Rare Gold Amiibos Sold Out Within 15 Minutes, Show Up On eBay At High Prices

If there's one thing Nintendo fans can't get enough of, it's the Amiibo figurines. There has been plenty of hue and cry about the exclusivity, unavailability and the subsequent scalping that goes around with these collectible figurines on online auction websites such as eBay. The Gold Mario Amiibo figurine is a prime example of said scalping and is being sold for ridiculously large premium on eBay and other online auction portals.

The problem has been compounded by Nintendo's decision to pass on the opportunity to ramp up production to meet the massive demand for limited-run Amiibo figurines. Instead of increasing the production runs, Nintendo has done the exact opposite by issuing an even rarer Gold Mario Amiibo figurine that's restricted solely to Walmart outlets in the U.S., according to Kotaku.

The demand was so overwhelming that the pre-orders for the special edition Mario Amiibo was sold out within 15 minutes. This is remarkable because the blisteringly quick sale happened despite Nintendo choosing not to announce or acknowledge the existence of the Gold Mario Amiibo until the day of the pre-order. However, VG247 reports that eager collectors and scalpers had already sniffed out the existence through prior leaks on the matter.

For those uninitiated to the travails of collecting videogame memorabilia, scalping is the practice where opportunistic buyers purchase rare items in bulk to resell on online auction websites. As a result, the special edition Gold Mario is selling at an average price of $65 on eBay, with some ranging from $500 to $1500 online. To put this into perspective, the actual price of the limited edition Amiibo is a mere $13.

Engadget reports that Nintendo has sold a whopping $5.7 million Amiibo figurines across the world. The number would have been even higher if the Japanese console maker had attempted to ramp up production to meet the frantic demand.

For those who aren't acquainted with Amiibo figurines, these are tiny NFC-enabled plastic toys that can interact with Nintendo consoles such as 3DS and Wii U. Tapping these figurines on these consoles allows them to unlock special in-game features, new characters, abilities, costumes and other additional content.

The demand for Amiibos has skyrocketed because at times they are the only means to unlock some worthwhile gameplay-related features. However, the fact that they also serve as attractive collectible toys has led to scores of collectors attempting to catch every single one of the Amiibos. The fallout of this mad rush to collect them all can be seen in the opportunistic pricing seen on some eBay bids for the rare figurines.

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Nintendo amiibo Power TV Commercial (credit: Nintendo YouTube channel)