A few years ago, there was a trend in the video game industry to combine physical toys with games. Lego tried it with Dimensions and Activision with the Skylanders series. Nintendo amiibos are based on a similar concept; small collectible figures and trading cards that unlock new weapons, tools or cosmetic items in-game. Here is a list of my personal favourites.
Top 10 Nintendo amiibos
- Nintendo Yoshi’s Woolly Wold Green Yarn Yoshi amiibo
- Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Link (Archer) amiibo
- Nintendo The Legend of Zelda Wolf Link amiibo
- Nintendo The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Guardian amiibo
- Nintendo Super Mario Odyssey Bowser (Wedding Outfit) amiibo
- Nintendo Super Mario Cat Mario amiibo
- Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Banjo & Kazooie amiibo
- Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Samus amiibo
- Nintendo Detective Pikachu amiibo
- Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Mega Man Gold Edition amiibo
Nintendo Yoshi’s Woolly Wold Green Yarn Yoshi amiibo
Made of real fabric instead of plastic, this little wool Yoshi is my absolute favourite Nintendo amiibo. Generally, the Yoshi console games are incredibly cute – and this amiibo is no exception with its spherical design. What’s more, the wool Yoshi is available in three colours: green, pink and light blue.
Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Link (Archer) amiibo
Link from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also has a permanent place on my shelf with his cocked bow. The light blue outfit, the Ancient Arrow at the ready – the figure is reminiscent of that magical moment when you saw the first trailer for Breath of the Wild in 2014.
Nintendo The Legend of Zelda Wolf Link amiibo
Wolf-Link is one of the most popular amiibos on StockX. And there’s a good reason for that. In Breath of the Wild, the amiibo unlocks a wolf companion that assists players in the game. It starts with three hearts and fights alongside Link and also helps to discover shrines and dig up chests.
In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii U, you can even level up the amiibo so that it gets more hearts in Breath of the Wild and therefore stays by your side longer. It also unlocks a bonus challenge in Twilight Princess HD.
Nintendo The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Guardian amiibo
Okay, one last Zelda amiibo: The Guardians are one of the strongest enemies in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but this figure is not only incredibly detailed in design but if you hold the amiibo to your controller, a box appears that unlocks powerful new weapons or rare crafting materials.
Nintendo Super Mario Odyssey Bowser (Wedding Outfit) amiibo
In Super Mario Odyssey, the villain with the spiky shell kidnaps Princess Peach (again) and tries to force her into marriage. This amiibo shows his wedding outfit; a white top hat, white suit, purple waistcoat and purple bow tie, and golden buttons. Mario and Peach were also recreated in their wedding outfits, and all three are available to buy in a pack.
Nintendo Super Mario Cat Mario amiibo
These Mario and Peach Cat amiibos were released for the remaster of Super Mario 3D World for the Nintendo Switch. In the game, Mario can climb up in the cat outfit in certain places. Mario’s amiibo gives you an invincibility bell in the game, while Peach gives you a random power-up. Besides Super Mario 3D World and Bowser’s Fury, however, the amiibos can only be used in very few games.
Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Banjo & Kazooie amiibo
Banjo-Kazooie was strongly associated with my childhood. First released on the Nintendo 64, the game is now also available for Xbox One and Xbox 360 and, via the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, for the Japanese brand’s newest console.
The pair also makes a special appearance in the fighting game Super Smash Bros. – for which this amiibo has been released. A special detail is the puzzle piece Banjo is standing on: You had to collect these puzzle pieces in the original game in order to progress.
Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Samus amiibo
As an important character in Super Smash Bros., the “Metroid” heroine, Samus, was one of the very first amiibo figures. Nowadays, the heroine is available in several different versions, including the “Zero Suit” and “Dark” versions. But my favourite remains the first edition.
Also particularly rare is a faulty edition of the figure with weapons on both arms. Such a flawed figure was sold at auction for $2,500. Only a Peach Amiibo without legs from the first edition has ever sold for me, selling at auction for around $25,000.
Nintendo Detective Pikachu amiibo
Of course, there is also a whole range of Pokémon amiibos. Especially those that have made it into a Smash Bros. game – such as Schiggy, Bisaknosp, Glurak or Mewtu. Not from the fighting game, and therefore something a little bit more special, is Master Detective Pikachu.
After the game for the 3DS, there was also a film about Master Detective Pikachu, starring Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith. And because I liked that one quite a bit, this amiibo definitely deserves a place on this list.
Nintendo Super Smash Bros. Mega Man Gold Edition amiibo
There are very few Special Edition amiibos, and this Gold Edition is one of them. The golden Mega Man was only available in North America in a bundle with the Mega Man Legacy Collection.
Ten of the rarer Mega Man edition, the “Mega Man 11”, were raffled off by Capcom in Japan for the 30th anniversary of the series.
