We are only a few days away from the Skylanders Imaginators release. Are you ready? Do you know what Skylanders you want and where to go to get them? We have our plan but I want to sum up all of the Imaginators information we have for the upcoming launch. Here’s what you will need to consider when searching for Imaginators this Sunday!
1.) Which Starter Pack do you want?
The basic starter pack will be retailing at $74.99 and will include the game, a portal, King Pen, Golden Queen, and a Fire Creation Crystal. If you are a Best Buy Gamer’s Club Member or an Amazon Prime member, you can save 20% making the price $59.99. This basic starter pack should be at all retailers this Sunday for the Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U. Please note that there is NOT a Wii or 3DS version of the game this year.
Fans of the “Dark” painted variant Skylanders can buy the Dark Edition of Skylanders Imaginators from GameStop for $99.99. This collectors edition will come with the game, a portal, Dark King Pen, Dark Golden Queen and a Fire Creation Crystal. Since it is a collectors edition you get a bit more with Dark Wolfgang, a Life Creation Crystal, a Dark Creation Crystal and a mystery chest. This will be the only way to get a Dark Creation Crystal at launch. The Dark Edition of Skylanders Imaginators is exclusive to GameStop.
If you plan on getting a Sony version of the game, you may want to get the Crash Edition of Skylanders Imaginators. This edition is also $99.99 and is only available for the PS4 and the PS3 at all retailers. Gamer’s Club members and Amazon Prime members can pick up this version for just $79.99. This version has everything included with the regular version but also comes with the Thumpin Wumpa Islands Adventure Pack. This adventure pack comes with a Crash Bandicoot Sensei and a Dr. Neo Cortex Sensei as well as a new level for the game. If you who don’t want the Thumpin Wumpa Islands Adventure Pack at launch, it will come out later this year. 
The Thumpin Wumpa Islands Adventure pack will work on any console version of the game.
You should also be able to get a free Kaos Sensei with the purchase of any Imaginators Starter Pack. He is being given away as a pre-order bonus. However, some retailers like GameStop list that he will come with any Starter pack purchased between the 16th and 22nd of October “while supplies last”. Check your favorite retailer or just pre-order the game if you want to be sure to get the free Kaos figure.
2.) Now that you have chosen your Starter Pack, which other Skyalnder Senseis do you want?
If you want all of the Skylanders available on launch day then your best option is to order from Amazon.com. Amazon has two different packs that will net you all of the Sensei’s and reformed Villains available at launch. An 8 pack of Hero Senseis costs $109.99. This is a savings of $10 from the individual price of $14.99 each. Amazon Prime members save another 20% which makes their final price $87.99. This is what we did. The pack comes with Tri-Tip, Chopscotch, Starcast, Ambush, Mysticat, Barbella, Ember, and Aurora. The Villains 5 pack costs $69.99 which saves you $5 off the normal $14.99 each price. After you factor in the Amazon Prime discount it will only cost $47.99. The Villains included in this pack are: Dr. Krankcase, Chompy Mage, Tae Kwon Crow, Hood Sickle, and Wolfgang. This is also the only way you can get Chompy Mage at launch.
Amazon has a third pack available as well but don’t buy it if you are buying the previous two. It’s called the Girl Power 4 pack and contains four female Sensei characters: Aurora, Barbella, Chopscotch, and Ember. The cost of this set is $54.99 which saves you $5 off the normal price. Since these characters are already in the other two sets, we did not buy this one.
There are two advantages with ordering from Amazon.com. First you will save money if you are a prime member. 
Even non prime members will save a little. The second advantage is that you can pick up the Chompy Mage early. He isn’t a part of either of the first two waves of Imaginators, so we don’t know when he will get his normal release. Maybe he’s an Amazon exclusive, but that seems unlikely. I might receive an apology e-mail from amazon informing me that he is delayed and I will receive him at a later date. Until I do, it’s still a bonus to get him early.
Shipping may be the reason you might want to skip this deal. Amazon has our shipments scheduled to arrive on Monday the 17th. However they advertise that Prime members get “release day” shipping which would be Sunday the 16th. Amazon Prime also has Sunday shipping as I have received many packages on a Sunday from Amazon. I’m hopeful that I will get my order on Sunday. If I’m to believe my tracking right now, then I won’t actually have them until Monday. Keep that in mind if you expect to play the game all day on Sunday.
