Official Amiibo General Thread - Complete Smash Bros. Set Now Avaliable!

[Megadoomer]

The only new amiibo that I saw today (as in, one that I hadn't already seen on store shelves) was Sonic. Wal Mart had a spot for Mega Man, but it was empty (admittedly, I couldn't get there until around 1 or so, but I have hope that he'll be much more common next week, much like what happened with Sheik and Toon Link). Gotta say, it still seems weird to be able to buy official Nintendo merchandise featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.

 

[Gidy]

Today's adventure:

Spoiler

My alarm rang at 7.20; I needed to balance getting enough sleep last night after a show with making sure I was well rested enough for tonight's performance, and still able to have enough time to get in line and make it count.

Though I may be in South Florida, we are in the middle of a cold spell... at least for here; being from New York, 40 degree weather is something to scoff at. However, on a moped, my only form of transportation for independent travel, braced myself for wind chill feeling 15 or less. I put on my 7 layers of clothing, packed my hot tea, my gameboy, a notepad...and jumped onto Dexter- my bike.

Not long after leaving my house my fingers felt frostbitten (not that I know the feeling, but I know the symptoms), and was for the remainder of the journey trying hard to remember that this was supposed to be fun. I continued, trailing behind cars to avoid windchill, and had a much more difficult time in my layers and frozen body avoiding the cars that didn't see me (Florida is notorious for awful driving and traffic just below par of LA- the large elderly count, extreme number of drug/alcohol users, poor laws which allow all phone use, international exchange of some who just plain don't know the driving laws here- all equate to quite a storm).

I arrived at my first store at 8.10. I had been scoping out three nearby locations for over a week on stock, and this location seemed to be the best based on a number of factors: It had the most amiibo, a friendly staff that knew me by name, and was based in an area were I'd seen few people waiting for Rosalina, Lucario, or other release dates, early on; I should note, that only a few means about 8, as I was regularly 7 or 8 in line.

Immediately in denial, I was asking them about the stock, and the laughing foremen were having a ball (they cheered when I drove up, which I maybe should point out). I made a number of jokes and garnished some respect from them (though they lost mine immediately) before knocking on the Best Buy door. The employee answered as if the ****** from the Great and Powerful Oz- opening just a peep of the door. I apologized for the interruption, but told them I was numb from my drive and just wanted to know if I should wait outside for 100 minutes or not. I got my count on inventory... and it was four less than what I had triple checked the day before.

I got back in line and made my first questionable character choice; others asked me how many there were, an I wouldn't reply. I needed to make up my mind about staying or not, and if anyone else chose before I did, or even when I did, they would beat me to the next nearest location, as I was just on a moped.

Though the line thought they had figured me out because I waited another couple of minutes, I ended up quickly heading back to my moped to endure more brutality, Cars continued to drive slower and more irrationally than they ever had, and the wind felt as though I were in fact being attacked by Metaknight's swords.

From a distance at the second location, I could see no one. I questioned any success so early, but felt optimistic. Then, after a break for it to the store- as if someone would come out of there car to beat me- I saw the door opening. ****. Is it an employee telling me they sold out? Is the store closed today for some unexpected flooding? Are a band of angry drivers rallying behind me? No- another hunter opened the door to inform me that the store only had five amiibo. Six people were ahead of me. I stayed inside the double doors to start to garnish some warmth, to be told the same news by the manager.

As I planned my next move, the girl ahead of me, who also was going to miss out, claimed she was waiting for a ride to pick her up. In my next questionable move, I decided to wait before making any options visible. The next stores were too far away at 840, and I was completely thermally deprived. I told more jokes, got some numbers, discussed amiibo. What a fool I was for thinking my hands would be number enough to play my 3DS!!

A slew of other patrons came, some stayed after the manager informed them of the news, others didn't. The girl waiting for her ride never left, and in fact, 6 tickets for the item were just then handed out- to the six people ahead of me. One more item closer...yet near confirmation that I was out of luck. If I had not gone to that first store, I would have beaten THREE people here. Well, hindsight is what it is.

I began my barrage of questions to the manager, helping me understand her personality and my options. My creativity opened up more caveats than the regulations allowed. In a final moment, I asked her about people with preorders, since there was a one per customer policy and the guy in the front of the line, there since 530, planned to get one from his preorder, and an additional one waiting in line. This opened up a very flamed argument enough to reflect how warm I finally was after an hour of heat. My last questionable choice.

