I was visiting my local Toys R Us this morning checking out their buy one get one 40% Skylander sale as well as their 60% off clearance games when I saw Lightcore Bumble Blast on the shelf. He was not listed as available online or through other major retailers online websites, but Toys R Us definitely had a few of them. If you are looking to get a hold of this excellent Lightcore character then I would suggest a trip or a phone call to your local Toys R Us.
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Pop Thorn is a new core Air Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force that only comes with the Tower of Time Adventure Pack. He is a creature called a Pufferthorn which sort of resembles a puffer fish. Like a puffer fish he has a puffed state where he is bigger, slower, and uses his spikes as an attack. His other state is popped or deflated where he is faster and uses his breath for an attack. He is a simple looking figure with a light and dark blue color and a yellow underside. He is covered in spikes and has two little wings which help him fly and move in his puffed state. Pufferthorns are known for their quiet and timid nature and this comes across in his pose. He holds no weapon and he doesn’t look very menacing. The only thing you can tell is that he has spikes which look like they are used for defense. Make sure you check out our unboxing video where you can see his spikes in action. Overall his look is somewhat unique but rather plain.
If you haven’t really though much of Pop Thorn because he doesn’t look like he’s powerful or exciting then you will be in for a big surprise when you play with him. A fully upgraded Pop Thorn might be the most powerful and dominating core Skylander that I have used. He is one of my go-to characters whenever I need to get through a difficult part. His basic attack while puffed is to shoot spikes at his enemies. These spikes are homing spikes which means they will always hit an enemy, no matter which direction you are moving. If you need to move faster to get out of trouble, then you want to “pop” and become smaller. This removes the spike attack but adds a wind attack similar to Spyro’s fire breath. Many of his upgrades are also not very exciting but they are extremely useful and powerful. Spike attacks become more powerful and add more spikes. Wind attacks become more powerful and can add multiple blasts at one time. He can even learn a Mario like ground pound which will damage and knock back all of the nearby enemies. The ability to attack with spikes from at a distance or while running away is very powerful. But combine that with an upgraded wind blast that occurs when you “pop” or a ground pound if too many enemies close in and Pop Thorn can clear an area in record time.
Despite Pop Thorns lack of Flash or complicated attacks, Pop Thorn deserves to be in every Portal Masters army.
| Card Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 90 | Max Health | 280 | |
| Defense: | 110 | Speed | 43 | |
| Speed: | 45 | Armor | 24 | |
| Luck: | 65 | Critical Hit | 6 | |
| Elemental Power | 25 | |||
| All Attacks | |||
| Puff | Press Attack 1 to Puff and damage nearby enemies. While puffed, rapidly press Attack 1 to shoot out homing spikes at nearby enemies. | Free | |
| Pop | Press Attack 2 to Pop and shoot a large wind blast. While popped, hold Attack 2 to shoot gusts of wind at enemies. | Free | |
| Fresh Breath | Press Attack 2 to Pop. After popping, hold Attack 2 to shoot more powerful air projectiles for a short time. | 500 Gold | |
| Puffball Pound | Press Attack 1 to Puff. Press Attack 3 while puffed to slam into the ground, damaging all nearby enemies. | 700 Gold | |
| Polished Spikes | Press Attack 1 to Puff. After puffing, press Attack 1 rapidly to shoot more powerful spike projectiles for a short time. | 900 Gold | |
| Wind Trap | While popped, press Attack 3 to leave behind a spiny mine. The mine puffs and explodes when enemies approach, launching them into the air. | 1200 Gold | |
| Tough and Puffed Path | |||
| Rollerpuff | While puffed, hold Attack 3 to roll forward, damaging all enemies in the way. | 1700 Gold | |
| Bounceback | Puffing deals increased damage and reflects nearby projectiles. | 2200 Gold | |
| Prickly Body | While puffed, taking damage releases a spike projectile that damages an attacker. | 3000 Gold | |
| Controlled Breather Path | |||
| Aero Trampoline | While puffed, hold Attack 3 to charge a powerful slam attack, release to bounce multiple times, damaging all enemies in the way. | 1700 Gold | |
| Deep Breath | While puffed, press Attack 2 to shoot three air blasts instead of one. | 2200 Gold | |
| Scattered Winds | While popped, air beams now shoot multiple projectiles that spread. | 3000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| To Puff or Not To Puff | While popped, speed is increased. While puffed, armor is increased, which reduces damage taken. | 4000 Gold | |
Freeze Blade is a new Swappable Water Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. You would think that Freeze Blade comes from somewhere cold. However, while he was born in the Frozen Wastelands of Vesh, he soon moved to the Great Lava Lakes. This is where he met Blast Zone. After helping Blast Zone defend himself from some Spell Punks, Blast Zone introduced him to Master Eon and Freeze Blade became a Skylander. It was also in the Lava Lakes where Freeze Blade learned he had a magical ability to skate on any surface. This ability allows Freeze Blade to always wear his ice blades. He has very thin looking leather armor which looks more like workout clothes than armor. This allows for greater mobility which is good since he is one of the fastest Skylander characters. He is a wolf creature with ice hair and ice cuffs. He also wields a boomerang like bladed weapon called a Chakram. Overall you can tell his character is built for speed. Freeze Blade also has an alternate version called Nitro Freeze Blade. Nitro Freeze Blade is identical in pose but wears a sporty golden race clothes and silver skin instead of grey skin. Nitro Freeze Blade doesn’t look any more powerful, but he certainly looks like a force of speed. Regardless of which character you choose, their starting stats are the same.
