Video: Use Your amibo Figures Without Removing Them From Their Packaging

Wow, just wow. I never thought it'd be so easy to make the Amiibos usable without opening them.

This is perfect though, I really don't see any purpose in taking them out of their boxes and by keeping them in there they look so much nicer.

Pretty cool, now they should do a tutorial on how to remove the Link amiibo from his stand and replace it with his figma...WITHOUT REMOVING IT FROM THE BOX!

Well I can see many exploiting this.

I don't have any more space for games let alone boxed figurines, but if I had the money (and room), then I'd've bought two of each amiibo as they look so good in their original boxes.

I don't get the "keep the packaging" trend. Where's all the fun? This is supposed to be fun, right?

@erv Maybe because amiibo resell value would be higher if it's in the box.

well you cut the packaging, so you might aswell take it out anyway, since you have broken it already.

@Kamalisk That is exactly my thought. They would have no real collector's value if the packaging has been tampered, and will most likely be a selling point now. The only real benefit at this point is that you now have a figure in a plastic cube and cardboard back to protect it at this point.

That little patch of tape. Wondered what it was about guessing it was put there to interfere with the NFC capabilities. Sneaky.
But why did they put the effort in it? Imagine the costs designing the production process in putting tapes on millions of Amiibo packages!

Big boys with toys...... its just toys, guys

Too late, already took them all out... but I did keep the boxes.

Sweet this is just what I need

Better triple check the box from now on if you buy new Amiibo's in a store...

looks like i'm keeping my mario in the box

I was considering leaving mine in their boxes but I've learnt that is a dangerous precedent as it just makes you less willing to open up collectors editions of games or double dip which drives up costs and space uses.

Also both my Amiibos have GAME & Argos tags on them so they're practically non mint already.

I understand why Nintendo put that piece of foil in the package. In some cases you only ever have to tap the Amiibo once to unlock the reward (Mariokart 8). Placing that piece of foil was their way to ensure people who bought them kept them, its not a move to anger collectors but a move to make sure they sell their product and not all Amiibos are returned to stores and sitting on store shelves forever.
Now lets talk about collectors themselves. I am one but the overall obsessions some have with "unopened" stuff is crazy. With something like a star wars action figure I'm not going to "play" with them and they look really nice hanging on my wall. With Amiibos I want to collect them all but also want to use them so any I buy I open and have on display on a shelf. For those who say "once their opened they loose their value" I respond by saying a true collector doesn't care. if I was buying them to resell them at a later date then I'm not a collector, I'm a reseller. I plan to keep these forever so I'm going to enjoy them and don't care what the value is. Plus things are so mass produced now that in many cases there are millions of them out there and the long term value is nothing. Things from the 70's were not produced on the scale they are now thats why they became valuable.
Sorry for the long comment but had to get that off my shoulders

..meh. Already opened mine so no use keeping future amiibo looked away from fresh air. They don't want to be locked away! Poor things..

Keeping mine in the box baby! I regret that when I was younger I did not maintain the things I grew up with and now they are worth money.

I just kept the boxes, neat idea but they won't keep the resale value like that.

amiibo look better in the boxes? Well that is subjectiv.
With this surgery the boxes are clearly being broken, not very nice to resell.

with skylanders, you can use them without even an incision. just place em on the portal.

@Tsurii897 This was my first time buying anything like this and they look nice in their box, but... there was no way I wasn't taking them out! I cut the bottom of all mine and pulled them all out, if I really want I can put them back in and they'll still look nice because the boxes aren't torn! I agree, I don't understand why people just let them sit in their box, they look great putting them places outside of their box instead

As much as it's a great idea to keep them in the boxes, they're just too bulky to store anywhere. Say you want the full collection (why else would you care about keeping them boxed otherwise?) that's gonna be a LOT of space needed to store 50 figures. Also, there's little point in doing what it says in this video if you're trying to retain the value of the figures by keeping them in the boxes...any serious collector wouldn't appreciate a collection of figures with cuts in the boxes.

Also, I don't really think you can call it "a jerk move" to stop people using them inside the box. After all, when the 3DS is NFC ready do you really want to buy one off the shelf BRAND NEW only to find some gits gone and transferred data onto it before you?

I hate how everyone tries to leave 'em in the box. If your only purpose is to resell them, then playing the game with them is not an issue.

Leave them in the box, take them out of the box. Just do what you want instead of criticizing people who do this or that.

Years from now if this become highly collectable and you ho to sell it new unopened with a slit in the back those buyers will flip on you for false advertising. Puncture that package and might as well open it.

@Nimious "Wow, just wow. I never thought it'd be so easy to make the Amiibos usable without opening them."

Well, they ARE opened. Just not all the way, but they are opened.

@KeeperBvK yup. And people are gonna sell ''em, as new on eBay, with the caveat of "no returns accepted"... eBay has made the greedy and the gullible both very happy.

@Shiryu I have kept my boxes as well but am considering throwing them out. Too much clutter.

