How feasible is it to obtain every amiibo card?

[Revivers]

Hi I haven't played animal crossing for several years, but recently came back to animal crossing games. I'm now an adult with money so I decided I want to buy every animal crossing amiibo card (at least series 1-4&welcome amiibo). Problem is... there's so many and it's so over-stimulating and I don't know where to start

First and foremost I'm UK based, in case that affects prices and availability.

I realised straight away that buying packs of just 3 random cards out of a series of 100 is not an efficient way to go about it.
But... buying individual cards is just as big of a faff (seriously I love Fang but £18 for a single card ...)
whats it gonna cost, how long is it gonna take, whats the most efficient way to save time and money should I start with the cheap single cards, with packs, should I do both simultaneously should I bury my head in the sand out of frustration?

The sanrio packs are perfect since the whole series of 6 cards is in the single pack. Is there a similar way to buy a COMPLETE series (e.g. 1-4) so I can never worry about this ever again.

ik the card system can be easily reverse engineered (sorta like e-reader cards, and nook codes in the gamecube version that I never played so idk why I'm talking about the gcn game as if I played it) and there are many 3rd party cards being made due to this

I would happily turn to 3rd party cards if it simplifies the process of collecting them all for a fraction of the price but I want to explore collecting legitimate cards first and foremost as it's definitely more ethical to me. Not to mention I'm scared of buying bad fakes (like Redd level of fake) that dont scan properly, look awful, wrong dimensions etc etc.

My head is gonna overheat and explode if I have to think much more about amiibo cards honestly

tl;dr: Completing an amiibo collection is hard, looking for advice for acquiring them all. Ideally legit cards, last resort buying full collections from high quality 3rd party

 

[-Blue-]

Depends on how much money you're willing to spend on legit cards. It's going to cost a lot. You can buy the mystery packs for retail prices or you can try to go and buy the cards you need to finish, but depending on the card/villager you could end up paying $40 for a piece of paper because of the villager's popularity and people scalping the amiibo card scene.

There's a reason a lot of people resorted to using fake cards. Each time the packs came out/ were reprinted scalpers and bots sniped all of them, which ended up causing lots of people being at the mercy of a lowlife scumbag scalper or just admitting that it's not worth the $$$ and going with fake cards.

 

[TN4U]

Ironically, it's much easier to obtain PAL Welcome Amiibo cards than the NTSC-U versions. The cheapest I've seen an NTSC-U Welcome Amiibo card go on eBay lately is $25, and that's for a villager with a rather low popularity. Meanwhile, trying to get Ketchup, for example, is probably going to cost you a hefty amount. I obtained my NTSC Ketchup card a while ago for around $70, but I've seen them for sale for much, much higher than that these days. Japanese and PAL cards go for way cheaper, and I think that has somewhat to do with the fact that those cards were reprinted when Series 5 came out, unlike NTSC, where only Series 1-4 were reprinted alongside the Sanrio cards. As you're in the UK, I'll assume that you're after PAL cards. The only differences between NTSC and PAL are the extra two names in different languages and the EU symbols on the back. Otherwise, all the cards are region free and work on any Switch console.

I'd suggest browsing through TBT's amiibo Card Post Office and see if anyone else based in the UK has what you need. Keep in mind that most, if not all, traders only want to swap cards as that section isn't eBay and the rules say that you can't use TBT bells or advertise using real currency. If packs are cheap to buy at the store or on a different site where you are, buy a few, keep the ones you don't have, and see if anyone else is willing to trade for your duplicates.

And yes, scalpers who buy a ton of cards and packs and resell them at much higher prices is a very common practice, more so for the hobby in general. When Series 5 first came out, I was forced to spend over $20 per pack as they kept selling out everywhere thanks to the scalpers. For a good period, no stores could keep them in stock due to the stupid supply chain issues. I'll give you a big tip: If you want to start an amiibo card collection, start now before the next game is announced. Of course, we have no idea when this'll happen - and I'm not expecting you to fully complete it by then - but if the next game maintains amiibo functionality and is announced by Nintendo themselves, prices on individual cards will temporarily go up by a large amount due to demand. It's happened with New Horizons, and I'm very positive that it will happen again with the next game.

As for me, I collected a lot of cards before amiibo functionality was announced for New Horizons, as I sort of knew that they were going to be in demand again. Less popular villagers like Tabby cost less to purchase, while villagers such as Marshal were generally more. Welcome Amiibo cards always cost much more, and the Sanrio cards are easy as lots of reprints were made. Granted, I'm based in the US and follow NTSC trends, so things may be different for PAL regions.

