Is anyone else having problems finding a Marth amiibo?

[Sentacotus]

Never really wanted one. What's the draw and why has this turned into 8 pages?

Originally it was the rarity of the Marth amiibo and how everyone here wanted one then it turned into how Nintendo has questionably discontinued some of them to include Marth. Now its about fears over future releases and shortages.

[Loki Laufeyson]

I went to the Target two towns over for xmas shopping. Luigi hasnt even reached them yet. Wow.

[Sentacotus]

So don't know if anyone noticed but if you search for amiibo at amazon they are no where to be found and no longer even listed. Does this mean they have literally run out of all amiibos to the point that even resellers don't even have any?

[kingddd]

So don't know if anyone noticed but if you search for amiibo at amazon they are no where to be found and no longer even listed. Does this mean they have literally run out of all amiibos to the point that even resellers don't even have any?

Works fine on my end. Did you check to make sure it's search by all departments and not by wii u accesories only? For some reason it redirects me to that rather than the video game department.

[Sentacotus]

Yeah that was my problem I did an all department search and they came up. False alarm

[Ein]

kingddd's avi is pretty adorbs. never change it

[Anacybele]

Guys! We have Zelda and Little Mac at my work now. Lots of Zelda, but only like six Little Mac, so if you want him and can shop at an AAFES facility or know someone who can, stop by while we still have em'!

Still no Luigi though. :(

[Ragnell]

I don't often disagree with Nintendo's business practices, but this amiibo business is utter nonsense. Nintendo advertised these figures as fun add-ons for everyone to buy. They were supposed to be cheap figurines for people who normally don't get into the expensive collectible scene, while also providing some neat in-game content. All the kids could buy their favorite SSB characters and play alongside them. The primary targets of these things were kids; the same kids who play Skylanders and Infinity. Now the amiibos have turned into the exact thing they were supposed to avoid: Nintendo is making an absurdly limited supply of all but a small handful of popular ones, so unless your favorite SSB character is Mario or you're willing to camp out on websites for days waiting to preorder, then you can't have your favorite character. I couldn't even preorder Marth, because every website I checked ran out of preoders by the time I got online. Imagine the small kid who likes Marth and asked his parents for it for Christmas. They have 0 chance of ever finding one. Even characters from big series, like Pit and Villager are impossible to find. Supposedly people can't even find Luigi!

My good friend mains Rosalina, and he missed the literal hour-scale window where preorders were available, so now despite him checking the website mutliple times per day even he will not get the amiibo he wants. And this is 2 and half months before release!!! God help you if you actually try to buy one after it releases. Compounding the whole ordeal, the few figures that are made are being bought in bulk by people who want to resell them at ridiculously marked up prices. So at this point no one is getting the figures they want, and what was supposed to be cheap figures can't be bought for under $30-50. Well done, Nintendo, well done.

Thankfully I should get the only 2 amiibos I really want: Shulk and Ike. Though I've heard that at this point even a preorder is not a guarantee you'll get an amiibo, especially not in a timely manner.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Ragnell

[Sasori]

I've just bought my first Amiibo. I took bit of a look at the collection of my country's biggest online site and wow, Villager and Wii Fit trainer are selling for 70 euro's and Marth was the only one missing. Seems like they really are pretty rare.

Unfortunately Zelda was slightly to expensive for my gift card so I went for Pit.

[Anacybele]

Luigi actually hasn't been released yet, but I agree with you completely, Ragnell. Nintendo is limiting these quantities of Amiibos far too much. I understand that some characters just aren't as popular as others, but they are still underestimating their popularity anyway.

Sure, Marth is from a rather niche series, but god damn it, he's been playable in THREE Smash titles now, four if you count the 3DS and Wii U games separately. By now, he's a very familiar face and a fan favorite. Wii Fit Trainer and Villager, I don't know how popular they are, but yeah.

I'm worried about not getting Ike because of this BS and I've wanted an official authentic figure of him for so long. I'll be really mad if I still can't get my hands on his Amiibo.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Anacybele

[Sentacotus]

Yeah it dosen't really make sense to me. Figures like Marth sell like hotcakes and what does Nintendo do? They discontinue it and shut off any possibility of making money on it in the future yeah thats Ninty logic for you. I really like Nintendo and they do alot of things right to include how they marketed these things but the way they went about producing and releasing them could of been done better. You would think the least they could do is come out and say "hey figure X, Y, and Z are very limited and have a short release window so if you want one better preorder instead of being forced to guess or buy every single one hoping that you get them.

[Jave]

I don't think it's Nintendo limiting the production of amiibo more like it's Nintendo underestimating the popularity of these figurines. Most people didn't expect this level of demand, so most stores are running out of stock fast and even out of preorders.