The Amazon packs are available at launch but they actually consist of the first 2 Waves of Imaginators. What does this mean? Well, it means that Amazon will have the first two waves on launch day but other retailers might not. The Wave 1 Skylanders are Ambush, Barbella, Chopscotch, Dr. Krankcase, Tae Kwon Crow and Wolfgang. You’ll find those Skylanders at all retailers on launch day. You can even pre-order them now at Gamestop, Walmart, Target and Toys R Us. The wave 2 Skylanders of Aurora, Ember, Hood Sickle, Mysticat, Starcast and Tri-Tip can only be found on Amazon.com at the moment. No other website has them for pre-order. However, it is very likely that Toys R Us will have the wave 2 characters on launch day. They typically have the new characters first and in the past they have had Wave 2 Skylanders available on launch day. I’ve already seen Wave 2 characters on store shelves at Target, so I have a good feeling that finding them this year will be pretty easy.
3.) Which character to get if you can get just one?
Well, this is a hard question to answer since we here haven’t played with any of them yet. However, we do have stats on most of the Wave 1 and Wave 2 characters. If you like pure power, then you’ll want to go with Ember. She starts with a maxed out 350 in power. Unfortunately she lacks in defense with only 100 in defense points. For those of you who think a good defense is the best offense, you’ll want to pick up Tri-Tip. He maxes out his defense at 350. 
His power is also very good at 300 so he may be the best of both worlds when it comes to power and defense. However, his speed is a paltry 70 so don’t expect to move around very fast. Now if speed is your thing, then you’ll want to pick up Tae Kwon Crow. He is the fastest launch character with a 330 in speed. While that is fast, I would expect another Sensei to pass that mark in the future. Finally if you’d rather just roll the dice and go with the luckiest character, then look no further than the Golden Queen. You won’t have to press your luck in finding her since she comes in every Starter Pack. She has a 320 out of 350 in her Luck stat. However, after five other Skylander games we still don’t know what a high luck stat means?
4.) Any special variants I need to worry about?
There are special variant characters you may want to consider. Legendary Tri-Tip will be at Toys R Us on launch day, but he won’t have the familiar Blue and Gold paint. This year they have changed to a Red and Gold paint. There is also another Halloween variant this year in Candy-Coated Chopscotch. 
Your best bet for finding her on launch day would be at Toys R Us or GameStop. If you can’t find her on launch day, she will probably be out soon after. Finally Best Buy has an exclusive with Steel Plated Hood Sickle. He may not be available on launch day since Hood Sickle is technically a Wave 2 character. I expect he will be easy to find once released. Best Buy has never been short on stock of their exclusive characters. You can still buy Steel Plated Smash Hit from last year.
5.) Pick your creation crystals for creating your own Imaginators.
On launch day you should be able to get a creation crystals for each element, but it won’t be easy. You’ll need to get the Dark Edition starter pack for the Dark Crystal. 
A Fire Crystal is in each of the different starter packs. Air, Earth, Life, Light, Magic, Undead, and Water Crystals can be bought in single packs. Finally, a Tech crystal will only be available in a Triple Pack with a Magic and Undead Crystal. You’ll need to buy all three of those if you want to make a Tech Imaginator. It appears that the Dark, Fire, and Tech Crystals will NOT be available in single packs at launch, but are still obtainable by those other means.
REMEMBER: When you use a creation crystal, the first thing you’ll have to choose is the character’s Battle Class (Brawler, Sorcerer, Bowslinger, etc…). You CANNOT change this selection. This was a big issue for many a month or two ago when this information came out. The crystals will retail for $9.99 each so be careful when creating your character. You can change any other part of your Imaginator except the battle class. As far as I know they have not changed this, despite the public outcry and petitions.
6.) Don’t forget about the Gryphon Park Observatory Adventure Pack and Mystery Chests.
The Gryphon Park Observatory Adventure Pack should be available on launch day. 
This is an extra level of the game and comes with the Sensei Air Strike, an Earth Creation Crystal, and the new gameplay level. This Adventure Pack should be at Toys R Us on launch day if not at all retailers. I will look first at Best Buy to save my 20% but if I don’t find it I will look for it at Toys R Us.
Mystery Chests will be available at all retailers as well. There are three different types of chests: Bronze, Silver and Gold. They are sold in blind packs meaning that you won’t know which type you are buying. Each will cost $5.99 and contain 9 items to customize your Imaginators. The more rare the chest, the more rare the items will be in the chest. The chest can be use one time. I don’t know if there are any exclusive items from these chests. For now I will assume all items can also be earned by playing the game. I do NOT plan on buying any of these at launch. They sound like a waste of money. I’m sure we’ll have no problem unlocking the items by playing the game.
Wrap Up
I think that’s everything that I wanted to talk about. The boys and I are eagerly awaiting the release. We’ll have our unboxing video up early next week, and our SkylanderNutts plays Imaginators series soon after that. If you would like to support our website, use any of the preferred retailer links found on the character pages. If you plan on pre-ordering any of the Amazon packs visit our Imaginators Character page here for the Amazon links. We thank you, and we’ll see you again soon!
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