Amiibo has proven to be a big hit for Nintendo. The interactive figures now work in some capacity for nearly every Nintendo game. Toy store walls are littered with the more common figures, while harder-to-find Amiibo characters have become valuable collector items that go for triple their normal retail price on eBay.
So just how popular is Amiibo, more than six months after their original launch? Very popular, according to Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime in a new interview with Kotaku.
Fils-Aime says Nintendo has sold more than 1 million of the toys in the last 30 days in the U.S. alone, thanks to the launch of the toy line's fourth wave of Super Smash Bros. Amiibo. Nintendo in the past couple months has quickly earned a reputation for not being able to keep up with consumer demand for the figures, but Fils-Aime says that the 1 million sold figure clearly shows the company is figuring how to keep Amiibo stocked on store shelves.
"You don't sell through a million units by constraining supply," Fils-Aime tells the site. "And, honestly, there is no business in disappointing your consumer. The mentality that suggests we are somehow constricting supply is rubbish. We want every consumer to be satisfied. We want every Amiibo player out there to be a completionist and have every single one. We're working hard to get the supply into stores."
He goes on to say that while Nintendo is definitely responsible for any supply-side issues, issues it is attempting to remedy, any problems arising from the presale or preorder of Amiibo figures rest solely on the shoulders of individual retailers.
"We're focused on the everyday consumer, and we want that consumer to be completely satisfied," he says. "In the end, though, the retailer manages how they execute a presale or how they make the product available. We certainly give suggestions and guidance. The retailer is making that call. And, again, to separate, when there's a supply issue, that's Nintendo's fault. but in terms of managing a presale process, that's something that each individual retailer controls."
Nintendo announced several new Amiibo figures coming soon during its E3 Nintendo Direct, including special Donkey Kong and Bowser Amiibo figures that also double as Skylander's in the next version of Activision's popular "toys to life" game series.
In other Nintendo news, Fils-Aime also recently talked about why The Legend of Zelda Wii U was nowhere to be seen at this year's show. You can read more about that here.
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