I kind of skipped over these by accident. These are the Life Element Skylanders I own from the SuperChargers game.
Stealth Stinger, Super Shot Stealth Elf, Turbo Charge Donkey Kong, Barrel Blaster, Buzz-Wing.
Super Shot Stealth Elf's vehicle is Stealth Stinger. The blades move. There are some special levels in the game for that vehicle. I love helicopters in games. They're so maneuverable. Just Cause had them and so did Crackdown 2.
Turbo Charge Donkey Kong's vehicle is Barrel Blaster. The vehicle is actually classified as a Tech Element. It's probably the only vehicle that doesn't match its rider's element. But you can use any character to ride in any vehicle. The benefit for matching the character with the vehicle is some special boosts to your performance. Also, these Nintendo figures only work on Nintendo versions of the game. I still need that Wii-U to try them out. I have the game and portal ready to go.
Thrillipede's (not shown) vehicle is Buzz Wing. I have Thrillipede but as a variant, so I didn't show it here. Buzz Wing is unique because it has a button you can push to extend the wings. I think it's neat these vehicles were designed with both virtual and real world functionality.
Like you said, when you match up the character with their vehicle, the vehicle in the game will change and power-up. I didn't say it last time, but when you put Bowser in his clown plane, it changes to look like an airship.
Donkey Kong wears a flashy suit as a Skylander because Nintendo gave them a lot of freedom when creating the Nintendo character Skylanders, so they made DK into a stuntman. Some of his special attacks include beating on bongos, blasting out of barrel cannons, and one special move he rips off his suit and just wears his tie, and has halves of barrels on his hands like boxing gloves as he attacks enemies.
His vehicle mimics a mine cart like in the DK games. When you put DK in it and power it up, the vehicle gains a barrel sidecar and Diddy Kong pops out of it for some extra cannon attacks.
Oh my, how cool. I've got to get a Wii-U. When I get back to full time work, that is.
I love the leafy helicopter.
I like it too. You have to shoot caterpillars with it. The ones that make webbing in trees.