Grilla Drilla Upgrade Paths and Damage Numbers Skylanders SWAP Force

Grilla Drilla Base Upgrades

Grilla Drilla Attack Damage Numbers

Grilla Drilla Monkey Master Upgrade Path

Grilla Drilla Drilling Punches Path

--Coming Soon, Need a 2nd GD--

Grilla Drilla Coconut Caretaker Upgrade Path

Grilla Drilla Banana Blaster Upgrade Path

--Coming Soon, Need a 2nd GD--

Please Note: This post is a work in progress until I get a 2nd Grilla Drilla...

Skylanders SWAP Force Unboxing Grilla Drilla

What: Grilla Drilla, Life Element, SWAP Force, Dig
Where Did You Get It? Toys'R'Us
What Did It Cost? $16.99 plus tax (BOGO40%)
What Was Stock Like? Very Limited. I saw 4 on the shelf on the Wed. Release Day.
What is Included: Grilla Drilla, Stat Card, and Sticker Sheet

Unboxing Grilla Drilla

Grilla Drilla

Life Element, SWAP Force, Dig

Slogan: "If There's a Drill, There's a Way!"

Card Stats:

Power: 200/200

Armor: 130/200

Agility: 120/200

Luck: 70/200

Totals: 470/800

Skylanders SWAP Force Wave 2 Early Release at Toys'R'Us

Hopefully you read the blog daily...If so, you already knew about Toys'R'Us getting Wave 2 Skylanders in before other retailers, although some Sam's Clubs had a few of them out as well.

If you missed the news, now you know.  Here is a video highlighting that news and showcasing the Skylanders I was able to track down:

Part 2: Night Shift and Knockout Terrafin

Part 3: Finally--Fire Kracken

Here is a complete list for what we can tentatively refer to as "Wave 2," although I personally like 1.1, but that is a bit technical.

Skylanders SWAP Force
-Boom Jet
-Fire Kracken
-Grilla Drilla
-Night Shift

Skylanders SWAP Force Newlanders
-Riptide
-Scorp
-Star Strike (non-LightCore)

Skylanders SWAP Force Series 2
-Heavy Duty Sprocket

Skylanders SWAP Force Series 3
-Anchors Away Gill Grunt
-Big Blast Trigger Happy
-Knockout Terrafin (Single Pack, not tied to Fiery Forge Battle Pack)
-Twin Blade Chop Chop

Skylanders SWAP Force Triple Packs
-Triple Pack #3: Heavy Duty Sprocket, Twin Blade Chop Chop, Scorp
-Triple Pack #4: Big Bang Trigger Happy, Star Strike, Anchors Away Gill Grunt





Stock Notes

Obviously, since I don't have Fire Kracken or Night Shift we can assume they were either more popular, arrived in lesser quantities, or some combo of the two.  I got the last Boom Jet in the house, and after I snagged Grilla Drilla there were only three left.

Star Strike was really hard to find...I am lucky I located her.

If I had to pick out two more that were "harder to find" it would be Knockout Terrafin and Twin Blade Chop Chop.  Seemed to be plenty of Trigger Happy, Gill Grunt, Sprocket, Riptide, and Scorp.

Regarding launch day stock there were still plenty of Legendary Free Ranger and Legendary LightCore Grim Creeper...LightCore Smolderdash was fittingly still very hard to locate.

Other Notes

Couple of glaring issues here...

First, with the release of standard, non-LightCore Star Strike the "Walmart Exclusive" Magic Triple Pack is pretty much dead in its tracks to anyone that gets the game near or around launch.  It would be far more cost effective to pick up TP 1 and TP 2, then snag a Single of Star Strike than it would to buy the Magic Triple Pack and then have to snag 4 other singles...

I think it is still neat and will appeal to many, particularly those at Walmart and who are perhaps new to the series, or just really big fans of Spyro and Pop Fizz.  For hard core collectors and even casual collectors, you are probably going to find more cost effective ways around that pack.  Naturally, it will still sell to "completionists," but that is another story.

Knockout Terrafin really surprised me in Single Pack form.  Had this been a LightCore Bumble Blast I would have been surprised but not nearly as much.  With Giants, the Battle Pack Characters remained tied to that pack to encourage sales as opposed to offering folks with an option to forego that BP right off the bat, in particularly this early.

Scorp is also a big surprise.  Given Slober Tooth's appearance in Single, Triple, and Dark Edition Packs it is hard to have envisioned Scorp launching this side of January.  His release makes me wonder if we might wind up having to wait awhile for the Earth SWAP Force Characters...Of similar interest, Air, Fire, and Undead already have all their SWAPPERS on shelves.  It also seems we will see them in groups of 4, unless they scale back with smaller waves.

Your Thoughts

Did you see this coming?  Are you glad they were released early, or would you have preferred a bit down the road?  Which characters from this grouping are you most excited about?  Are you enjoying SWAP Force thus far?

Good luck and happy hunting!

Wave 2 Is Here and More is Coming: Boom Jet, Fire Kracken, Grilla Drilla, Riptide, Scorp, and More!

Just a heads up, I'll try to make quick video for this later tonight as well...

I had an e-mail from Toys'R'Us stating that tomorrow, Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 they would have some brand new Skylanders before anyone else!  They explicitly list out: Fire Kracken, Grilla Drilla, and Boom Jet!!  Very exciting news, however they also add "Fire Kracken, Boom Jet, and 10 Others."  That means we should see those 3 Swappers and 9 Additional "new" Skylanders.