Your amiibo can't breathe!

When I get an Amiibo figure, it's coming out of the box. I can respect collectors and those who like the packaging, but for me, I want the figure(s) to have a nice spot on my desk.

I just don't like buying things to keep them in their original packaging. I still have my Wii, 3DS, and Wii U boxes, but that's not for resale or collecting...it's just easier to store it when I have to move or if I'm going on a long trip. I'll probably toss the Amiibo box(es) because I've never kept a toy's packaging.

Listen, collectors: If no one is opening them, you're just going to devalue the unopened cases. The way these are being treated reminds me of those stupid Beanie Babies a few years ago. After the Amiibo line has been completely discontinued and Nintendo has moved on, there will be such a surplus in people's homes that the value of them will plummet--exactly like Beanie Babies.

You bought it, you might as well open it and display it and use it. The only things I've bought that I haven't opened were my Twilight Zone figures because outside of their cases, they're useless, and without the card backing, the William Shatner figure is just a grayscale "guy in suit with a gun." I didn't buy them to sell them one day. I bought them because The Twilight Zone is awesome.

Nah, I took the entire amiibo out of the box without any major damage! t looks cool when the amiibo is inside the box, but I don't wanna carry around the entire box just to use it on a friends' WiiU so he can have his Hyrule Warrior present.

Slitting the box will devalue the amigo - as the amigo may be used and who wants to buy a slit box?

Just open them up, christ.

@erv I'm with you on this one. I still have Hess trucks in the boxes from when I was a kid because my parents said I couldn't open them because they would be worth money some day. Now they're worth almost nothing, and they're packed away in my attic somewhere. Seems pointless.

If I get an Amiibo, it's coming out of the box!

@shigulicious Just the back card, not the plastic. I too have limited space at home.

That's pretty annoying when I just opened my first 2 up last night!!

Look at all those unopenned toys I have. Theyre worth so much money. Too bad i ll never sell it and have never truly enjoyed it. Its nice to have toys that are worth more than the 10 bucks Ive paid.

There should be a sopbox, discussion, talking point or whatever about the question to keep amiibo opened or unopened for the purpose to resell i'd read that.

@Quorthon I was just thinking that I'm getting a huge "Beanie Baby bubble" vibe from this. Only difference is that unlike Beanie Babies, Nintendo, as a brand, holds a lot of value so their products rarely go down in value too much.

You're still right in the fact that if everyone is keeping them in box/with the intention to resell, they're definitely not gonna be worth as much. Most things that end up being worth a lot (Hundreds to thousands) are usually accidental and not until YEARS later, if they're even still sought after.

The only ones with long-term and short-term value will be the 3 discontinued ones, ones with intentional/reported limited printing, or a 100% complete collection.

Some of you don't realise that it's not just people buying them, using them and returning them that would be an issue. It's the fact that when the 3DS gets amiibo support, which is now, people would be able to unlock the stuff they need to in the store without giving ANY money over.

But it IS opened. Cutting the box is "opening" it.

yeah cutting the box means no longer mint and potentially used ... If gonna buy these take them out and play with them - otherwise you are just stopping someone getting a copy that really wants one...

None of the disney inginity characters are worth anything..are any skylanders?! Why will Amiibo be different?

If you're not going to keep the packaging intact then there's basically no point in keeping the packaging at all imo.

I say either keep them in their original untouched state, like actual collectors versions that will keep their value and that you could potentially sell to dedicated collectors in the future, or frikin open them up and enjoy the toys fully.

The package is ruined after you make a incision! For me, the whole point of keeping them in the package is to keep them in mint condition. They're not "mint" after you cut the plastic! If anyone is reading this, I ripped opened my amiibos lol. If I can my hands on a Villager, I'm gonna keep that in the package for sure, and uncut!

@DTFaux

True, Nintendo is a strong brand, but I think Beanie Babies had wider reach--like to ridiculous numbers of older women. My mom bought a boatload of those damn things and ended up giving most of them away for free years later.

I think the viability of these (amiibo) as collector's items is entirely debatable, simply because we have too little data on which to base an analysis. We as an industry didn't have crap like this before Skylanders took off, so there's really no telling how they'll turn out years from now. The smart thing to do is have self-control and buy them because you actually want them. I got the Fit Trainer and Samus, and after them and Shulk and maybe Mega Man, I'm not sure if I'll get too many more. They're a tad expensive.

If they are indeed selling well, and they do turn out to be successful, I think their value will be just above Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk Ride peripherals once the line is completely done being produced and used. There will effectively be so many that there will be no point in keeping a bunch of unopened ones for some kind of future profit from sales.

These days, when something is touted as collectible, chances are, it isn't. And Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and Amiibo are taking up absolutely huge amounts of shelf space that was previously used for video games in stores. I personally don't think this fad will survive this generation, and that by the halfway point, people will be getting pretty sick of a bunch of video game toys with chips in them that end up taking up shelf space at home and in stores.