Freeze Blade starts off with a basic Chakram Throw. This is a short ranged/melee attack. The attack can reach enemies a short distance away but doesn’t fly far across the screen. It can be used in rapid succession like punches, so it has a very strong melee feel. He also starts with the Speedy Skate ability which is a dash attack that allows Freeze Blade to burst forward for a couple seconds, damaging any enemies in his way. An early upgrade unlocks an attack that allows you to freeze your enemies. This attack has a longer range than the Chakram throw. Several other upgrades increase the damage ability of Chakram, the Dash attack and armor. The ability to freeze most of your attackers combined with a dash attack and a strong Chakram throw allows Freeze Blade to become one of the most powerful Skylanders in the game.
As a swappable character there are two different upgrade paths to choose, one for his body and one for his legs. The body paths let you focus either on either a stronger Chakram, or stronger freeze attacks. The leg paths both affect dashing, and are both pretty devastating. One path leaves a trail of ice behind Freeze Blade’s Dash. This trail will slow and damage enemies that touch it. The other path allows Freeze Blade to knock back any enemies hit by the dash which will also cause a freezing explosion when they land.
Also as a swappable character he has two soul gem abilities. The body Soul Gem gives the Chakram increased critical hit chance and damage, while the legs Soul Gem gives the dash attack more damage and prevents it from being broken by attacking enemies. Neither is a flashy upgrade, but both add even more attack power to what was already one of the strongest attacking Skylanders available.
Once upgraded, regardless of path chosen Freeze Blade’s power and speed are valuable assets that make him one of the best and easiest to use characters in the game.
| Card Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 140 | Max Health | 280 | |
| Defense: | 75 | Speed | 50 | |
| Speed: | 200 | Armor | 6 | |
| Luck: | 85 | Critical Hit | 8 | |
| Elemental Power | 25 | |||
| Body Attacks | |||
| Chakram Throw | Press Attack 1 to throw an icy chakram. | Free | |
| Frostcicle | Press Attack 3 to fire a shard of ice that freezes enemies. | 300 Gold | |
| Icicles | Chakram gains a new layer of ice, making attacks do increased damage. | 800 Gold | |
| Frigid Whirl | Hold Attack 1 to charge the chakram, then release to throw it. | 1000 Gold | |
| Blizzard Blade Path | |||
| Shaved Ice | Hold Attack 1 to charge the chakram, release to throw the chakram and shoot ice in every direction. | 1500 Gold | |
| Whiteout | Ice projectiles from Shaved Ice do increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Ice Sculptor Path | |||
| Oh Snow! | Hold Attack 3 to charge Frostcicle, release to freeze an entire area. | 1500 Gold | |
| Ice to Meet You | Frostcicle and Oh Snow! do increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Winter Chakram | Chakram attacks have increased critical hit chance and do extra frost damage | 3500 Gold | |
| Leg Attacks | |||
| Speedy Skate | Press Attack 2 to dash forward a short distance and damage enemies in the way. | Free | |
| Ice Trail | Dashing leaves behind a trail of ice that slows enemies. | 300 Gold | |
| Glacial Coat | Armor increased. | 800 Gold | |
| Bladed Butterfly | Hold Attack 2 to perform a fancy skating trick that damages all enemies nearby. | 1000 Gold | |
| Trail Freezer Path | |||
| Flash Freeze | Press Attack 2 to dash, dashing will now leave behind an ice trail that damages enemies. | 1500 Gold | |
| Nice Ice | Flash Freeze does increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Ice Skater Path | |||
| Penalty Frost | Press Attack 2 to knock back an enemy, wherever the knocked back enemy lands will cause a large freezing explosion. | 1500 Gold | |
| Iced Skates | Penalty Frost does increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Iceberg Endurance | Dashing does increased damage and does not stop when attacked. | 3500 Gold | |
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Bumble Blast is a new core Life Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. He comes with the Fiery Forge Battle Pack, or you can buy his limited variant Jolly Bumble Blast as a single character. His back story says that he was originally a beehive where bees made a sweet magical honey. Then when Kaos launched an attack on the bees to take the honey for himself, Bumble Blast came to life as their protector. He is a very detailed character but I think he looks more like a smaller version of Tree Rex than a beehive. He is a walking tree with a beehive gun and a sweet honeycomb jaw with a honey tongue sticking out. The detail on his character is fantastic. There is a little stinger coming out the barrel of his beehive gun showing the bee he is about to shoot, and even the life element symbol carved into the wood knot on his shoulder. Bumble Blast looks great, but he has a limited colored variant called Jolly Bumble Blast who looks even better. He dons a Red Santa Suit with green feet and stands on a snow covered base. He even has a candy cane striped bee coming out of a green holiday beehive gun. It’s a fantastic looking colored variant and it might be my favorite Skylander character.
