaining Legendary Skylanders from Skylanders: Swap Force over the next few weeks. According to an advert Legendary Zoo Lou will be out first on the 3rd of November (this Sunday) followed by Legendary Night Shift a week after on the 10th.


Last week saw the long quiet Skylanders: Battlegrounds finally get an update, it added the third chapter at last as well as implementing the new Swap Force characters.

Just a small update to Skylanders: Lost Islands this week.

• Dark Stealth Elf and Dark Blast Zone are now purchasable in game. They cost 200 and 300 Gems.
  
• A new house, Dark House, houses any of the Dark Skylanders in the same way the Dragon Lair houses dragons. It'll cost you the same 1200 Gems though.
  

Remember that November's alter ego will be appearing on Friday but that also means that Thursday is your last chance to get Skeletal Cynder before she disappears from the Wishin' Well.

Darkness descends on Skylanders: Lost Islands as a new selection of Skylanders join the fun.

• The Wave 2 Skylanders are now all in the game. It's the usual 300 Gems for the swappers and 200 for the core.
  
• Dark Wash Buckler and Dark Slobber Tooth can now also be bought if you don't have the toy, 300 and 250 Gems respectively.
  
• A "Dark Days" event will be running for two weeks (ends November 3rd) where all your Dark Skylanders will have an extra 100% gold bonus.
  
• Skeletal Cynder's Hut has arrived for 350 Gems.
  
• A new companion called Ma-Boo has appeared, find him in your Kingdom once each day to receive a Wishstone. Costs 30 Gems.
  
• The disguised trolls are back, giving a Wishstone when you clear them.

Skylanders Swap Force has launched in the US and Canada to positive reviews.

Quote: Joystiq - 4.5 Stars

It's easy to think of Skylanders' collectible figure component as a cynical cash-grab, but in practice it meshes well with the series' beat-'em-up gameplay.

Quote: Forbes - 9/10

In fact, at almost every turn Skylanders Swap Force seems intent on over-delivering both features and fun. Playing the game with (my) children who are more than a little Skylanders saturated there was still a sense of surprise and excitement. The Swap Force figures caused the biggest buzz, both in and out of the game.

Quote: Venture Beat - 90/100

While the inclusion of the jump button certainly makes for more varied gameplay, it also may add more challenge for the younger gamers in your household. Many of these leaps require good timing and placement (lining up at the very edge of a gap), and the bosses have some particularly damaging ground attacks that quickly exhaust the health of your Skylander if you don’t hop over them at just the right time.

Quote: Metro - 9/10

The game’s combat is still relatively simplistic, but the variety of abilities and attacks - and the ability to chop and change them at will - does encourage kids to think about what they’re doing a lot more than any combo system or other traditional contrivance would have. And you can now at least jump, which may sound like an odd thing to celebrate but it again shows the franchise stepping back from the enforced simplicity of the earlier games.

Quote: Game Informer - 8.50

No matter what bizarre creature you craft, Skylanders: Swap Force handles the empowerment of playing god convincingly. The amalgamated beasts that now roam Skylands open up new combat and traversal possibilities, and also add another much-needed wrinkle to this series’ well-worn gameplay formula.

Quote: Gaming Trend - 85

But what about the game? Yes, well, much like the toys, the game is aimed squarely at kids in Elementary school - that isn’t to say an adult can’t have fun with it, but expect it to be a kid’s ride. The game certainly contains mild cartoon violence, but it’s not something I would be uncomfortable in having a child play.

Quote: Destructoid - 8.5/10

Not only do the new Swap Force toys and in-game models have a ton of detail (Wash Buckler's squid legs are a highlight), but it also allows an unprecedented amount of customization as you search for your favorite playstyle.

Quote: IGN - 8.2

Skylanders Swap Force delivers almost everything fans could want. There are fantastic new characters, a funny story, and a complete disregard for the boring rules that say robots and wizards shouldn't be part of the same world.

Quote: Games Radar - 4 Stars

While the narrative sticks to a simplistic stop-the-bad-guy's-evil-plot theme, the cutscenes have gotten a noticeable upgrade in quality. The CGI scenes and voice acting on par some of the best computer animated cartoons you might see on a Saturday morning and the leading characters, like Flynn and Tessa, are charming and humorous.

Quote: Official Xbox Magazine - 7.5

Developer Vicarious Visions did a fantastic job crafting a tightly-knit, varied adventure in which you'll - just for starters - sneak past alarms disguised as a sheep, sniff out a full list of goofball collectibles, and take out a wide range of foes. With a seemingly endless number of things to see and do, this is no quick jaunt.

Quote: Kotaku - Yes

Each Swap Force character also has a travel power that unlocks mini-game challenges scattered through the story levels, and two of those are absent from the launch lineup. Puzzling.

The reviews for the 3DS version of the game were a little more mixed.

Quote: Gaming Trend - 82

My recommendation? If you’re into Skylanders, or your kids are, this one is a no-brainer. It’s a fantastic supplement to any existing Skylanders game as it adds value to your collection of toys.

Quote: IGN - 7.1

Skylanders Swap Force for the 3DS is a fun but short addition to the franchise. It's an acceptable substitute to the console experience, mostly on the strength of its interesting villain and original story.

Quote: Nintendo World Report - 6

While each level does consist of plenty of platforming and combat, nothing other than the variety of Skylander skills makes a remarkable impression. The platforming, while enough to not bore adult gamers, becomes rather repetitive as jumping is the only real mechanic.

Quote: Financial Post - 5.5/10

The missions are a lot shorter - around only 15 minutes each as opposed to the hour-long quests in the console versions - and Moneybone’s minions are even less cunning than those employed by Kaos, which is saying something (they basically just charge at you until destroyed).

To go with the launch of Swap Force, Skylanders: Lost Islands has an update on the App Store to bring in (nearly) all of the Wave 1 Swap Force Skylanders.

WARNING: Do not use the Bluetooth Portal to load any characters into Lost Islands, it will completely wipe the data on the toy and all their progress in the console games will be lost. This applies to the new toys from Swap Force and the old ones from Giants and Spyro's Adventure. The issue has since been corrected.

• The first wave of Swap Force characters has arrived. DO NOT USE THE PORTAL! The swappable characters cost 300 gems while the new cores cost 200 if you don't own the toys.
  
• You can now level your Skylanders up to 15. No new companion is required, they'll just start earning experience straight away.
  
• A new type of random enemy has appeared, the Evilized Sugarbats. They hover in the air between your islands and require use of a swappable Skylander to clear. You can swap the halves to try to match the two elements it asks for, each matching half gets you a bonus gem.
  
• Hyde has been updated to now also appear in other people's kingdoms.