What do you do after your latest hit product sells out at retail? Stop making it of course, or so the rumblings on the internet today would seem to indicate when it comes to Nintendo’s new Amiibo toy line.
If you’ve been collecting the adorable NFC enabled figurines you may have noticed that it’s particularly hard to come across Marth, Wii Fit Trainer, and the Villager. Personally I’ve never even seen Marth on a retailer shelf, even on launch day. Obviously with a toy product like this, retail space is a large concern and it looks like Nintendo has already planned to make some strategic sacrifices with rumors that if you’re having trouble finding one of the previously listed characters, that might just be by design.
Multiple outlets have reported reaching out to Nintendo and the statement they receive always seems about the same:
We will aim for certain amiibo to always be available. These will be for our most popular characters like Mario and Link. Due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment.
In true PR fashion the response does somewhat avoid the question of whether or not we will ever see any more Marth, Wii Fit Trainer, or Villager Amiibos on shelves, but right now it looks like the odds might not be so good. It certainly is a curious strategy getting rid of these characters so early in their lifecycle. Now you’ll have to guess which characters in the next batch being released this month won’t be popular enough to stay around so you can scoop them all up and make BILLIONS in the Amiibo black market!