He continued to bargain and look for his own caveats, find a friend to come in to take his ticket number, pickup the preorder later-- he went through a number of options, eventually, that I myself would have tried. No luck. The girl behind me in line attempted to offer trades, money, and more. This last third minutes felt longer than the rest of the time combined, as he went back and forth finding an option. My blood, however, was finally energized. For the first time since I arrived at a store, my hope somewhat returned. Either he would take his ticket, which would cancel the preorder, or he would take the preorder, prompting me into the ticket. Or...

His friend did arrive to take the ticket. What would the store do? I felt for him, truly I did- but I wanted this figure more. There were a couple of guys ahead of me who worked at this store or another Best Buy. One of those employees was actually behind me in line.

At 945, an employee in the store came out, and handed a box cutter to this guy. It was a lull before the anticipated release, and an employee had handed his friend in line, directly behind me, a knife. It was at this point I started to actually lose some sense of reason.

At 950, everyone ahead of me, and that guy with the knife, were allowed in. I was going to see what happened with the guy in front, who had given his ticket physically to a friend. It could go either way. I was also a bit baffled as to what the guy behind me was allowed in and I was not.
I knocked, spoke with five employees more frantically than I should about a figurine, and go them o assist. If the first guy could not get his order, then the guy behind me with a knife was going to claim it because they let him in and not me!

I didn't allow this, and I spoke up to know I was doing everything I could. On the horizon, I saw the friend walking out of the store, no amiibo in hand. It was then that I noticed a credit card outside. I picked it up and for a moment, thought about holding it hostage, as someone inside was likely going to miss making a purchase until it was too late and had to leave, when I would return it... I couldn't do that, and turned in the card.

They employee inside checked my ID to make sure I had no amiibo on reserve. I did not. So... in time... I watched everyone walk out of the store, the guy with the knife, the girl with the ticket she was lucky to have, the two guys who beat me to the location by five minutes and went to get breakfast after they got their tickets...

I was finally allowed in. I ran to the counter to see the fate of the guy in front. He started to have it at me in regard to what happened, and I honestly felt really guilt. At the same time, I was only expediting the process he would have gone through... probably. I was next in line and watched his face as they told him he had to choose, for the final time. One final remark between us and we were both threatened to be kicked out.

As his order processed, I told him I'd call him if my mail order actually pulled through. See, I also have one on preorder, and it is being delivered to my house... in theory. That added more to the dilemma of why he was angry. We made some semblance of peace with my offer... and he did walk out with one.

I got to the counter, asked for the recently cancelled preorder, and got out of the store with a Meta Knight. I saw the *smug* guy who had barely beaten me, with a friend, who got breakfast, outside, trading his extra Lucario to the guy who wanted two Meta Knight. Nothing came of the guy handed a knife, or scalper outside, or the angry guy who wanted a Meta Knight to trade, but I still felt terribly, despite the actions everyone in line took. I guarded my amiibo on my way home, thinking someone may honestly to hit me out of passion, even though in reality I'd not called attention to anything that would have been seen.

I can reflect that none of my actions were actually mean, but they may have felt mean spirited in the moment, even if justified. I return at home now after a nap, to try to recover from the break of a chest cold, before I perform tonight.
I really don't think any of this was worth it at all.

Nintendo has turned us in to salty savages

 

[pupNapoleon]

Nintendo has turned us in to salty savages

I cant believe the one guy was handed a knife. But Im glad I was able to work it out with the guy I called out.

 

[N7S]

What a mess is all I can say.

 

[Munomario777]

The and I bought a while ago are coming on my birthday (this Monday)!

 

[Spoice]

So every amiibo in wave 3b is basically rare as ****, even in my area. Nintendo, what the hell man. All I wanted was a Sonic and Meta Knight amiibo, but nah, I gotta shelf out like 60 for them. I know now the pain of North America.
EDIT: http://store.nintendo.co.uk/amiibo.list
Never mind, the Nintendo store, of all places, has sonic in stock.

 

[Funkermonster]

My mom went to go try and get a for me, as the store told her that she might be able to get one if she comes back later at 6:00. Hope they have one left... or there'll be disappointment.

 

[ChikoLad]

http://www.reddit.com/r/amiibo/comments/2wldmb/how_the_port_strike_has_been_affecting_amiibo/
This should be a good read for US hunters.

