Nintendo is doing very, very well with Amiibos. Everybody else? Not so much. The NFC figurines are a massive success that somehow manage to piss off just about everybody, simply because Nintendo isn’t making enough of them, and is mishandling preorders. Amiibos have turned into toys with in-game functionality into collectibles that basically nobody can get, and that shouldn’t be taken out of their plastic wrap. Can that ever change?
Nintendo Will End The Amiibo Shortage, Kind Of
Nintendo has had various sorts of supply problems for years. The most obvious was back in 2006, in the early days of the Nintendo Wii, which was extremely hard to get for well over a year after launch. The reasons behind it were the same as the ones for the Amiibo shortage—underestimated demand, and not enough factory capacity. Nintendo was being harmed by its own success. Back then, it eventually solved the problem, but it took a legitimately long time.
Amiibos aren’t high-tech the way that the Nintendo Wii was at the time, but they face a different problem… the huge proliferation of SKUs. There was only one version of the Wii at first, and there are already dozens of Amiibos, meaning that estimating the need for any particular one is very difficult. There are lots and lots of supply challenges here. But the solution, ultimately, is the same: Just raise capacity. And Nintendo is doing so.
Unfortunately, the damage has been done. Hardcore fans are pissed about Amiibo. So are kids, who can’t get the ones they want, when they want. That will change down the road, at some point, but it’s far from clear whether these early Amiibos—the Super Smash Bros. range—will ever be available in sufficient quantities. They may just be lost to time. And with other weird Amiibos coming out—like the clearly work-intensive yarn Yoshi Amiibo, and the deliberately limited 8-Bit Mario—some Amiibos will always be rare.
But eventually, Amiibos won’t be as scarce as they are now. You’ll be able to go into a store and buy the one you want. Well, maybe you’ll have to go to a few stores. But you won’t have to pay five times retail to get them online. It’s just a matter of time—give it six months, and Amiibo will be in a much less aggravating place.
