When Nintendo announced that they were releasing a toy-to-game concept to some of their games, nobody thought they would be as much of a success as they have been. The novelty of having smash amiibos specifically has caused this market to skyrocket. Some amiibos have gone up in price tremendously, while others have stayed the same 12$ their entire life thus far. And while it makes sense for certain amiibos to go up in price, (The 30th anniversary Mario figures, and the gold and silver Mario figures) some amiibo have gone up in price for no other reason than demand. Amiibos like the smash series Marth, Littler Mac, Ness, and even to a degree villager have gone up in price tremedously. None of these characters are particularly better than the other characters, and some such as Little Mac are seen by many to be worse than many other characters. So why have they gone up in price?
A good reason for this is a new hobby called amiibo hunting. Amiibo hunting is essentially amiibo collecting. Because so many people want to get all of the amiibo though, on the day of new amiibo releases there are often huge lines before the store opens. Stores often sell out in minutes, so many people traverse to different stores in order to get the amiibo they're looking for, warranting the name "amiibo hunting". But why do stores sell out so quickly? With this huge audience, you'd think Nintendo would produce a TON of amiibo in order to make some quick cash and satisfy the market. Well, that's not the case. The fact is, initial sales of amiibo was much, much larger than Nintendo thought it would be. When Nintendo realized that there was huge demand for amiibos, they promised to produce more in the future. And while they have re-released certain amiibos many times in order to give the people what they want, it's never enough. They don't produce enough amiibo during the re-releases, and the re-releases are few and far between. This is what's caused the hobby of amiibo hunting to become widespread. People amiibo hunt because they have to in order to find the amiibo that they want.
This all combined has created a huge demand and little supply simultaneously, which has led to the drastic increase in price. I personally am not one to amiibo hunt, but Villager is re-stocking tomorrow, and I want me some of that. Wish me luck.
It does more than just that Jimmy. I sharpen my sword with this beard!
-GIR