 

[Gidy]

http://www.reddit.com/r/amiibo/comments/2wldmb/how_the_port_strike_has_been_affecting_amiibo/
This should be a good read for US hunters.

Then how are Japanese retailers selling out as well?

 

[ChikoLad]

Then how are Japanese retailers selling out as well?

They didn't get nearly as much stock as the US. Neither did Europe.

 

[Gidy]

They didn't get nearly as much stock as the US. Neither did Europe.

Well I understand about countries across oceans not having enough but there is no reason on why Japan has a shortage as well.

 

[ChikoLad]

Well I understand about countries across oceans not having enough but there is no reason on why Japan has a shortage as well.

Amiibos aren't nearly as popular there, hence, they have less stock allocated there. It's Japan, merchandise isn't exactly obscure to them.

 

[Arcadenik]

Today's adventure:

Damn. Thank god I didn't bother going out amiibo-hunting today. I didn't want to go outside in the cold. I knew I wasn't gonna get any new amiibos from stores since I didn't preorder them. But I did add Sonic, Lucario, and Captain Falcon to my collection today when my boyfriend brought them home to me from eBay.

 

[im just peachy]

day 63, still no sheik in sight, still thirsty for ike and dedede.

 

[Funkermonster]

My mom went to go try and get a for me, as the store told her that she might be able to get one if she comes back later at 6:00. Hope they have one left... or there'll be disappointment.

I rejoice! She found a Meta Knight after all, last one too. Looks I don't have to buy one online after all, and the figurine is wicked.....

day 63, still no sheik in sight, still thirsty for ike and dedede.

I found 3 Shieks (a guy came in and bought one already though) in Target just a day or two ago, and I think I recall my mom saying she found plenty there. Maybe you could try that store?

 

[---]

Am back home for Winter Break, finally got to pick my Fox/Ike/Sonic amiibos. As well as my new Wii U, so at least now I can do something with them.

To think I was going to hold back on buying amiibos until I got a Wii U. Damn you Nintendo for forcing me to give you my money in advance with threatening shortages.

 

[pupNapoleon]

After my whole story today,
I went outside my door after my recovery nap, and saw a box on the floor.

It was from Best Buy.

 

[ValiantNorth]

A friend of mine got a Marth amiibo for around 50$ - I'm wondering what's the lowest price you could find one of these, excluding local sources.

Does anyone know?

 

[Flaxr XIII]

A friend of mine got a Marth amiibo for around 50$ - I'm wondering what's the lowest price you could find one of these, excluding local sources.

Does anyone know?

I got mine for $29 after an intense bidding war. You just have to find one when no ones looking.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

I really have lost respect for Nintendo after all this. About a month ago, I forgave them for their limited numbers and dubious plans, but now I don't think I will.
After the way I was dealt with by employees at a local GAME, I've just had enough. For the few months since series 3B was announced, I'd been checking practically every day at the store for if they allowed preorders to open. Then one day, a friendly employee (who recognised me from the release of series 2 in December) told me preorders were just open, and that he would preorder Shulk and Meta Knight for me.

Upon hearing this, a senior member of staff quickly came over and explained preorders were not allowed, in spite of the fact that I had just been told by the other man that the amiibo were available and I could preorder them.

After questioning this, I then asked him if I could phone in to set one aside (as I did with season two figures) and he said it's "unfair on others". I then asked him if he could tell me how fast they sell out so I would know when to come in, and he said "I'm not at liberty to say".

Come yesterday, I phoned up to check how many of each amiibo were available, and to my frustration, the employee who answered the phone explained, "I'm afraid there are only Sonic and Mega Man available, as these were the only amiibo preordered. After expressing to him that I had come to preorder those very figures on the day, he said "I'm sorry, but you'll have to discuss this with my manager."

And so began a very heated conversation, in which the manager sounded like he was trying to cram as many "big words" into a sentence as possible, even repeating the same thing when I asked a different question. Then he told me preorders had sold out in an hour. Let's not forget I HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THEY FIRST OPENED PREORDERS. In the end, I complained about their lack of proper communication with their customers, and he replied. "The problem is not our communication, it is your lack of foresight and Nintendo's poor stock." I angrily hung up.

It seems to me like Nintendo has not only made collectors' lives hell, but they have also brought out the worst in our stores. From the way the whole situation unfolded, it seems to me like GAME's employees made sure they claimed all stock they received of the rarer amiibo, and are now enjoying their time on eBay.

Thanks Nintendo. No really, job well done...

