Amiibo Wave 3b Chaos at Toys R Us – Did You Pre-order?

There are some crazy stories on Reddit (r/amiibo) concerning the launch of amiibo wave 3b at Toys R Us.  We suggest reading several posts to soak in the obvious amiibogeddon that took place this morning, but here’s a recap of what we’ve seen: 

• No extras to sell. Pre-orders only. 
• Management misinterprets a message from corporate about customers being able to purchase one of each. Instead tells shoppers they can only purchase one amiibo, period. 
• Customers pushing each other in a mad dash towards the shelves. 
• People waiting outside in the cold for hours, only to come away empty handed. 
• Fifth person in line and only four [insert wave 3b amiibo here].

We experienced some of this with wave 1 and wave 2. Like many interested Nintendo fans, we were curious about amiibo before Super Smash Bros. came out November 21 but didn’t pre-order. As a result we missed out on Marth and had to scour Toys R Us shelves a short time later for Pit, Captain Falcon and Little Mac. 

“Never again,” we screamed, instead opting to pre-order entire waves as soon as the opportunities became available. The result? We casually walked into a Toys R Us this morning and picked up Ike, King Dedede and Mega Man.  It was a somewhat awkward experience, only because we felt several pairs of eyes on us the entire time.  The attention made us so uneasy we walked in a zigzag pattern towards the exit to avoid being followed; yes it’s that serious. 

Ultimately, pre-ordering is the best way to go. This wasn’t an option with the Target exclusive Rosalina in stores, and we still don’t know how Best Buy will handle Meta Knight on February 20, but we already reserved the Super Mario Bros. lineup as well as wave 4 at a local f.y.e.  That gives us a 99.9 percent chance of rolling out of bed on launch day and collecting our amiibo sans the stress. 

And yet, so many people don’t reserve amiibo, instead opting to camp outside of stores and cross their fingers in the hopes of finding the characters they want. Why?

Interestingly enough, some shoppers do it for the thrills.  This writer’s brother chooses to stand outside Toys R Us for an hour because he craves the adrenaline rush that comes from running in and seeing that much desired Mega Man amiibo hanging off its peg. Granted, this results in some heartbreaking losses, but for him, the potential excitement outweighs the sadness. 

We can sort of relate. It was cool to visit Toys R Us a couple months ago and find Little Mac on launch day, or stumbling upon a lonely Pit in f.y.e. before Christmas. Granted we walked away empty handed more times than not, but we’ll never forget our successes.  We’ll always remember the moment we saw Pit. 

Basically, we want to hear from you. Do you pre-order amiibo or leave everything up to chance? Let us know how you did today.