Amiibo, Nintendo’s line of plastic figurines including iconic characters such as Mario, Yoshi and Princess Peach, is selling extraordinarily well, bringing in millions for the company. As of February, Nintendo has sold around 6 million Amiibo globally.
Released in waves, the figurines sell out within hours, causing massive problems for retailers such as Gamestop, whose entire network was knocked offline due to demand. Some have likened the popularity to the 1990’s beanie babie or Pokemon Trading Card craze, with fans lining up at stores to pre order a figure the day it goes on sale. Many fans are resorting to purchasing the figurines on e-commerce websites such as Ebay, for sky high prices. Nevertheless, the high demand has drained the supply, and frustrated fans want answers.
Nintendo recently apologized for its short supply, and recognizes that it is a problem that needs to be fixed. Their full statement reads:
[su_quote]We appreciate the enthusiasm that our fans continue to show toward Amiibo. Sales for the product have exceeded our expectations. We understand how frustrating it can be at times if consumers are unable to find certain figures, and we apologize for that.
We’re trying to meet the demands of our fans and consumers by increasing the amount of Amiibo we manufacture and ship to retail. We may continue to see consumer demand outpace supply levels for certain characters at times, but we will do our best to prevent that from happening.
As our library of Amiibo continues to grow, some figures will be easier to find than others. We are constantly looking for the opportunity to reissue Amiibo and are already making plans to bring back some currently out-of-stock Amiibo figures. Stay tuned for details.
Nintendo plans to make it easier for consumers to know when new Amiibo are on the way, through Nintendo press announcements, timely updates on our social media channels and working closely with retailers.
We remain committed to keeping Amiibo affordable and easy to access as a platform to enhance game-play experiences. These plans include Animal Crossing Amiibo cards that will become available by the end of 2015, and a free-to-download app for Wii U called Amiibo tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits that launched on April 30, 2015, that lets consumers enjoy playable scenes from certain NES and Super NES games with Amiibo.[/su_quote]
This is positive news for fans after Nintendo’s complete silence about the shortage. The plans to bring back some out of stock Amiibo figurines should please fans. However, it is likely that demand will once again exceed supply, so we will see how Nintendo meets fans expectations.
What do you think about the situation? Are you an Amiibo fan? Let us know in the comments below!