 

[Munomario777]

I really have lost respect for Nintendo after all this. About a month ago, I forgave them for their limited numbers and dubious plans, but now I don't think I will.
After the way I was dealt with by employees at a local GAME, I've just had enough. For the few months since series 3B was announced, I'd been checking practically every day at the store for if they allowed preorders to open. Then one day, a friendly employee (who recognised me from the release of series 2 in December) told me preorders were just open, and that he would preorder Shulk and Meta Knight for me.

Upon hearing this, a senior member of staff quickly came over and explained preorders were not allowed, in spite of the fact that I had just been told by the other man that the amiibo were available and I could preorder them.

After questioning this, I then asked him if I could phone in to set one aside (as I did with season two figures) and he said it's "unfair on others". I then asked him if he could tell me how fast they sell out so I would know when to come in, and he said "I'm not at liberty to say".

Come yesterday, I phoned up to check how many of each amiibo were available, and to my frustration, the employee who answered the phone explained, "I'm afraid there are only Sonic and Mega Man available, as these were the only amiibo preordered. After expressing to him that I had come to preorder those very figures on the day, he said "I'm sorry, but you'll have to discuss this with my manager."

And so began a very heated conversation, in which the manager sounded like he was trying to cram as many "big words" into a sentence as possible, even repeating the same thing when I asked a different question. Then he told me preorders had sold out in an hour. Let's not forget I HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THEY FIRST OPENED PREORDERS. In the end, I complained about their lack of proper communication with their customers, and he replied. "The problem is not our communication, it is your lack of foresight and Nintendo's poor stock." I angrily hung up.

It seems to me like Nintendo has not only made collectors' lives hell, but they have also brought out the worst in our stores. From the way the whole situation unfolded, it seems to me like GAME's employees made sure they claimed all stock they received of the rarer amiibo, and are now enjoying their time on eBay.

Thanks Nintendo. No really, job well done...

So... GAME employees being jerks = Nintendo screwing up.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

So... GAME employees being jerks = Nintendo screwing up.

*sarcastic clap* You really put two and two together!

No, what I was saying was that there was in fact TWO problems...

First problem is Nintendo, which is causing problems by creating small amounts of stock, leading to very few people getting hands on the Amiibos. Here they are screwing up.

THEN on top of this, GAME employees are taking advantages of this low stock by pre-ordering them all themselves, with the help of friends (due to 1 amiibo per customer), and so build up a nice healthy supply of merchandise to sell back at a higher price themselves.

Now do you see there are two problems in this case? Nintendo's stocking problem has just led to store employees taking further advantage of it.

 

[ChikoLad]

So... GAME employees being jerks = Nintendo screwing up.

Nintendo is royally screwing up in Europe, though. Case in point:

http://www.reddit.com/r/amiibo/comments/2wngzy/received_a_kingplayerde_email_nintendo_has/

Nintendo basically cancelled the majority of King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Shulk shipments meant for European retailers. It isn't just this one retailer, it is all of them that are effected. GAME has also sent out similar e-mails backing this up.

This essentially means that the only possible way for Europeans to get these three is for them to have pre-ordered (and even then, you are far from guaranteed to get it, though places like Amazon seem safe enough), or to pay the premium prices that they are now going for at online retailers and eBay (I'll likely be importing them from Japan myself). They absolutely are not showing up in stores right now, so people may as well not bother hunting for them. They just never came. Sonic and Mega Man are the only new Amiibos truly available to Europeans (and although they are easily the "commons" of this Wave, they are still not truly common, as stores don't get much of them).

Nintendo's screwing up has led to retailers either cracking under pressure, or just straight up letting employees buy up all of the (very scarce) stock to then sell at a premium price.

 

[energonkid]

Couldn't preorder shulk initially. Couldn't preorder shulk for May. Not giving in to scalpers. Going to NYC this spring. Is there a chance I'll find him (who else will I find)?

 

[Munomario777]

*sarcastic clap* You really put two and two together!

No, what I was saying was that there was in fact TWO problems...

First problem is Nintendo, which is causing problems by creating small amounts of stock, leading to very few people getting hands on the Amiibos. Here they are screwing up.

THEN on top of this, GAME employees are taking advantages of this low stock by pre-ordering them all themselves, with the help of friends (due to 1 amiibo per customer), and so build up a nice healthy supply of merchandise to sell back at a higher price themselves.

