reason for less reposes

[Omenix]

We all wanted more reposes, why only five? Why did gg get a 4th? Why did jet vac and pop fizz get a 3rd? These characters dont need another where others do. These are my theories:

1. Toys for bob thought vv screwed up their favourite characters. Toys for Bob are proud of these characters and didn't want vv's ruined versions to be the final version. So they fixed them, I mean whats better, giant potion or beast mode?
2. Popularity. These characters are the ones fans (and tfb) love. The only problem is fryno, why would tfb like a vv creation?
3. Other forms of repose. Its an experiment. Tfb thought "what will fans do if we make less reposes? Will there ocd senses go crazy?". They wanted to see what fans would think of this change. They also introduced 2 other forms of repose, minis and Eons Elite. They wanted to see which of the 3 is more popular, and those ones would be continued. I personally think the eons elite have the highest chance, if only because the collectors go crazy over it. As 1ofwiisdom said they are cheap easy variants that are extra powerful, what collector could resist?

[wantGhostroaster2]

I have to admit I did buy an Eons Elite chopchop today. I swore I wasn't going to get any but I caved. What I found is they are mega tough maybe even too tough for my taste. For me it kinda took the fun out of it. As for re poses I have mixed emotions. I like the idea to a point but would rather see more newlanders arrive. My issue is its the same ole gang over and over. No offense to gill grunt but do we really need to have 5 of them?( counting the TRU greenish one). Same can be said for stealth elf spyro eruptor and a few others too. Maybe I'm just jealous that 2 of my personal favorites are SSA Castaways. But it still irks me that we get the same 8 over and over as far as Eons elite goes. But contrary to my orriginal stance on them and thinking they are beefed up a bit too much. I will probably be grabbing them all if I can. Curses to you gamestop curses! Lol

[1ofWiisdom]

I honestly think it has a lot to do with sales. It is much easier to sell a "new" Magic, Tech, and Water character in hi-volume than it is to sell a S4 Spyro, Trigger Happy, and Gill Grunt.

While collectors, completion it's, and fans of that specific character will buy them, parents and casual players are more reluctant to buy "another Spyro" and will spout out lines like, "No, you already have too many Trigger Happys!," etc.

Enter Déjà Vu, Echo, and Chopper. They can also try new figs this way and try to find the next "Pop Fizz" or extremely popular character. More importantly though Mom and Dad A are more likely to buy "brand new" Déjà Vu, Chopper, and Echo than a 4th or more of the same character...This is the demographic that doesn't care about the details of the repose, new level cap, new power, etc. IMO, it is the larger demographic...I know online it doesn't seem that way, but ple need to remember not everyone is "online" let alone voicing opinions on forums and YouTube.

That said, I do think personal favorites of the staff come in to play for a lot of reposes and alternate figures.

Similarly, they are drafting Elites to cater to and cash in on the collector/variant hunter side of the spectrum and then launched Minis to not only sell to the core players, but also attempt to pull Mom and Dad A into buying that "S4" Spyro, just in a subtle way...you get something new and different, but at the core it is still Spyro, just minus a WowPow and with extra "cuteness" built in...

My personal take is that I'd like to see the reposes balanced.

Before we get Series 5 Gill Grunt, or Series 4 Eruptoe I would like to see a S2 Riptide, S3 Ignitor, and of course a S2 for all the castaways. And I do mean a legit S2...I don't deem Warnado or Flashwing's SF LCs as a fair shake. Give me S2 Ghost Roaster, S2 Dino-Rang, S2 Voodood, S2 Flashwing, etc before we are up to S5, S6, and S7.

[Omenix]

The other big problem with reposes is the amount of cores, theres too many. If they make 16 new ones every game then there are so many that ate going to be left in the dust. And ive seen several people around the web complaining about more focus on figures and less focus on game. However I like aspects of the franchise and do not wish the quality to dip on either so heres my idea:
In ssa there were 32 characters and 26 levels, but this isnt a good example as we don't know how long the development period was. But in giants they had a year of production with 16 levels and 16 characters, one soul gem per level. And thats where my idea is, 1 soul gem per level. It seems , for tfb at least, that 16 levels and characters can be developed in a year, so why not 32 characters and 32 levels for a 2 year production run, which is the current time they seem to be taking. Giants got it right.

