As anyone who knows us will tell you, we have a bit of a weakness for Skylanders. Despite having only started playing the game around a year ago, we've already amassed a collection of over 50 figures - and it just keeps growing. A hit with kids and adults alike thanks to its "toys to life" concept, where placing a toy on the bundled "portal of power" will let you play as that character in game, we've poured plenty of time - and money - into Skylanders over the years - and it's looking like we'll soon be pouring in a whole lot more...
As per tradition for Skylanders releases, Activision have recently released a trio of new figures to coincide with Easter. As limited edition, themed Skylanders, these were already going to be must haves for collectors - but they're cool enough that even casual fans will want to get their hands on these too.
Meet the gang!
The trio of Easter figures consists of Power Punch Pet Vac (a colour swap of the recent mini Skylander, Pet Vac), an Easter Bunny themed Earth Trap (used in game for catching villains), and, perhaps the best of the bunch, a figure called Eggsellent Weeruptor - another cute, mini Skylander, this time themed like an Easter egg, complete with random zig-zag stripe around his midsection, and pink eyes. PINK EYES!
Coming complete with their own Easter egg themed packaging (which is cool enough on its own), the two minis will set you back £7.99 each, while the Easter bunny trap retails for a slightly cheaper £5.99. Unlike Disney Infinity, all three figures can be used throughout the entire game, on any level (although all three are also only compatible with Trap Team), in any mode - and all three are available exclusively in the UK from Smyths Toys. That said, having been released in very limited numbers, they're already becoming hard to find - so if you fancy picking one up, you'd best act fast.
The trio up close
So, let's take a closer look at all the new figures, and show you exactly what they do, what they look like, and how they work in game.
The Easter Bunny Earth Trap
Bunny!
With funky rabbit ears, a little pink nose, and somewhat haunting, hollow eyes, the Easter Bunny Earth Trap is perhaps the most cosmetic of the three. While the trap itself looks cool enough, there's nothing all that different about it when you actually use it in game. On plugging the trap into your Portal of Power, it'll show up as a bunny shaped earth trap, but it doesn't come pre-loaded with an exclusive villain, and otherwise functions in the game totally normally, letting you catch and store any earth element villain inside (for more on how the game's villain system works, check out our guide to the Trap Team traps).
Power Punch Pet-Vac
Pet-Vac, on the right
Although we're not quite sure how he's Easter themed, Power Punch Pet Vac is an air element mini Skylander, and a colour swap of the recently released Pet Vac. What this means in practice is that rather than his usual blue uniform, Power Punch Pet Vac instead comes sporting his fetching red guise pictured above.
Unfortunately, it's pretty tricky to get a good picture of Power Punch Pet Vac in action!
Armed with a gigantic fan, most of Pet Vac's moves are to do with wind. As the minis are simply smaller, cuter versions of older, bigger figures, Power Punch Pet Vac has exactly the same move set as Pet Vac, and their bigger brother Jet Vac, with the same stats to boot. With an initial HP of just 240, he's not the toughest guy around, but don't let his diminutive size fool you - Pet Vac packs a punch.
His primary attack, Vac-Blaster, fires a blast of air at enemies, for a pretty hefty 36 damage. His secondary attack, Suction Gun, uses that fan on the end of his blaster to suck enemies in closer, damaging them when they touch the fan blades, whilst also making Pet Vac a great team player for co-op fun, stopping enemies getting away. But Power Punch Pet Vac also has a trick up his sleeve. Pressing Triangle (on PS4/PS3) will let you use his Jet Pack, taking to the skies like some sort of, well, bird, giving you an extra range of attacks. As you level up and get more money, you'll be able to buy more upgrades, increasing the damage his gun and/or fans do, with Power Punch Vet Pac's two upgrade branches focussing on upgrading either his jet pack/aerial attacks, or the damage dealt by his blaster - although as always, you can only choose one. His final upgrade, Eagle-Air Battle Gear, give you some boosted armour, and as the game's own description says, a pretty cool visor.
Eggsellent Weeruptor
That's one cool hat
Easily the coolest (and cutest) of the pair, Eggsellent Weeruptor is a must buy. Along with his cool, Easter stylings, he's also a lot of fun to play as, with a great selection of ranged moves (letting you keep your distance from your enemies) - and several that make him pull a daft face.
For example...
In fact, it's the animation that sets Weeruptor apart. With fat little legs, and a heck of a waddle going on, Eggsellent Weeruptor is cute overload - even if his teeth are a little bit on the scary side. His diminutive, yet rather rotund nature also means it's easy to find a hat that suits him, with our customisation of choice being the purple fedora - or pimp hat, as we know it best.
In terms of moves, Eggsellent Weeruptor is no slouch, either. With the same move set as Eruptor and mini Weeruptor, Eggsellent Weeruptor dishes out a decent amount of damage for someone so small. His basic attack involves lobbing fireballs at things, which explode, dishing out 65 damage when fully upgraded, and has a pretty good range, so you can simply shower hot lava on your foes while staying fairly safe. His other two moves are less effective in battle, but pretty funny in practice, with Eruption summoning a pool of lava to damage any enemies nearby (great for when you're backed into a corner), and Magma Ball (pictured above) seeing Weeruptor cough up a giant ball of lava (well, proportionally giant, anyway), which rolls around, damaging anything it touches. It's his face before he spits the ball out that makes it, though.
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As all but the last few Skylanders Trap Team figures to be released, and certainly the last limited edition figures for the game, the Easter trio send Trap Team out on a high. Eggsellent Weeruptor looks great in his new eggy guise, Power Punch Pet Vac suits his new red colour scheme, while the Easter Bunny trap... well, it's an Easter bunny! While they may not be must buys for anyone who already owns the normal mini versions of the figures - for the rest of us, these are well worth picking up. If you can find them! Keep an eye on your local Smyths Toys for more info - and for more Skylander goodness, make sure you check out our new Skylander Finder, for all the information, pics, compatibility info and prices you could ever need!
