When I started collecting, I made the mistake of calling every store that carried Skylanders two times a week to ask them what they had in stock, being a person of reason I didn't want to waste all their time by asking for every figure known to man so I would give them a list of 5 hard to find figures and then ask them if they had anything else in that was special or known as "rare in stores". This sounded like a great idea but i quickly learned that this idea had fail all over it when I had called walmart to be told that they had nothing special in stock, then to go there 20 minutes later and find a glow in the dark sonic boom sitting pretty right in front on the rack.
Often retailers don't understand the special marketing scheme of this product that is similar to how beanie babies were released, there for even if you tell them what you are looking for they don't comprehend how hard it is to obtain and will easily look over it. Another reason why this does not work is Skylanders collectors and scavengers(people that buy them simply to resell them for value on sites such as Ebay and Amazon) will hide hard to find ones behind other figures, inside other skylanders merch such as cases and back packs and any place they can find to tuck a way a figure that is close by. I am sure in some extreme cases people will put them in other parts of the store for safe keeping until they can get the money to come back for them.
So rule number 1. If you are looking to buy Skylanders from stores, you have to physically go in to check what is in stock. which brings me to another phone call that is actually effective. There is no harm in asking a store when their shipments come in. Usually there are 2 shipments a week, once you get this information it is best to go into the store as early as possible on the days of their shipments to get first dibs. You would be surprised how fast these figures can fly off the shelf. The opportunity to do this isn't always going to be there if you have a life but when I have the chance to do this most of the time I score something good. If i find something I already have but is rare, I buy 1 anyways to trade on craigslist for something I need. I do try to be mindful of other collectors and not buy up a whole stock even if I have the money to do so, plainly it's pretty mean >_< but purchasing 1 extra for trading purposes I do not frown upon because it will be going to another collector anyways. Rule number 2. Figure out what days new shipments arrive and practice being an early bird & Rule Number 3. Do not buy an abundance of one figure just because it is hard to find.
My second big mistake in Skylander hunting was going to ToysRus with a $75 spending limit, this was my birthday money from my parents. At this time I had been collecting Skylanders for a total of 3 days. I saw probably 15 Legendary Chills in stock. Since I already had regular Chill I focused on buying other figures that I didn't have any version of. As I was doing this I was thinking "Oh there is tons of those, I will come back for them in a few days when I get paid". Well you probably figured this out already... I thought wrong. I have not seen legendary chill at ToysRus since that day. Luckily for me I got her in an online trade a few days later. Rule Number 4. Here today gone tomorrow, if you see a figure you need for your collection and you have the budget to get it. Don't wait... because no one else is going to.
What you can't find in stores can be found online, the question is how much do you want to pay for a special variant or retired figure? prices get ridiculous. But as I mentioned above, picking up some Skylanders for trade is a good way to spend less money. I have yet to purchase any Skylanders on Ebay. I still have a few skylanders to go before I get into the very rare variants such as crystal clear, color shift, pearl, metallic, glitter etc. so this post is not really focusing on figures of that rarity. Craigslist is great for trading and sometimes you can find deals on used collections that can go for pretty cheap. I have been taking full advantage of this, checking craigslist every day and even though I haven't bought a Skylander on Ebay yet I still keep a keen eye on auctions of interest. Rule Number 5. Online window shop A LOT, knowing the prices and rarity of Skylanders helps you to make smart purchases.
Finding retired Skylanders is not possible in stores and pretty expensive online so I resort to luck and another hobby of mine that in my neck of the woods we call junking. Hit up garage sales, pawn shops, 2nd hand stores and where ever else you can find used electronics. More often then not people that are selling skylanders at a garage sale bought them, played them and lost amusement and interest in their value. Which means they will sell them at prices that probably seem crazy to you; the die hard fan.
I have widely told my friends and family that I am a collector of Skylanders and that has also been useful. My father in law found 6 Skylanders, a wireless portal and Spyro's Adventure game for $8 at a garage sale. He thought it was a pretty good deal since figures are at the minimum $8 new. Little did he know he got an over the top deal because what he brought home was Boomer along with 5 friends: Gill grunt, Prism break, Spyro, Trigger Happy and Voodood. I had the 5 other figures he brought home, the hardest to find being Voodood which luckily my partner found for me new at walmart a couple of days previous. But Boomer for a buck is so far my luckiest cheapest find and for me he was actually free as a gift. Rule number 6. One man's skylander is another man's treasure. & Rule number 7. It's a family affair, get your friends and family in on the hunt.
There is more you can do online, Following skylander collectors and super fans on social networking sites, blogs and youtube. Sometimes they get insider information and share it publicly with their followers! Recently Robert Welkner of Coin-op Tv shared with us about a special Skylanders event hosted by all Gamestop locations in the U.S.A. This event was hosted on June 22nd 2013. The first 25 portal masters to attend got a free poster. There was also a chance to get a free sidekick with the purchase of a Giant figure and Gamestop exclusive; Polar Whirlwind was in stock. Gamestop contacted Robert to give him the info to share it with his followers. So it helps to have Super Fan Friends.
You can find his channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/coinoptv?feature=watch
Rule Number 8. Follow Skylander Super fans on Social networks
Well there you have it, my tips and tricks or more so do's and dont's of Skylander hunting. If you see that I missed something important about this subject please do send me your suggestions/comments/questions.