Now do you see there are two problems in this case? Nintendo's stocking problem has just led to store employees taking further advantage of it.

Well, most of your post focused on things the GAME employees had done, but you were blaming Nintendo for GAME's actions. Then you said this:

It seems to me like Nintendo has not only made collectors' lives hell, but they have also brought out the worst in our stores. From the way the whole situation unfolded, it seems to me like GAME's employees made sure they claimed all stock they received of the rarer amiibo, and are now enjoying their time on eBay.

Thanks Nintendo. No really, job well done...

[something that GAME did]
"thanks Nintendo"

Just saying that you could have worded it a little better is all. I can see what you were getting at now, but it didn't seem that way from how you originally worded it.

Nintendo is royally screwing up in Europe, though. Case in point:

http://www.reddit.com/r/amiibo/comments/2wngzy/received_a_kingplayerde_email_nintendo_has/

Nintendo basically cancelled the majority of King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Shulk shipments meant for European retailers. It isn't just this one retailer, it is all of them that are effected. GAME has also sent out similar e-mails backing this up.

This essentially means that the only possible way for Europeans to get these three is for them to have pre-ordered (and even then, you are far from guaranteed to get it, though places like Amazon seem safe enough), or to pay the premium prices that they are now going for at online retailers and eBay (I'll likely be importing them from Japan myself). They absolutely are not showing up in stores right now, so people may as well not bother hunting for them. They just never came. Sonic and Mega Man are the only new Amiibos truly available to Europeans (and although they are easily the "commons" of this Wave, they are still not truly common, as stores don't get much of them).

Nintendo's screwing up has led to retailers either cracking under pressure, or just straight up letting employees buy up all of the (very scarce) stock to then sell at a premium price.

I get that Nintendo's stocking of amiibo is less than ideal. I'm just saying that retailers and/or their employees not letting people pre-order/buying up stock/whatever isn't Nintendo's fault. They're not doing this just because of the poor stock; there is no reason why having little of a product would prevent a retailer from taking pre-orders or make them become greedy about the whole thing. It's more of the way they handle the situation. Let me put it this way: if driver A turns without using a turn signal and driver B swerves too much and hits a fire hydrant, driver A is at fault, but didn't actually cause driver B to hit the fire hydrant; it was the fault of driver B and how he handled the situation.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Wave 3 out now. Time to hunt down megaman and sonic.

 

[Saikyoshi]

I gave my three All-Around Trade-Offs. What do they do, though, other than make you start each stock with 90% (which was my intention)?

Anyway, since the sparkle of that effect made him look ghostly, I gave him the pale blue costume and called him "BASKERVIЦE".

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

Well, most of your post focused on things the GAME employees had done, but you were blaming Nintendo for GAME's actions. Then you said this:


Just saying that you could have worded it a little better is all. I can see what you were getting at now, but it didn't seem that way from how you originally worded it.

I get that Nintendo's stocking of amiibo is less than ideal. I'm just saying that retailers and/or their employees not letting people pre-order/buying up stock/whatever isn't Nintendo's fault. They're not doing this just because of the poor stock; there is no reason why having little of a product would prevent a retailer from taking pre-orders or make them become greedy about the whole thing. It's more of the way they handle the situation. Let me put it this way: if driver A turns without using a turn signal and driver B swerves too much and hits a fire hydrant, driver A is at fault, but didn't actually cause driver B to hit the fire hydrant; it was the fault of driver B and how he handled the situation.

Well, i described mostly about what GAME had done because GAME was who I had the majority of the contact of this problem with. Of course, as you're saying with the Driver A and B scenario, it creates a snowball effect, but at the same time, it is still very frustrating to find that the employees abuse their position to get themselves a profit.

Sorry if I wasn't too clear at first. I've been getting very frustrated over this problem and I don't always write well when I'm annoyed.

 

[Munomario777]

I gave my three All-Around Trade-Offs. What do they do, though, other than make you start each stock with 90% (which was my intention)?

"All-Around Trade-Off: Start with 60% damage but slowly gain attack, defense, and speed."

Well, i described mostly about what GAME had done because GAME was who I had the majority of the contact of this problem with. Of course, as you're saying with the Driver A and B scenario, it creates a snowball effect, but at the same time, it is still very frustrating to find that the employees abuse their position to get themselves a profit.

Sorry if I wasn't too clear at first. I've been getting very frustrated over this problem and I don't always write well when I'm annoyed.