 

[-Blue-]

As for me, I collected a lot of cards before amiibo functionality was announced for New Horizons, as I sort of knew that they were going to be in demand again. Less popular villagers like Tabby cost less to purchase, while villagers such as Marshal were generally more. Welcome Amiibo cards always cost much more, and the Sanrio cards are easy as lots of reprints were made. Granted, I'm based in the US and follow NTSC trends, so things may be different for PAL regions.

I'm actually surprised they never bothered to reprint the WA/RV amiibo cards. I get that NH doesn't have RVs, but those villager cards are still compatible with the game.

 

[Corrie]

I collected all of mine when Happy Home Designer was a thing so that was almost 10 years ago (I can't believe that, wtf). The market is different now but all I did was trade with users on here and buy specific ones off ebay. It took a year or two, I think, and it was definitely an expensive journey. They do sell complete sets on Ebay if interested, but you'd be dropping a good amount of change on them. However, it could be cheaper that way if you think about the costs of buying each individual card/trading mail fees/buying packs in stores.

 

[azurill]

I started collecting Amiibo cards when the Sanrio cards came back. I thought about trying to collect all of them. Decided it was going to cost too much. So I am only getting ones that I know I will use at some point. I buy mine from eBay and sometimes the sellers will have them at discounted prices. It’s not a lot off but anything off is helpful.

 

[Revivers]

Thanks for all the advice. I just spent almost £100 on various packs from my nintendo

 

[kemdi]

I completed my 1-4 + the RVs collection back when the New Leaf WA update dropped, and series 5 soon after the 2.0 update for New Horizons, so it's definitely doable. The initial 1-4 + the RVs was pretty cheap, but that was almost a decade ago when they were unpopular.
They're gonna cost a ton of pennies(or pounds lol) to get them all now, but if you got the cash for it...

One thing I didn't see mentioned above that could help a bunch when it comes to completing the card sets: Booster boxes. I got these for sets 2 and 3 when I was completing my collection. Granted they were severely discounted when I got them, so I can't talk about the price. You'll have to look them up for yourself and see if its worth it to you. But if you can manage to get your hands on a box for a series or two, it'll do a few things for your collection:

1. It'll likely wipe out a series' collection in one go, since there's a 98% chance that all the cards from the series are in the box, which will save you a lot of time looking for cards in that set.

2. It'll give you some leverage to trade for cards you don't have since you WILL end up with a ton of extras, some of which may be highly sought after( like popular villagers and sparkle card npcs).

3. It'll give you some room to make some money back, since you can also sell the extras to other people. And, there's a very small chance, I think like 1% that you'll be able to come close to completing two sets with a booster box, in which case, you can just sell off the extra near set to get some of your money back.

edit: Yeah...So I just looked up what what one Booster box of Animal Crossing amiibo cards would cost and...yeah, they are not cheap. Like, at all. Still OP, if you've got some serious grown folks money, look into it and decide if it's worth it to you.

 

[Giddy]

Also UK base, hello~
I hate how we only get three cards in the pack; and one is always a special character ;_;

What I have seen, is that some people start with getting their most favourite villagers, then buy packs to get other randoms etc. That's what I've seen more.
Trading, is what I have been mainly doing for cards I already have, mainly using facebook animal crossing groups. UK mainly, as the others usually no one wants to buy globally. Probably due to postage, and the nationality of cards.
There are EU/NA/JPAN cards, and sometimes when trading, there are certain people who only want EU/NA cards. All cards work no matter what region, its just a state of preference. Me, I have all sorts.

Years ago, I was able to buy Japanese packs, and got some good pulls (Ayyye Japanese Whitney~) so it's really luck. I found those on ebay. In the facebook groups, not only can you trade, but buy too. And recently, people just want a lot of the cards gone, so you can get some good deals.
CEX actually has some cards, I used to see them in their windows years ago, but they're on their website. Just bare in mind, CEX charges shipping on each item sadly.

I've been on and off getting cards, and still need a bit, I have some cards I don't need either DX Annoyingly, I already have all Special cards (Ones that aren't villagers), except season 5, so if I did decide to buy more packs; I'll just be stuck with more Special characters DX

 

[BetsySundrop]

I would LOVE to have amiibo cards for everyone, but especially for those villagers I love.

I looked into this when the sanrio cards came out. I did get the sanrio cards, but then thought it would be really nice to have cards so i could move in villagers i wanted, but also for the collection aspect. But the headache!

When I first looked, I just thought hmm, that's kind of pricey for individual cards. And the random aspect (and price for randoms) ...didn't seem good. Then looking at reviews of some sellers (some really not good), a bad experience on ebay (with another item), along with reading about people selling "fake" cards that didn't work, etc... I just eventually gave up.

