A big day today as Skylanders: The Machine of Doom and the Official 2013 Skylanders Annual are released.
Being asked to completely write an annual from beginning to end was a massive thrill for me. As with many Brits, the good old Annual was a staple of Christmas mornings, from the Beano Book to the Doctor Who Annual. I would pour over the activity packed pages while Mum and Dad slaved over the Christmas lunch. Every page seemed to be bursting with stuff to do, packed with information and stories.
As soon as I received the commission for the Skylanders Annual, I knew I wanted it to be the same. There are:
New Skylanders short stories.- Puzzles (hopefully mostly with a twist).
- A Skylands A-Z.
- Fact files and character interviews.
- Games.
- Quizzes and questionnaires.
- Wildlife guides.
- Codebreakers and mazes (gotta have a maze in an Annual!)
- Jokes and tongue-twisters.
I’m really pleased with the result. The designers at Sunbird have done a cracking job bringing it all to life. Here’s hoping that Skylanders fans will love it as much as I loved those annuals of yesteryear.
According to the first review on Amazon at least one does:
My 6 year sons eyes lit up when he saw this book, he is delighted with it, No skylanders fan will be disappointed with this annual, lots of different activities!
I’m very chuffed with that!
So, what were your favourite annuals of the past?
I can’t wait for my order of The Machine of Doom and the Annual to arrive at my destination. 🙂 Do you have some trivia to share about The Machine of Doom novel, like how it is a prequel to the events of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and what things have been approved by Toys for Bob themselves to make the novel fit in with the Skylanders series and its characters? :3
Hi Alison,
Glad you’re looking forward to them.
I’m afraid I cannot give you any info about The Machine of Doom at the mo. It’s all top secret. If I did, the guys at Toys for Bob would throw me into a Chompy Pit for all time!
Hope the Annual arrives soon!
I understand. 🙂 I just got the Annual today from the mail, and I was intrigued by the minigames, facts, and fun Q&As. I liked the stories as well, are they canon to the Skylanders universe? Or are just random?
Hi Alison,
Well, they were approved by the guys who make the game. Not sure if that makes them canon or not.
Glad you got the Annual. Hope you enjoy it.
C
I did enjoy the Annual, Cavan. 🙂 My little neice will also enjoy it too since she is a Skylanders fan. I noticed that on the Dragons of Skylands section that Bash is missing. He is a rock dragon too. :3