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Chase Variants are uncommon versions of Skylanders whose figures are recast, painted, or coated in unusual colors or materials. Some examples are metallic paint, glittery paint, fuzzy material, or translucent plastic. These figures usually will have little paint applications - if any beyond a base coat - typically reserved for the character's eyes. These variants will commonly start with 5 levels of experience and 2,100 gold. Beginning with the variants introduced in Skylanders: Giants, most Chase Variants will also appear as "Special" or "Rare” when they are placed on the Portal of Power. Aside from the previously stated minor alterations, Chase Variant Skylanders are identical to their more common counterparts in the games themselves, with no other special powers or stat alterations. Additionally, unlike the various Alt Deco versions of many Skylanders, the unique appearance of the Chase Variant figures is not reflected in-game.
Chase Variants have had a multitude of different distribution methods. The most common of these is being shipped out with the regular stock figures and put on store shelves where they can be found and purchased as normal. Most Chase Variants as such have the same barcode SKU as the regular figure and are notoriously hard to find. It is from this method that Chase Variants recieve their namesake - chased after by collectors.
Some Chase Variants have also been available as limited edition store exclusives guaranteed to be encountered at a specific store chain - such as Walmart or Target - or in a certain bundle. Despite having identical packaging to the regular release, due to the nature of how these figures are sold, the Chase Variants distributed this way have a unique barcode SKU, allowing them to be stocked and sold separately from the regular release figures. These figures tend to be some of the most common Chase Variants and are easier to come by. Similarly, those distributed via promotions, like the Frito-Lay promotional figures have a unique barcode SKU despite not being available for regular purchase.
Lastly, Trade Shows such as E3 and Toy Fair have received exclusive Chase Variant figures given away for free to those that attended the event and visited the booth. Similarly, Activision Blizzard employees and those that worked on the Skylanders games would receive exclusive holiday Chase Variant figures, complete with specialised box artwork depicting the changes to the figure, and some even given a name change similar to Alt Deco Skylanders. Both these types of distribution feature a label denoting which event or holiday the figure was distributed for and the year of release, and also replace the barcode SKU on the bottom of the package with a ‘not for resale’ stamp so that they cannot be resold commercially.
Store Exclusive and Promos - Specific to stores for a limited time.
Trade show ex. - E3, etc...
Employee exclusive - hence the name.
Rare store encounter
Types of Chase Variants
Chase Variant types can be split into three categories: Metallurgic, Crystalline and Matte / Miscellaneous.
Metallic Paint
Gold - Flat yellowish gold that completely covers the figure and base.
Golden - Flat orangish-gold that completely covers the figure except for the base.
Silver - Flat silver that completely covers the figure and base.
Copper - Flat reddish copper that completely covers the figure and base.
Bronze - Textured bronze with a yellow hue that completely covers the figure and base except for the eyes.
Dark Bronze - Bronze with a dark wash that completely covers the figure and base except for the eyes.
Color-Shift - Textured metallic green with a gold hue that covers the figure and base except the eyes.
Iridescent - Textured metallic purple with a blue hue that covers the figure and base except the eyes.
Chrome/Metallic - Highly reflective metallic coloring that covers the figure and base.
Sparkle - Glittery white that completely covers the figure and base.
Pearl - Translucent, pearlescent white that completely covers the figure and base.
Heavy Metal - Flat silver and gunmetal that completely covers the figure and base.
Crystalline
Crystal - Figures that are completely cast in transparent plastic, including the base. Crystal figures that released in the Swap Force, Trap Team, and Imaginators toy lines have painted eyes and a different translucent color for the figure’s weapon or effect.
Translucent Red/Blue/Green/Orange/Pink - Figures that are completely cast in colored, translucent plastic, including the base.
Green Armor - A one-off departure from the early type of translucent Chase Variants. The figurine is cast in a unique shade of translucent green, but has the standard version’s weapon and base, alongside painted eyes.
Rock Candy - Figures that are cast in a mixture of translucent-glittery blue, green and yellow. They have painted eyes and unaltered bases.
Matte / Miscellaneous
Glow-In-The-Dark - Figures that are completely covered in glow-in-the-dark paint, including the base.
Stone - Figures that are completely covered in gray paint with a dark wash, including the base. The paint creates the appearance of stone.
Flocked - Figures that are coated in a material with a fuzzy texture and appearance. It completely covers the figure and base except for the eyes. Starting with the Swap Force toyline, the fuzzy material only covers the character’s fur, leaving everything else, including eyes, mouth, weapon, and base, unaltered from the normal figure.