I believe Nintendo will restock down the line or re-release different amiibo figures of former "Limited Edition" characters to make up for it (I doubt we won't get Female Villager or Male WFT), but it will probably take time because, you know, you can't snap your fingers and make these things appear.

[kingddd]

I don't think it's Nintendo limiting the production of amiibo more like it's Nintendo underestimating the popularity of these figurines. Most people didn't expect this level of demand, so most stores are running out of stock fast and even out of preorders.

I believe Nintendo will restock down the line or re-release different amiibo figures of former "Limited Edition" characters to make up for it (I doubt we won't get Female Villager or Male WFT), but it will probably take time because, you know, you can't snap your fingers and make these things appear.

I also suspect that they based these number of amiibo productions on the sales of the games that the characters star in. Little Mac having very little compared to the ratio of Zelda herself is a huge percentage difference too. After all, statistics from sales talk more than just a bunch of people/community talking about a certain character in a random forum.

While you can argue back and say well Wii Fit and Animal Crossing being million sellers should have at least added more copies of the figures but compared to their IP giants like Zelda and Mario, there is a huge difference. Not only that I feel they based the copies of Wii Fit Trainer on the number of sales of the Wii Fit U.

Edited December 20, 2014 by kingddd

[Anacybele]

But isn't Little Mac's series popular out west? I heard that it only doesn't do well in Japan. Same with Metroid.

Nintendo did underestimate the popularity of certain characters though. They should've gone by, you know, their actual popularity instead of the sales of their games. Because these characters have been introduced to more people through Smash, they have many fans that haven't even played their games. I'd say characters like Marth, Ike, and Captain Falcon get a good amount of their popularity from Smash.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Anacybele

[Sentacotus]

But isn't Little Mac's series popular out west? I heard that it only doesn't do well in Japan. Same with Metroid.

Nintendo did underestimate the popularity of certain characters though. They should've gone by, you know, their actual popularity instead of the sales of their games. Because these characters have been introduced to more people through Smash, they have many fans that haven't even played their games. I'd say characters like Marth, Ike, and Captain Falcon get a good amount of their popularity from Smash.

Punch Out is pretty popular at least the NES version. A wii game was made and it did alright out here. I'm not sure how it did in Japan though. This is why I'm hoping at least Robin and Lucina are released in higher quantities not only because of their popularity in smash but because they did star in the most popular FE game to date.

[kingddd]

But isn't Little Mac's series popular out west? I heard that it only doesn't do well in Japan. Same with Metroid.

Yes but it only sold just well over a million based on the Wii version. Compared to other IP giants like Mario, Zelda and Pokemon it's nothing compared to the amount these IPs generate. The thing is no matter how much a community loves a character, if you don't support a franchise by actually buying the games that they star in, the companies will never see how popular the characters are. You can claim about the popularity of the character on the internet however you like but the outside world will see it completely different.

When my sister cosplayed as Pit, everyone kept asking her, "Are you Pit form Super Smash Bros?" And these are people who played smash bros and are huge Nintendo fans. It's the same thing with Captain Falcon. No matter how popular the character is in smash bros, their franchise themselves don't sell as well as those giant IPs. You can blame the marketing and production on Nintendo however you like but the lack of support from their own fans for their other franchise creates the current supply that we have. Could it been handled better I do believe so but this is all we're going to be getting in the end.

Edited December 20, 2014 by kingddd

[Sentacotus]

When my sister cosplayed as Pit, everyone kept asking her, "Are you Pit form Super Smash Bros?" And these are people who played smash bros and are huge Nintendo fans. It's the same thing with Captain Falcon. No matter how popular the character is in smash bros, their franchise themselves don't sell as well as those giant IPs. You can blame the marketing and production on Nintendo however you like but the lack of support from their own fans for their other franchise creates the current supply that we have. Could it been handled better I do believe so but this is all we're going to be getting in the end.

This is unfortunately a true statement. Ah the pains of being a niche fan of Fire Emblem, F-zero, and other countless series. :(

[Anacybele]

It's true, series like F-Zero aren't highly supported. But the fact that characters from these games are in Smash Bros. should say SOMETHING. That maybe Smash let them gain a little more popularity? Nintendo couldn't have foreseen this?

[Sentacotus]

To be fair Amiibo was a fairly big risk they took and from a company standpoint I could see them underproducing some certain figures and wanting to rely on the major IP's but still Nintendo should know that Smash while a popular game in its own right is effectively a marketing tool for its franchises hell just look what it did for Fire Emblem it pushed it to become localized in the first place.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, I understand Nintendo wanting to be cautious. They had the right idea. But I think they took it a little too far.

[Ema Skye]

Well I guess if your wanted amiibo gets discontinued, Nintendo is giving you a way to still have an amiibo in a roundabout kinda way

If these cards are actually decently priced (I don't want any amiibo due to the $13 price tag being too much for what it is), I might get some.

