We’re about three days away from the launch of Super Smash Bros. and Amiibo for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS, which means many of you have probably pre-ordered which figures you want already. However, you should be aware that Nintendo expects certain figures to be more rare than others, especially when their initial print run has gone out. Back in October, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata discussed the availability of figures with investors and mentioned that some figures will be staples, while others will become more rare.
The amiibo figure lineup for “Super Smash Bros.” will continue to be released even after this year-end sales season, and we hope that this will help to update store shelves. As store shelf space is limited, some amiibo will remain stocked on the shelves as staple choices while some will be limited-time offers which will cede their positions to new ones once they are sold out.
This statement seems to imply that Nintendo will keep its staple characters like Mario and Luigi in stock for anyone new to the system to buy, but perhaps newer additions like Mega Man, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer could become more rare as newer characters in the series are introduced.
Given the limited shelf space and the amount of competition their is for the holiday season, if you’re a collector and you want all of the figures that have been announced, even those from wave two and wave three, it might be best to pre-order them ahead of time so you know you’ll have them instead of fighting with stores.
We also know that some Amiibo figures will be exclusive to certain retailers, making it more of a fight to collect them all.
Perhaps the biggest question about Amiibo that remains unanswered is how Nintendo plans on supporting the Nintendo 3DS currently available with the system. An Amiibo adapter is planned for release, but in speaking to investors, Iwata stated that this adapter will not be available until 2015. The new Nintendo 3DS comes with Amiibo support baked in, so when that console finally releases in North America, any Amiibo you’ve purchased to use with the Wii U will also work out of the box with it.
