Have you been in a Toys R Us or Target looking for World of Nintendo recently?  Chances are, you saw something like in the picture below.  A nice big and awesome looking display of World of Nintendo.  Most Targets and Toys R Us actually have stocked older waves and not the most recent two which collectors want.  These new and improved displays started a couple of months ago and when I first saw them, I thought it was great but now that time has passed and most of these displays have the same figures sitting there and are starting to be placed on clearance, I have to wonder: did Jakks Pacific and retailers overproduce these figures?

First off, let me say that having World of Nintendo figures easily available has been rare.  There have always been certain figures that have been hard (even impossibly hard) to find so it is nice to see more figures out there for new collectors.  With that said, it is also a little concerned to see the same figures at every retailer I visit in my city.  To make matters worse, there is a recent release (Series 2-5) that has been seen in other places around the US and is nowhere to be seen here.  I have to think that is because the shelves are stuffed full of older releases that got restocked and the retailers are waiting for those to clear out before stocking new stuff.

The extra exposure Jakks Pacific has gotten from the bigger displays at Target and Toys R Us is fantastic and hopefully brings new people into collecting World of Nintendo.  At the same time, if some of the overproduced figures do not sell, it is going to slow down future releases and cause retailers headaches too.  That obviously is bad for the line as a whole and one thing that has made World of Nintendo successful is that whenever there is a lull in Amiibo, you always have figures from World of Nintendo to look forward to.

I also don’t want to paint a picture that is doom and gloom for World of Nintendo here either, this may all end up being good for the figure line in the end.  The best thing we as collectors can do is if you see a figure you’ve been interested in but have procrastinated buying, consider picking it up and help clear the shelves a bit more at your favorite local retailers.  Every little bit counts and it will only help improve our chances of seeing those characters we always wanted like the Koopalings!

What are your experiences toy hunting for World of Nintendo lately?  Are you experiencing similar things to what I describe in the article or have things been better near you?  Let us know in the comments below!