With Skylanders retail sales hitting over one billion dollars worldwide and right after they received our ?Putting Toys Back Into Kids Hands? award last month, it can only go up from here for the Skylanders franchise.

As we walked into a small room, several of us sat down around a small table and were treated to a sneak-peek clip of the Skylanders Swap Force video game. Here are a few facts you should know about this super-cool video game:

Vast Possibilities for Play ? Skylanders SWAP Force features 16 new inter-action figures with new powers and a fresh play pattern ? dynamic swapability ? that lets kids create more than 250 unique character combinations, giving them more choice than ever before over how they fight and move in the game. With each new addition to their Skylanders SWAP Force collection, Portal Masters unlock an exciting world of possibilities.

More Play Options ? For the first time, Portal Masters can experience new dimensions of gameplay including the addition of jumping. And, seasoned fans can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of characters from Skylanders Spyro?s Adventure and Skylanders Giants. Skylanders SWAP Force delivers a diverse and dynamic, story-driven gameplay experience, filled with adventure, combat, puzzles, mini games, and drop-in/drop-out co-op - all set within compelling environments.

All New Characters ? More than 50 collectible characters including:

16 new SWAP Force characters

16 new Core Skylanders characters

8 LightCore? Skylanders characters

16 new versions of fan-favorite Skylanders from the previous games, each featuring an all new ?Wow Pow? upgrade power

Exciting Adventure ? Portal Masters will embark on a brand new adventure, encountering never-before- seen enemies and challenges, as well as meeting memorable non-playable characters who can help the Skylanders defeat Kaos and his minions in the Cloudbreak Islands.

Unique Swap Force Zones ? Skylanders SWAP Force characters feature traversal abilities ? such as flying, climbing, digging, bouncing, or teleporting ? each of which can be explored in new areas of Skylands that are centered on these new play mechanics.

Enhanced Graphics Quality ? Swap Force?s high-resolution graphics bring to life amazingly detailed characters and richer environments to deliver a high level of visual fidelity that immerses players in the game like never before.

Some new Skylanders characters include:

Mancharge- Picks up objects in the environment and perform speed bursts

Countdown- A walking time bomb that can blow his top off an detonate

Blast Zone- Possesses fire elements and lobs a wall of fire

Remember how we weren?t able to have our Skylanders jump in previous games? Well, that?s no longer an issue! Activision has implemented a feature where all Skylanders can now jump within the new game.

Overall, the new Skylanders toys and video game look extremely promising. The swapability factor will definitely get kids into the line, if they aren?t already. I know I?ll have a great time playing it!