Since the other thread seems like it's mostly about procurement. I'm curious as to how all of my NW chums have been affected by the Amiibo craze. I think it's kind of insane that releasing a steady string of amazing games only marginally helped Nintendo's position, but releasing a bunch of practical figures of questionable utility has made such a splash. (I say "questionable utility", but I personally enjoy the Amiibo integration into Smash Bros. I think it's innovative and cool.) That said, I can't deny feeling the hunger myself.

Anyway, I'll ask a couple of questions. Feel free to answer as many as you wishhh...

1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?


2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?


3) How many of them are still in the box?


4) Have you felt the hunger?


5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)


6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Real-life Pokemon metagame? Crass and exploitative?


I'll answer in a while. Unless the thread disappears, in which case I will forget.

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1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?

2 or 3


2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?

2


3) How many of them are still in the box?

I'm not a collector I play with my toys!


4) Have you felt the hunger?

A little bit.


5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)

I ordered them on Amazon, got a Link and a Samus, I tried to get some others at a later date but they were sold out and selling for like 3X they're value by resellers. Fuck that noise.


6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Real-life Pokemon metagame? Crass and exploitative?

I think the figurines are pretty sweet (except for Link who has a really bad pose), but the in-game functionality is horrible, awful, a complete and utter disaster, so terrible, and just... bad, there is NOTHING to do with these things, they might as well have no NFC chip, it's embarrassing that Nintendo didn't think this through better, IMHO.

That said I'll still buy a Zero-Suit Samus day one, just to have the figure. If they actually worked with games I'd definitely buy more.

I only have my phone to post right now, so I'll reply to this thread when I get home to my computer this weekend.

Needless to say, I feel the hunger, and I currently own all of the figures, as seen in the other amiibo thread.

Koovaps said:

I also strongly disagree that there was planned scarcity, at least insofar as it has played out. I think it's absurd to think Nintendo planned this. It only makes sense for Nintendo to plan on selling fewer Wii Fit Trainers than Marios, so there will be fewer of them to buy. With 18 Amiibo released so far, the only retailer I've seen that even has 18 possible spaces for the characters is ToysRUs. Most places I run into (Target, Walmart, Best Buy) barely have half that available space. Compared to Skylanders and Infinity, Amiibo only has a fraction of the shelf space.

Rather than quibbling over what the word planned entails, can we at least agree that Nintendo knew that certain amiibos would be in short supply given the limitations of production and retail space and that those figures would be in demand in a way that they wouldn't otherwise be? I mean, Nintendo is a sophisticated company that obviously did research before launching this venture, and this phenomenon of rare units becoming sought after has existed in practically every similar product line that has become successful. It's a feature, not a bug.

@Jargon

Hmm, don't know that I agree completely. I have more thoughts on the matter, but I'm nearly out the door to work right now. Here's a serious question I have, though. Why is North America the only territory that has this problem to this degree? Did other territories simply get a larger share of those rare characters?

@Koovaps Different cultures, probably. On average, collecting seems to be more of an American thing, from what I've seen. That, and products have different levels of success in different regions.

Jargon said:

Nintendo is a sophisticated company that obviously did research before launching this venture.

Hmm I wonder, Nintendo doesn't seem like the kind of company that researches anything, in fact they seem to pointedly ignore the rest of the industry (at least outside of Japan), too much hubris. I seriously doubt they studied the buying trends of Western gamers when it comes to stuff like Skylanders. The internet has been around how long? And they've certainly never researched how Western gamers use online.

I think it's more like Koovaps said, they probably thought Mario would sell 10X more than something like Wii Fit Trainer so they made 10X more Mario's, hence he's not as rare. My guess is that they were legitimately caught off guard by how many people wanted to collect the entire set, specifically because they didn't do research.

We are talking about a company here who rarely overproduces software. That's why their titles remain at full MSRP for so long (well that and they don't push out another sequel which devalues the original game). Nintendo knows their markets and how to alter production accordingly.

