Hey guys, long time no talk. I used to be a regular amiibo guy back in the origin days, but got out of the game right around when Ness came out (got sick of the exclusives).
Had a quick question, why is it that some of the common figures (Toon Link, Shiek) going for so high on ebay? Is it because of BOTW? Or are the common figures now just that hard to find?
Many Smash amiibo haven't had production runs in ages - in some cases over 2 years (Toon Link and Sheik were last printed in December of 2014), and Breath of the Wild's amiibo functionality resulted in a lot of the remaining stock for Zelda figures getting bought up.
Also, if a character that debuted as a Smash amiibo gets a comparable figure in a franchise-specific line, the new figure will fully replace the old one. No Smash amiibo has been reprinted after getting a new figure, as far as I'm aware. So with 30th anniversary Toon Link out, Smash Toon Link will likely remain out of print. The upcoming Twilight Princess Link should also replace Smash Link (Link should be easier to find for now though, since he got a reprint certified in October, the second most recent reprint for a Smash figure). The only chance they have of getting a rerun is if they do a special series of reprints for Smash Switch. Now, that will most likely happen, but I still doubt the duplicates will be included anyway, since the replacements work identically anyway, so the functionality will still be available to new buyers.