In 2014, Nintendo announced a new line of figurines called amiibo. Part-figurine to decorate your bookshelf, part-DLC for your favorite games, amiibo unsurprisingly attracted the attention of casual fans and hardcore collectors alike. Unfortunately, as with any product that attracts the attention of a collector's market, amiibo production rarely kept up with amiibo demand, in some cases leading to skyrocketing prices on the second-hand market. Those were dark days for regular amiibo fans, and that's not even mentioning the armed robbery and vengeance-driven buying campaign to snatch figurines off the market. Here are Nintendo amiibo that caused a serious uproar.
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00:00Amiibo figures were advertised as being able to bring games to life, and while they may
00:05have done that in some cases, what they also brought was controversy, and some were more
00:09problematic than others.
00:11"...I'm gonna just start with the worst thing."
00:13If you say so, princess.
00:16Though the release of The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD has been excitedly anticipated
00:20by most fans, the $25 Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo releasing alongside the title have not received
00:26as warm a welcome.
00:27In fact, the Amiibo has sparked a fair amount of controversy from players and collectors
00:32alike, both regarding pricing and gameplay functionality.
00:36So what exactly does the controversial Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo do?
00:40According to Nintendo's listing for the product, the Amiibo allows players to travel quickly
00:44between the game's surface and sky worlds.
00:47Interestingly, this even applies inside the game's dungeons.
00:50During regular gameplay without Amiibo, it is only possible to travel between these two
00:54worlds at specific save points, making this a definite quality-of-life improvement in
00:59many players' eyes.
01:01Naturally, many fans were upset that the convenience of fast travel was locked behind what could
01:05be called a pay-to-play system.
01:07Compared to the Breath of the Wild Amiibo, which added a slew of bonus content like new
01:11armor and weapons, fans felt that the Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo doesn't really add much
01:15content to the game, but instead locked an important feature behind an additional paywall.
01:21Side-by-side, the Zelda and Loftwing Amiibo are also noticeably higher-priced than the
01:25regular Amiibo.
01:26Priced at $25, buying the Amiibo and a copy of Skyward Sword HD will run you about $85.
01:33That's a hefty bill to gain access to the game's improved features.
01:36At E3 2021, Nintendo finally announced a new entry into the long-stagnant Metroid series.
01:42No, there wasn't anything shown about Metroid Prime 4.
01:45Instead, Nintendo resurrected a dormant project named Metroid Dread.
01:49Now fully formed as a Switch title, Samus Aran's newest adventure was announced alongside
01:54a duo of Amiibo depicting the new E.M.M.I. enemy and the courageous bounty hunter.
02:07Soon after, the in-game benefits of having the two Amiibo were revealed.
02:11Samus offers a permanent health boost of 100 points with a daily heal, and E.M.M.I. grants
02:16players 10 extra missiles alongside a daily refill.
02:19Naturally, this is where the controversy began.
02:22Considering the fact that the Metroid series is built on survival and resource conservation,
02:26some fans feel that these perks take away from the game's atmosphere.
02:30On the other hand, the Amiibo might also lower the game's difficulty just enough for a player
02:34to get through one particularly rough spot.
02:37But they're nigh impossible to obtain.
02:39As noted by Inverse, part of the reason gamers may not have access to the figures is because
02:43of Nintendo's famously small production sizes, resulting in endless storefronts being sold
02:49out, unless buyers are willing to pay upwards of $600 on the second-hand market.
02:54"...I'll get you, Mario."
02:56"...No way.
02:57I'm-a gonna win.
02:59Ha!
03:00Ha!"
03:01In early 2015, it was revealed that Nintendo would be releasing two special limited-edition
03:06Mario Amiibo figures, a Gold Mario and a Silver Mario.
03:10The Gold Mario would become the more elusive of the two figures upon release, as it was
03:14marked as a Walmart-exclusive release, meaning that it immediately sold out and restocks
03:19were incredibly slow.
03:21But what's more infuriating than a limited-run, hard-to-find Amiibo?
03:24An Amiibo that is functionally identical to an already-released figure.
03:28Many fans were becoming disillusioned with the lack of Amiibo availability in the United
03:32States for specific characters, making collecting a nightmare.
03:36These two new Mario figures served as a perfect representation of a money grab for many fans,
03:41as they were essentially just the Mario Smash Bros. Amiibo repainted a different color.
03:46Outside of the silver and gold color variations, no unique gameplay is added by scanning these
03:50particular Amiibo into the game.
