Game maker Activision has achieved remarkable success in the toys-to-life genre by packaging Skylanders figures that unlock gameplay elements since the first edition of the Skylanders franchise: Spyro’s Adventure in 2011. Skylanders wasn’t technically the first toys-to-life game, but it was absolutely the most successful.
By the time Skylanders: Imaginators came out in 2016, there were around 180 different Skylanders figures for people to collect, most of which were still available in stores nowadays, but some employee or trade show exclusives or even unreleased Skylanders figures were never available for sale to the general public are truly rare and expensive.
Although the Skylanders franchise was not as massive as a few years ago since its last game release in 2016, the toys-to-life craze had all but ended around 2018. But the hype of collecting rare figures in the Skylanders community is bigger than ever in 2022. It’s not uncommon to find rare Skylanders figures sold for hundreds or even thousands in the resale marketplace.
If your goal is to complete your Skylanders collection or hunt for the rarest figures, we have covered a few holy grails of Skylanders in this guide that you’ve probably never heard of.
10. Pearl Hex
Release Year: 2012
Game: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
Element: Undead
List Price: $200 to $684
Selling Price: $200 to $500
Estimated Value (NIB): $350
Pearl Hex is a trade show exclusive Skylanders figure that was not available for sale in stores or online. It’s a rare colored variant of the regular Hex and has only been given away in limited numbers to specific attendees at the 2012 Nuremberg Toy Fair.
Generally speaking, any trade show exclusive variants from Series 1 – Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure are considered rare. Pearl Hex is often considered the rarest trade show variant out of all Series 1 trade show exclusive variants because this particular variant was only given away outside the U.S. at the Toy Fair in Nuremberg.
Pearl Hex has a unique appearance and a brilliant luster using pearlescent white paint. This variant is also a super rare colored variant out of all other painted or specially colored variants. Pearl Hex often sells for around $350-$400, given the fact that it’s truly rare and hard to obtain.
9. Master Dec-Ember
Release Year: 2016
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Fire
List Price: $175 to $600
Selling Price: $170 to $550
Estimated Value (NIB): $380
The Master Dec-Ember is an exclusive 2016 employee edition Skylander figure that will never be sold in stores or online. So far only a handful of these figures have been spotted on resale sites like eBay and they’ve all sold very quickly.
Master Dec-Ember is a variant of the regular Ember. Activision was cleverly calling her Master Dec-Ember because this holiday employee edition was exclusively handed out to employees in December 2016.
Since Master Dec-Ember is an employee edition variant, these figures are meant to be kept by the employees as Activision has requested that their employees not sell them online. It’s one of those rare figures you can’t find in stores and very few people will be able to get their hands on this employee exclusive unless they are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on it.
From time to time you may still find one for sale online, Master De-Ember is a very sought-out Skylanders figure that often sells for around $350 to $400 on resale sites.
8. Green Chompy Mage
Release Year: 2016
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Life
List Price: $300 to $580
Selling Price: $285 to $550
Estimated Value (NIB): $400
Green Chompy Mage is actually the regular Chompy Mage, a core figure in the Skylanders: Imaginators release. Generally speaking, a special variant is often rarer and more expensive than the regular version of the character, but Green Chompy Mage is an exception. It’s pricier than the holiday variant Jingle Bell Chompy Mage that was released on 25 November 2016 (Black Friday).
You may wonder why is Green Chompy Mage so expensive and why it’s pricier than the Jingle Bell Chompy Mage? The main reason is that Green Chompy Mage can only be found in the Villain Sensei Bundle (a bundle of five Skylanders Sensei characters) that was exclusive to Amazon but Jingle Bell Chompy Mage was available in stores across all major retailers.
The Villain Sensei Bundle on Amazon was only available to pre-order before Skylanders: Imaginators game release date of 13 October 2016 and was only available for purchase in a short window afterward.
In other words, you might find Jingle Bell Chompy Mage on store shelves in December 2016 but Green Chompy Mage was never sold in stores, and it was only sold as an Amazon exclusive in a buddle that didn’t stay up on the site for long with a very limited supply before selling out.
Hence Green Chompy Mage is considered the only non-variant regular Skylanders character released only as a timed retailer exclusive. The asking price for a brand new Green Chompy Mage is typically around $400 on resale sites.
7. Chrome Spyro
Release Year: 2012
Game: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
Element: Magic
List Price: $300 to $684
Selling Price: $250 to $550
Estimated Value (NIB): $420
Chrome Spyro is a trade show exclusive special painted chrome variant of Spyro. He was an exclusive Skylanders figure that was only given out to specific VIP guests during E3 2012 by Activision, which makes him really rare and expensive on the secondary market.
