Amiibo Rarity Guide - Nintendo Amiibo Guide - IGN (2024)

Only a few weeks after the launch of the first wave of Amiibo Figurines, it was discovered that certain Amiibo were discontinued because of character popularity, prompting questions concerning Amiibo rarity.

From the first wave, Marth, Wii Fit Trainer, and Villager are no longer being stocked on store shelves. Statements from Nintendo first said that while they would ensure that popular Amiibo were always being shipped to stores, other Amiibo may not always be in production. Nintendo followed up by saying that these Amiibo may return to distribution sometime in the future, but details are scarce at this time. Nintendo would eventually confirm that Marth would be restocked in time for Code Name S.T.E.A.M.'s release.

While core characters are in ready supply, US retailers have not been getting regular deliveries for Wave 1 characters Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer. While the word is out on additional shipments for Wave 2, it is already clear that Zelda and Luigi are in wider circulation than the other characters while Captain Falcon, Pit and Little Mac have been reported to be even more rare.

The amiibo craze only worsened with the introduction of store exclusives in wave 3. These exclusives include Rosalina, Shulk, Meta Knight, and Lucario. Preorders for these sold out in minutes and stores received very few of them. The same is for characters like King Dedede and Ike, which were nearly impossible to find.

Wave 4 was one of the hardest sets of amiibo to collect as Nintendo failed to communicate with the retailers and send out enough stock. Some of the most notorious examples of this are from Wave 4, such as Jigglypuff preorders selling out on Target's website at a rate of 500 per minute. The Fire Emblem duo, Robin and Lucina, became two of the hardest to find since most retailers received an average of 3 to 4 per store; many stores received no Robin or Lucina on launch day at all.

However, more recent events proved that Nintendo has learned from their lack of communication with both retailers and consumers in the past. Through constant restocks, they were able to regain some trust from collectors and lower the resale value of hard to find figures. Scalpers had to drastically lower the price of characters such as Marth, which dropped by over $30 on ebay. In Wave 5, they stocked much more of each character than they did in the past. Dark Pit and Palutena were available online for much more time than many collectors had expected. The release of Wave 5B proved to be relatively easy to find compared to past releases. Although Nintendo isn't doing a good job stocking and restocking certain figures, they are certainly doing better than how they did in the past.

Nevertheless, Wave 5 made it difficult for Nintendo to restock some of the older characters such as Samus and Megaman; these characters become harder to find over time. This list shows the availability of every released amiibo to inform you which characters are easy to find, already hard to find, or becoming harder to find. If you struggle to find a certain character, you don't have to resort to ebay and pay scalper price. Remember: Nintendo will restock it eventually.

For tips on how to score a rare amiibo, check: How to Find Rare Amiibo.

Rarity Definitions:

Common: Incredibly easy to find at MSRP, available at nearly every retail outlet that sells amiibo.

Semi-Common: May take more than one store to find, but still relatively easy to find at MSRP.

Uncommon: May not be in stock currently at most retailers, but can still be found with a bit of patience. These types of amiibo like to go in and out of stock with regularity before eventually becoming either common or rare.

Semi-Rare Can possibly be found by checking several locations, and usually cost $20-$30 online

Rare: Not available at the vast majority of retailers, but can be picked up off of eBay for under $40.

Unicorn: Virtually unobtainable via MSRP. Unicorns are generally sold on eBay for about $50 or above. (Note: Just because a certain amiibo is not available in your area doesn't mean it's a unicorn; chances are, it will be back in stock soon.)

(Store availability. Feel free to change anything if you have an IGN account)

Online exclusives such as Palutena will be labeled either 'available at Amazon for MSRP', or 'Not available at Amazon for MSRP'

This list is ONLY American and Canadian rarities.

In addition, please do not add fake rarities such as "Very Common" or "Semi-Unicorn" that are not listed above.

Have fun collecting!

Rarity Guide for North America

Super Smash Bros. Series

Super Mario Bros. Series

Yoshi's Woolly World Series

Shovel Knight Series

Splatoon Series

8-bit Super Mario Maker 30th Anniversary Series

SPECIAL Edition MARIO Amiibo

Chibi Robo! Series