amiibos!: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Give Nintendo My Money

Missed the last Ness at my Gamestop by an hour. Was still able to get Pac-Man though.

Also, if you are getting multiple amiibo from amazon today, use this to combine orders.

edited 29th May '15 11:02:56 AM by strawberryflavored

So I notice most of the Wave 4 ones already have prices in the 28-30 range. I assume those are Japanese imports, and the second Amazon makes these available the prices will drop down to 12.99?

Didn't get Lucina but managed to get my second choice Robin at Toys 'R Us. Don't think I'm going to bother going out of my way to get Lucina though as my experiences today nearly broke me. I'm just glad that I finally got my hands on a Fire Emblem amiibo to use in Code Name Steam.

Robin looks quite good, too. The manufacturers are really improving on the faces of the more realistically proportioned characters.

Well, I got to see a Charizard and two Pac-Men at least...before someone bought all three of them. I was surprised to see that there were still a good amount of Inklings (both genders) left though.

Most stores I checked had plenty of squids, one or two squid 3-packs. The three GameStops I went to had plenty of Silver Marios, 2-4 Pac-Mans, and I saw 1 or 2 Warios total. (I checked six stores in all).

Okay, when my mom gets home we'll be checking stores for Lucina.

What page do I have to be on when continuously refreshing for the order?

I'd like to go check my local Gamestop, but I don't have a car at the moment and there's nobody home to take me. Plus it's getting late, they've probably all already disappeared.

So my day started off early. I got up at 5 and was down at my closest Target a little after 6. There was a small line that gave me a bit of pause but I decided to wait it out. My goal was to acquire either a Lucina or Robin with the former as my priority. Mainly I just wanted a Fire Emblem amiibo for use in the game Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

I was in line for about an hour and a half before the staff came out and started to distribute tickets. Before they even reached me I heard them informing the person ahead of me that there were now out of Lucina and Robin. With a heavy heart I left the line, but I didn't give up hope. I went to my back-up store, in this case Toys 'R Us.

The wait in line this time was a lot more eventful as I was much more awake and alert by this time so I engaged in casual conversation with the two guys ahead of me about various geeky subjects. In the midst of all that I learned that they and another person ahead of me already had their Fire Emblem amiibo and were here primarily for Greninja. I already felt that my chances had skyrocketed and there were only about 7 or 8 others ahead of us.

There were a lot of funny moments including one guy doing his best Oprah impression when we learned that there were a very large number of Greninja in stock. "You get a Greninja! And you get a Greninja! Everybody gets a Greninja!" That got a good laugh from everyone within earshot. It was a very friendly and warm atmosphere that helped me keep my sanity as I waited.

Eventually the staff came out with tickets and with bated breath I waited. My heart absolutely sank when I once again heard that Lucina had run out, but I gladly requested the final Robin ticket. A guy behind me who'd had similar goals to my own was clearly disappointed but he was at least glad that it was going to someone who would equally enjoy it and there were no hard feelings. It seemed my worries were over...

...Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. The walk up to the customer service desk where all the amiibo were being distributed was courteous and calm due to the ticket system in place. As I waited in line I couldn't help but look on in envy as someone purchased a Lucina, Robin and a Marth reprint and it was almost surreal to see such rarities up close and all in one place. When my turn came up the woman at who was processing me couldn't find the last Robin. I felt a lump in my throat as she searched, puzzled. Had there been a mistake? Had I really been given a brief glimpse of hope only to have it taken away? There were tons of Inklings and Splatoon 3-Packs, several Warios/Charizards/Pac-men and a buttload of Greninja but no Robin to be found among the multitude of boxes. Even a second employee began searching at one point and I was just about ready to resign when lo and behold the first employee came back with the very last Robin. I'd never had my mood switch back and forth from highs to lows to back again so quickly before. Someone else in the line even congratulated me as I completed my purchase! So home I went, swearing that I'd never do this ever again.

tl;dr I had a pleasant yet somewhat stressful and dynamic experience on my first amiibo hunt. Thanks to both Target and Toys 'R Us for keeping order as well as my fellow Tacoma amiibo hunters for being so polite and friendly.

I'm not sure, but I feel like my local Walmart will still have at least some Wave 4 amiibo. It helps that I live in a very backwater town where (to be quite honest) 70% of the population probably doesn't know who half of the characters are. A lot of the sales of folks like, say, Little Mac, Marth, the Wii Fit Trainer, and Captain Falcon were probably from desperate people going out of their own towns in search of elusive people like that. I still don't expect Robin or Lucina to be there, though.

See, I'm in some small-ish town, yet I can't find unicorn amiibo at any story I visit.

edited 29th May '15 2:17:16 PM by powerpuffbats

Pac-Man get! 1 down, 4 more to go.

At this point, I would expect only Pac Man, Splatoon, and maybe Charizard depending on the area. Silver Mario and Wario might be there too, but definitely none of the others not named Greninja.

Also, the $30-40 listings on amazon are imports.

edited 29th May '15 2:17:13 PM by strawberryflavored

So presumably, the single pack Splatoon amiibo will be somewhat easier to find for the immediate future, right?

I was out trying to get some in-person. All they had left was Pac-Man.

Anyway, I see Pac-Man became available on Amazon. Is Charizard still not out even though there's 3 minutes left? Or did the window pass and now it's back to the other sellers?

Edit: Yeah, I missed Charizard. Ah, well.

edited 29th May '15 3:05:02 PM by Anomalocaris20

Inkling Boy is out for those who want it.

Yeah, Charizard went surprisingly fast.

I imagine Lucina and Robin will be even harder...

What times did Pac-Man and Charizard become available, if anyone kept track? I wanna know if I should expect it on the minute or seconds.

Well, I couldn't find Lucina or Robin or Wario at Wal-Mart, Gamestop, or Best Buy.

I found Pac-Man and Charizard, but I'm specifically looking for Lucina.

Amazon thing go.

So in about 6 minutes, we should just keep refreshing Lucina's page for the next half-hour?

Hope your F5's are sturdy. Keep a sharp eye. And most importantly, don't order until I get one.

I'm gonna put The Simpsons on background.

I'm going to get legit depressed if I don't get my Greninja amiibo, seriously.

Lucina should be going up any moment now.

Man, refreshing is taking longer.

The game is afoot! Watch out for Loose Cena!

"Color: Unable to retrieve"

"Edition: Unable to retrieve"

Could this mean something?