Skylanders Imaginators finds a new way to work your wallet

The toys-to-life genre needs a shake-up. We’ve winnowed out Disney’s half-hearted effort, but that still leaves us with Lego Dimensions, Nintendo Amiibos, and Skylanders which are still burning through sets and revisions each year. What can you do if you’re a publisher of these gewgaw based videogames but keep cranking them out and hoping the fad lasts another year? Activision’s Skylanders Imaginators may have found the answer. Buying a toy to unlock new game content is so last year. Spend money to create your own toy to unlock new game content instead!

Kaos has discovered the ancient power of Mind Magic and is using it to create an unstoppable army of Doomlanders! Eon is calling upon all Portal Masters and Skylands’ greatest mystic warriors, the Senseis to stop Kaos and his minions. Now, you must use the power of your imagination to create your own Skylanders to battle in the ultimate adventure alongside the almighty Senseis to save Skylands.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand that. It’s just word salad. All you need to know is that Skylanders Imaginators allows you to create your own Skylander hero out of character creation options like voice, powers, body types, heads, costumes, etc., then teaching that figure a skillset via 31 “Sensei” heroes for $14.99 each and locking the newly created hero into a crystal for $9.99 each. Then, if you’re feeling particularly rich, you can spend another $49.99 and use a separate mobile app to have a real figure 3D printed and shipped to you. It’s like printing money, except you’re paying someone else. Skylanders Imaginators hits store shelves on October 16th.