Indeed. No worries, frustration really messes with our heads sometimes.

 

[pupNapoleon]

*sarcastic clap* You really put two and two together!

No, what I was saying was that there was in fact TWO problems...

First problem is Nintendo, which is causing problems by creating small amounts of stock, leading to very few people getting hands on the Amiibos. Here they are screwing up.

THEN on top of this, GAME employees are taking advantages of this low stock by pre-ordering them all themselves, with the help of friends (due to 1 amiibo per customer), and so build up a nice healthy supply of merchandise to sell back at a higher price themselves.

Now do you see there are two problems in this case? Nintendo's stocking problem has just led to store employees taking further advantage of it.

I'm not sure if GAME Is a store there, it sounds like a proper noun... but I know that, while I've experienced a number of incompetent and frustrating employees, a vast number here have been extremely helpful in ways I could not have predicted.

I live in an area of very social gaming- even five minutes away from an entire building/business dedicated to competitive gamers, and those who want to train and watch. It is a decent sized city, right near another very big city.

However, I've also taken the time to scout out and develop some very positive relationships with different stores and at least a few employees at each. This has made it much easier for me to have 3 main Gamestop's to Check, 2 Best Buys, 3 Targets, 1 Toys R Us, and... Walmart as a continual last resort (too many people working at a big store, means no consistency in who would be helping me, and often poorly done from here). I've gotten a lot of numbers from these employees, and even a good number of other fellow hunters in my area. This has been a crucial step in me procuring a number of the amiibo, and they are likely the group I will help out with my extras should any of them need one I can part with.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

I'm not sure if GAME Is a store there, it sounds like a proper noun... but I know that, while I've experienced a number of incompetent and frustrating employees, a vast number here have been extremely helpful in ways I could not have predicted.

I live in an area of very social gaming- even five minutes away from an entire building/business dedicated to competitive gamers, and those who want to train and watch. It is a decent sized city, right near another very big city.

However, I've also taken the time to scout out and develop some very positive relationships with different stores and at least a few employees at each. This has made it much easier for me to have 3 main Gamestop's to Check, 2 Best Buys, 3 Targets, 1 Toys R Us, and... Walmart as a continual last resort (too many people working at a big store, means no consistency in who would be helping me, and often poorly done from here). I've gotten a lot of numbers from these employees, and even a good number of other fellow hunters in my area. This has been a crucial step in me procuring a number of the amiibo, and they are likely the group I will help out with my extras should any of them need one I can part with.

Yeah, GAME is a store in the UK, but not always a great one as you can see.

There was indeed one very helpful employee at the store, and he did seem like a genuinely decent guy, but like I said, as he was about to help me with a preorder, his "friend" the senior employee came over and tried to cover up the preorders... :/

 

[pupNapoleon]

Yeah, GAME is a store in the UK, but not always a great one as you can see.

There was indeed one very helpful employee at the store, and he did seem like a genuinely decent guy, but like I said, as he was about to help me with a preorder, his "friend" the senior employee came over and tried to cover up the preorders... :/

Are there not other stores you can visit?

 

[ChikoLad]

Well, most of your post focused on things the GAME employees had done, but you were blaming Nintendo for GAME's actions. Then you said this:


Just saying that you could have worded it a little better is all. I can see what you were getting at now, but it didn't seem that way from how you originally worded it.

I get that Nintendo's stocking of amiibo is less than ideal. I'm just saying that retailers and/or their employees not letting people pre-order/buying up stock/whatever isn't Nintendo's fault. They're not doing this just because of the poor stock; there is no reason why having little of a product would prevent a retailer from taking pre-orders or make them become greedy about the whole thing. It's more of the way they handle the situation. Let me put it this way: if driver A turns without using a turn signal and driver B swerves too much and hits a fire hydrant, driver A is at fault, but didn't actually cause driver B to hit the fire hydrant; it was the fault of driver B and how he handled the situation.

It is Nintendo's fault.

Nintendo underestimated demand (they had an excuse at the start, but not anymore). Nintendo are cancelling orders. While some employees may want to sell them off, some employees genuinely want Amiibos too.

If the supplier can only supply enough of a product to satisfy the demand retail employees have for them, that is entirely the suppliers fault. That is not on the retailer. Retail employees are just as much customers as the rest of us. Regardless of the intent of a retail employee when purchasing this stuff, it's up to the supplier to supply enough for the general public. That hasn't been the case here with Shulk, Meta Knight, and Dedede in Europe. Nintendo haven't supplied enough to fulfill pre-orders. That's why places like GAME can't offer pre-orders. They don't have the stock to fulfill it.

