Welcome back to our deep dive into amiibo history! Today, we’re taking a look at what might just be the most chaotic year in amiibo history—complete with dozens of figures, long lines, retailer exclusives, and an explosion of scalping. So, without further ado, let’s dive into 2015, the second year of amiibo! This time around, there is SO much to cover, we have to split this segment in to two parts! So please, enjoy Part 1 of our look back at the amiibo of 2015!
In early 2015, Nintendo promised fans a whole new wave of amiibo releases, expanding beyond just the Super Smash Bros. lineup. Things officially kicked off in February with Wave 3 of the Super Smash Bros. amiibo in North America. This massive wave included
- Rosalina
- Bowser
- Lucario
- Toon Link
- Sheik
- Ike
- King Dedede
- Meta Knight
- Shulk
- Sonic
- Mega Man
However, Nintendo added a new wrinkle to the collecting frenzy: the dreaded retail exclusive.
The Dawn of Retail-Exclusive amiibo
While Nintendo teased fans with 11 new figures, it wasn’t as simple as just heading to your favorite store or placing an online order. No, sir! This time around, Nintendo partnered with various retailers across North America for exclusive figures. Shulk was exclusive to GameStop, Meta Knight to Best Buy, Lucario to Toys”R”Us, and Rosalina and Luma to Target. And let me tell you, these figures went FAST at every retailer.
This era marks what I like to call the dawn of the amiibo frenzy. Amiibo were already flying off shelves, but with retailer exclusives thrown into the mix, collecting them all became a Herculean task. Prices for nearly all of the Wave 3 exclusives skyrocketed on the secondary market, and restocks were few and far between. But surely, after all the chaos, Nintendo would have learned their lesson and prepared better for Wave 4… right?
Super Mario Time!
In March 2015, Nintendo announced a brand new series of amiibo to coincide with the release of Mario Party 10 on the Wii U. The Super Mario series of amiibo officially launched on March 20th and included:
- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Yoshi
- Toad
- Bowser
These amiibo featured different poses from their Super Smash Bros. counterparts and came with a vibrant red base. Several of them were even bundled with copies of Mario Party 10, which in-box collectors snapped up eagerly. For the most part, this wave was relatively calm, though if memory serves me right, Toad was the hardest to find in this batch. But Nintendo wasn’t done yet—another figure was announced as a Walmart exclusive, one unlike any amiibo we’d seen before!
Who remembers when the Gold Mario amiibo got leaked twice before Nintendo had a chance to officially announce it.
Once from the CPSIA listings, and once from a Walmart in-store display put out early.
I miss those days! pic.twitter.com/Dm5grQh8rp
— Amiibo News (@AmiiboNews) March 24, 2024
The Gold Mario amiibo was announced as a Walmart exclusive and released on March 20, 2015. It was available both in-store and online, but sold out almost instantly each time it restocked. I attended a midnight launch for this amiibo, and to my surprise, the Walmart I went to had only four figures available for the massive line of eager fans. (I was first in line, so I was fine… but it was the principle of the matter!)
Wave 4: Black amiibo Friday
As I mentioned earlier, surely Nintendo learned from the chaos of Wave 3 and was prepared with massive stocks of new amiibo for Wave 4. And those retail exclusives? Surely there was no need for them this time, right? Right…
Well, not so much. Wave 4 turned out to be the most chaotic wave I can personally remember. This time around, Nintendo released a wave of 8 figures, including:
- Robin
- Lucina
- Wario
- Charizard
- Ness
- Pac-Man
- Greninja
- Jigglypuff
Of these, three figures were retail exclusives: Ness at GameStop, Greninja at Toys”R”Us, and Jigglypuff at Target. Calling this wave chaotic would be an understatement. When pre-orders for Ness went live at GameStop, the demand was so intense that it crashed their entire network—taking down in-store terminals and their website. Some fans who camped out overnight were even sent home because no orders could be placed. It was truly wild.
The 1 on Ness and 0 on Robin and Lucina is disconcerting to say the least. The Ness launch was totally botched. pic.twitter.com/TfIrpKv1o2
— Amiibo News (@AmiiboNews) May 28, 2015
At Toys”R”Us, pre-orders for Greninja were supposed to go live in the early hours of the morning, but fans discovered a way to modify a URL to place orders early. If I recall correctly, pre-orders sold out hours before they were officially supposed to go live. I woke up bright and early that day to DOZENS of messages from the Amiibo News community, scolding me for missing the alert. (Sorry, everyone—I tried!)
2 hours early was not enough for me. No Greninja for me. pic.twitter.com/HqIxmaOlB7
— Amiibo Jason (@AmiiboJason) April 27, 2015
For those of us who missed out on online pre-orders, the only option was to wake up early and line up at stores, often moving from one location to another in the hopes of scoring a figure before they sold out. Realistically, collectors had to choose one exclusive to focus on, as trying to grab more than one was nearly impossible. Once the dust settled, most fans were lucky to snag just a few figures on launch day, while the secondary market became flooded with rare amiibo at inflated prices—a trend that would continue for years to come.
Oh, and to top it all off, a Silver Mario amiibo was also released that day, adding even more chaos to the frenzy. (Still waiting on that bronze amiibo, Nintendo…)
Stay tuned to Nintendo Wire for Part 2 of our look back at 2015 tomorrow!
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Written by Jason Ganos
Nintendo super fan since birth, Jason is the creator of Amiibo News and editor-in-chief at Nintendo Wire. One of his life goals is to provide the latest Nintendo news to fellow gamers with his natural know-how.
