SkylanderClub.com

As dome of you might know, in Australia we have had a severe lack of cores since wave 2. However, today i saw all of them as well as the Easter characters, available for preorder on the EB Games website for release on 27th of March.

They are as follows:
Earth Element Easter Rabbit Trap
Eggselent Weeruptor
Power punch Pet Vac
High Five
Bat Spin
Cobra Cadabra
Trail Blazer
Tread Head
Fist Bump
S3 Pop Fizz
S3 Jet Vac
S2 Fryno
Blackout
Spotlight
Mirror of Mystery Adventure Pack

But here's my dilemma. Altogether this will cost over $120. I already have High Five, Trail Blazer and S3 Jet Vac, so maybe take away $45, but spending over $175... that just won't do. So does anyone have any suggestions?

Im certain of getting MoM, blackout, spotlight and Easter trio, but what about all the other cores?

Ok...
So your going to get:
Blackout
Spotlight
Mirror of Mystery Adventure Pack
Earth Element Easter Rabbit Trap
Eggselent Weeruptor
Power punch Pet Vac

And you already have:
High Five
Trail Blazer
S3 Jet Vac

That leaves:
Bat Spin
Cobra Cadabra
Tread Head
Fist Bump
S3 Pop Fizz
S2 Fryno

First off..I don't know about your market. Some options may be fundamentally different where you live.
Basic suggestion:
1.Be Patient and Think Ahead. While it is true sometimes core figures can become hard to find, generally you have them available for a bit. So if you think the Easter stuff is worth the @$9 each, then I would get those first as they may have the shortest shelf life (Personally, I don't need another Earth Trap so the Bunny trap is tempting but I'm thinking of skipping him...or her.) Cobra Cadabra is going to get a variant released so you may prefer that one over the standard. I'm not dying for Power Punch Jet Vac, as I'm going to get the Air mini Pack.

2. Deals...Deals...Deals
I have a general rule not to buy anything unless its under some sort of deal...BOGO40% off or some such type.
(While I have broken it, I have for the most part stuck to it. In general, I would say that we have payed about 25% less than the sticker cost for our entire Trap Team collection.) Do they have a Gamestop "Skylander Day" type sale at EB? Generally every 2 months here...Although I have very little faith in them here, perhaps they are better in your area?

3.Delay what can be delayed. They stage their releases...You stage your purchases.
If you still have a good chunk of game left and your not ready to play the Mirror of Mystery level, than wait to buy it. (See original comment. If Adventure Packs disappear faster than a speeding bullet in the New Zealand/Australia markets, then disregard my geographically inappropriate suggestion!)
Blackout and Spotlight are the new elements, so I wouldn't delay on them. Pop Fizz and Fyno....I would totally wait.
Reality Check...If you delay, you COULD miss out...Just the way it is...With the exception of Granite Crusher , its worked out pretty well for me though.

4. Does EB games have the Gamestop equivalent of the Skylander Club? If so, join and get the 7th figure free. (Buy 6 figures, get a coupon emailed to you for a free 7th) That way you wait for a sale...get a discount...and contribute to the 6 figure count...earning your way to another discount. Video Game trade ins...?? Another possible source to defray the cost.

Anyway...pretty general advice...but it I hope it gets your thrifty,creative side fired up!

Generally in my area things are easy to find and have long shelf life, but this won't be true for the Easter characters , so those are worth preordering. I have seen very little stock of the new elements, so spotlight and blackout are instant preorders too.

1.the Easter characters are only $10 each (except the $8 trap) so thats very little hassle . I will wait for a sale on the reposes (we always have mid year, end of financial year toy sales)

2. We don't have skylander day, however there are the upcoming mid year sales to consider.

3. For fear of selling out ill certainly preorder MoM, which means i can delay the other magic characters. Ive also been looking forward to tread head and bat spin, so ill get them too, and then delay everything else.

4. No skylander club, but i can fiddle around with price matches and trade ins to get a better deal.

I think ive figured it out, thank you for your input, its greatly appreciated.