Unboxing Hot Head
What? Hot Head, Fire Element Giant
Where Did You Get It? Local Store, Not Sold Online
What Did It Cost? $14.99 plus tax
What is Included? Hot Head, Stat Card, and Sticker Sheet with Web Code
What Lights Up? The flame plume on his head...sadly that is it.
What Was Stock Like? Incredibly hard to find, at least as of me writing this 11/15/12...I got the only one in the store.
Quick Character Info
Slogan: "Hey! I'm on fire!"
Stats:
Power/Strength: 150/150
Defense/Armor: 120/150
Agility/Speed: 60/150
Luck: 80/150
Totals: 410/600
Conclusion
Hot Head is currently the hardest Skylander to come by...The last 2-3 weeks I have seen plenty of Sprocket and Flashwing and that even includes their respective Triple Packs. Tonight was the first time I have ever seen Hot Head in person.
I am looking forward to playing Hot Head and seeing how he stacks up...That said, while he isn't too bad aesthetically the light up display garners him no additional points. While Drobot was disappointing, Hot Head's light up effect is extremely disappointing. With Hot Head hailing from the FIRE ELEMENT and his hands serving for what looks like 2 eternal torches it blows my mind that they do not illuminate. His head fire (not sure how to describe it still) casts a nice, red glow (in person it really is red...not an amber color like we saw with Drobot) but it seems lost in the massive expanse that is his hands-up pose. Lighting up both the hands AND his head would have been great, but if I had to pick either/or I'd have gone with the hands, "hands down." Not only would that spread the light up effect, it would have put out a lot more, and I believe served to radiate some to his face anyway.
I want to stress that the light up effect has no impact on the actual game play, but there was once again a lot of potential that was missed here. And no, I'm not bashing him...I haven't played Hot Head and I am genuinely excited to have found him...it is just a true disappointment things weren't better executed...that said if he conveys that short fuse and infinite supply of fuel and fire in the game I might just reserve a warm place in my portal master heart for him.
The main thing I want to stress with Hot Head (aside from the lackluster lighting) is that you do not need to go overboard and spring $35-$100 for him. Just be patient and snag him for retail, or better yet...catch him in stock during a sale!
I am hopeful that stock will hit before Black Friday and if not then, hopefully a nice stock prior to Christmas...That said, here are some useful links (my way of thanking you for reading the blog!)...
Bonus Content for Blog Readers!
Amazon: I'm kind of getting tired of their lackluster shipping efforts, but they have honestly been the best best for finding Hot Head for the last 2 weeks or so. When they do get stock it tends to go very fast...I would order it immediately. And just a tip, to get free shipping you can have a few other items (another Skylander perhaps?), or a CD, DS game, etc to push you over the $25 threshold. That said, if you want it fast it might be smart to pay for shipping. I've waited 6 days for my Hot Head to leave their warehouse and it has yet to happen...not impressed:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/188-9399385-2628929?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hot+head
Best Buy: I am not a fan of this store at all. That said, I've had several people tell me their local stores have been getting in 3-6 Hot Heads...Might try your luck there or keep refreshing the link:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Skylanders%3A+Giants+Character+Pack+(Hot+Head)+-+Xbox+360%2C+PlayStation+3%2C+Nintendo+Wii%2C+Nintendo+3DS/6925153.p?id=1218814317341&skuId=6925153
GameStop: First off, check with your local store...if they don't have a big demand the associates may very well offer to hold one for you, or put you on a list! They are almost always the most in-tune to Skylanders and more willing to work with you.
http://www.gamestop.com/toys/skylanders-giants-hot-head-individual-character-pack/106001
Target: I've yet to see Hot Head there and the person who works in electronics has told me she has yet to see him, and she does seem to keep up with who they've had etc.
http://www.target.com/p/skylander-giants-character-pack-hot-head/-/A-14261779#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=hot head skylander
Toys'R'Us: You might ask associates here too. If you are nice and they know you are looking many will alert you to shipments, hold one, or try their best to help you out. If you've got someone really good they will be on par with GameStop employees. Their website just had a nice stock of Hot Head (which is now gone), BUT they tend to sell out and then restock as I've seen it since SSA and as recently as Sprocket and Flaswhing...just keep checking their website:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=15854546
Walmart: I have never seen Hot Head here either, but they have actually had the best continual stock of new Skylanders, Giants, and the harder to come by Sprocket and Flashwing, particularly the Triple Packs.