Hell, at any Best Buy right now, the Skylanders section is bigger than the Wii U section, and the Disney Infinity is bigger than the 3DS. That's basically two games that take up more space in a retail space than two entire game consoles.

Why do I estimate the halfway point of this generation as the failure point? Because that's when the last plastic peripheral trend peaked--halfway through the last generation is when the music game trend harshly reversed as the amount of plastic junk taking up space in stores and homes reached a consumer tolerance threshold. Within one year, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, DJ Hero, and Dance games were largely killed off. Granted, these toys have a collectible and displayable quality to them for homes, that plastic instruments do not. However, with the bulk of these going to homes with kids and parents, I think that will help crush them.

There will be a new trend for the next generation of kids to grab onto that replaces these plastic toys.

this is usefull for those factory error amiibos

@KeeperBvK lol what do you think I meant?

I'm on the fence about getting any of these.

"I want to keep them in the box because they'll be worth more money in the future if I don't take them out!!"

Really? Since when did it become all about money? Are you buying a fun little toy to enjoy and appreciate, or are you making an investment? The whole reason you all go on this site is because you like Nintendo, and what is Nintendo all about? Fun. So have some fun and cherish your fun memories instead of playing the long con so that sometime down the road you'll be able to make a $40 profit on a figurine.

I can't believe some people here don't get why Nintendo is putting a foil there. Just think about it. It's pretty easy to see why they did it.

I will definitely do this

Very cool. I committed collector's sin #1 and opened mine. I never intended to keep them all in their boxes forever, primarily because I flat out don't have the storage space. It's good to know collector's can still keep these mint AND use them as intended. I just figured Nintendo made it hard to scan them so folks wouldn't take them home, unlock content, then return the purchases.

Trapped in a box... FOREVER!!

I'll never understand the "not opening the box" mentality many collectors have.

If I see a figure or whatever that I've been wanting to buy, I want to be able to hold it and play around with it; the very thing it was made for. (shocking!)

What's the point of keeping it in the box if you're not even going to resell it? You might as well just print out pictures of the boxed figures and tape them to your wall.

Life is short. Enjoy the figurine. Set it free. Play with it. Display it. Pass it around. Get oily finger residue all over it. Haven't you read the Velveteen Rabbit?

I sort of get the collector thing, but lasting value doesn't come from the price you can get for something and if the kind of value is just trading up for cash, there are much better ways to do this than with the things you love.

@Domon Sounds easy enough .

I still have my boxes to store my amiibo figures, but they aren't much for looks anymore since I had to tear through the back to get to them. I still don't know if I would have used this technique had I known about it since they actually look arguably a bit better without the box. I'm even considering just buying second sets just to put on display, but my collectors mentality seems to have allowed me to be smarter with my money. lol!

Pfft. Just take them out of the box and throw that crap away. Amiibo are meant to be played with, not kept in the damn box.

@noctowl Sure, the tape itself isnt expensive, but think of the production chain. They designed a mashine to cut a little piece of tape and glue it on the plastic box.
For what? I thought you can initiate them at any given time?

@Nimious I never will understand why people buy things and then don't even open them.

I would enjoy having my figurines usable from the box. But breaking the seal of the box kind of destroys the whole point to me, noticeable or not. Might as well take them out if you have ruined the packaging.

@Ron1212 No, it's just for models. Taking them out of the box doesn't do anything. The figures themselves can't move or pose any different. Inside the box they carry more value and appeal.

Even if you take it out of the box what difference does it make? Can you do more with an Amiibo once it's out of the box? I mean I'm 21, you can hardly expect me to play with them like the kids would.

@JAG1981 Dang. Well said.

Does anyone really think something like this will ever be valuable in the future? This isnt some obscure star wars action figure from the 80s that maybe only had 10s of thousands made this is a mass produced heavily marketed thing, there will still be millions of them in 20 years time

@Ron1212 @Nimious The boxes are very nice, and having to rip them open is a shame.

Well... As far as collectors value goes, they still aren't "Mint". But i can really appreciate this!

I need to find myself a Wii Fit Trainer and Villager amiibo. I've got Marth, glad I didn't open him yet!

Who cares about the box? Not me.

Would have like 2 kept mine in tha box but unfortunately had to remove them in order 2 steal them...i got 3 by tha way

@noctowl you need the actual figure to save it to...and registering it is like a two minute process. What the point of scanning them in store ?

@SuperLink if I can make 200 bucks off a martha....i'm going to do that.

Am I missing something here or has everyone overlooked a huge issue with this? Your keeping it boxed to maintain its condition yet sticking a sharp object into the box and blindly scraping around the base of the Amiibo for 5 or more minutes! That base is gonna be scratched to bits! Whats the point of going through all this effort if you are just blatantly damaging the object you are so desperate to protect!

Oh dear my bad, I was missing something. I now realize that the metal strip is NOT attached to the base of the Amiibo but the plastic in which the Amiibo is sat so you wouldnt be damaging the Amiibo itself!