Amazon's amiibo strategy shows how dismal the collecting scene has become

The fourth wave of Nintendo's popular amiibo toys is hitting tomorrow, and Amazon has let fans know that they're going to have to pay close attention if they hope to pick one up.

"Thank you for your interest in ordering the new amiibo figures from Amazon.com!" the official page states. "Quantities of the new characters are extremely limited, so we'd like to ensure that as many customers as possible have the opportunity to get the new figures!"

There is, in fact a system: "Throughout the afternoon of Friday, May 29, we'll be posting each Wave 4 amiibo figure individually within the following time windows. Each will become available for purchase at a random time during that time frame. Mark your calendars for the following times tomorrow!"

Here's the schedule, in case you want to set your alarm and pray.

• Pac-Man: 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. PT
  
• Charizard: 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. PT
  
• Inkling Boy: 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. PT
  
• Lucina: 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. PT
  
• Wario: 4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. PT
  
• Inkling Girl: 4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. PT
  
• Silver Mario: 5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. PT
  
• Robin: 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. PT
  
• Inkling Boy, Girl, and Squid 3-pack: 6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. PT

"We're limiting each amiibo figure to 1 per customer, and we'll be disabling 1-Click Ordering," Amazon said. "Additionally, it'd be helpful to make sure you've updated your credit card and shipping information to help you move quickly through the checkout process."

Just in case you were hoping supplies at retail stores would be any better, it looks like it's going to be a hard fight no matter where you go.

Another GameStop sign posted for Wave 4 stock. Still pretty bleak. Via hxsp or reddit. pic.twitter.com/WwJQDcG8rp

— Amiibo News (@AmiiboNews) May 28, 2015

"We appreciate the enthusiasm that our fans continue to show toward amiibo. 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," Nintendo said in a statement sent to Polygon at the beginning of this month. "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.

So far, it doesn't look like things are getting much better. This may be the best way for Amazon to sell the figures. If this is the best option, however, the situation is pretty dismal.