Isn't TRU sold out of all Wave 4 at this point?
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Isn't TRU sold out of all Wave 4 at this point?
I feel like we're arguing semantics. Ok sure I'll grant you "exclusives" as a practice is not the problem, but the problem is exclusives with amiibo. Nintendo has history with amiibo and exclusives, they should have known better. Hence I have no problem saying exclusives are the problem, as when i say it I am referring to their use with amiibo.
Yeah, I do agree with you on the root of the whole problem. I'm stunned that this wave wasn't an improvement. I suspect there's a much stronger demand this time, but there ARE ways to predict demand growth, my company does it all the time.
O.v.e.rlord
Banned
TRU had every one that wasn't exclusive up unfortunately.
That's correct. I've been F5'ing everyone but GameStop for 6 hours now. Oh and yeah TRU is probably out of Wave 4 at least for the time being.
JimJamJones
Member
They are. Pac-Man has popped up a couple times but sells out after a few minutes.
Hyrule Warrior
Member
It should actually be a game where your character is constantly throwing money at them, and once every hour, they throw an amiibo down at lightning fast speed and you have to try to catch it when they do.
AdventureMike
Member
I'm referring to NOA but honestly, Nintendo as a whole needs to recognize this as a problem. Their headquarters needs to look at the ineptitude of the NOA branch and realize this is costing them credibility, customers and trustworthiness.
Yeah, there's a lot of us that are sticking around like beaten spouses but there are also a lot that are simply walking away from wanting these things. This is April. We can no longer excuse them for "Oh maybe it was the Christmas rush, Wave 3 and 4 will be better". As I mentioned in a previous post, things have just gotten worse. There are NO common amiibos in the coming wave at this time. We have yet to see what the in-store supply will be like but with reports that TRU and Gamestop are literally selling out their entire stock in pre-orders, I am having doubts we'll see ANY on shelves.
Shadowhaxor
Member
Store exclusive or not, that isn't the issue. The issue is Nintendo is purposely forcing specific amiibos to be rare and it's causing all of these issues. They're freaking pieces of plastic. You didn't see hasbro having issues pushing GIJoes or Transformers that were store exclusive's when they did it, or any one else to that matter.
There's no reason why Nintendo simply can't crank up production and make more. No, instead they tell su that after several weeks or months that they are discontinuing the figure and if you didn't get one, well too bad.
This is all on Nintendo's head and nothing can be done about it.
What also bothers me is the fact that there are tons of amiibos on Ebay and while I understand the capitalism game, I still find that it's a slap in the face for collectors and fans of Nintendo.
There's no reason why Nintendo simply can't crank up production and make more. No, instead they tell su that after several weeks or months that they are discontinuing the figure and if you didn't get one, well too bad.
This is all on Nintendo's head and nothing can be done about it.
What also bothers me is the fact that there are tons of amiibos on Ebay and while I understand the capitalism game, I still find that it's a slap in the face for collectors and fans of Nintendo.
Sorceror12
Member
word has it that ness was very limited compared to shulk because a large batch had bad paint jobs.
I completely agree.
theSlacker
Member
Went to TRU before opening, was a few other guys already waiting in the rain. About 30 minutes before it opened a guy came out and asked us why we were there and informed us that they had no cards for preorders. :c
Goldenelementxl
Banned
If there was a plentiful Amiibo stock I have a feeling no one would care about them. Everyone keeps saying things like "Nintendo doesn't know what their doing" when they know exactly what their doing. Sure, it sucks that there are so many folks that cannot to get the Amiibo they want. But look at how much the craze has grown over the past few months. There are hundreds of people in this thread that wouldn't care about Amiibo if it weren't for the hunt.
Wave 1 was so nice. Amazon even had release-day delivery. We might not be able to go back to that, but boy do I miss it.
O.v.e.rlord
Banned
Oh, forgot about that too. lol
TheSlySoul
Member
"We sold all 100 we were allocated. Wooo!"
The only hope I have is ebay getting an exclusive amiibo in return for banning all other amiibo sales in order to put a huge dent into the scalper market- because I guarantee that's the reason it's selling at in 30 minutes at 3 AM.
spindashing
Banned
This, so much this.
Amiibos are still relatively new to the market but they have been out long enough for Nintendo to gauge the market or at least know that their supplying practices aren't all too good for us buyers.
But what do they use? Programs? Staff? Family?
thecouncil
Banned
Ah. Yes. I edited my original post to account for these things. Just want to keep track.
The number of people who are "in it for the hunt" are way way WAY overshadowed by the amount of regular kids and parents who are just trying to get their kids a toy. They have no chance.
Ehhhh, I don't think so. Collectors of toys, (which is what these really are) collect regardless of rarity or the hunt. Plus kids and regular fans want these things. I'm not in it to collect the whole run myself, just random characters.
The hunt is an added aspect for sure, but the point of collecting is to actually get your hands on them. In this case, that's not even happening. It's intentionally restricted supplies to either drum up interest or because they're afraid of over-producing. (Which at this point is not likely)
I'm of the belief that future Smash waves are going to get worse, not better as Nintendo of America are just going to consider the later characters too obscure to possibly be popular. Because that's how Nintendo of America thinks.
TheSlySoul
Member
Then they will buy Disney Infinity figures instead.
