Written by: Kyle Holly – WSU

From collecting rocks, stamps, baseball or Pokemon cards, people enjoy a good collection hobby. You can collect anything from shoes to cars, but the newest collecting hobby has caused a big controversy among the gaming community. Most importantly, it affects the Nintendo games of any age. The little Nintendo figures called “Amiibo” have led collector-hunting to its nearest Gamestop for a chance to snag at least one figure for their collection. The Nintendo Amiibo figures are little statues, staring a famous Nintendo character, from popular games, from their rich gaming history.

All figures released so far star a gaming character that is playable in the new Super Smash Bros game released on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The thing that sets these figures apart from any other “toy” is the fact that the platform used to hold up the figure contains a NFC chip, much like the figures found in the Skylander series. The difference with this NFC chip is that it is used in games like Super Smash Bros to record order data. Nintendo states, “you don’t play as the Amiibo character, you play with it.”

Once the NFC figure is placed on the NFC spot on the Nintendo Wii U game controller tablet, the character transforms on screen and become a computer opponent in the Super Smash Bros games. As you fight against a character, the Amiibo takes note on every move you make against it. Sure, you don’t have to have an Amiibo to fight in the game, as you can use the normal computer opponents in game. The major difference is the more you play against Amiibo, the stronger it gets. The character levels up; the higher the level, the more challenging your opponents get. The highest level is 50 and from my experiences playing against a level 50 Amiibo is not an easy task. The Amiibo learns you as an opponent, and it shows throughout the battle.

Nintendo has released Amiibo figures of popular characters, such as Mario, Luigi and Pikachu. Those figures are considered common to find. Wherever they sell Amiibo, you will most likely find those figures on the shelves. The ones that have fanboys and collectors alike going “crazy” are the ones considered “rare” or “hard to find.” These figures are of characters that are much more popular in the Super Smash Bros game. Characters like Pit, Little Mac and the newly-released, Shulk are all ones that people will go out of their way to collect. These figures have gone on to sell more than double their retail value on Internet shops like eBay and Amazon. When collecting, collectors will buy multiple copies of one figure; one to open and play with,  one to keep in its box for their own personal collection and the last one to sell for profit.

The supply of the figures are already limited; most stores sell out within minutes of putting them on the shelves. When a collector gets word of a shipment of certain figures coming in, they start calling stores daily, asking if the figures are in stock. Once they find out “the day,” collectors have been seen sitting out in front of stores a few hours before they open just so they can be the first to get their hands on them. The only easy way to get the advantage on the collection war is to either be an employee of the shop that sells the Amiibo figures or to know someone that works at that store to help get the inside information and be on good terms with that employee, so, maybe, they can hold a few back just for you. While it may seem unfair for the honest collectors that just enjoy collecting them or the one person that just likes to play with them, it’s a hobby with which many people like to be involved.

The different Amiibos are being released every month and they are being used for many Nintendo Wii U games already released now; some games are taking advantage of the functions better than others. Each Amiibo costs $12.99 and while that may not be much to most collectors, if you look at your collection and take note of how many you have, the money spent can add up very fast. I myself have already spent over $100 on Amiibo figures already, with that just being on rare, “hard to find” one. With more coming out that I want, I will have to hold myself back on spending anymore money. As a top-seller for Nintendo, most bringing in $1 Million in sales, it’s clear to me and many others, that Nintendo has found yet another way to “print money.”

For more information and ways to cope with your “Amiibo Addiction,” check out my blogs on teenviewmagazine.com or follow me on Twitter @threefingers316.