I may change my mind and retry in future. I do love the ones i have. But I wish it were easier and less $$$.

 

[HappyTails]

No it's not feasible but nothing wrong with obtaining them anyway. I started collecting them myself about a year ago. I still don't have all of them yet but I am having fun collecting them. I currently have all villagers and special characters from series 1 and 2. I have all the villager cards from series 3 and 5. I have up to 20 on the WA cards and all the Sanrio. I am currently working on the villagers cards from series 4 and the special cards from series 3 4 and 5 and the rest of the WA cards. I give myself a 50 dollar budget every paycheck and since the guy I buy them off of on Ebay charges and 3 dollars average per card with free shipping (if its a popular villager which he charges 20 to 30 dollars for and I usually buy those on their own) then I can usually get 10 to 20 cards every two weeks. Sure it is expensive but if it's something you like doing then it's worth the investment.

 

[oath2order]

It's really not feasible IMO. Because of the randomization of it, you'll end up with far more duplicates and if you go the route of purchasing individuals, that will rack up the costs insanely.

 

[Revivers]

I completed my 1-4 + the RVs collection back when the New Leaf WA update dropped, and series 5 soon after the 2.0 update for New Horizons, so it's definitely doable. The initial 1-4 + the RVs was pretty cheap, but that was almost a decade ago when they were unpopular.
They're gonna cost a ton of pennies(or pounds lol) to get them all now, but if you got the cash for it...

One thing I didn't see mentioned above that could help a bunch when it comes to completing the card sets: Booster boxes. I got these for sets 2 and 3 when I was completing my collection. Granted they were severely discounted when I got them, so I can't talk about the price. You'll have to look them up for yourself and see if its worth it to you. But if you can manage to get your hands on a box for a series or two, it'll do a few things for your collection:

1. It'll likely wipe out a series' collection in one go, since there's a 98% chance that all the cards from the series are in the box, which will save you a lot of time looking for cards in that set.

2. It'll give you some leverage to trade for cards you don't have since you WILL end up with a ton of extras, some of which may be highly sought after( like popular villagers and sparkle card npcs).

3. It'll give you some room to make some money back, since you can also sell the extras to other people. And, there's a very small chance, I think like 1% that you'll be able to come close to completing two sets with a booster box, in which case, you can just sell off the extra near set to get some of your money back.

edit: Yeah...So I just looked up what what one Booster box of Animal Crossing amiibo cards would cost and...yeah, they are not cheap. Like, at all. Still OP, if you've got some serious grown folks money, look into it and decide if it's worth it to you.

Boosters are actually my strategy now. I've just had 2 boosters (series 5 + RV) arrive from a Proxy service from Japan. I completed RV with 2 packs unopened and S5 I managed to get 2 complete sets of villagers (only 1 set of specials though)

I could not recommend buying booster boxes through a japanese proxy more. 10/10 would recommend, decently cheap (compared to buying £3.50 packs through Nintendo), as you mentioned fewer dupes (it was actually shocking that 25 special cards had all 24! but I guess thats how the booster boxes are made), and I completed s5 and RV without many duplicates. I can't imagine how many dupes you would get buying £3.50 packs from nintendo before completing the set vs outright buying a complete booster box.

yes the cards are in Japanese but that's ok because I already know most of the english names and will learn the rest. Also I spent way too much money buying the offical collector's albums from scalpers (presumably) and it has a picture of every card on the inside of the album. Also as another person commented in this thread, amiibo cards are NOT region locked so they all scan perfectly fine in any region.

Managed to buy a series 5 and an RV booster box for £95
series 1-4 boosters cost about the same and I'm gonna order all of them next.

Bandai gummy cards are the bane of my existence, however; I bought 3 boxes with 60 cards and I'm still missing like 4 cards from only 32 cards in the series... I have most cards triplicates

so far I spent:
£200 on s1-5 albums + a generic binder for RVs (I wouldn't recommend these official collectors albums - way too expensive now)
£70 on 3 boxes of animal crossing bandai gummy selects cards
£95 on s5 + RV cards from yahoo japan through buyee

Buying s1-4 boosters through buyee will probably cost me another £450 and possibly more through English customs

I noticed you can just buy all 500+ cards made by a 3rd party for a fraction of this price but I would heavily recommend buying legitimate boosters through a Japanese proxy to all those who can afford it.

Sorry I write a lot, I learned a lot about amiibos through experience and research and overanalyse things and also want to provide my information to anybody else seeking amiibo collections (I know most people already have collected them already though). I will probably make a summary post again if I complete my collection through booster boxes from Japanese proxy service.