However, while you wait, you might check out Sam's Club.  The Walmart bulk store has reportedly gotten in some Wave 2 Singles, including:
-SWAP Force Newlanders Riptide, Scorp, and Star Strike Single Packs
-SWAP Force Series 2: Heavy Duty Sprocket
-SWAP Force Series 3: Twin Blade Chop Chop, Anchors Away Gill Grunt, Knockout Terrafin, and Big Bang Trigger Happy
-SWAP Force Triple Packs:
--Triple Pack 3: Anchors Away Gill Grunt, Star Strike, Big Bang Trigger Happy
--Triple Pack 4: Twin Blade Chop Chop, Scorp, Heavy Duty Sprocket

*Note that the Triple Pack order may be incorrect in both # and character listings.

The big surprise to me is that Knockout Terrafin is out in a Single Pack.  The game dropped 2 days ago and you would think they would keep him exclusive to the Battle Pack at least until the holiday season, if not longer.

If we try to account for TRU's listed "12 New" we would have this:

Boom Jet, Grilla Drilla, Fire Kracken, Riptide, Scorp, Star Strike, Heavy Duty Sprocket, Twin Blade Chop Chop, Anchors Away Gill Grunt, Big Bang Trigger Happy (That is 10).  If we include Knockout Terrafin we are up to 11.  There has been some speculation that TRU might have Night Shift in the mix...

I will try to find out tomorrow if at all possible.  Nonetheless, this is some great and very unexpected news!

I have to say, with Star Strike surfacing in her regular Series 2 form, Walmart's Magic Triple Pack is really a waste.  I have been loaded down with feedback from other folks having the same, similar, and in a few cases, worse experiences than myself at their launch day event, or lack there of...

I will update this with pictures and a video later tonight...My internet is still very slow, so work with me.

Hope everyone is enjoying the game!  I am stoked for Scorp and Riptide, let alone the new Swappers!!

Skylanders SWAP Force New Previews: Boom Jet, Grilla Drilla, Slobber Tooth, and Zoo Lou

One of the best things about Gamescom taking place a few weeks after E3 and closer to the big Fall launch dates is the new info.

Activision and Vicarious Visions' big Skylanders title SWAP Force was once again prominently featured for everyone to check out.  While not being there means we can't ask questions, check out the figures in person, or enjoy more of the gameplay, it does mean that we get new information!

This time around it looks like the strategy was to reveal some info on 2 Swappers and 2 of the New, Core Characters.  That broke down to a showcase of Boom Jet and Grilla Drilla for SWAP Force Skylanders and Slobber Tooth and Zoo Lou for our SWAP Force Newlanders.

Let's take a look at each...Also note you can scroll down to see the character bios, official artwork, final toy pose, and screenshots!

Boom Jet Preview

Grilla Drilla Preview

Slobber Tooth Preview

Zoo Lou Preview

Boom Jet
Air Element
Rocket Ability
"Bomb's Away"

No matter what Boom Jet did, he always had to be the best.  He could be seen day and night above his home in the Billowy Cloudplains gunning his engines and performing daredevil maneuvers as he trained to become the best sky surfer in all of Skylands.  Unfortunately, Boom Jet never had a chance to compete for the championship because a day came that changed his life forever.  The Darkness had come.  And with his town on the verge of being completely consumed by the ominous evil force, Boom Jet took action.  Using his incredible flying skills, he raced from house to house, rescuing all of the citizens and carrying them to safety… just before The Darkness destroyed his homeland.  It was then he realized the protection of Skylands was more important than personal glory, so he sought out Master Eon to offer his services to the Skylanders.

Boom Jet

Boom Drilla (Boom Jet + Grilla Drilla)

Boom Zone (Boom Jet + Blast Zone)

GRILLA DRILLA

Life Element

Dig Ability

“If There's a Drill, There's a Way!”

In the distant jungles of what was once the sprawling subterranean city of the Drilla Empire, Grilla Drilla served among the guards for the Drilla King.  Every seven years, the king would select the bravest and strongest guard to become their leader.  It was during the last selection ceremony that a troll mining operation broke through the ground above them and quickly snatched the king, wanting to know the location of the famed Drilla Diamond.  Having never ventured above ground, Grilla Drilla risked everything to defeat the trolls and rescue the Drilla King.  In return for his bravery, Grilla was selected as the new leader.  But he instead decided to join the Skylanders, where he could protect even more residents of Skylands.

Slobber Tooth

Earth Element

“Clobber and Slobber!”

Having been asleep for thousands of years, Slobber Tooth was awakened by the fiery eruption of two volcanic islands crashing together.  Immediately sought out by Kaos to become one of his minions, Slobber Tooth was promised great power.  But the gruff and headstrong fighter chose to follow his own path instead.  For this, Kaos attacked his ancient petrified homeland.  As the only one who could protect his hibernating race, Slobber Tooth fought tooth and tail against Kaos and his minions, ultimately driving them away.  For his heroism, Master Eon asked Slobber Tooth to join the Skylanders, where he could continue defending Skylands against the evil Kaos.

Zoo Lou

Life Element

“Nature Calls!”

Descended from a long line of shamans, Zoo Lou traveled far and wide to the Seven Strange Strongholds – ancient, mysterious sites of great wonder in Skylands – where he studied the wisdom and fighting styles of the Seven Strange Mages.  After many years of traveling and studying, Zoo Lou returned to find an army of trolls had invaded his sacred homeland to mine its natural magic resources.  Zoo Lou’s warrior heart burned with fury.  And having now mastered the enchanted art of communicating with nature and summoning animals, he unleashed his great mojo – attacking the trolls and single handedly freeing his lands once again.  It was this heroic feat that caught the eye of Double Trouble, who then brought Zoo Lou to Master Eon and the Skylanders.