It is no secret that gamers are crazy about amiibo, Nintendo Co Ltd’s small NFC-enabled toys that interact with certain games on Wii U or 3DS. GameStop learned that lesson first hand when overeager consumers crashed the game seller’s website in a rush to pre-order the easily sold out toys.

Lack of supply has been a running trend for amiibo since they were first released last year, and Nintendo has been criticized for not being more informative about when new supplies will arrive. Now the American branch of the Japanese game company has issued an apology to fans, saying that it will be more transparent in the future.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm that our fans continue to show toward amiibo,” Nintendo said on its Facebook page. “Sales for the product have exceeded our expectations. We understand how frustrating it can be at times if consumers are unable to find certain figures, and we apologize for that.

“We’re trying to meet the demands of our fans and consumers by increasing the amount of amiibo we manufacture and ship to retail. We may continue to see consumer demand outpace supply levels for certain characters at times, but we will do our best to prevent that from happening.”

Giving fans what they want…eventually

One cause behind amiibo’s scarcity had been the West Coast shipping slowdowns caused by labor issues involving the International Longshore Workers Union. While some Nintendo products were still being shipped by air, amiibo were held up on ships that were waiting offshore.

While Nintendo says it has plans in place to alleviate some of the supply issues, the company also notes that certain amiibo may still be difficult to find.

“As our library of amiibo continues to grow, some figures will be easier to find than others,” Nintendo wrote. “We are constantly looking for the opportunity to reissue amiibo and are already making plans to bring back some currently out-of-stock amiibo figures.”

The company added, “Nintendo plans to make it easier for consumers to know when new amiibo are on the way, through Nintendo press announcements, timely updates on our social media channels and working closely with retailers.”

Image credit: Nintendo via Facebook