History Trivia / Amiibo

** You'd expect ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' amiibo cards to not have this problem, being, well, ''cards'' that are much cheaper to produce (after all, NFC cards are a very common technology nowadays, used for payment cards, hotel keys, and work badges), but unless you try to order them within minutes of being stocked, they're virtually nonexistent.

** The ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing x Creator/{{Sanrio}}'' cards were released in Japan, Europe and Australia/New Zealand, but never in North America until March 2021. The [[VideoGame/{{BoxBoy}} Qbby]] amiibo, which was originally a Japanese-exclusive, also went for a limited-release in Australia/New Zealand.

* DuelingGames: With the other toys-to-life lines like ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'', ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'', and ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions''. In a subversion, Nintendo has actually collaborated with ''Skylanders'' to create special editions of Donkey Kong and Bowser. Creator/{{Disney}}, Creator/WarnerBros & Toys/{{LEGO}}, and Creator/{{Activision}} eventually dropped out of the fight, the former despite leading at some point.

** amiibo were been hit with this like a truck when the toys first dropped. Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer were infamous for it at launch -- it only got worse as time went on, particularly with store exclusives such as Rosalina, Meta Knight, Lucario, Shulk, and Ness. Part of the issue was due to a port strike holding up shipments, and scalpers exploiting the situation just compounded the problem. Some of the rare-at-first ones became more common after the initial rush, but not all of them.

** amiibo have been hit with this like a truck. Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer were infamous for it at launch -- it only got worse as time went on, particularly with store exclusives such as Rosalina, Meta Knight, Lucario, Shulk, and Ness. Part of the issue was due to a port strike holding up shipments, and scalpers exploiting the situation just compounded the problem. Some of the rare-at-first ones became more common after the initial rush, but not all of them.
** To give an example of overloaded demand is, when the ''Smash'' Wave 4 pre-orders opened in North America, [=GameStop=] crashed from the demand. Not just the [=GameStop=] website, but ''the entire [=GameStop=] system'' -- even the registers in the stores went down.
** Another example of how insane the demand is: A lorry (a truck for non-British) carrying the shipment of ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' + Squid Inkling amiibo for GAME (the British equivalent of [=GameStop=]) was stolen. This unfortunately screwed over all those people who pre-ordered the bundle from that store. GAME compensated for this by giving the standard version of the game, plus the Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl and having it at a discounted price, but the damage was already done.

** Many years later, even very common amiibo are considered to be extremely rare today due to being long out of print. In fact, stores stopped dedicating space to amiibo and just put them with other general Nintendo merchandise or accessories as they tend to release far more sparingly compared to 2015-2016. This bites many collectors who either didn't bother to collect "common" amiibo due to them not carrying any value and collectors who joined in really late who want to try to collect all of them.

* FanNickname:
** Marth, Wii Fit Trainer, and the Villager are known as the "Holy Trinity" of Wave 1 as they are all very hard to find normal price, although people have resorted to importing them to avoid scalpers. With reprints happening, some people don't associate the "new" Villager with the original Holy Trinity.
** "Diddy Kong" is an unofficial nickname to amiibo that are said to be very rare, but end up being somewhat common in stores later. The name came from Diddy Kong's amiibo, as when he came out, people feared for the worst and felt like he was going to end up in a similar fate to the Holy Trinity. However, as a few weeks passed, Diddy Kong started to become a somewhat common amiibo (not as common as Mario and Peach though). Sheik, Toon Link, and Jigglypuff are other amiibo that are given this nickname.
** Lucario, Rosalina, Shulk, and Meta Knight from Wave 3 are known as the "Four Store Exclusives/Horsemen of the Apocalypse", as they were all very rare and similar to the "Holy Trinity", many people have resorted to importing them as well. They were also store exclusives and typically came in very low stock in their initial releases.
** "Unicorn" for any extremely rare amiibo that are impossible to find in stores and online for MSRP prices. Examples include the Holy Trinity, Little Mac, and the Store Exclusives (especially pre-reprint Meta Knight). The community stopped using that word (alongside the "rarity chart") as the craze for amiibo died off around 2016/2017 (and once common amiibo started getting simply sold out), even when there are still hard-to-find amiibo to this day.
** The retro three-pack consisting of NES R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, and Duck Hunt is often referred to as the "Retrio."
** [[VideoGame/{{Skylanders}} Hammer Slam Bowser & Turbo Charge Donkey Kong]] are collectively referred to as the "Skymiibo" due to their dual functionality as both Skylanders & amiibo figures.
** Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta are often referred as "The Final Three" by the community, as they were the last three ''Smash'' figures to be announced for the Wii U and 3DS games, and it was well over a year before they were finally released.