Besides being a great looking character, Bumble Blast also has some pretty awesome attacks. He starts with a basic Beezooka attack which shoots homing bees at enemies. These bees hit their target as long as you are aimed fairly close to your target. He also starts with a Honey Glob attack which coats enemies in honey. As you begin to upgrade him, the bees will always target enemies coated in honey. This allows you to attack while running away from trouble. It’s a huge advantage. You will also be able to drop mines that explode to oat enemies with honey and be able to shoot multiple bees at one time. If you choose to upgrade the Bee Keeper Path, there is also an upgrade that shoots out a huge Queen Bee that knocks a group of enemies into the air. If you choose the Honey Tree Path, then you will improve your honey coating abilities.
For Bumble Blast’s Soul Gem Ability, he will gain a backpack that automatically fires bees at enemies. It’s an interesting looking change to the character and it allows you to worry more about coating enemies in honey than always firing your bees. No matter what upgrade path you choose, and even before you unlock the Soul Gem ability, Bumble Blast is a very strong Skylander and very fun to play with.
Overall Bumble Blast is a must have. He is on a short list of our all time favorites.
| Card Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 85 | Max Health | 320 | |
| Defense: | 85 | Speed | 35 | |
| Speed: | 50 | Armor | 24 | |
| Luck: | 90 | Critical Hit | 4 | |
| Elemental Power | 25 | |||
| All Attacks | |||
| Beezooka | Press Attack 1 to shoot honey homing bees at enemies | Free | |
| Honey Glob | Press Attack 2 to shoot a big ball of honey that will coat enemies in honey when hit. | Free | |
| Honey Beecon | Bees will always target and attack enemies coated in honey. | 500 Gold | |
| Hungry Bees | Bees deal increased damage against honeyed targets | 700 Gold | |
| Hive Mind | Press Attack 3 to shoot a beehive into the ground. The hive explodes into honey when an enemy approaches it. | 900 Gold | |
| Painful Stings | Bees gain more powerful stingers, increasing their damage. | 1200 Gold | |
| Bee Keeper Path | |||
| Bee Armada | Hold Attack 1 to charge the Beezooka, release to shoot three bees at once. | 1700 Gold | |
| Stirred up a Nest | A new Beezooka now shoots even more bees that do increased damage. | 2200 Gold | |
| Queen Bee | Hold Attack 1 and charge theBeezooka even longer, release to shoot a Queen Bee that knocks enemies into the air. | 3000 Gold | |
| Honey Tree Path | |||
| Honey Buzz Blast | Hold Attack 2 to charge a honey attack, release to shoot a honey glob that contains angry bees. | 1700 Gold | |
| Heavy Honey | Honey attacks deal increased damage and slow enemies. | 2200 Gold | |
| Honeycomb Bark | Armor is increased. Bark skin will sometimes drip out honey that coats enemy attackers | 3000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Bee-Pack Backpack | Gain a behive backpack that automatically launches bees at nearby foes. | 4000 Gold | |
Conner is in another singing mood for this Magna Charge unboxing. At least until he starts to get him open, then his singing starts to fade a little. 🙂 Watch as he compares Magna Charge to Nitro Magna Charge and decides which one is better.
Let us know what you think of Magna Charge.