Snow Flocked - Figures that are coated in a white material with a fuzzy texture. It completely covers the figure and base except for the eyes and any light-up features.
Patina - Figures that are completely covered in copper paint with a gold wash, including the base. The paint creates the appearance of oxidized copper.
The difference between the 'Green Armor' and 'Clear Green' variants
Highlighting the difference between the 'Iridescent' variants and Toy Fair Cynder
Three types of Flocked figures
Transluscent Red figures
Sparkle figures
Transluscent Green figures
Color Shift figures
Crystal figures from the Trap Team toyline
Crystal figures from the Spyro's Adventure toyline
Patina Lava Lance Eruptor
Trivia
The only Chase Variants to have the 'Rare' tag in-game are the Iridescent, White Flocked and Sparkle figures, as well as the two 2013 event exclusive figures from E3 and Toy Fair. These figures only appear as 'Rare' in Skylanders: Swap Force, SuperChargers and Imaginators. In every other game they appear as 'Special'.
All of these figures debuted as a part of the Skylanders: Giants toyline.
The Stone figures and Employee Exclusive Prism Break do not register as 'Special' or 'Rare'. This could be because they were created before the 'Special' or 'Rare' tags were first implimented.
Translucent Red Camo and Crystal Whirlwind were released two years after Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure during restocks of the figures alongside the release of Skylanders: Swap Force.
Despite the fact these figures were released after the games began to assign Chase Variant Skylanders with the 'Special' or 'Rare' tag, neither of them have it, making them functionally identical to their Series 1 counterparts.
The Skylander Sidekicks that were distributed as part of two Frito-Lay promotions were later given the distinction of 'Special' as of Skylanders: Trap Team to further diffirentiate them from their Mini counterparts.
The Sidekicks are the only figures from the Spyro's Adventure toyline to have the 'Special' tag.
Battlegrounds Double Trouble is a rerelease of Series 2 Double Trouble with his Series 1 counterpart's figure. This toy was released exclusively in the Skylanders: Battlegrounds starter pack in regions that did not receive the Royal Double Trouble figure. It is also sometimes referred to as 'Series 1.5 Double Trouble' by the fanbase.
Battlegrounds Double Trouble does not act any differently in-game from the regular Series 2 release, does not register as 'Special' or 'Rare’, and the figure is identical to the Series 1 version but with an orange base in place of green.
Battlegrounds Double Trouble did receive a unique character card.
The starter pack of Skylanders: Superchargers for iOS devices included a unique version of Hot Streak. This figure is physically identical to the regular figure, though in order to prevent players from unlocking the entire game on mobile with a regular Hot Streak figure, the figure that came with the iOS starter pack had a unique chip that would unlock the full game. As such, when used on a console version of a compatible game it registers as 'Special'.
Mobile Hot Streak is the only chase figure that is indescernable from the regular version without first using it in game.
A recently surfaced prototype shows that Hot Dog almost received a Color-Shift variant [1]A prototype Colour Shift Hot Dog
The Easter Trap is the only Chase Variant Trap. It does not register as 'Special' or 'Rare', making it the only variant figure from the Trap Team toyline that does not register differently from the regular figure.
Happy Birthday Ben! Starcast was a figure specially produced in an incredibly limited run for Tom Brady's son, Benjamin. Brady is a personal friend of Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, who organised the figure's production for Ben's 7th birthday. There were only enough figures made for the party and a few that went to employees of the core Skylanders development team. As such, this toy is thought to be one of the rarest - if not THE rarest - Skylander figure to ever be produced.[2]
Happy Birthday Ben! Starcast is the only variant from Skylanders: Imaginators to have the pedestal base a different colour than normal. In this case it is a flat matte green.
Hot Dog is the character with the most Chase Variants, with 4. If you were to separate the different toy-line releases, Series 2 Hot Dog would still take first place, with 3 variants.
Tied for second place are Cynder, Chop Chop and Eruptor (if one includes his SuperCharger figure) with 3 each.
Tied for third place are Gill Grunt, Drill Sergeant, Sonic Boom, Wrecking Ball, Whirlwind, Stump Smash, Flameslinger, Prism Break, Eye Brawl, Starcast, Sprocket and Fright Rider, with 2 each.
The type of Chase Variant with the most figures is Crystal, with 11.
In second place is Glow-In-The-Dark, with 6 figures.
Transluscent Blue Bash, Silver Eruptor and Metallic Purple Cynder all received Megabloks minifigures. A Silver Spyro minifigure was also made in reference to Chrome Spyro.
