Almost every amiibo launch is chaotic, with lines of hardcore fans and resellers forming hours before stores open with limited supply. This made the past seven months equal parts exhilarating and soul-crushing. In one instance we managed to find Little Mac on the one day he was readily available, then failed to duplicate such good fortune with Dark Pit this past July, when we showed up to Best Buy mere minutes after one lucky shopper received the last one, so when GameStop revealed the exclusive amiibo 3-Pack with R.O.B., Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch, the news immediately gave us anxiety. Would each store have enough to satisfy demand?
Turns out, stores had anywhere from 30 to 90 pre-orders to sell throughout this past weekend, and in a bizarre twist for amiibo, the 3-Pack is still available to purchase from the GameStop website. R.OB., Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch are not the most popular characters in Super Smash Bros., which is exactly the point. This store exclusive should be impossible to find right now outside of eBay.
Why is the 3-Pack so easy to buy? We have three theories.
amiibo hype finally subsided
It was bound to happen at some point. Even the hottest toys and collectibles can’t maintain this kind of momentum forever. After several months of craziness, consumers grew tired of amiibo and moved on to the next big thing, and with so many figures making up the Smash Bros. line, not everyone can afford to buy them all. Additionally, Nintendo plans to release amiibo for Super Mario Maker, Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and Yoshi’s Woolly World this year. Budget conscious shoppers must pick and choose.
On second thought, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Palutena sold out on Amazon weeks ago, and we can’t find Dark Pit at Best Buy, so amiibo hype is still alive. Maybe…
Nintendo is able to satisfy demand
Perhaps this is a case of Nintendo ramping up production to satisfy North America, which seems to be the biggest market for amiibo. In this scenario, you can expect to see plenty of figures in the months ahead, including Dr. Mario, Bowser Jr. and Zero Suit Samus. There will be future store exclusives, but frequent restocks will let everyone buy the amiibo they want while keeping eBay prices down. This would make thousands of collectors happy, us included. Or maybe…
People want to pick and choose
There’s a portion of the amiibo community holding out hope for these figures releasing individually both internationally and domestic. Some fans even want to buy multiple Mr. Game & Watch amiibo to display the figure in each pose. There’s also a matter of official packaging for the Retro 3-Pack. Will Nintendo create one long rectangular card for these figures similar to Splatoon, or will we be able to individually separate each of the boxes. If it’s the former, will this look strange displayed next to the rest of the Smash lineup, all of which (upcoming Mii Fighter pack excluded) feature similar containers? We don’t know, and perhaps this gave some hardcore amiibo fans pause when it came time to reserving the GameStop bundle.
Of the three scenarios this one doesn’t seem too plausible, because if you committed to buying all of the Smash amiibo, you absolutely want R.OB., Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch.
Now it’s your turn. Let us know why you think the Retro 3-Pack is in high supply, and what does this mean for upcoming amiibo moving forward?