Rip Tide is a new core Water Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. He is an Aqua-Fighter and appears to be a descendant of some kind of fish himself. He is all blue with a light green underside and is wearing a full body, gold armored suit. Unlike a fish, he walks on two legs and has two arms. His character holds a swordfish in one hand as a weapon. In the game he can change his weapon to be a hammerhead shark or, after some upgrades, a large whale. He is moderately detailed with scales on the top side of his body and even the gold plated armor has scales. He looks like he’s ready for a fight and even his swordfish weapon looks to be ready for action. Overall he has a very interesting look, a fish-man wielding another fish looking for a battle.
Initially I was not too impressed with Rip Tide’s attacks. The swordfish attack was a good fast melee attack, but the hammerhead attack seemed too slow and not strong enough to use instead of the faster swordfish attack. Eventually you upgrade the ability to throw your weapon. This changes the character’s attack strategy as now he can stand back and perform more ranged attacks. However, each time you throw one fish, your weapon switches to the other. So you might end up equipped with weapon you do not want to use when you get back into melee. We chose the Fishy Fencer Path and the main ability that path added was a dash to the swordfish attack. This acts almost like another ranged attack as it allows Rip Tide to quickly get into a fight or quickly get out of trouble. The soul gem ability is also pretty interesting as it allows your weapon to turn into a giant whale which does a wide area attack and then also shoots out extra smaller fish to damage nearby enemies.
Overall Rip Tide is a fair character. He has a bit of a slow start but finishes with some good abilities.
| Card Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 120 | Max Health | 300 | |
| Defense: | 70 | Speed | 43 | |
| Speed: | 75 | Armor | 30 | |
| Luck: | 55 | Critical Hit | 4 | |
| Elemental Power | 25 | |||
| All Attacks | |||
| Tetra Attack | Press Attack 1 to swing the currently held fish at enemies. Swordfish attacks are quick while Shark attacks are slow, but more powerful. | Free | |
| Fish Toss | Press Attack 2 to toss the currently held fish at enemies. Fish Toss will also change between Swordfish and Shark. | Free | |
| Whale On 'Em | Press Attack 3 to drop a large whale and smack down a large number of enemies. | 500 Gold | |
| Bigger Fish to Fly | Press Attack 2 to throw the held fish, doing increased damage to enemies. | 700 Gold | |
| Fresh Fish | Press Attack 2 to throw the currently held fish. Press Attack 1 to attack and critically hit with the new fish. | 900 Gold | |
| Blistering Blubber | Whale attacks do increased damage. | 1200 Gold | |
| Fishy Fencer Path | |||
| Nipping Needle Nose | Press Attack 2 to throw the sword fish which does damage over time to enemies that it hits. | 1700 Gold | |
| Practiced Parry | Swordfish attacks do increased damage. | 2200 Gold | |
| Straight as an Angler | Hold Attack 1 to charge a swordfish attack, release to dash through enemies causing them to take damage and be knocked back. | 3000 Gold | |
| Flounder Pounder Path | |||
| Shark Surprise | Press Attack 2 to throw the Shark which bounces off of enemies' heads before landing. | 1700 Gold | |
| Time to Hammer | Hammerhead shark attacks do increased damage. | 2200 Gold | |
| Shark Bite Bait | Hold Attack 1 to charge a shark attack, release to dash forward biting any enemies in the way. | 3000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Reinventing the Whale | Angry fish explode out of the whale's spout, seeking out and damaging nearby enemies. | 4000 Gold | |
Here is the Rubble Rouser Unboxing! Today Conner unboxes his first Earth Swappable Skylander: Rubble Rouser! He once again has some slight problems with getting him out of the package but overall it looks like it will be worth it as we get ready to start using this dig ability Swap Force character.
Give it a watch and let us know what you think of Rubble Rouser!
Check out our Legendary Zoo Lou unboxing. Today Conner unboxes Legendary Zoo Lou. Zoo Lou is a new life core Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. The “Legendary” edition has slightly increased stats and is exclusive to Toys R Us. Watch and let us know what you think of Legendary Zoo Lou.
Grilla Drilla is a new Swappable Life Skylander with the Dig ability for Skylanders Swap Force. The bottom half of Grilla Drilla is a large drill while the top part is that of a heavily armored Gorilla. In the game Grilla Drilla actually walks on legs but he can turn them into a drill. He has a mean look on his face and two large metal plated fists ready for action. The lack of any weapon makes you believe that he will be a melee attack character. Even though he looks mean, it’s hard to gauge how well he will perform in battle. Having a large drill bit for legs is cool for his digging ability but that is hardly a way to attack enemies. Just based on his looks he doesn’t appear to be a very useful Skylander.
