The whole situation is just nuts. You would think that by making a character retailer exclusive, it would mean that because not every store is getting it, the ones that are are receiving a lot of them. Lucario's rarity is essentially that of a Captain Falcon or Pit... but he is available only at a fraction of the stores the others were at.
This is NOA we're talking about. "Please Understand..."
One of the guys in line says it takes about 6 months between the time a store orders amiibo and the time they get them. Claimed a nintendo rep told him, but who knows. Said that stores place orders with nintendo, then it takes about 6 months or so to manufacture and ship. We're 3 months into this nonsense, so i'm hoping that if he was correct, then in 3 month's time, we'll see some more show up on shelves, provided nintendo didn't do a hard discontinue on some of these. ESPECIALLY not the retailer exclusive ones.
What about their own Nintendo World Store in NYC. You'd think there would be a steady inventory stream at their own store.