Unboxing Pumpkin Eye Brawl

What? Pumpkin Eye Brawl, or Special Halloween 2013 Edition Eye Brawl
Where Did You Get Him?  GameStop Pre-Order and Activision (Thanks!)
How Much Did It Cost?  $15.99 plus tax,
What Was Stock Like? My local GameStop got a shipment of 6
What Lights Up?  Head/Eye, just like regular, but in Spooktacular Orange
Is This Timed, or Limited Quantity Etc.?  Right now that is unknown, my advice is to get him now if you want him.
How Does He Appear In-Game?  Title Screen indicates "Special Eye Brawl."  He shows up just the same as regular Eye Brawl and starts with no Level or Cash incentives.

If you've got your sights set on a spooktacular Halloween, look no farther than the latest Skylanders Giants offering, Special Halloween 2013 Edition Eye Brawl. SH2013 Eye Brawl, or as he is more commonly referenced, Pumpkin Eye Brawl, is sure to be a smashing success with kids of all ages and collectors alike.

Eye Brawl, Special Halloween 2013 Edition Eye Brawl in the Packaging, Pumpkin Eye Brawl (Loose):

Pumpkin Eye Brawl left the factory with a glossy, jet black cloak and his ever intent eye has taken more of a jack-o-lantern look. All of his copper piping and silver wings are jet black.

Pumpkin Eye Brawl and Eye Brawl, Side-by-Side, Front:

Pumpkin Eye Brawl and Eye Brawl, Side-by-Side, Back:

Pumpkin Eye Brawl and Eye Brawl, Side-by-Side, 3/4 View:

Pumpkin Eye Brawl, Eye Small, and Eye Brawl:

On the Portal of Power, Pumpkin Eye brawl radiates a warm, but sinister orange glow. With the lights out, he looks fantastic.  The color closely matches the #5 billiard ball and kind of spins out from a fiery yellow, to pumpkin orange, and ultimately scorches as a burnt orange before fading back thru the same spectrum on the back half of the eye.

The one I opened (GameStop Pre-Order) seemed to have the light source off-center.  The one sent from Activision (thanks again) was dead on...The other pre-order I got for my Nephew's Halloween present was also centered.  That said, with the lights out, the one I opened looked great with the orange glow.  I'm thinking it was just a rare one...nothing was loose, or rattled.  If you are concerned, just stick the one you intend to buy on the Portal of Power at the store display and see how it lights up.

                                  Pumpkin Eye Brawl & Eye Brawl Lit on the Portal, Lights On:

Pumpkin Eye Brawl & Eye Brawl Lit on the Portal, Lights Out:

Pumpkin Eye Brawl is the perfect pumpkin stuffer for this year's Halloween.  It is unknown how long he'll be spooking on shelves, so act fast if you don't want him haunting you.

Happy Halloween!!!

Skylanders Giants Spooks up Pumpkin Eye Brawl

As much as things like Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon launching in the Spring and not Fall (cough, before Halloween, cough) bothers me a bit more than most, I have to like the fact when something meshes up properly.

You've likely heard rumors of Pumkin Eye Brawl for awhile now...I know a ton of people have asked me if he is legit.  My answer was yes...and now we can add him to our collections...at least in Canada.  Those of us stateside will just have to wait about a week now.

He was first leaked on cduniverse...then retail "juggernauts" Sears and Kmart added him for pre-order, albeit with no picture or box art etc.  This led to a lot more speculation, but helped convince me this was in fact a real deal.

How those two retailers opened up before GameStop, TRU, Walmart, Target, Amazon etc is still beyond me, but oh well...

I have to thank John from the blog and Facebook for letting me know we could actually pre-order PEB from GameStop!

  

I was running errands last night and put in my pre-order.  I think the price was $15.99 (got some other stuff and don't have the receipt on me).  Pumpkin Eye Brawl should arrive in stores Wednesday, September 11th, 2013.

