Topic: Is the "toys-to-life" market a dying fad?

Nintendo Life just recently published an article citing how online features for Disney Infinity would be coming to a close. The article also notes how Disney will also be ceasing to develop games, saying, "Evidently, it was ultimately due to issues with turning profits from the overstock of unsold toys." What does this mean for Nintendo and their line of amiibo figures? What does it mean for the appeal of NFC functionality as a whole?

We know the NX aught to be capable of reading NFC data, given Breath of the Wild is launching with its own wave of amiibo. Personally, I'm not so confident Nintendo will be able to maintain the success of amiibo into the NX's lifespan, however. Nintendo has already made amiibo figures for their most iconic characters, the ones that are most liable to sell well. They continue to release variations of these same characters, as with the recent Kirby line of amiibo, but I can't imagine these continued repeats are going to keep the momentum going for very long.

I have no idea how Skylanders and Lego Dimensions are performing at present, so if someone would let me know in the comments, I'd be very appreciative.

While I'm incredibly excited for the second wave of Super Mario amiibo coming in fall, I can't help but feel the route Disney Infinity has taken is evidence that amiibo and the toys-to-life industry is a dying fad that's beginning to lose steam. Will the appeal of NFC figurines have a lasting impact, or will they go as quickly as they caught on? Please, let me know in the comments!

(To my knowledge, there is no existing thread like this, but I didn't really look that hard. If there is, my bad, moderators!)

I feel like there's plenty of mileage left in them, and this comes from someone who hasn't been collecting them (I own 2 yarn Yoshi's and the Wolf Link from LoZ:TP, that's all).

The existing amiibo line, apart from yarn Yoshi, are just static lumps of plastic, useless for anything apart from filling your shelves. All they've got to do is start a new generation of amiibo in actual toys (e.g the Mario Kart pull-back toys) to get a whole load more flying off the shelves.

And there's no reason why every game launched on a Nintendo system, 1st, 2nd or 3rd party, can't have it's own amiibo. Make them fun to have as an actual toy, and give them a worthwhile impact in-game, and they should be able to go on for as long as new video games are made.

Disney had a lot of issues and they weren't Infinity's fault. Other Toys to Life products seem to be doing well, especially Lego. Nintendo just needs a series of games that uses amiibo a lot more that conus costumes. I am upset Disney did what they did with Infinity, it was so much fun. (that choice also put me out of a job)

One can only hope.

As it so happens, I was in my local GameStop the other day and noticed at least half of the wall space where amiibo used to be had been completely removed. There wasn't even anything new put in its place; it was just an awkward empty section of wall. This seems to further suggest NFC figures aren't selling very well. Granted, I live in a very small, rural town, so maybe GameStop just doesn't generate enough business and decided to cut back on stock, but it still strikes me as alarming. They also had for sale a large number of used Skylanders, amiibo, and Disney Infinity figures, meaning a lot of people have been bringing them back.

@DefHalan I agree, I could see something like a Nintendo Land sequel ("Nintendo World?") that takes full advantage of amiibo as doing really well. It could possibly be a free download, but there would be little to no actual content until you scan-in different amiibo. Each amiibo could unlock its own attraction themed to the series it came from, as well as either Mii costumes or an unlockable character that corresponds with the amiibo. Also, I'm very sorry this put you out of work; what were you employed to do?

@gcunit I'm not so sure having them as actual toys would be a great idea. Personally, I like the collectability of amiibo, but I feel like making them fully-functional toys would be a major turnoff to me, as they would feel much more... kiddish, in my opinion. I don't even like that the Guardian amiibo has movable tentacles.

I may be in the minority on this, but I like my amiibo being just figurines. I do, however, agree they should be more heavily utilised in-game, as I mentioned in my reply to DefHalan.

I think you're right that all major first-party Nintendo games probably aught to have at least one accompanying amiibo (a Paper Mario amiibo would sell like hotcakes, regardless of Color Splash), but I don't know about third-party or even lesser known first-party games. I doubt the Chibi-Robo amiibo sold particularly well, for example.

I'm sure it ain't cheap to manufacture these figures in mass quantities, and Nintendo needs to make sure they don't suffer a profit loss.

@Not_Soos I was QA for a different branch at Disney Interactive, but since I had only started in December, I was "let go" before a lot of others. I hated the work, so it wasn't too upsetting. Disney promised me certain things then after I quit my other job they took everything away.

Disney Infinity was the best thing Disney was making in my opinion, and they were the ones that shot themselves in the foot.

I remember Disney making a comment about amiibo shortages, and saying how that would never happen with Disney... well Disney Infinity was shut down and the over stock of Infinity figures was a part to blame... funny how that works

You realize there's a 0% chance NX won't launch with a amiibo-to-life game or further integration in Smash, right?

I hope there is an amiibo-to-life game coming. I don't like how most of the usage is just costumes. I want more games like Mini Mario and Friends

I really don't get the appeal...I had a Falco and it was just collecting dust.

I'm also not a collector so I really have no use for em.

Preferrably violently. The streets will run red with cheaply dyed plastic.

Not sure where Nintendo are going to go now that nearly all the Smash Amiibo are out, but LEGO Dimensions will remain strong for a fair while. It has so many unique minifigures that LEGO fans will be getting them for their rarity even if they don't have the game. I double dipped and bought 2 Chell and Staypuft Marshmallow Men

That game already exists. It's called "Amiibo Tap" and nobody cared about it because its a bunch of 2-minute levels that require expensive minatures to play. More of the same isn't going to help here, since it's only useful for people who already have a bunch of these things lying around.

Amiibo Tap is nothing like Nintendo Land

[quote=SeaSalty]I really don't get the appeal...I had a Falco and it was just collecting dust.

I'm also not a collector so I really have no use for em.[/quote
same here!

Nintendo are going to have to come up with something a lot more interesting to keep amiibo going, especially as the Smash set is near complete. They've churned out all these Animal Crossing figures and from what I've seen they're not selling as the game itself is poor. They need to add a greater level of interactivity between the figures and the games, similar to Skylanders, rather than just being simple costume/skin keys.

As for everyone else, they've gone and got a cool Mario/Zelda/Kirby figure to put on their computer desk and that's them sorted. They probably don't even own a WiiU and won't buy anymore figures.