Honestly I do not get their logic...
AdventureMike
Member
Ex-fucking-actly.
That's what I'm saying. We showed them in Wave fucking TWO that the supply is not meeting the demand. We SHOWED them definitive data that we needed more amiibos in production and they have just shirked the whole thing. It makes me absolutely livid to think that anyone could possibly say that they didn't have enough time or readiness to predict the demand. It's fucking April.
Davey Cakes
Member
Joke or not, I wouldn't be surprised.word has it that ness was very limited compared to shulk because a large batch had bad paint jobs.
Not long ago I figured I'd be able to just go to Amazon or any online retailer and click "buy now" and be done with it. But no. First, Ness becomes exclusive to Gamestop. Then, he unpredictably becomes web in-store only. A high limitation due to manufacturing issues would only be shit icing on a shit cake.
spindashing
Banned
If there was a plentiful amiibo stock, people would still care about them. Nintendo's making a killing off of these with short stock...could you imagine what they would make with more units out there?
The only thing that would happen if they were more readily available is that scalpers would not make as great a profit as they are currently making. They would only get action from uninformed buyers.
The only thing that would happen if they were more readily available is that scalpers would not make as great a profit as they are currently making. They would only get action from uninformed buyers.
"Knocked it out of the park guys! Let's all go get pizza!"
Hyrule Warrior
Member
In my case, you are completely wrong. I am not in this "for the hunt". I am in it, because I want the figures, and in the case of some games, I want their functionality. I had to get Ness because this is like the first official merchandise for EarthBound in the US...in forever, and it's one of my favorite games ever.
I want Lucina because I want to use it for code name Steam, and because I loved FE awakening. I may be a gaf user, but I am just one of those fans who wants to buy fucking nintendo figures. The fact that I can't even do that without stressing out about preorders, and what time something might go live is bull shit.
Even when I do that shit right, it doesn't work. I was first in line at gamestop yesterday, and while in the middle of my transaction after waiting 1 hour before 2, and another hour for the registers to work...Robin and Lucina sold out before I could even pay for them. It's completely horse shit.
Goldenelementxl
Banned
See I don't know. I waited in line at Gamestop yesterday for Ness and the others. The line had 12 college-Middle aged men in it buying them for themselves. There were dozens of mom's and kids asking what the line was for the 2 1/2 hours I was there. Most had never even heard of Amiibo. This morning at TRU was the same. There were 3 kids standing behind me in line who never heard of Amiibo. They were there to spend their Easter money on Skylanders with the deal they have going on now.
O.v.e.rlord
Banned
Well there's also the option of importing. Amazon international has yet to put anyone else like Gerninja and Jigglypuff.
goldenpp72
Member
Villager, Wii fit trainer and Marth were obtainable on store shelves for basically a month around here. It wasn't until those sold out forever that suddenly people from all over decided they just need to have them all. I preordered every amiibo well before they became scarce and other people have made it a nightmare for the few who actually cared to start. Like it or not, the limited supply makes people's nuts and nintendo loves it I'm sure.
http://m.ign.com/articles/2015/04/02/jigglypuff-amiibo-will-be-exclusive-to-target
Jigglypuff going to be instores on May 29th.
Jigglypuff going to be instores on May 29th.
The children/parents are the real victims of the shortage. The only reason people want WFT is because she is rare or to complete a collection. No one wants the character because they genuinely love the character or the franchise she represents. The fact a kid can't buy Captain or whoever is sad.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
The situation we are currently in:
But that's still not the real problem. WFT is harder to find than Shulk, Rosalina or Metaknight. And almost certainly more than anything in wave 4. The general argument about exclusives is mostly just misidentification. Yes, it's hard to get to certain retailers but every single one of these retailers sells online with free shipping. That's exactly why it's okay to do it in the US and not elsewhere. The problem is low stock for some characters, which stems from unprecedented demand and what's likely a complicated manufacturing process that needs to switch off between 50 figures and requires steps like hand painting. They aren't even close to meeting demand and so it'll be hard to get Amiibo in general.
from the way preorders are ending up, it seems Nintendo only ordered a certain amount before they even sold the stock to retailers. they're not allocating stock based on preorders at all. they're not making as much as orders are coming in. correct me if i'm wrong cuz i'm judging this based on my own experience of years of preordering limited figures.
Vaughngief
Member
Just got done with Toys R Us customer service. My order didn't go through last night for Lucina and Robin. Customer service rep says they don't know when they'll get anymore in stock, but it can change anytime. I'm done ordering for their site. Amazon seems like my last hope, because I don't see Target or Wal-Mart being any better.
Sorry Nate, but I genuinely love the Smash version of the character and I specifically preordered her because she's cool. I do agree that kids are the ones who are really losing out though.
I wanted WFT badly because she was a pretty left-field addition to the game and her model is awesome.
HUELEN10
Member
And I will be in line at 4 AM then once more...
Sad thing is, I don't even want it; I just need more trade fodder for Ike because no one is willing to trade for Rosie.
jetsetmario
Member
I often wonder how many sales they lose out on due the reduction in disposable income that results from aftermarket prices.
JimJamJones
Member
Waiting.
Is that implying that there will be no more online pre-orders? I mean, outside of the 29th? If so, yikes.
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