[Omenix]

I just realised how contradictory my entire comment was but I do think they need to balance production time.

Back on the topic of reposes, I think tfb should handle tfb reposes while vv handles vv reposed, for evidence just compare s2 pop fizz to s3 pop fizz. I dont want to buy the same character 2 years in a row, but after 2 years id feel nostalgic for them, and they dont have to all be reposes, a quarter could be lc (with path switch and wow pow) a quarter could be mini (with wow pow) a quarter could be series 2 or 3 etc, and a quarter could be eons elite (assuming their successful)

[Orion's Islands]

Joss Whedon, director/creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Serenity and The Avengers, put forward an interesting thought on the commentary for Serenity, the movie based on and finishing the story of the TV Series FIREFLY. The good guys were cornered on a planet by the bad guys, they escaped...standard movie moment right? Well...yes...BUT...Whedon stressed that you have to give the audience a reasonable reason to explain why the good guys were able to escape. If you don't, either the bad guys come off weak and ineffective or all peril you introduce in the movie doesn't feel real, not a real threat (a likely reason why he tends to kill off characters...lol). Anyway, in that case the good guys let out clever decoys, which was enough to make the escape reasonable.
Now...what does THAT have to do with Skylander re-poses?
Absolutely nothing. I just like the story.

[Orion's Islands]

Ok...The story is relevant. I just couldn't resist the momentary joke.
Sorry.
Reposes need to give me, the audience, a "Reasonable Reason". Something to "hang my hat on" as Joss Whedon put it, to validate the additional expenditure on a character that I already own. To me, any Series 2 repose is valid. The reasonable reason: a chance to explore and hold the second path of any character. Any subsequent pose relies on aesthetic appeal, personal favoritism, technical additions or improvements, aka Lightcore and Wow Pows. At heart, all of these offer less than a Reasonable Reason for me to justify the expense.
Some people love the lightcores (me), but I think the majority don't. Some love the Wow Pows, I'm indifferent. (With the exception where the Wow Pow corrects for a flaw, like an underpowered skylander.) personal favorites are always a factor but hit or miss. IMO anything past a Series 2 is going to run headlong into the Reasonable Reason argument. Economic types may express this as "Value Added".
Now, surprisingly to me, the Mini's hold their own! I Know !!...Who Knew?!? I think their size alters the gameplay enough so that they feel unique. All I know is, I have been having fun with them-Perhaps this qualifies as another Reasonable Reason for me.
To finish and address your thread directly...I think they are lessening reposes because the logic I have put forward above is showing in the sales, AKA money. I think, as with any human endeavor, some executive or group of employees may be responsible for throwing wrinkles or variations or different temporary stops but sales, I think, drive the bus. Limit the reposes, introduce new avenues to generate sales from pre-existing properties-Eon's Elite and Minis. Expand the toy sales into new lines...Traps.

Final thought, I don't think there is rivalry between TFB and Vicarious Visions. They are working on different facets of the same diamond. Any differences are simply due to the fact that they are different companies, different groups of people who eat in different cafeteria's. I think its just more interesting to speculate that there is some secret backstabbing going on.

[Omenix]

I completely agree about Reasonable Reason, and while its true tfb and vv probably arent competing with each other, I think tfb should handle tfb reposes and vv should handle vv reposes, for one thing who wants to buy the same character 2 years in a row? But wait 2 years, and bring on the nostalgia! Also tfb probably knows what they want to do with their own characters (I bring up s2 pop fizz vs s3 pop fizz) and vv knows where to go next on theirs.

[Orion's Islands]

I wonder how much each production house affects the outcome of any repose or if I-Wei Huang, the lead character artist, sets the design?
Nerfing or altering the electronic code is a separate issue.

[Patrick Star]

IMO, I don't mind reposes as long as the right characters (Voodood, Sunburn, Boomer, etc.) get them instead of the predictable ones (Jet-Vac, Eruptor, Stealth Elf, etc.).