@deathly_hallows

You know Nintendo of America exists right? Marketing, distribution, etc. are the only things they do else than localization. They can't do anything about online functionality in a game, but they definitely do market research. I mean I'm sure you've done Club Nintendo surveys yourself. The idea that a company can be as successful as Nintendo has been without doing those things is internet comment rambling at its finest.

As for your second paragraph, yes, we're all in agreement that they made more Marios because Marios would sell more. They will sell more than Marth and would even if there was an infinite supply of amiibos. But they also know that Marth will be viewed as a collector's item because it's in short supply which will generate hype about amiibos as a whole and make sure that even unpopular characters sell well enough to be worth making.

@Jargon I find it terribly surprising that there are no Club Nintendo surveys attached to the Amiibos. It would be a great way to survey all the people about the product and even get them to buy more stuff. I would have valued it somewhere around 10-20 coins per Amiibo

1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?

5 or 6.

2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?

18.

3) How many of them are still in the box?

None, but my boxes are in very good condition.

4) Have you felt the hunger?

Yes. I have a problem.

5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)

Ludist found some Marths at his local Toys R Us. I paid him through Paypal to mail it to Fink. Fink then traveled to Windsor, Ontario with the Marth of my dreams. A little convoluted, but Fink and I got a fun day of gaming out of it. Thanks, Ludist and Fink!

6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Real-life Pokemon metagame? Crass and exploitative?

It's turned out to be pretty exploitative and I wish the rarer ones were available for more than a day. It'd be nice if they at least gave solid release dates.

1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?

2 or 3

2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?

3 - Link, Mario, & Pikachu

3) How many of them are still in the box?

None.

4) Have you felt the hunger?

Not really.

5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)

I got all three for Christmas. I put zero effort into obtaining them.

6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Real-life Pokemon metagame? Crass and exploitative?

I think it's too early to say I'm disappointed. I'm indifferent. I've unlocked the Mario and Link costumes in Mario Kart and created an Amiibo Link fighter in Smash Bros., but they've been sitting on a shelf untouched since Christmas Day. Conversely, I got Disney Infinity for Christmas as well, and not only have I played that quite a bit but I've gone out and bought more figures and accessories. Infinity is a game supported by the toys, while Amiibos are toys that don't really support anything yet. The Mario Kart costumes are fun but they're basically DLC, and all you're doing is telling people online that you own an Amiibo. I think I missed the point of the Smash Bros. Amiibo - I train an Amiibo to fight so I can bring it to my friend's houses and they can fight it? While I do what, go make a sandwich? Why wouldn't I be playing against my friend instead of this toy?

If I had paid for my Amiibos or gone to great lengths to collect them like some people have I might be more upset or even angry, but since they were essentially free I can afford to be patient and see how Nintendo uses them in the future. The Amiibo figures certainly look nice and they're fun to have, but I don't see myself getting any more until more games utilize them, and utilize them in ways beyond what basically amounts to unlocking DLC. Follow Disney's model and create Nintendo Infinity - give me a sandbox to play in and build stuff and use the Amiibos to unlock characters and content. Have small (5-8 hour long) quests where Mario can run around Hyrule and explore a dungeon and Samus can blast her way through the Kanto Region and fight Team Rocket. Give me a reason to go to Target or Amazon and get a specific Amiibo, because right now I don't have one.

1) I don't really know depends on how many they make.

2) 4

3)All opened

4) I really only get the ones of my favorite characters

5) I plan to pre-order Shulk and Ike from my local shop.

6) I like the idea of the Amibo as it shows yet again that Nintendo does thing that other gaming systems can't, I also like the fact that you can get figures of Shulk, Ike and Captain Falcon at prices less than $20 unlike the $100 figures you would get of a collectors site.

I can't believe anyone is seriously arguing that this scarcity thing is some sort of accident born from incompetence. They knew what they were doing all along.

I will personally totally cop to feeling a pressure to buy because of the scarcity. I think that if Amiibos were overflowing from the shelves, most people would not care about them.

My answers!

1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?

One, with an option to buy more, based on the usage.

