[Feature] A history into my love for amiibo! [Celebrating 10 Years Of amiibo]

I will always find it incredible how some things can become a worldwide phenomenon overnight and other things try and try for years and never get the recognition they yearn for, or even how somethings become so big, and then slowly burn out over the years to come. When it comes to amiibo, I would personally put them into the latter category as with many Toys-for Life peripheral seem to fit in this category like Activision Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and LEGO Dimensions. That said, amiibo are still around and holding firm, although maybe not as firm as they once were five or so years ago. However, seeing as these little figures from Nintendo are still being sold 10 years on since their release, that is still pretty good going.

In November 2014, the world went absolutely nuts for Nintendo’s own brand of Toys-for-Life figures, amiibo! These things flew off of store shelves so fast that the supply could not keep up with the demand and no sooner were they on the market, there were immediately sold out. Scalpers saw opportunity admist the chaos as everyone desperately tried to get their hands on an amiibo of their favourite character and scooped up however many they could and resold them at some diabolical prices. The madness was so real that a Little Mac Smash Bros. amiibo would be listed for over $500 US on Ebay.

As for myself, I wasn’t a big collector of amiibo then as I am now. I only sought after amiibo of characters from my favourite videogame series, The Legend of Zelda. At the time, it was only the Link amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. line I picked up, but over time, new figures were added to the line in waves with Princess Zelda, Toon Link, Sheik, and eventually Ganondorf.

My initial intention was to collect just these few figures but then more and more came out and my appreciation for other videogame series also grew. There was the Kirby series amiibo, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda series got its own line and then there was the Super Mario series. The Super Mario series of amiibo was a must get for me and I have managed to get all of them with the exception of Gold and Silver Mario amiibo.

I had no chance of getting them though. Those figures were quickly snatched up when pre-orders opened up by a lucky few and, of course, scalpers who wanted an arm and a leg for them. It wasn’t really a problem for me though as I wasn’t really collecting amiibo to keep in their boxes intact, but to use them to unlock in-game items and other functions like they were intended to be used via the NFC chip that they have installed into their bases that would allow them to work with amiibo compatible games on Nintendo consoles.

By not being so fussed with keeping the amiibo in their boxes, I could have easily picked up another two standard Mario amiibos and painted them silver and gold if I wanted to. They all had the same functionality as one another anyway so it wasn’t like I was missing out on anything, either. As for the other amiibo in the series, there are quite a number and make up a sizeable collection all on their own.

It was from this point on, that I couldn’t simply stop at collecting a select few and call it done. I began actively collecting amiibo when and where I could. First to suit my tastes and then maybe one or two from other series that I found relatively cheap. Around 2016 or so, the craze had started to die down around amiibo and there were made more readily available. More stock also forced scalpers to drop their prices as people were no longer forced to buy from them.

The Splatoon series amiibo for example were very easy to get ahold of, including the likes of the Squid Sisters Callie and Marie and can still be found in stores today (as of writing this article, that is). This trend would continue with the Splatoon 2 amiibo and the Off the Hook amiibo Pearl and Marina, and now with the Deep Cut amiibo of Shiver, Frye and Big Man which can also be found relatively easily on store shelves.

Though not a huge fan of Splatoon (I have played every entry and jump into them every now and again but not to a competitive levely like many other players), I did make a choice to collect the Splatoon amiibo though I missed out on some exclusives back in the day and are very expensive now. Still, I managed to get the other 19 Splatoon amiibo and also the Inkling Girl amiibo from the Smash Bros. series. I must admit, it looks like quite a party when they are all together.

Fastforward to 2023, amiibo are not as big of a craze as they were nearly 10 years ago, that said, new amiibo figures were still releasing and there were a good number of them that were highly sought after. 2023 saw three new Zelda series amiibo themed on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Super Smash Bros wave of amiibo saw Sephiroth, Kazuya, and Pyra & Mythra. Splatoon 3 also welcomed the Splatoon 3 amiibo I mentioned earlier, Shiver, Frye, and Big Man, While the popularity for amiibo may not be like it was, the newer amiibo are sold with far less quantities of stock and it was all to easy for scalpers and opportunists to swipe them up. Some more than others with the Sephiroth amiibo being extremely sought after but the Splatoon 3 and Kazuya amiibo, not so much.

Nintendo has gotten better with limiting how many of each amiibo someone can buy but the system still isn’t perfect and it may never be. The worst part is that not once but TWICE, my brother Jack has had his amiibo pre-orders completely vanish from existence, missing out on the Princess Zelda and Ganondorf amiibo from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingom Series and Noah & Mio from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that released early 2024.

Fortunately for him, he was lucky enough to get the Zelda and Ganondorf amiibo off of Ebay at a not so exorbitant price and as for Noah & Mio, I managed to get an extra order just in case my Pre-Order from the My Nintendo Store failed to arrive (it has happened to me in the past). Although he is going to have to wait a while until I see him next, so I can give him the Noah & Mio amiibo, at least he has them safeguarded.

Now in 2024, and it will be interesting what the future holds for amiibo. We already got the Noah and Mio amiibo and in February, we will see the Sora amiibo (Kingdom Hearts) which will close out the longest running line of amiibo, the Smash Bros. Series. It is interesting to think how the amiibo started with Smash Bros. and could possibly end with Smash Bros. as well.

I do hope it is not the case though. I have spent years collecting amiibo that it would feel weird for me if it was all to just stop now. amiibo may have had their functionality with compatible Nintendo games reduced over the years, as well as less and less new games spawning accompanying amiibo, but to see them just stop happening completely now is still unthinkable for me, especially when one of the last reported sales numbers for amiibo was around 70 million sold (including figures and cards), how could Nintendo shut up shop on them with numbers like that?

What the future holds for amiibo remains to be seen. Will there be more on the horizon? Will their popularity return again? Will Nintendo find new ways to make amiibo relevant again with future titles? Who knows? All I do know is that I love amiibo, regardless of funtionality, as they are nice little keepsakes to remind me off all the fun I have had playing Nintendo games.

Thank you all for reading this feature and if you have made it this far, I commend your commitment. Throughout 2024, we will be celebrating 10 years of amiibo, with more great articles and content. I and the rest of Miketendo64 would also be interested to hear about your history with amiibo and maybe you have some stories you would like to share with us and our readers. Maybe it is about collecting your favourite characters, or how you got swindled by a scalper? Please let us know in the comments and we may feature it in an upcoming article.

As always folks, until next time, Keep On Gaming!