[Anacybele]

Well, I applaud Nintendo for trying, but this just wouldn't be the same as having an actual figure, if you ask me. I want an Ike figure to be displayed next to my Luigi stuff, not some card with his picture on it. I'll buy his card anyway of course since he's Ike and I want just about anything Ike related because I love him sooo much. <3

But yeah...

[Loki Laufeyson]

I don't think it's Nintendo limiting the production of amiibo more like it's Nintendo underestimating the popularity of these figurines. Most people didn't expect this level of demand, so most stores are running out of stock fast and even out of preorders.

I believe Nintendo will restock down the line or re-release different amiibo figures of former "Limited Edition" characters to make up for it (I doubt we won't get Female Villager or Male WFT), but it will probably take time because, you know, you can't snap your fingers and make these things appear.

I agree with this. This whole thing was a huge economical experiment for Nintendo. They have to compete with Skylanders and Infinity. Infinity in particular, are really stiff competition. Hell, im on pins and needles for the Loki figure and i dont even play that shit! So they didnt know if their effort in the figure-gameplay market was going to make a big splash. It was "ok lets see what happens. If it flops, it flops, but we'll give it a shot." So they took a chance, and it turned out to be a really big deal. Nintendo did not at all anticipate this kind of demand. They didnt even make enough figures to fill that demand. Zelda and Link are already flying off shelves, and those are two characters Nintendo actually did prepare large numbers of figures to be produced. Samus is actually kinda tricky to find too, and shes not exactly on the list of hard-to-get amiibo. The whole lot is just...they cant keep them on the shelves. Im not sure why so much of this is so hard for some people to understand, but constant salt solves little.

Yes but it only sold just well over a million based on the Wii version. Compared to other IP giants like Mario, Zelda and Pokemon it's nothing compared to the amount these IPs generate. The thing is no matter how much a community loves a character, if you don't support a franchise by actually buying the games that they star in, the companies will never see how popular the characters are. You can claim about the popularity of the character on the internet however you like but the outside world will see it completely different.

When my sister cosplayed as Pit, everyone kept asking her, "Are you Pit form Super Smash Bros?" And these are people who played smash bros and are huge Nintendo fans. It's the same thing with Captain Falcon. No matter how popular the character is in smash bros, their franchise themselves don't sell as well as those giant IPs. You can blame the marketing and production on Nintendo however you like but the lack of support from their own fans for their other franchise creates the current supply that we have. Could it been handled better I do believe so but this is all we're going to be getting in the end.

Yes. Smash actually has a bizarre and interesting effect on IP production for Nintendo. Shulk being in the game is a good indicator of that. Hes there because Nintendo plans on releasing a port for Xenoblade, plus the Wii U Xenoblade X game. Hes there to promote that, but also to see if theres actual interest in that franchise. (and if they should invest more in Monolith) Roy and Marth being in Melee, and fans going "Who are these guys, id like to see their games!" is essentially what brought FE across the pond. But it is like you say, that the reverse is also true. Captain Falcon being in the game since the beginning, yet F-Zero sells like ass. Why exactly, i dont know. Star Fox is a similar story. Not many people rushed out to get that Star Fox remake on the 3DS.

Pit isnt the best example because a lot of people did buy Kid Icarus Uprising. But he is pretty damn underrated compared to someone like Yoshi.

Well I guess if your wanted amiibo gets discontinued, Nintendo is giving you a way to still have an amiibo in a roundabout kinda way

If these cards are actually decently priced (I don't want any amiibo due to the $13 price tag being too much for what it is), I might get some.

Ehhh i think it would be much wiser for Nintendo to consider just producing more of those amiibo at a future date.

[Anacybele]

lol Samus is hard to find, really? We have several of her at work. :P

And the thing is, some people may like playing as these characters, but not be interested in their games. For example, I like Falco, but Star Fox doesn't seem like my type of game. But gosh darn it, Falco is cool. I don't know if I'll consider getting his figure though. I'm not THAT big of a fan.

But I'm sure other people who haven't played F-Zero or Earthbound or something really like Captain Falcon and Ness and want their figures. And others might just want to get the full collection for the fun of it and bragging rights. :P

[Loki Laufeyson]

lol Samus is hard to find, really?

She's common, but not as easy to grab as Kirby or DK. Samus' peg in stores is usually empty or theres a single one left. She doesnt have the numbers Mario or DK have. (or Kirby) Of course, all amiibo are just leaping off shelves in general cuz Christmas time. Parents want their kids to have them with the Wii Us and the Smash Bros. Target was picked clean of all but a couple of Mario and DK. (oh and one Link).

DK is a funny case. They made a lot of him yet....no one seems to be buying him that much.