Whoa, Hot Head. That is amazing. I want him, but I am not going mad for him and going to Amazon for WAY MORE than he is actually worth.
ReplyDeleteOne helpful tip for getting Skylanders, try to go to the "smaller" Gamestop stores (By "smaller, I mean stores that are really close to bigger stores that sell video games such, as Walmart) Those stores tend to have more Skylanders. I got one Skylander during that time of Christmas where you can find nothing. I managed to get Boomer, the last Skylander. Hia moves did start out disappointing, but fully upgraded, he is blasting out in Brock's arena challenges.
Have no idea why I told you my Boomer story, since it is kind of useless. However, the "smaller" Gamestop thing is very helpful.
Nice job on Hot Head anyways
Thanks...I'm still surprised to have landed him as well. The Amazon one finally shipped and actually shows to be here Wed, but since it is coming thru the post office I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and bank on Friday or Saturday, lol.
DeleteI shop in a mid sized town so most of the GameStops are like hovering Walmart, lol. I agree though, they do have better stock than the isolated stores.
Oh yeah, Boomer has no reason to be the "least liked" imo...he is a ton of fun down his primary path and I always wanted to try his secondary path.
Hopefully you can land Hot Head soon. Amazon has been the best source, but once the $14.99 stock comes up it goes FAST! I missed out with 24 in stock as I simply went to add a cd for free shipping :(
As always great video Wiisdom! The animal crackers were a hilarious bonus. I completely agree that the light up effect is extremely weak. I have come to justify it by saying "well it matches his name - Hot Head, so they want the head to really stand out with the HOT light up effect"
ReplyDeleteThanks...glad you enjoyed it. Those animal "crackers" really are disappointing. To their credit they are kind of more of a "cracker" taste, but the ones beside them were iced. Plus all the animal crackers I have ever bought have been far more cookie. They are honestly just bad. Not even bland, just bad.
DeleteThat said, I gave some out tonight (only have 3 lbs of the flipping things) and people liked them?! Go figure. I suppose they aren't the worst thing in the world, but they are certainly not what I had in mind when I got them.
Yeah that is really the only justification for it. I just edited his intro and HC and in game he doesn't look near as disproportionate...he is actually a lot of fun box-stock. I think his gameplay is strong enough to make up for the lackuster lighting...it does have a nice red tone to it, but he just had a lot of potential that was left untapped in terms of the light up effect.
I have a hot head. Bought it on Amazon. Then I was at Kohl's and noticed they had a slew of skylanders. I was checking them out and they had a white (NOT glow in the dark) hot head. I bought it because I hadn't ever seen one, online or in person. The packaging just says Hot Head...not any special one (like the legendary ones or Crusher you can get as granite crusher). Do you know anything about this?? Is it a mistake one that didn't have color added? Or is it something else?
ReplyDeleteKohl's has Skylanders too? Crazy, lol. I did hear JC Penny's has them so I guess it isn't a shock as they did have Wii/DS games.
DeleteAnd yes, I do happen to know about it...
And you should be VERY happy!
What you likely have is a variant of Hot Head. If you remember the Gold, Silver, and Crystal variants from SSA this is the latest in that line. Hot Head, Sprocket, and Sonic Boom are all known to show up in this fashion. No one really knows what to exactly call it, but most refer to it as "glitter" or "sparkle." So I am assuming if you look at it in the right light you should see the specs that kind of sparkle like glitter, lol.
If it is just a stark white than I have never heard, or seen of it.
I wouldn't open it if I were you...If you aren't really into the collecting you can easily sell it or trade for regular (non-variant) Skylanders. You can kind of gauge the market on ebay and Amazon etc.
If it is just the straight white please shoot me a picture. If it has the sparkle to it you got a very nice variant from a very unlikely source!
Congrats and hope you enjoy it!!