* DuelingGames: With the other toys-to-life lines like ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'', ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'', and ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions''. In a subversion, Nintendo has actually collaborated with ''Skylanders'' to create special editions of Donkey Kong and Bowser. Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/WarnerBros & Toys/{{LEGO}} eventually dropped out of the fight, the former despite leading at some point.

* FranchiseKiller: [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingAmiiboFestival Lottie amiibo figurines]] have been accused of being the cause for the general decrease in support amiibo have gotten during the Switch era; both from Nintendo and from retailers. Coming from a game that was already considered mediocre at best, there was next to ''no'' interest upon her release, resulting in ''literal rows of shelves'' dedicated to her simply because she wasn't selling ''at all''. The resulting fall out from the losses of this can still be felt today; stores have ''drastically'' cut their amiibo displays since, and the only consistent amiibo that are still being created are usually only for the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Smash series]].

* NoExportForYou: There are a handful of amiibo, such as [[VideoGame/{{BoxBoy}} Qbby]], the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' line, the ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing x Creator/{{Sanrio}}'' cards, and the ''[[VideoGame/{{LivePowerfulProBaseball}} Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball]]'' cards that have not been released outside of Japan.

* FranchiseKiller: [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingHappyHomeDesigner Lottie amiibos]] have been accused of being the cause for the general decrease in support amiibo have gotten during the Switch era; both from Nintendo and from retailers. Coming from a game that was already considered mediocre at best, there was next to ''no'' interest upon her release, resulting in ''literal rows of shelves'' dedicated to her simply because she wasn't selling ''at all''. The resulting fall out from the losses of this can still be felt today; stores have ''drastically'' cut their amiibo displays since, and the only consistent amiibos that are still being created are usually only for the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Smash series]].

** Another example of how insane the demand is: A lorry (a truck for non-British) carrying the shipment of ''Splatoon'' + Squid Inkling amiibo for GAME (the British equivalent of [=GameStop=]) was stolen. This unfortunately screwed over all those people who pre-ordered the bundle from that store. GAME compensated for this by giving the standard version of the game, plus the Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl and having it at a discounted price, but the damage was already done.

** Although demand gradually eased up, ''Zelda: Breath of the Wild'' brought it back in full force and made it incredibly hard to find any ''Zelda''-related figures.

* FranchiseKiller: [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingHappyHomeDesigner Lottie amiibos]] have been accused of being the cause for the general decrease in support amiibo have gotten during the Switch era; both from Nintendo and from retailers. Coming from a game that was already considered mediocre at best, there was next to ''no'' interest upon her release, resulting in ''literal rows of shelves'' dedicated to her simply because she wasn't selling ''at all''. The resulting fall out from the losses of this can still be felt today; stores have ''drastically'' cut their amiibo displays since, and the only consistent amiibos that are still being created are usually only for the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Smash series]].

** "Unicorn" for any extremely rare amiibo that are impossible to find in stores and online for MSRP prices. Examples include the Holy Trinity, Little Mac, and the Store Exclusives (especially pre-reprint Meta Knight).

** However, there are occasional restocks, giving hope to fans who weren't able to grab the particular amiibo they wanted the first time around. Notable mentions go to Marth, Jigglypuff, Ness, and Fox.

** Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta are often referred as "The Final Three" by the community, as they were the last three ''Smash'' figures to be announced and it was well over a year before they were finally released.

* DuelingGames: With the other toys-to-life lines like ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'', ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'', and ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions''. In a subversion, Nintendo has actually collaborated with ''Skylanders'' to create special editions of Donkey Kong and Bowser. Disney eventually dropped out of the duel despite leading at some point.

** For the ''Majora's Mask'' remake, a Skull Kid amiibo was greatly considered.
** A transforming Arwing amiibo was considered for ''Star Fox Zero'', but was scrapped due to design issues (they couldn't acceptably hit toy safety guidelines).

* OlderThanTheyThink: Some people tend to forget that [[VideoGame/PokemonRumble this isn't Nintendo's first toys-to-life series]].