StarTopic amiibo |ST|

[Wockio]

given they're just two and seemingly coincide with side order i think they're just cancelled at this point

Octo Expansion trio came months after the DLC

 

[Tye]

I don't personally really consider the Power-Up Bands as amiibo, but I know they do have that functionality. So, I'm probably thinking of them incorrectly. Do we know if there's a team at Nintendo that does amiibo that also does the bands?

I’m not entirely sure who designs and manufactures the Power-Up Bands versus most other amiibo, but they are amiibo all the same! The thing that makes an amiibo, well, an amiibo—aside from the fact that Nintendo officially acknowledges them as such, of course—is the NFC tag within it, with data on it that specifically identifies it as an amiibo and allows it to function as such with compatible Nintendo systems and games. Doesn’t matter the form; there are amiibo figures, amiibo cards, amiibo plushes, and amiibo bands, but they’re all still amiibo regardless of form, even if they have dual functions (like the Super Nintendo World Power-Up Bands and the Skylanders/amiibo hybrids).

As for the Side Order amiibo, I imagine there’s a good chance they’ll be announced in next month’s Nintendo Direct.

 

[kirbyfan407]

I’m not entirely sure who designs and manufactures the Power-Up Bands versus most other amiibo, but they are amiibo all the same! The thing that makes an amiibo, well, an amiibo—aside from the fact that Nintendo officially acknowledges them as such, of course—is the NFC tag within it, with data on it that specifically identifies it as an amiibo and allows it to function as such with compatible Nintendo systems and games. Doesn’t matter the form; there are amiibo figures, amiibo cards, amiibo plushes, and amiibo bands, but they’re all still amiibo regardless of form, even if they have dual functions (like the Super Nintendo World Power-Up Bands and the Skylanders/amiibo hybrids).

As for the Side Order amiibo, I imagine there’s a good chance they’ll be announced in next month’s Nintendo Direct.

Thanks for laying it out! More than its form—though I admit figurine = amiibo is ingrained in my head—I think it's the fact that the bands are only sold at a theme park (right?) that makes me see them as different. More souvenirs than Nintendo products, I guess. However, my memory faintly recalls that there were retailer-exclusives (or at least very limited edition) amiibo in the past, and I do know I'm wrong here. It's an irrational feeling rather than a factually based perspective.

I wonder what will be beyond the Splatoon amiibo...perhaps the June Direct will hold the answers.

 

[Tye]

Thanks for laying it out! More than its form—though I admit figurine = amiibo is ingrained in my head—I think it's the fact that the bands are only sold at a theme park (right?) that makes me see them as different. More souvenirs than Nintendo products, I guess. However, my memory faintly recalls that there were retailer-exclusives (or at least very limited edition) amiibo in the past, and I do know I'm wrong here. It's an irrational feeling rather than a factually based perspective.

I wonder what will be beyond the Splatoon amiibo...perhaps the June Direct will hold the answers.

There have been fair amount of amiibo that were retailer exclusive, yeah, and even amiibo that were only available bundled with a game. Hell, it gets worse than that—the Power Pros amiibo cards were exclusively bundled with preorders of the Power Pros game, and on top of that, all of them (aside from one) were exclusive to different retailers, so you’d have to buy five copies of the game from five different retailers to get them all! And then the Yu-Gi-Oh! amiibo cards were arguably worse—rather than each card being exclusive to preorders from different retailers, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel game came bundled with one random amiibo card from a set of seven, so even buying seven copies of the game doesn’t guarantee you a full set! And, of course, both of those amiibo card sets were exclusive to Japan on top of that. Honestly the Power-Up Bands are far more accessible than those, and if you’re not going to Super Nintendo World you can always buy them from resellers online if you really want them (like I did, lol).

Not trying to prove you wrong or anything, of course, since you already acknowledge the facts anyway, but I’m just pointing out how the availability of the Power-Up Bands isn’t anything particularly unheard of with other amiibo, and it has been much worse than that for some, lol.

As for what’s after the Side Order amiibo and future Power-Up Bands…I’m just as curious to know! I’m guessing there’s a good chance that Nintendo is saving some new ones for the launch of the Switch’s successor, though.

 

[kirbyfan407]

There have been fair amount of amiibo that were retailer exclusive, yeah, and even amiibo that were only available bundled with a game. Hell, it gets worse than that—the Power Pros amiibo cards were exclusively bundled with preorders of the Power Pros game, and on top of that, all of them (aside from one) were exclusive to different retailers, so you’d have to buy five copies of the game from five different retailers to get them all! And then the Yu-Gi-Oh! amiibo cards were arguably worse—rather than each card being exclusive to preorders from different retailers, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel game came bundled with one random amiibo card from a set of seven, so even buying seven copies of the game doesn’t guarantee you a full set! And, of course, both of those amiibo card sets were exclusive to Japan on top of that. Honestly the Power-Up Bands are far more accessible than those, and if you’re not going to Super Nintendo World you can always buy them from resellers online if you really want them (like I did, lol).

Not trying to prove you wrong or anything, of course, since you already acknowledge the facts anyway, but I’m just pointing out how the availability of the Power-Up Bands isn’t anything particularly unheard of with other amiibo, and it has been much worse than that for some, lol.

