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Nintendo Japan confirms an amiibo card shortage

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Nintendo of Japan has just tweeted out that there is indeed an amiibo card shortage, apologizing, and confirming a new shipment next week

任天堂株式会社
昨日発売しました『どうぶつの森amiiboカード 第1弾』が店頭で品薄になっており、ご迷惑をお掛けしております。来週も追加出荷を行う予定ですので、もう少々お待ちください。

Loosely translates to:
"Yesterday we launched Animal Crossing amiibo cards Series 1, which have become scarce in stores, and we apologize. We are sending out a new shipment next week, so please wait a little longer."

Honestly, I never thought the amiibo cards would have seen a stock issue, since they seem to be a lot easier to produce than amiibo cards, I know this was mentioned by AmiAmi, but I thought that was just an issue with their stock, and not the actual stock of Japan, or whatever.

It'll be interesting to see if the next shipment is a permanent fix, or a temporary one - and hopefully it will help them get a better understanding of production numbers so that there's no shortage when they're released outside of Japan. Really hoping that is the case, because I know I'm not in the mood for another stock shortage.
 
Yeah, the stock shortage is bad. When I went on release date, the stores were limiting packs to 2 per customer. I went to a pretty major electronics store and they only had a small tub of packs. 20 minutes after opening, the game store near my place was limiting to one per customer and they were still almost out of stock. Also, there was problem with Lawson convenience stores selling the cards before release date, so there was no stock on the actual day.

Today, I called/went to about 10 different stores around Tokyo/Yokohama no one had any stock whatsoever. Hopefully they are shipping out a ton more cards next week, because based on Twitter updates, there's pretty much none anywhere, and people are not happy.

Unfortunately, I won't be in Japan for the next two weeks to take advantage of the restock but hoping there will still be some left when I get back or I can get them shipped after I return. :(
 
I think Nintendo's problem with stock management is a company management issue. This company is so damn afraid it will end up with leftover stocks that it will always have minimum projections turned into real production. Same thing with plastic figurines amiibo. Reggie, whom I regard as the main excuse maker at Nintendo these days, say that there are issues with production of figurines. No there are no issue. Your projections were wrong from day one. That's the reason. There is NO reason you guys can forecast a huge amount of figurines for Peach, Mario, Zelda, Pikachu and Luigi, so much so that they are always in stock BUT you cannot do the same with the Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Shulk and Lucina !
 
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This doesnt surprise me at all. The popularity of amiibo figures are insane and the card will be just the same. Its pretty much like collecting pokemon cards all over again for me. I hope these cards are not required to use the game or to unlock certain characters in the games. If thats the case i might just have to buy these cards but i really dont want to spend money on all of these cause im tapped out from all the amiibo figures. I might end up just buying certain ones that i like on amazon or something cause i dont want a pack of cards that are random. I want to know what im getting.
 
i bought a box of 50 packs from amazon.co.jp :p
cost me 29.950 JPY (about 241 dollars) and 5,603 JPY (about 45 dollars) in shipping to Norway XD
But if you are a hardcore Animal crossing fan and want the japanese cards instead of eu cards then hey what you gonna do.
Besides the doubles i get i can always sell on ebay or something :)
 
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i bought a box of 50 packs from amazon.co.jp :p
cost me 29.950 JPY (about 241 dollars) and 5,603 JPY (about 45 dollars) in shipping to Norway XD
But if you are a hardcore Animal crossing fan and want the japanese cards instead of eu cards then hey what you gonna do.
Besides the doubles i get i can always sell on ebay or something :)

I got a box of 50 packs and 10 extra packs just to give me the best chance of getting all 100 cards :p
I'll probably give away any doubles I get :)
 
Thats nice of you 19cookies :)
Might have a small give away too!
Did not think about that option!

Cause i dont know anyone in real life that likes animal crossing like i do :p
Tried to get my sister hooked on new leaf but no she did not like it but she how ever did like a disney game that is super similar to new leaf :p

Also have ordered 5 packs extra from play-asia
Since i got the amiibo reader for my japanese new leaf themed 3ds and happy home designer cover plate for my eu new 3ds :D
 
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Ahh crap, not good news for when I want to get a bunch of amiibo cards. Hopefully by the time the UK gets them we don't have a shortage.
 
Ahh crap, not good news for when I want to get a bunch of amiibo cards. Hopefully by the time the UK gets them we don't have a shortage.

I'm hoping that the ~2 month ago between releases means that other countries Nintendo's can learn from this, cause I'd really hate an amiibo card shortage, and so would nintendo since they know they can make huge $$$ off the cards.
 
Checked Amazon, looks like there will be a restock on the 5th. Unfortunately, won't be back in Japan for a couple weeks to check store stock. We'll see how long it lasts, especially since Amazon doesn't limit purchases by customer like other retail sites.
 
That's very sad news. And with Nintendo ceasing sales of their consoles and software in my country, with only one official retailer left, I wonder if I'll be able to get any cards at all... I really want my favorite villagers as amiibo cards.
 
Checked Amazon, looks like there will be a restock on the 5th. Unfortunately, won't be back in Japan for a couple weeks to check store stock. We'll see how long it lasts, especially since Amazon doesn't limit purchases by customer like other retail sites.

Will they be sold for retail price then?
 
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