I didn't expect this thread to go on so much further, had I known I wouldn't have gone on such a long hiatus lol. Apologies for not chiming in sooner, especially after I kicked up such a storm a few pages ago ^^"
I think Amazon is right about being more specific about scanned villagers so here's what I had.
These are the only two cathegories of villagers I've ever had in my old town. Mostly "old" amiibo cards and Inkwell from the Splatoon Amiibo figure. None of 'em would ping. Ever
So no, this definitely applies to series 1-4 cards as well, at least for me.
The only issue is that I can't really submit any "proof" of this since I re-setted that town a while ago (for this very reason), although the dream code should be still up there (adress in my sig) if anyone wants to take a look, though I really don't think it would be of any use.