As for what’s after the Side Order amiibo and future Power-Up Bands…I’m just as curious to know! I’m guessing there’s a good chance that Nintendo is saving some new ones for the launch of the Switch’s successor, though.

Oh my... I am so glad I'm no longer an amiibo collector and never felt the need to own every single one. These days, I'd only buy an amiibo if I really liked the character (points at username) or it unlocks something I really want. Getting some of those amiibo sounds like it'd be an expensive nightmare.

I could see Metroid Prime 4 getting an amiibo. Paper Mario would have been fun, but oh well. Kirby's Epic Yarn HD with a yarn Kiriby like those Yarn Yoshis for Woolly World would be lovely.

But yes, I agree: perhaps we won't get a big amiibo push again until Switch 2's first year.

 

[Josh5890]

Right now we are in a holding pattern as far as the figures go. For the first time ever, we do not have anything pending as far as amiibos are concerned.

We do know from datamining that there were/are more figures planned for down the road. Maybe we will get an announcement or two next month around the direct.

 

[Tye]

Getting some of those amiibo sounds like it'd be an expensive nightmare.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad for most of them! The Power Pros and Yu-Gi-Oh! amiibo cards were expensive to import, but I was able to get them from resellers for surprisingly cheap compared to what you’d expect to have to spend on multiple copies of the games they were bundled with. And I don’t mind too much having to spend more than I’d like on certain limited availability and/or Japanese-exclusive amiibo every great once in awhile, since I’ve been able to get most of our amiibo at below MSRP price, anyway, so I guess it all balances out in the end!

Someone else recently asked how difficult it was to buy every amiibo in another thread, actually, so here’s my answer to that while we’re on the same subject here:

Honestly, completing each series of Animal Crossing and Mario Sports Superstars amiibo cards took the most work, since it involved tracking down a lot of card packs and trading with other people to complete each set. Everything else was easy-peasy in comparison.

These days it’s super easy to just preorder any amiibo and have it secured at launch. Japanese-exclusive amiibo are a bit more trouble since you have to import them, but that’s never been very difficult, though it could get pretty expensive for some (particularly the Power Pros and Yu-Gi-Oh! amiibo cards). But it’s not bad if you stay on top of it; Qbby, for example, was super easy to import when it released, though now it’s possibly the most rare and expensive amiibo of all.

To be fair, it did use to be more difficult to secure new amiibo at launch back when stores didn’t take preorders and you had to literally wait in line outside a physical store for hours—which I did, sometimes even overnight for particularly limited and sought-after amiibo like Mega Yarn Yoshi—and store exclusives always sucked, but it’s never been all that hard as long as you’re dedicated and stay on top of it. The worst thing is the price, which certainly adds up—but at least I was able to buy the bulk of our collection at cheaper than MSRP thanks to having an employee discount at Toys “R” Us and Gamers Club Unlocked at Best Buy.

 

[Wockio]

Just sold these bad boys for 200 bucks

Soon I will make what I'm planning to be my very last amiibo purchase: Boo, Blathers and Kapp'n, meaning I'll end up with 75 amiibo.

These no longer bring me the joy they used to and they are absurdly expensive so I'm ready to end things. Despite this I'll forever be grateful for the memories and keep my current collection for as long as I can.

 

[Wockio]

Not looking good for amiibo right now. I don't think there's been a single mainline Zelda release without at least one figure.

 

[Tye]

Not looking good for amiibo right now. I don't think there's been a single mainline Zelda release without at least one figure.

Who says we’re not getting an amiibo for Echoes of Wisdom? Just because it hasn’t been revealed yet doesn’t mean it definitely isn’t happening!

And we’re still waiting on the datamined Side Order amiibo, too. amiibo aren’t going anywhere, don’t worry. Nintendo has been doing a lot of reprints of old amiibo recently, anyway, so there’s been plenty of amiibo out there that may as well be new for anyone who hasn’t been following amiibo super closely for the past decade, lol.

 

[Josh5890]

The lack of a Zelda amiibo today was disappointing, but I won't lose hope. That is easy money for Nintendo to give us a new amiibo of Zelda in a form we never had before.

 

[Tye]

The lack of a Zelda amiibo today was disappointing, but I won't lose hope. That is easy money for Nintendo to give us a new amiibo of Zelda in a form we never had before.

The Link’s Awakening amiibo wasn’t announced alongside the reveal of the remake in the February Direct, it was instead announced months later at the E3, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar situation happens here. Really, in most cases amiibo aren’t announced alongside the reveal of a game—amiibo reveals usually come later, sometimes even after their respective game has already launched.

 

[Josh5890]

The Link’s Awakening amiibo wasn’t announced alongside the reveal of the remake in the February Direct, it was instead announced months later at the E3, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar situation happens here.

Agreed, but we are only 3 months from release right now. I won't deny a Twitter drop in a month or so, but this might be a case where it comes after the game launches.

 

[Tye]

Well, looks like Echoes of Wisdom supports amiibo, so I’d be surprised if it doesn’t get any new amiibo of its own.