03:53When fans weren't busy spending hundreds of dollars to import these figures to the U.S.,
03:57they were complaining that these figures were just not that interesting, since they didn't
04:01add anything major to the gameplay experience.
04:04While the Amiibo boom may have resulted in some figures achieving the fabled unicorn
04:08rarity status, the Rosalina and Luma Amiibo remains one of the strangest tales in Amiibo
04:13history.
04:14After all, many Amiibo can claim popularity, but few have incurred the wrath of devoted
04:18haters hellbent on keeping them out of circulation.
04:21Nintendo collector Daily Dose, otherwise known as Mario Tepluma, had a real vendetta against
04:26Rosalina.
04:27His apparent solution was to pre-order over a hundred Rosalina and Luma toys in the hopes
04:32that others couldn't get their hands on her.
04:34In a now-unavailable interview from the Nintendo Nuggets website, Daily Dose affirmed his hatred
04:38of the character and his goal to keep her out of fans' hands.
04:42He stated,
04:43"...I hate her fans, too.
04:44I know for a fact her Amiibo will be among one of the most popular, which is why I took
04:48the time to wait and pre-order over 100 of her.
04:51I do not want her fans to be happy.
04:53It just crushes me Nintendo from the good days went to this s—t for character designs."
04:57Jeez, you don't have to be a d—k about it.
05:00Daily Dose apparently dropped $4,000 on pre-orders and claimed to have spent an additional $35,000
05:07pulling the same stunt with other female Amiibo figures.
05:10Despite the drama and subsequent internet backlash, as pointed out by Metro, it's unknown
05:14whether or not what Daily Dose says is actually true.
05:17Still, the story of the man who allegedly bought Rosalina just so others couldn't is
05:22still occasionally spoken about as a dark part of Amiibo history.
05:26The Villager Amiibo was released along with the first wave of figurines in 2014.
05:31Alongside the likes of popular characters like Pikachu, Link, and Kirby, many opted
05:35to leave the then-less-popular Animal Crossing representative behind on store shelves.
05:40Unfortunately for those who did, the Villager would later become one of the most sought-after
05:44Amiibo figures among collectors, selling upwards of $100 online.
05:49As other figures were restocked, the Villager was seemingly forgotten, making him a nightmare
05:54for completionist collectors to get their hands on.
05:56But even more frightening, Amiibo restocks were not yet guaranteed for hardcore fans
06:00who missed out on the first run of their favorite characters.
06:03In fact, Nintendo had initially announced that there would be no restocks for some of
06:07the less-popular Amiibo, which made the Villager even more elusive as multiple figures were
06:11discontinued.
06:12Eventually, once a restock was announced, the Villager Amiibo received a minor design
06:16tweak.
06:17The eyes had been slightly altered to better match the cutesy style of the games.
06:21While this design alteration certainly fits the Animal Crossing brand more closely, it
06:25also serves to make the first-run Amiibo figure all the more valuable among collectors.
06:31During the announcement for the fourth wave of Amiibo figures, it was revealed that the
06:34NES Amiibo would be a GameStop exclusive.
06:37While previous store-exclusive Amiibo had caused some scrambling from fans in the past,
06:42no one was prepared for the chaos that would ensue when it came to the EarthBound protagonist.
06:46"...look like a damn old park clips now, man, and I'm down there all night.
06:50The horror.
06:51The horror."
06:52Predictably, eager Amiibo fans rushed to order the NES Amiibo on GameStop's online system.
06:57However, so many people tried to place orders that GameStop's systems completely crashed.
07:02According to Uproxx, this system failure didn't just include the GameStop website, but the
07:06in-store pre-order system, as well as the registers.
07:10Not only were people unable to utilize the GameStop website, people were stuck in line
07:14unable to complete their pre-orders at physical GameStops.
07:17Amid the chaos, GameStop released a statement on its website which read, quote,
07:21"...due to very strong demand for the newest wave of Nintendo's Amiibo figures, GameStop
07:25is experiencing some technical issues with our website.
07:28We are working aggressively to resolve the technical issues as quickly as possible and
07:33expect it to be back online shortly."
07:35Eventually, lucky fans claimed their NES figures, but the pre-order phase for NES created one
07:40of the most chaotic days for consumers and retail employees during the peak of the Amiibo
07:44craze.
07:45Unlike other Amiibo on this list, the Shadow Mewtwo Amiibo card was a free gift that served
07:50as an incentive for players to grab copies of a game earlier rather than later.
07:54The card was included in first-edition copies of the Wii U fighting game Pokken Tournament,
07:59but despite being technically free of charge, the Shadow Mewtwo Amiibo card still managed
08:03to ruffle some feathers and cause disruption for Pokken players.