Only 2,000 units of Chrome Spyro were ever produced and handed out during E2 2012. It was one of the last Series 1 Skylanders figures produced before Activision announced the release of Series 2 – Skylanders Giants. Skylanders collectors had to hunt down this exclusive chrome variant of Spyro, which is typically selling for around $400 on eBay.
6. Metallic Purple Cynder
Release Year: 2012
Game: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
Element: Undead
List Price: $400 to $650
Selling Price: $350 to $600
Estimated Value (NIB): $450
Metallic Purple Cynder is a trade show exclusive variant of the regular Cynder in Spyro’s Adventure for Toy Fair (New York) 2012. Metallic Purple Cynder was given out exclusively to the attendees of the Activision booth at the Toy Fair. This trade show exclusive Cynder does have a special tag that shows up in-game when it’s placed on the Portal of Power.
If you don’t have any Metallic Purple variant Skylanders in your collection, then Metallic Purple Cynder could be the one that is worth adding to your collection. Metallic Purple Cynder is the only Skylander figure with a metallic purple paint among all other figures released in Spyro’s Adventure. It’s one of the hardest Skylanders figures to get your hands on and it often sells for $450 on eBay.
5. Ro-Bow
Release Year: 2017
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Tech
List Price: $400 to $999
Selling Price: $350 to $699
Estimated Value (NIB): $500
Ro-Bow is a robotic one-eyed Tech Sensei character in the final game of the Skylanders Series: Imaginators. Ro-Row Skylanders figure is rare and expensive because it’s the last Skylanders character released, the stocks were low and only available for purchase at certain locations.
For people who have played Skylanders Games over the years, Ro-Bow represents the final toy release and the last gasp of toys-to-life games from the Skylanders franchise. Ro-Bow carries the special meanings and memories that people had about Skylanders Games.
Ro-Bow can be found in the Lost Imaginite Mines Level Pack that includes the Master Ro-bow, a blue Imaginite Mystery Chest and a Magic Lantern Creation Crystal. This pack is also a final wave expansion pack so it was produced in limited quantities and restocks were pretty much a rarity.
There are three main factors that are making Ro-Bow rare and expensive: the low distribution, the low penetration rate in different regions and the fact that it’s the last Skylanders character released. Activision is probably rushing to clear their inventory before shuttering Toys-to-life. All these factors are making the price of Ro-Bow go up drastically on the secondary market. You may often find the list price of Ro-Bow go for more than $600 on eBay and the selling price is also constantly sitting around $500.
4. Orange Chain Reaction
Release Year: 2016
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Tech
List Price: $400 to $800
Selling Price: $250 to $800
Estimated Value (NIB): $520
The Orange Chain Reaction is a Chase Variant Skylanders figure with rare crystal-clear orange color compared with the regular Chain Reaction figure. This Chase Variant figure was never officially announced by Activision but randomly inserted into shipments before receiving by any retailer.
Youtuber JAP 28 has done an experiment by ordering 10 Chain Reaction figures from Walmart to see how many orange Chase Variant figures he can get out of 10. He received the order and was hoping there was one rare Chase Variant in the box, surprisingly he found 8 Orange Chain Reaction figures out of 10, equivalent to a value of around $4,160 if we use 8 times its typical selling price of $520 on eBay. It’s insane that he found 8 ultra-rare Orange Chain Reaction figures out of 10.
However, not everyone will be as lucky as the Youtuber JAP 28, the chance of finding one is still really low. People in the Skylanders community had to hunt down these rare Crystal Orange figures or be prepared to pay hundreds in order to get their hands on them. Even a pre-own condition Orange Chain Reaction can cost more than $250 on resale sites.
3. Rock Candy Pain-Yatta
Release Year: 2016
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Magic
List Price: $550 to $1,500
Selling Price: $400 to $1,500
Estimated Value (NIB): $700
Rock Candy Pain-Yatta is a Chase Variant of the regular Pain-Yatta. Like the regular Pain-Yatta, Rock Candy Pain-Yatta has three attacks in the gameplay: lollipop Slam, candy barf and piñata summon. But unlike the regular Pan-Yatta, Rock Candy Pain-Yatta has a crystal-clear blue body.
There are quite a few reasons why Rock Candy Pain-Yatta is rare and expensive. Firstly it’s a chase variant with an uncommon crystal clear body. Generally speaking, most of the Crystal Clear Variants are Chase Variants and they are considered super rare and almost impossible to find in stores.
The Chase Variant Skylanders figures are cosmetically different from the standard version of the figure and are randomly inserted into shipments, some of them are rare or cost more than others on the secondary market. So it’s impossible to determine how many of these Rock Candy Pain-Yatta Chase Variant figures were ever made, but the high resell values between $400-$1,500 on eBay have justified its rarity and popularity.