2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?

Three. All of the boring ones, too. Mario, Link, and Samus. But I think I'll return Link and get Toon Link, instead.

3) How many of them are still in the box?

Two. I'll finish levelling up my Mario first. I don't even really play as Samus much. But I guess I'll learn...

4) Have you felt the hunger?

Yes, even though I hate the idea of collecting shit that I don't want. (I had a two-month dalliance with baseball cards as a kid. And I HATE spectator sports.)

5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)

Not far at all. I would murder someone for a Captain Falcon, though.

6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Real-life Pokemon metagame? Crass and exploitative?

I do think that they're cool little statues. I'd buy some just to put them on my shelf. I guess they don't move, but I've never really known how to "play with toys", anyway. No imagination. And, like I said, I think the integration into Smash is sweet. A bit pricey, but neat. Everything else, I'm so-so on. The costumes in Mario Kart are cool, I guess.

Honestly, it does kind of piss me off that I can't just stroll into a store and pick up the figures that appeal to me. I hope Nintendo reprints them. Although that might not be smart from a business standpoint? I dunno. I don't fully understand the psychology of scarcity.

pokepal148 said:

Sormon said:

I also like the fact that you can get figures of Shulk, Ike and Captain Falcon at prices less than $20...

Found a Captain Falcon yesterday at GameStop. $13 is less than $20, so...

@Anand

So you need a Captain Falcon one eh? I have one u could get you one. I have a spare of that too.

@DrFinkelstein
That would be cool, but I was mostly kidding. I mean, I do want the Captain, but I'm not super-desperate. If you want to send me one, I'd PayPal you with appreciation, but if you'd rather hoard it or sell it on eBay, feel free!

@ludist210 When I looked on target Falcon was sold out. (which is annoying because I probably would have picked him over Kirby.)

Edit: I just checked the online front. lowest price easily breaks the $20 mark.

(UPDATE)
1) How many Amiibos did you originally think you were going to buy?

0

2) How many Amiibos do you have so far?

2. Link should be arriving in a few days and our good friend Captain Falcon has been newly ordered. I definitely have my eye on Bowser and Megaman from wave 3 as well although I suspect Target will take care of that one. But that will probably end my little rampage.

3) How many of them are still in the box?

0

4) Have you felt the hunger?

Yeah but I had some pizza afterwords. I think I'm good.

5) How far have you gone to obtain one? (ex. highest price paid, most finagling, import, pre-order, etc.)

I just put $33.47 towards the Captain Falcon Amiibo to avoid having it reach a price that I can't justify paying. Otherwise I've given up a gift card I wasn't going to use and that's it.

6) How do you feel about the Amiibo product, overall? Cool toy? Crass and exploitative?

I'll take the third option officer, but only because of the Spinner in Hyrule Warriors. Most of the usage of amiibo outside of Smash has been mildly amusing at best. Hold on... look up will you, I feel like there's something missing... oh right...

Real-life Pokemon metagame?

Here we go, this is where things get interesting...

With Smash Brothers I like to consider myself 'competent' but there are alot of things I can improve on. The CPU at this point can mostly be subdued by what can mostly be described as sheer brute force but that's about all I can do.

I need a partner who can adapt to my tactics and punish them accordingly... Who can force me to learn how to do things like shielding and such... Perhaps Amiibo can provide that for me...

Oh is that the target gift card from a few months ago... hmm... maybe I can get them to pay for my curiosity...
-update-
I have a feeling I'll be addicted to this one for a while. Training these little buggers is surprisingly addictive.

"Oblivion" and "King" are surprisingly fun to oversee as they evolve and I'm eager to see what Link will be like to train since I'm more familiar with his character in Smash. Mega Man will also be a fun one to try to train given how different he is from the other characters.

Bowser is a character I picked for one major reason outside of how much I like his character: He's one of Charizards worst matchups from what I've heard. Megaman will hopefully serve as a test against a more campy character type while Captain Falcon, Kirby, Link, and DK will force me to improve my more general Smash Bros game.