 

[Munomario777]

It is Nintendo's fault.

Nintendo underestimated demand (they had an excuse at the start, but not anymore). Nintendo are cancelling orders. While some employees may want to sell them off, some employees genuinely want Amiibos too.

If the supplier can only supply enough of a product to satisfy the demand retail employees have for them, that is entirely the suppliers fault. That is not on the retailer. Retail employees are just as much customers as the rest of us. Regardless of the intent of a retail employee when purchasing this stuff, it's up to the supplier to supply enough for the general public. That hasn't been the case here with Shulk, Meta Knight, and Dedede in Europe. Nintendo haven't supplied enough to fulfill pre-orders. That's why places like GAME can't offer pre-orders. They don't have the stock to fulfill it.

The lack of stock is Nintendo's fault. The way it's being handled (stores giving the majority of stock to their own employees instead of their customers like they're supposed to, not accepting pre-orders when they should be, etc.) is entirely on GAME and other retailers. The customer always comes first, and if you're giving your stock to employees and not leaving any for consumers, you're doing it wrong. I doubt that this is a case of not having enough stock to accept pre-orders anyway, based on this quote:

Then one day, a friendly employee (who recognised me from the release of series 2 in December) told me preorders were just open, and that he would preorder Shulk and Meta Knight for me.

Upon hearing this, a senior member of staff quickly came over and explained preorders were not allowed, in spite of the fact that I had just been told by the other man that the amiibo were available and I could preorder them.

The friendly employee said that there was stock available, that What Zit Tooya could pre-order the amiibo, and that he would put the pre-order in himself. Then the manager says that pre-orders are "not allowed", not that the stock was not sufficient for pre-orders.

 

[Gidy]

Wednesday can't come soon enough. Ike, Sonic, and Megaman will be mine!

Does anyone know where I can import Metaknight or Fox for retail or close to retail price? I live in the US.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

The lack of stock is Nintendo's fault. The way it's being handled (stores giving the majority of stock to their own employees instead of their customers like they're supposed to, not accepting pre-orders when they should be, etc.) is entirely on GAME and other retailers. The customer always comes first, and if you're giving your stock to employees and not leaving any for consumers, you're doing it wrong. I doubt that this is a case of not having enough stock to accept pre-orders anyway, based on this quote:

The friendly employee said that there was stock available, that What Zit Tooya could pre-order the amiibo, and that he would put the pre-order in himself. Then the manager says that pre-orders are "not allowed", not that the stock was not sufficient for pre-orders.

Exactly. Now I could understand if they were maybe preordering ONE amiibo for themselves, but from the feeling I got over the course of the whole series of events, I honestly feel one amiibo wasn't the problem. The fact that he deliberately withheld preorders from everyone makes me suspect that maybe the senior employees were planning to buy them in bulk and reselling them on eBay. The fact that the errors of Nintendo are only being amplified in stores (I'm sure mine isn't the only one) disgusts me.

 

[pupNapoleon]

I honestly doubt Nintendo is trying to skimp the market on as many of their products as they are.
I don't blame them if they cannot manufacture enough units at a time, it is just a diferent marketing strategy.
I personally do want all of the amiibo to be launched, before they go back and start reissuing prints. There are fifty figures, waiting on releases continually is daunting and unnecessary. I don't want it to be lulled out for the rest of the 2010s just to fulfill "enough" orders, when we don't know what that means.

Additionally, the lack of supply is creating more and more demand. This is the marketplace, and I don't hold it against them. I know even , in the beginning, said that I may hold off getting some figures until the were given as gits. As I don't have that luxury, I've watched these figures become more an more sought after, as the masses see they must pay attention to get them. In turn, Nintendo is having people pay attention to them, on a very extreme level. Good job on their end. I don't actually think this is going to hurt their core consumers, and they don't have much to lose this way. They would potentially lose me as a consumer, at least of amiibo, if they waited each wave to see how many they needed to make (and then, in America, for the shipments to get here, since we are having issues).s

 

[HeavyMetalSonic]

I've got about 15 amiibo's (Charizard is preordered too). To be honest if the stocks keep up how they are I don't think I'll bother with many more. I'd like to get Lucina, but apparently getting online the day she's announced isn't enough and you have to be there the first 30 minutes they're put up. I might try to get Greninja too, but we'll see how that goes. I was lucky and got the last Marth and Captain Falcon in store, Rosalina I had to get from Japan for about £20.

