While the general fervor surrounding amiibo has died down, Nintendo's toys-to-life figures have always been popular. Fans may recall amiibo scarcity during their early days due to high demand, a shortage that was exacerbated when retailers began offering exclusives. Nintendo responded to the product drought with reprints of many sought-after amiibo, and it continues to do so to this date.
Modern releases fare better than their predecessors. amiibo may be hard to find initially for those who didn't secure preorders or arrive at stores early enough on launch day, but usually, they're readily available for a few months afterward. Despite Nintendo's efforts to keep amiibo available to consumers, many have ditched the hassle of trying to decipher when, or if, an item will be in stock or become available again. Such individuals opt instead to purchase bootleg amiibo cards of their favorite characters. Nintendo itself has found success in the amiibo card market, so why hasn't Nintendo placed more emphasis on amiibo cards?
Related: Nintendo Switch's Launch Year Is Still Its Best - Here's How 2022 Could Beat It
The closest precursor to amiibo was the GBA e-Reader, which was released in Japan in 2001 and discontinued in 2008. Its lifespan in North America was even worse, releasing in 2002 and gone by 2004.Players could swipe cards corresponding to various franchises and swipe them to unlock new content, such as new items, music or designs in Animal Crossing orspecial Trainer battles and berries that healed HP in Pokémon. Pokémon collectors may remember the e-Reader compatible Eon Ticket released in 2003 as a special promotion during Ruby and Sapphireor early Nintendo sets of Pokémon cards that had e-Reader strips at the bottom.
While the e-Reader was considered a failed device, amiibo certainly aren't. According to Nintendo's annual report, Nintendo sold approximately 24.70 million figures and 28.90 million cards in the financial year running from March 31, 2015, to March 31, 2016. That year saw the release of the first three series Animal Crossing amiibo cards, although the third set had just launched March 18, 2016, and initial sales may not have made it into Nintendo's financial report. While only a one-off card, launch copies of Pokkén Tournament came bundled with a special Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card.
amiibo sales effectively plummeted the following year, but both figure-type and card-type amiibo remained neck-and-neck. Nintendo reported 9.1 million figures sold compared with 9.3 million cards sold for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. That year saw the release of Animal Crossing series three, series four and Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome amiibo. The Mario Sports Superstars set of amiibo cards launched on March 24, 2017, and they largely wound up sitting on shelves until they were clearanced out. This unfortunate fate was undoubtedly thanks to the generally poor reception of the game itself, and it probably didn't help that the cards only worked with Superstars.
Related: Nintendo Switch: The Joy-Con's Iconic Sound Has an Intriguing History
Card sales took the biggest hit in the financial year ending March 31, 2018, with Nintendo reporting only 5.80 million units sold compared to 10.30 million figures. One could argue that's because there wasn't a new amiibo card set after Mario Sports Superstars until the Animal Crossing Sanrio Collaboration Packwas released outside of Japan in March 2021. That pack was later followed by Animal Crossing series five in November 2021. amiibo cards had been selling well, comparably speaking, to the figures.
amiibo figures and cards have certainly resonated with fans. Even though numbers were down in the fiscal year ending March 2018, combined, the figures and cards sold 16.10 million units. In comparison, the best-selling game of Nintendo's 2018 fiscal year was Super Mario Odyssey with 10.41 million units. Granted, that is one game, and amiibo are many different figures and cards spread throughout a given year.
Supply chain and production issues are an ongoing problem in current events and do impact initial scarcity. However, amiibo shortages have been a factor since their launch. It may be worth Nintendo's while to experiment more with amiibo cards and not necessarily huge sets like Animal Crossing. When Nintendo has provided multiple new sets of cards, fans have purchased them comparable to the figures. Since people are actively profiting from and buying bootleg amiibo cards in place of figures, it further indicates Nintendo has a market that's not fully being tapped.
KEEP READING: The 5 Rarest Nintendo DS Games
