Skylanders Trap Team to introduce 'Eon's Elite' premium toy line
Activision announced that it will roll out a new collector-oriented series of Skylanders toys following the launch of the multiplatform sequel Skylanders Trap Team this fall.
The new "Eon's Elite" figures feature a metallic finish, and sit atop a golden base inside a premium-packaged foil display case. If you can bring yourself to crack open the packages and ruin their aftermarket value, you'll find that the Eon's Elite toys summon in-game characters who are up to three times more powerful than their non-premium counterparts.
Today's announcement follows up on Activision's recently revealed Skylanders Trap Team Dark Edition, a bonus-bundled special edition of the game that will carry a premium price tag at retail. Recent announcements suggest that Trap Team will move beyond the series' traditional youth-oriented focus in order to appeal to an expanding collector market.
The first Eon's Elite series features relaunched characters from 2011's Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, including Spyro and Chop-Chop. Prices for the new toys were not announced, but given their focus on packaging and presentation, they're likely more expensive than currently available figures.
[Image: Activision]
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SKYLANDERS BRINGS PREMIUM TOY LINE "EON'S ELITE" TO FANS THIS FALL
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - July 24, 2014 - Today at San Diego Comic-Con, Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) announced plans to bring "Eon's Elite," a new set of premium toys, to Skylanders® fans worldwide this fall. The limited edition Eon's Elite will introduce eight must-have collectible versions of fan-favorite Skylanders characters, beginning with Spyro and Chop Chop.
The heroes in the "Eon's Elite" roster hail from the original Skylanders Spyro's Adventure® and have been carefully selected by Master Eon for displaying undaunted courage and commitment to defending all of Skylands. Eon's Elite features a never-before-seen decoration with a distinct, metallic finish and a golden base that sets them apart from other Skylanders toys. Each of these special edition toys will be offered in premium foil packaging and also features a display case with a 3D lenticular background. Additionally, when played in-game, Eon's Elite will be up to three times as powerful over other characters, which represents the biggest in-game boosts ever incorporated into a Skylanders toy to date.
"Eon's Elite represents the most iconic characters from the original Skylanders game that started it all," said Josh Taub, senior vice president of product marketing at Activision Publishing. "These eight toys are not only premium quality but also honor the characters' strength, courage and commitment. We're excited to extend our fans' collections with this new line."
Eon's Elite characters will be available in limited quantities at GameStop and EB Games stores in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and select retailers in Europe this fall while supplies last.
About Skylanders Trap Team™
Launching in October, Skylanders Trap Team brings a ground-breaking innovation to the Skylanders franchise by reversing the magic of its signature Toys-To-Life™ play pattern to let kids bring life-to-toys for the first time. With Skylanders Trap Team, Portal Masters seek out and defeat the most wanted villains in all of Skylands, pulling them out of the game and into living rooms by capturing them in magical Traps. Players can then send villains back into the game where they play as them to fight for good. The game will include the Traptanium Portal, a new ring of magical energy that enables kids to not only bring their Skylanders to life, but also magically capture villains using the new Traps. Once they've defeated the villains, kids will be able to place a Trap into the new portal to capture them. They will also be able to hear the villains inside the Traps, an innovation that truly brings life to toys. Skylanders Trap Team will be available on Xbox 360™ and Xbox One™video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment systems, Nintendo's Wii™ system, Nintendo's Wii U™ system, and a completely unique adventure available on the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system.
About the Skylanders® Franchise
The award-winning, $2 billion Skylanders franchise pioneered the Toys-to-Life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro's Adventure. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms. In October 2012, Skylanders Giants™ further evolved the genre and added the mega-sized Giant Skylanders and LightCore® characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders SWAP Force launched in October 2013 and introduced an all-new play pattern - swapability. The Skylanders franchise was the top selling kids' videogame of 2013¹, and is now one of the top 20 videogame franchises of all time². Skylanders Trap Team, the newest installment due out in North America on October 5, 2014, reverses the magic of bringing toys to life - incredibly letting kids pull characters out of the digital world into the physical world. For more information, please visit: www.skylanders.com and Activision.com/presscenter.
About Activision Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), today is a leading world wide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.
