Huge thank you to Activision for making one very special part of this post possible. More on that below.
Christmas was almost a disaster. Actually, it kind of was. See, Jacob wanted Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition more than just about anything. Back in November, I dutifully ordered it before it went out of stock. At least I thought I did. It arrived and I didn’t even look at it. I wrapped it and put it away, so excited that I got him this limited edition game!
On Christmas morning, I waited anxiously as he opened it. His eyes lit up. Then dimmed. “Mom, it’s Swap Force Dark Edition,” he said. I cried “No! No no no no no!” In fact, I cried and cried all morning. I’m not going to cast blame, but let’s just say bait and switch was involved. In any case, it was the wrong game and the right one was sold out everywhere. He kept saying “it’s okay, mommy, it’s okay, it’s okay!” I bought him the standard edition the next morning, along with 10 extra Skylanders (thanks to an awesome sale at Target) to make up for it.
The Skylanders Trap Team Debacle Becomes a Bonding Experience
I felt so horrible about what happened that I promised Jake I would play Skylanders Trap Team with him. I used to play video games all the time with Jake before life got so busy. Since I was taking time off for the holidays, I figured I’d put in an hour of play time and he’d be happy. I didn’t expect to love the game so much!
Skylanders Trap Team is fun! Like CRAZY FUN! Jake and I ended up spending hours each day of his vacation playing. Meanwhile, I had written Activision and explained what happened on Christmas and asked if they knew where I could find a Kaos trap- the ONE thing we needed most from the Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition. Those wonderful, beautiful people sent me the entire Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition to help me fix my Christmas mistake. I cried, I was so grateful.
It arrived when Jacob was back in school. I couldn’t wait for him to get home so we could open it. We were just at the Kaos level, so perfect timing! This was it! The big night! We were going to trap Kaos!
Let’s get a closer look at that Kaos trap, shall we? Jacob actually hugged it! The Dark Edition also comes with two other traps, plus “dark” versions of Food Fight, Snap Shot and Wild Fire. Other than that, the game itself and the portal are the same as the standard edition.
Sadly, I had to go out that night. I promised Jake he could stay up late though and we’d trap Kaos when I got home. I figured it would take maybe half an hour tops, right?
How long did it take to trap Kaos?
Wrong! It took about 90 minutes! Why? Mostly because I burned through my Skylanders like crazy in that final battle. Jake managed to keep Wild Fire alive for most of the fight. Me? Well, I lost my first Skylander when the crazy sharks came. I thought Jake said they heal you if you jump INTO them, not AVOID them. Oops. I also kept using melee characters, so I took a lot of damage getting up close to Kaos.
Finally, though, we were victorious. Those magic words came: Kaos defeated. Then, thanks to Activision, we got to hear those other beautiful, magic words: KAOS TRAPPED.
So as it turns out, Christmas wasn’t ruined. In fact, my mistake gave us a chance to bond like we haven’t in ages. In the end, Activision saved the day by letting me review the Dark Edition. Now that Kaos is trapped, Jacob and I are going back to all the other levels and trying to get all the stars. We also bought the Sunscraper Spire, Midnight Museum and Nightmare Express expansions. I highly recommend the first two, because they come with new elements (light and dark).
I’m hoping they come out with even more expansions! We still have quite a few more Skylander characters to pick up too! We’re searching for Enigma right now. I was excited to find a Cobra Cadabra floating around in Game Stop right after Christmas. It was the last one, so I grabbed it. I check the racks of every store with Skylanders every time I go out now. Yep, Activision has created not one, but two monsters here! I’m just as Skylander-obsessed as my son! If you’re looking for a fun game to play so you can bond with your kids, I recommend getting into Skylanders.
That was really cool of Activision to send the game stuff to you. I don’t play, but I am always impressed when a company goes the extra mile. My grandsons love this game.
My nephew loves these Skylanders sets, he is always carrying them around with him and talking about each one.
This is such a lovely story. I don’t know much about these types of games because both of my children are grown but anything that can get mom and son together doing something you both enjoy is a plus in my eyes. Shame on the company that tried to ruin your Christmas and kudos to Activision for fixing the problem with it. I just had two grandbabies so I will have to keep this company in mind.
My son is Skylanders obsessed!! My friend was able to find a couple Kaos traps before Christmas!! I haven’t given it to my son yet though because we are using it as a reward for him. It is crazy how many different accessories there are for this game. So awesome that they sent you a dark edition.
I love that Skylanders keeps coming up with great add-ons. We invested in one when it first came out because my oldest son “had” to have one and this was one of the selling points he used for it. This will be a perfect birthday gift for my son. Thanks for sharing!
You’ve really got the lingo down! 😀 I’m glad that a potential disaster turned into such a positive experience. And it sounds like your son is very well behaved and thoughtful. Many other kids would of freaked out. Kuddo’s to him!
these toys look really awesome! My son is too young for this sort of thing right now, but I bet he would love these when he’s a little older. Thanks for sharing such a fun gift idea!
Wow what a fun game/toy. This is something that my husband would actually play with but much more appropriate for my son. I’m going to have to check it out and maybe even get it for him. As if he doesn’t have enough toys as it is right? Anything for our boys.
This set looks like a lot of fun! Your son is so cute, he looks like he’s having a lot of fun with it. I am not familiar with Skylanders but they look pretty cool!
It sounded like you had a really fun time playing Skylanders. I love playing XBox Kinect games with my nephew, and I try to make an effort learning some of the other ones that do not interest me at all, like that Infinity 2.0 Marvel game. Anyhow, Activision scores MAJOR cool points with how they responded to your inquiry. Excellent business practices! Now you have me curious about this Skylanders series…my nephew has one of those sets…don’t ask me which one though.
Oh wow, this looks like it is so much fun. Your son is so handsome awesome. My boys would go crazy if I were to get this for them, they love things like this.
The boys in my daughters class love this. It’s all they talk about. Looks like your son really enjoyed playing with it. I think this was one of the hot toys for Christmas. So much fun!