08:07Players who grabbed early copies of Pokken Tournament and secured the Amiibo card would
08:11be able to gain access to the fighter Shadow Mewtwo right off the bat.
08:15As explained by GameStop, during normal gameplay, Shadow Mewtwo can only be used after completing
08:20certain conditions and achievements.
08:22However, scanning the card allowed players to access the powerful character immediately,
08:27allowing them to effectively dominate online play.
08:30Additionally, it was quickly discovered that Shadow Mewtwo wasn't just powerful, he was
08:34broken, capable of performing an infinite attack combo that opponents couldn't block.
08:38Ultimately, Shadow Mewtwo lost any sense of reward status by being effectively handed
08:43to new players, which gave those with early access to the character an unfair advantage
08:47against those who didn't have it from the start.
08:51In 2015, a set of three different Splatoon Amiibo figures launched, including an Inkling
08:55Boy, Inkling Girl, and Squid.
08:58These three Amiibo figures were naturally combined into a three-pack, which sold for
09:02$30.
09:03While the Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl were also sold separately as individual figures
09:07for the regular $13 price tag, in North America, the Squid Amiibo could only be obtained by
09:12buying the three-pack.
09:14This made the Squid the rarest out of the three, and, of course, the one that collectors
09:18were hunting for.
09:19This meant that once the three-pack started to fly off store shelves, fans had to turn
09:23to importing the Squid Amiibo from Japan or Europe, where it was actually sold as a standalone
09:28Amiibo.
09:29However, the Squid Amiibo became a hot topic in the United Kingdom as well.
09:34Two days before the release of Splatoon, reports of a UK truck transporting Nintendo products
09:39being hijacked were circulated online.
09:42On those trucks were special editions of Splatoon, which came bundled with the Squid Amiibo.
09:46Unfortunately, customers who had their particular pre-ordered Squid Amiibo stolen were not given
09:51replacements, and instead received a £10 discount.
09:55The release of Animal Crossing New Horizons catapulted the Animal Crossing series even
09:59further into the mainstream.
10:01It's hard to believe, but the series didn't have nearly as large a player base in North
10:05America before that.
10:06However, the fans that the series did have were vocal.
10:09When Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival launched for the Wii U alongside a smattering of Amiibo
10:13figurines, dedicated Animal Crossing lovers were upset that Nintendo opted to tie them
10:18to a spinoff, one that's not particularly well-liked rather than a main series title.
10:23That wasn't the only time that Amiibo and Animal Crossing proved to be a controversial
10:27mix.
10:28Coinciding with the release of Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer, over 100 Amiibo cards
10:33went on sale featuring different characters from the Animal Crossing series.
10:37Initially, these cards allowed players to scan villagers, furniture, and even features
10:41into Happy Home Designer.
10:43However, once New Horizons launched, they would grow to serve a much more important
10:47purpose.
10:48The New Horizons Amiibo cards became the easiest way to obtain specific villagers.
10:52They also became a tool for removing unwanted villagers from a player's island.
10:56Naturally, they became a hot commodity, and popular characters sold like hotcakes for
11:00far above retail price.
11:02Polygon reported that this trend repeated itself when Nintendo released a new batch
11:05of Animal Crossing Amiibo cards.
11:07The Sanrio cards, a tie-in with Hello Kitty, sold out instantly in stores, and were sold
11:12for outlandish prices online, making it almost impossible to obtain the cards without buying
11:18from scalpers.
11:19When the Amiibo 2-pack of Alm & Celica were announced alongside Fire Emblem Echo's Shadows
11:24of Valentia, Nintendo Life noted that Amazon Japan's ambiguous wording let fans only speculate
11:30about what the Amiibo would actually do in their game.
11:33As the release date inched closer, it was revealed that the pair would unlock separate
11:36dungeons to play through.
11:38Luckily, the dungeons included with the Alm & Celica Amiibo were generally well-received
11:42from fans of the game.
11:44On the flip side, several of the regular Amiibo-less DLC additions to Shadows of Valentia were
11:48not received with as much enthusiasm, with Kotaku arguing that the game's challenge was
11:53nerfed by the introduction of the DLC.
11:55As a result, more and more players turned to the Amiibo for a more favorable gameplay
11:59experience.
12:00As is customary in the Amiibo world, the 2-pack then became rarer as restocks were slow to
12:05roll out.
12:06The Alm & Celica Amiibo are still regarded as some of the rarer and priciest Amiibo figures.