Nintendo first unveiled their Amiibo toy line at E3 in June of this year. The highly anticipated toys released in North America on November 21, 2014, along with the premier Amiibo-compatible game Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Unfortunately for those hoping to collect the little video game-themed statues, a little more than two weeks after release, certain Amiibo figures may already be gone off toy shelves forever.
What is an Amiibo?
Amiibos are NFC-enabled toys, similar to the Skylanders and Disney Infinity products that have dominated the “toys to life” category of video games over the past few years. Amiibos, however, are specifically themed after Nintendo characters, like Mario and Pikachu.
Amiibos function with certain Nintendo video games to unlock in-game content. By placing an Amiibo figure on the Wii U GamePad or the New 3DS (that has yet to see release in America), Amiibo-compatible Nintendo games will interact with the figure in a number of ways.
In the debut Amiibo game, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U., Amiibos are used to unlock “Figure Players,” which are AI-controlled opponents that players can train to become better fighters. The character used to represent the Figure Player corresponds to the type of Amiibo purchased. For instance, Mario Amiibos will unlock Mario Figure Players and Zelda Amiibos will be used for Zelda Figure Players. The game then stores players’ training progress in the physical figure itself, so you can take your Amiibo to a friend’s house and play with them there. Players have gotten creative with their use of Amiibos, humorously using them in virtual “cockfight” scenarios, pitting their trained AI fighters against each other. Some Amiibos have even won tournament matches against real human opponents.
Amiibos can also be used in other Nintendo games. Using certain Amiibos in Mario Kart 8 unlocks in-game racer costumes themed after the corresponding Amiibo character. Hyrule Warriors allows players to unlock in-game weapons with Zelda-themed figurines.
The toys are a novel idea, essentially acting as a physical form of DLC (downloadable content). However, it’s looking like many players may miss out on the complete Amiibo experience as it has proven to be an ordeal to collect them all.
Alarming Amiibo Availability
Upon initial release in late November, fan response to the first wave of 12 unique Amiibo characters was generally positive. Some fans took to the Internet to complain about the dubious quality of these mass-produce figurines, but, any reluctance to buy quickly eroded as news began to spread fast of certain Amiibos selling out rather quickly. While Mario, Link, and Pikachu Amiibos are still plentiful, characters representing less popular Nintendo franchises have infamously become a rare sight on store shelves, and the chance to pick up one of these particular toys seems to be long gone.
Conflicting information on the discontinuation of these now-rare figurines has caused quite a stir online. Initially, Canadian retailer Video Games Plus reported on their Twitter that their distributor said Nintendo was discontinuing production on three specific Amiibo designs: Marth (of the Fire Emblem Series), the Villager (of the Animal Crossing series), and the Wii Fit Trainer (from, well, Wii Fit). Subsequently, prices for these specific figures skyrocketed on reseller sites like eBay and Amazon Marketplace. The $12.99 MSRP toys were suddenly going for as much as $90 for a single figure.
Following this, screenshots got out of an email from a Nintendo PR representative indicated that the figures had not been discontinued. Unfortunately, this distraction only served as a brief respite for aspiring collectors. Wired reported that Nintendo, in fact, has no plans to continue manufacturing certain Amiibo figurines after the initial batch of orders. In a statement to Wired, Nintendo said, “We will aim for certain amiibo to always be available. These will be for our most popular characters like Mario and Link. Due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment.” Nintendo declined to comment on which specific figures were targeted for limited manufacturing.
In response, some desperate collectors are looking to import Amiibos from Japan and Europe to avoid the exorbitant reseller costs.
Nintendo’s plan has always been to release the different types of Amiibo figures in waves. The initial November shipment included Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, Samus Aran, Pikachu, Kirby, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, and Marth.
Wave 2 will begin selling this weekend, but considering the rarity of Wave 1 figures, potential buyers will want to act fast to score any single-run figures. Some pre-orders have already sold out. The current release schedule for figures is as follows.
Wave 2 (December 2014)
- Zelda
- Diddy Kong
- Luigi
- Little Mac
- Captain Falcon
- Pit
- Wave 3 (February 2015)
- Toon Link
- Ike
- Lucario (Toys R Us exclusive)
- King Dedede
- Bowser
- Mega Man
- Sheik
- Shulk (Gamestop exclusive)
- Rosalina and Luma
- Sonic
- Meta Knight (Best Buy exclusive)One can expect more figures to come in the future. Theoretically, this line should end with at least 49 figures having been made available, with one figure representing each of the playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Nintendo may also create more figures based on other Nintendo properties, as there is planned Amiibo support for future Nintendo games, such as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.Amiibo Oddities
- As previously stated, there was a mixed reception to the physical quality of Amiibos. Factory defect Amiibos have actually started to sell for surprisingly high prices on eBay. A sealed Samus figure featuring two arm cannons (she should only have one on her right hand) sold for $2,500. Similarly, a Peach Amiibo produced without legs is currently at auction with the highest bid at $300 as of this writing.
- By Alfredo Dizon, eParisExtra