A few days ago, I wrote about Disney breaking into the toy/game hybrid wars of 2012, but I would be remiss not to mention the king that started it all.

Activision created a monster collecting franchise that combined the fun of Spyro and Crash with the hobby of collecting Pokemon.

The hobby was expensive with each of the Skylanders costing $10-12. There were over 100 to collect (with variations of each character).

But now that it is 2025, I can get Skylander games, peripherals, and add-ons for $15, with each monster being $3 a pop (unless they are rare).

Swap Force is one of the more notable entries into the franchise, allowing players to split up the halves of monsters and combine them to make new beasts.

Skylanders is the king of toy/game franchises (defeating LEGO and Disney) and it’s dirt cheap to start the hobby this year.

PS. You will need a PS3, Xbox 360, or a Wii to play

How do you level up in World of Warcraft without killing anyone. Find out in the Checkpoint. https://thecheckpointdevo.blog/2025/05/06/the-checkpoint-world-of-warcraft-and-righteousness/