Nintendo’s latest Amiibo figures push the boundaries of size and price

Nintendo’s next wave of Amiibo toys will be the company’s largest and most expensive figures to date.

Announced on Friday, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Kirby Air Riders, and Super Mario Galaxy are each getting their own unique Amiibo releases.

Most notable are the Kirby figures, which at $50 are the most expensive Amiibo to date. Typically, Amiibo figures cost between $20 and $30 in the US, and at launch a decade ago, they were closer to $15.

However, the Kirby Amiibo are unique in that they include both a ‘rider’ figure and a machine to which they can be attached, with drivers also interchangeable.

This functionality will also carry over to the game when different combinations are scanned. Players can scan their Amiibo to create an in-game Rider & Air Ride Machine combo, and train it as an FP (Figure Player), which will gain FP levels with use.

Meanwhile, Super Mario Galaxy’s two Amiibo figures will retail for $40, which is justified (in Nintendo’s words) by the fact that they’re “larger than the standard size”.

It looks like the Galaxy Amiibo will be at least as large as the 13.6cm tall Detective Pikachu Amiibo, which was also an XL-sized release. Outside of the traditional Amiibo figures, Nintendo released a 28cm Yarn Yoshi plush, which featured Amiibo functionality.

In the Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 games, users will be able to tap the Mario & Luma amiibo figure to receive a Life Mushroom, and the Rosalina and Lumas figure for a 1-Up Mushroom.

Finally, the three announced Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Amiibo figures will retail between $30 and $40, the latter being the Samus & Vi-O-La figure. Nintendo hasn’t yet specified what the Metroid Amiibo figures unlock in-game.

Nintendo held its longest ever Nintendo Direct presentation on Friday, during which around 40 upcoming games were shown. New Pokémon, Fire Emblem, Yoshi and Mario Tennis games were announced, along with new details on previously announced games.