 

[ChikoLad]

The lack of stock is Nintendo's fault. The way it's being handled (stores giving the majority of stock to their own employees instead of their customers like they're supposed to, not accepting pre-orders when they should be, etc.) is entirely on GAME and other retailers. The customer always comes first, and if you're giving your stock to employees and not leaving any for consumers, you're doing it wrong. I doubt that this is a case of not having enough stock to accept pre-orders anyway, based on this quote:

The friendly employee said that there was stock available, that What Zit Tooya could pre-order the amiibo, and that he would put the pre-order in himself. Then the manager says that pre-orders are "not allowed", not that the stock was not sufficient for pre-orders.

But there literally isn't anything wrong with giving stock to your own employees (in moderation). Again, in retail, employees ARE customers. Retail employees always get to purchase things a little early because they are there to see the stock before the release date, and thus, are allowed to purchase it. This is called an "employee perk" - a little side benefit you get to working somewhere besides the actual income you make. This is a very common, well known, and ENCOURAGED practice (it keeps up employee morale). It was even in all of my business and economics books in school. There are even two variations - "official" (granted to you directly by your employer), and "unofficial" (not granted to you directly by your employer, but something that nobody would really be bothered by - for example, if you work in an office, and take home one of the office pens the odd time, nobody is going to eat your head off for it. Employers simply don't care about a pen going missing).

Retail employees getting first dibs on a product is actually considered an official employee perk. It happens everywhere, in regards to every product. There is no reason to deny an employee a sale if they are only buying one or two of the product, even if it is low stock - they are still a sale. They are paying for the product. That is revenue for the store, and Nintendo. And the likelihood is, they DID pre-order it anyway.

So again - if we are in a situation where employees utilising their official perks as normal is enough to clean out stock, that is ENTIRELY Nintendo's fault. You cannot pin the blame on the retail employee for doing what any customer would do - buying the product when it is available.

The friendly employee said that there was stock available, that What Zit Tooya could pre-order the amiibo, and that he would put the pre-order in himself. Then the manager says that pre-orders are "not allowed", not that the stock was not sufficient for pre-orders.

...What alternate universe are you living in to make you think a "friendly employee" would ever be better informed than the manager?

 

[Munomario777]

But there literally isn't anything wrong with giving stock to your own employees (in moderation). Again, in retail, employees ARE customers. Retail employees always get to purchase things a little early because they are there to see the stock before the release date, and thus, are allowed to purchase it. This is called an "employee perk" - a little side benefit you get to working somewhere besides the actual income you make. This is a very common, well known, and ENCOURAGED practice (it keeps up employee morale). It was even in all of my business and economics books in school. There are even two variations - "official" (granted to you directly by your employer), and "unofficial" (not granted to you directly by your employer, but something that nobody would really be bothered by - for example, if you work in an office, and take home one of the office pens the odd time, nobody is going to eat your head off for it. Employers simply don't care about a pen going missing).

Retail employees getting first dibs on a product is actually considered an official employee perk. It happens everywhere, in regards to every product. There is no reason to deny an employee a sale if they are only buying one or two of the product, even if it is low stock - they are still a sale. They are paying for the product. That is revenue for the store, and Nintendo. And the likelihood is, they DID pre-order it anyway.

Key words there being "in moderation". It's fine if you give some to employees IF there is still enough for consumers. Whether or not employees are customers doesn't really relate to the original discussion (that being whether or not this is GAME's or Nintendo's fault); GAME is giving the employees the perks (or the employees are taking it, whatever), not Nintendo.

So again - if we are in a situation where employees utilising their official perks as normal is enough to clean out stock, that is ENTIRELY Nintendo's fault. You cannot pin the blame on the retail employee for doing what any customer would do - buying the product when it is available.

How the heck is it Nintendo's fault when GAME is the one giving said official perks? Nintendo isn't in control of GAME employee perks. Nintendo isn't in control of GAME employees. Nintendo isn't in control of GAME as a retail chain.

...What alternate universe are you living in to make you think a "friendly employee" would ever be better informed than the manager?

Note how the employee said that there were amiibo in stock, but the manager jumped in and said that pre-orders weren't allowed. No contradiction here, just bad customer service.