Big question past that was the usual:
-What Is His Name in the Game?
-Does he Look Different?
-Level 5 and Cash?
-How does he look on the portal?

Well, since our neighbors to the north have Pumpkin Eye Brawl (as of today) we can answer those questions.

Pumpkin Eye Brawl's name in the game is "Special Eye Brawl" and he does not start at Level 5 with any coins.  Also, in game he appears like regular Eye Brawl.  I will save the light up info for the actual unboxing video...which should hopefully come next Wednesday!

Nonetheless, this is another special Giant and gives folks like myself a legitimate, non-duplicate 2nd Eye Brawl to explore his other path.

At this time we don't know if he will fly off the shelves or stick around like Gnarly Tree Rex.  My thoughts are he should be easy to find initially, but with Halloween coming we could be in for a scare.  Parents that are aware of him, or kids that know of him, will likely request Pumpkin Eye Brawl over candy...this will put a dent in the supply.  The other, and bigger concern, is of course the scalpers.  They know PEB will be big around Halloween and without knowing if he'll be stocked deep, or shipped in limited quantities for a short time they might buy up stock.  I've already had a few Canadian readers tell me they have experienced going to their EB Games trying to land him today.

That said, I wanted to get the word out on Pumpkin Eye Brawl and his pre-order status.  GameStop is likely a better bet for most.  Currently, there is still nothing mentioning him on their website and I've yet to know of another major retailer with a pre-order.

As soon as I land him I will post pics and the unboxing!

Good luck landing your Pumpkin Eye Brawl!

Eye Brawl and Thumpback in the Near Future!

Hey Everybody!

How about some REALLY awesome news to start 2013?  Well, this should suffice.

While skimming the net today I found 2 very good leads on the potential release of both Thumpback, the Water Element Giant, and Eye Brawl, the Undead Element Giant.

Before calling my local GameStop I checked online to make sure the release date on the Scorpion Striker Battle Pack with Hot Dog and Zap was in fact pushed back to 1/9/2013.  That sadly turned out to be the case and I got confirmation when I called in...

However, when on GameStop.com I found the packaging proof had been added for BOTH Thumpback and Eye Brawl!!

This is a big deal because that is what GameStop has done in the past before a new character was up for sale...You can also note that they have  yet to add the Wave 3 Single Packs to that coveted list, so I am thinking it is imminent that we will see both Giants very soon.

Checking around elsewhere, I turned up on Amazon link to Thumpback...with the packaging proof, yet another encouraging sign!

As of right now I do not know solid dates, but I will update this post as the info trickles in...

Here are some helpful links:

Eye Brawl at GameStop:
http://www.gamestop.com/toys/skylanders-giants-eye-brawl-individual-character-pack/105996

Thumpback at GameStop:
http://www.gamestop.com/toys/skylanders-giants-thumpback-individual-character-pack/106002

Thumpback on Amazon:

Thumpback Amazon

Eye Brawl at Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Skylanders-Giants-Giants-Eye-Brawl-Universal/21309831

Thumpback at Walmart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Skylanders-Giants-Giants-Thumpback-Universal/21309832

Personally I am more excited for Eye Brawl, but I know the vast majority seems to want Thumpback.

Stay tuned for updates and good luck landing the new Giants!

*Update 1/2/13 5 AM (so much for getting to bed earlier in 2013): It looks like several sources are saying we will see Thumpback and Eye Brawl hit on the 9th and that we can expect Ninjini mid-to-late January.  I obviously can not confirm this and would still call it speculation, but they have to come out some time, right?!

I also want to point out that there remains a good chance we could see some straggling characters like Wrecking Ball or Spyro in their S2 repose hit the shelves.

I'm still waiting on the assignment of any Triple Packs, although at this point it is likely I'd only be up for the tail end of them (could see all S2 in a few)...

I will update again as new or confirmed info arrives.

Updated 1/4/2013 to add Walmart Links.