Nintendo apologizes for amiibo frustrations, promises to do better, reissue toys

Last month a crush of online Nintendo fans looking to snag new amiibo figures apparently brought down GameStop's website, leaving fans frustrated with the process and seemingly limited supply of the toys.

As rumors of a silver Mario amiibo hitting this month continue to mount, Nintendo today released a statement apologizing for frustrating fans and promising to do better.

Specifically, the company says it plans to reissue some of the out-of-stock toys in the future.

"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," according to the statement sent to Polygon. "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.

"As our library of amiibo continues to grow, some figures will be easier to find than others. 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. Stay tuned for details."

In January, Nintendo officials said they were planning on releasing  more of the Marth Fire Emblem figures in the U.S. sometime this year.

This statement seems to extend that sentiment to other hard-to-find toys. We've followed up with Nintendo for more clarification and will update this story when they respond.

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

"We remain committed to keeping amiibo affordable and easy to access as a platform to enhance game-play experiences," according to the statement. "These plans include Animal Crossing amiibo cards that will become available by the end of 2015, and a free-to-download app for Wii U called amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits that launched on April 30, 2015, that lets consumers enjoy playable scenes from certain NES and Super NES games with amiibo."