Although Chase Variants are figures which have no in-game difference from the regular version of the character, only the physical figure is different, Skylanders collectors are still actively hunting for Chase Variants due to its rarity and growing resell value on the secondary market.
2. Happy Birthday Ben Starcast
Release Year: 2017
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Dark
List Price: N/A
Selling Price: N/A
Estimated Value (NIB): Greater than $1,500
The Happy Birthday Ben Starcast is an officially licensed Skylanders figure that Activision made in partnership with American football player Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. Only a few cases of these special edition Happy Birthday Ben Starcast were made as handout gifts for Tom Brady’s son Ben’s birthday party. Hence this figure could be one of the rarest Skylands figures ever produced. This partnership happened because of the friendship between Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick and Tom Brady.
Many people believe Happy Birthday Ben Starcast Skylanders figure is a custom-painted Starcast (the regular version) because we almost never found this figure available for sale on the secondary market.
However, it’s actually an official licensed Skylanders figure. Happy Birthday Ben Starcast does in fact playable in Skylanders game: Imaginators and he has the special tag in-game that’s used for Chase Variants, so it rules out the possibility of the figure as a regular Starcast custom. Check out the video below to find out how this figure worked in-game:
Given the fact that only a very limited amount (potentially less than 20) of the Happy Birthday Ben Starcast Skylanders figures were ever produced and they may never be available for sale on the secondary market. It’s almost impossible for us to determine the list or selling price range for this figure.
But by comparing this figure against other Skylands figures that were never released or are not for sale, the estimated value for Happy Birthday Ben Starcast would be greater than $1,500 if the figure will ever become available for purchase.
1. Heartbreaker Buckshot
Release Year: Planned for 2017 but never released
Game: Skylanders: Imaginators
Element: Magic
List Price: N/A
Selling Price: N/A
Estimated Value (NIB): Greater than $2,000
The rarest and most expensive Skylanders figure of all time is Heartbreaker Buckshot. Heartbreaker Buckshot was planned for release in 2017 as a Valentine’s Day-themed figure, but the release was canceled because the red eyes and general overall look of the figure looked too evil or demonic to the target audience, according to Toys For Bob QA Manager Christopher Bruno.
Heartbreaker Buckshot was an in-game variant of Buckshot that has been officially named by Activision and the variant appears the same in-game as it does in real life. Heartbreaker Buckshot is the only Skylanders character advertised on the official Skylanders website but never released in any form.
However, Heartbreaker Buckshot does have some legitimate physical figures that were created and has remained an official figure ever since. An eBay seller who works for a company that was hired by Toys for Bob to clear out excess stock in an office at their headquarters. This seller has managed to save two Heartbreaker Buckshot figures which were supposed to be thrown out. The seller then listed these two figures on eBay.
A buyer did make a private offer through eBay for $2,000 for one of the Heartbreaker Buckshot. Unfortunately, both of these two listings were taken down because the company that this seller works for had to return these two unreleased figures to Toys For Bob for unknown reasons.
Theoretically, there are more than 2 physical Heartbreaker Buckshot figures exist because a separate employee also posted a photo online with a different Heartbreaker Buckshot figure that has a functioning chip in-game. Additionally, Robert Leyland, the creator of the Skylanders Portal of Power confirmed that there are 12 Heartbreaker Buckshot figures actually made it into production.
We might never be able to find out how many Heartbreaker Buckshot figures still exist today and how many of them have a working chip. But Heartbreaker Buckshot is truly the rarest Skylander in the world given the fact that there were only 12 of the figures ever produced.
The Takeaway
For Skylanders collectors, the figure sitting on the Portal of Power isn’t just some hunk of plastic that gets between the player and the in-game experience. It is alive, each Skylander figure is a character who inhabits the game with its own story and is somehow imbued with the game, even when it is detached.
Some of the rarest Skylanders, like Heartbreaker Buckshot, represent the ultimate goal for anyone enthusiastic about collecting. The unique stories behind these rare figures have truly made an impact on collectors and the Skylanders community as a whole.
Perhaps persistence in pursuing the collection goals will keep the Skylanders community active and thriving. Hopefully, all together, we can make more Skylanders related memories in the future and bring back the Skylands!
Here’s a quick recap of the 10 rarest and most expensive Skylanders ever created:
- Heartbreaker Buckshot
- Happy Birthday Ben Starcast
- Rock Candy Pain-Yatta
- Orange Chain Reaction
- Ro-Bow
- Metallic Purple Cynder
- Chrome Spyro
- Green Chompy Mage
- Master Dec-Ember
- Pearl Hex