Grilla Drilla does in fact start with a punch as one of his main attacks. But his punch is not a normal type of a punch. His fist actually has arm drills that spin and deal even more damage when punching. And it is quite the powerful punch. His card shows the maximum 200 for his attacking ability. His secondary attack is to plant a coconut turret by transforming his legs into a drill. As Grilla Drilla starts to get upgrades, his attacks become much more interesting. One of his early upgrades adds the ability to summon a pair of crazy monkeys. These monkeys run across the screen damaging enemies in their path. It’s basically a ranged attack. The turret attack can be upgraded to drop bombs and to gain the ability to plant two turrets at a time. And the punches can be upgraded to have a longer range, making them a good medium ranged attack option.
As a swappable character there are two different upgrade paths to choose, one for his body and one for his legs. The body paths let you focus either on stronger punching where he can use both fists at once, or on upgrading the monkeys to do more damage and to send four out at a time. We chose the monkey path and they do quite a bit of damage when they run across the screen. However, the dual punching fists sound pretty devastating as well. The leg paths both enhance the turret attacks. One path shoots coconut projectiles that explode while the other path turns the turrets into rapid fire banana turrets. Neither seem very useful in a heated battle. To take the time to plant a turret leaves you open for attack and even when the turret has done it’s job. Chances are you will want to move it or replant it, because the battle can quickly move on. And by the time you build up Grilla Drilla all of the way, the punches and monkeys become super powerful and a much quicker and easier decision to use.
Also as a swappable character he has two soul gem abilities. One turns his arm drills into shiny gold allowing punch attacks to do even more damage, and the other adds a thorny defense to the turrets making them very hard for enemies to attack. The turret upgrade is the more interesting upgrade, but the arm drills will be used more often so a little extra power doesn’t hurt.
Grilla Drilla is quite powerful, but I never really found myself using the turret attacks much. It just doesn’t have the power of the monkeys or Grilla Drilla’s amazing punch attack.
| Card Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack: | 200 | Max Health | 290 | |
| Defense: | 130 | Speed | 43 | |
| Speed: | 70 | Armor | 24 | |
| Luck: | 70 | Critical Hit | 4 | |
| Elemental Power | 25 | |||
| Body Attacks | |||
| Punchy Monkey | Press Attack 1 to punch at nearby enemies. | Free | |
| Monkey Call | Press Attack 3 to summon a pair of crazy monkeys! | 300 Gold | |
| Silverback | Press Attack 1 to unleash punches that deal increased damage. | 800 Gold | |
| Reaching Mandrill | Press Attack 1 to punch at a longer range. | 1000 Gold | |
| Monkey Master Path | |||
| Team Monkey | Monkey Call summons four monkeys at once! | 1500 Gold | |
| King of the Jungle | Monkey Call does increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Drilling Punches Path | |||
| Double Punch | Press Attack 1 three times to attack with both drills. | 1500 Gold | |
| Primate Power | Double Punch does increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Ring of the Golden Monkey | Arm Drills become shiny Gold, making punch attacks do extra damage. | 3500 Gold | |
| Leg Attacks | |||
| Planted Turret | Press Attack 2 to plant a coconut turret that attacks nearby enemies. | Free | |
| Explosive Growth | Hold Attack 2 to charge a turret, release to plant a bomb plant that explodes and damages enemies nearby. | 300 Gold | |
| Spreading Like Weeds | Explosive Growth bomb plants will explode into three smaller bombs. | 800 Gold | |
| Nature's Bounty | Press Attack 2 to plant a coconut turret that shoots at nearby enemies. Press Attack 2 again to plant another. | 1000 Gold | |
| Coconut Caretaker Path | |||
| This is Coconuts! | Turret projectiles now explode, causing damage to enemies in a small area. | 1500 Gold | |
| Coconut Mayhem | Coconuts do increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Banana Blaster Path | |||
| Banana Split | Coconut turret upgrades into a rapid shooting Banana turret. | 1500 Gold | |
| Go Bananas! | Bananas do increased damage. | 2000 Gold | |
| Soul Gem Ability | |||
| Adaptive Nature | All plants gain thorns that damage and push back enemies that step on them. | 3500 Gold | |
Here is a Smolderdash Unboxing. We recently picked up the regular Smolderdash for Skylanders Swap Force while searching for new characters. Here is her unboxing and a quick comparison to Lightcore Smolderdash.
Let us know which Smolderdash you like better: the regular or the lightcore version?
