Amiibo That Are Incredibly Rare
From bizarre glove controllers to a full-blown theme park, Nintendo has always been good at finding innovative ways to market its properties. The Amiibo has arguably been one of its most successful enterprises. Combining the collectability of figures with the iconic popularity of Nintendo characters and the functionality of a gaming accessory was a surefire recipe for success. In fact, fans love them so much that one of the few apologies that Nintendo has had to make over the years was for not making enough Amiibo. Many of them are genuinely useful too. You can use the Bowser Amiibo, which was originally marketed for "Mario Kart 8," to summon everyone's favorite princess-stealing-dragon instantly in "Bowser's Fury" or you can use the "Ocarina of Time" Link Amiibo, which will make the game literally rain down a random amount of meat in "Breath of the Wild."
It's the nature of collectibles that all of them aren't equally easy to get your hands on, however. Some have to be bought at a premium, while others can be difficult to find at all. Here are five of the rarest Amiibo.
No Left Hand Luigi
Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what makes a collectible valuable. Usually, it's a combination of rarity, age, condition, and popularity, but sometimes a simple factory defect is enough to set something apart. Not many collectors are interested in them and it can be hard to sell one for a good price, but sometimes the rules change with enough publicity. That's exactly what happened with a handful of Amiibo.
GameSpot reported on a factory-sealed Luigi with no left hand that went up for auction after a student who bought it discovered the defect and hoped that it would raise the toy's value. This followed a string of other Amiibo factory defects which also sold for high prices. This resulted in this handless version of Mario's brother getting quite a bit of attention. The toy ultimately ended up selling for $500 in an eBay auction. Not exactly enough to retire on, but considerably more than the $17 MSRP that the original owner bought him for.
Golden Mega Man 11
The Golden Mega Man Amiibo is one of the rarer and more valuable figures on the market. It was available exclusively through the "Mega Man Collector's Edition," which quickly sold out. As a result, the price of the enclosed Amibo skyrocketed as it became one of the most desirable figures on the market. Despite the success of the Golden Mega Man, there's another golden Mega Man that's even more valuable.
Capcom opened a special raffle (via Nintendo Wire) for "Mega Man" fans in Japan to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary back in 2018. One of the rarest prizes was a Golden Mega Man 11 Amiibo. This figure features Mega Man jumping back and away in a much more active battle pose than the regular Mega Man Amiibo. Only ten winners received one of these Amiibo, and they were never manufactured again. It's amazing how much value a little gold paint can add.
Dual Cannon Samus Aran
What's more dangerous than Samus Aran wielding her deadly arm cannon? How about two arm cannons! The Amiibo of the space pirate battling action hero from "Metroid" is another factory defect that garnered a lot of attention. This version of Samus was one of the first to be released, coming to market back in 2014 and starting the trend of collecting deformed Amiibo.
Polygon reported on a rare defect that showed her with two arm cannons, which was discovered on one of the toys and was immediately put up for auction on eBay. It became very popular, and a bidding war ensued over the only known copy. Dual Cannon Samus Aran ultimately ended up selling for $2,500. That's not a bad turnaround for a toy that usually goes for just $13.
It's good that this Samus found a home, but it begs the question of whether there might be a Samus with two left arms floating around out there, just waiting to be discovered.
Legless Princess Peach
The third and final factory defect to make the list is a Princess Peach Amiibo which was discovered without any legs. This one came to light on the tails of the Samus Amiibo and ended up selling for the most money. On December 9, 2014, New York based eBay seller usmik-72rcplxb sold a Nintendo factory sealed legless Princess Peach Amiibo for $25,100.
While its defect makes this item rare, and Princess Peach is among fans' favorite non-Mario Nintendo characters, people were still amazed to discover that a single Amiibo could go for that price. Gamespot reported that there were "over 100 bids from 17 people" and that this is still the most expensive Amiibo ever sold.
Why is this version of Peach more valuable than all the other defective Amiibo out there? Who can say, but the seller must be happy. A few others with the same defect have popped up on occasion, but none have hit the same sale price.
Monster Hunter Stories Gold and Silver Riders
The legless Princess Peach might be the most expensive Amiibo out there, but it isn't the rarest. That honor is tied between the Monster Hunter Stories Gold and Silver Amiibo. These two were part of the Monster Hunter Summit 2017 event (via Nintendo Wire) held in Japan. The competition was held across seven different locations with contestants battling their monsters to see who could come out on top. The second-place prize was the Silver Monster Hunter Stories Amiibo, and the first place prize was the Gold. There is only one of each of these figures in the entire world, making it nearly impossible for a collector to get their hands on one.
It's fitting that these ultra-rare Amiibo went to the competition winners, but there doesn't seem to be any public information on who won or whether or not they were ever sold.