The Inkling Squid amiibo was one of the first I ever had in my collection, far before I ever got almost 200 NFC figures deep. It came bundled with the original Splatoon on the Nintendo Wii U back in 2015, and I've been hooked on amiibo ever since - so getting the new Splatoon Raiders Deep Cut triple-pack was a no-brainer.
Here in the UK, the figures are available exclusively as a £49.99 (Nintendo) triple pack, which was a bummer as it meant my Splatoon Raiders expenses for the month almost reached the £100 mark as I grabbed the new game too. However, the cost felt more than worth it when I saw the floods of detail that have been poured into these new figures. Bandage textures, transparent goggle lenses, and bases that can be placed together to take up less space on your shelf - these new Splatoon Raiders amiibo are exactly why I continue to be obsessed with Nintendo's NFC collectibles.
One of the key features of this new amiibo set was that you could "combine the bases" as advertised by Nintendo of Europe. When I first heard that, I assumed that there would be an actual mechanism that connected the Deep Cut trio together, but it's actually a lot simpler. The fake wooden plank bases are all perfectly crafted so that you can push them altogether, with Big Man at the back, Shiver to the left, and Frye to the right.
While simple, it's a design element I wish other figures released by big-name brands like Banpresto took into consideration. So often I've collected statues from the same line-up, which all need to be spaced far apart on the shelf as their bases are all random in shape and size. The Splatoon Radiers' bases mean you can add to your amiibo shelf even if you're running low on space, which I definitely am, even though I don't yet have every Splatoon amiibo release to my name (there are a lot of them).
The detail on these bases is also pretty marvelous. There's still an air of 'this is definitely plastic' to them, but their tiny wood-grain effects and lines help these figures stand out from the older Splatoon releases sporting the plain gold medallion-shaped stands.
Textures are what these figures do best. It's not just the effect of wood that's been given some due attention by whoever sculpted these fantastic toys, but fabric like the bandages wrapping up Frye's hair looks so good they could be real. You can even make out the diagonal lines of her woollen socks and see how they stretch as she sits with one foot perched upon an orange sea buoy.
While I was flummoxed by the detail, it was the Big Man himself that impressed me the most. In the game, he's holding a myriad of items left over from your helicopter incident, including a large backpack with a solar panel, saucepan, and a walkie-talkie attached. Each of these items has been sculpted with their materials and fabric taken on board. The straps of the bag include that woven interlining texture that makes me reminiscent of my school days, and you can make out the curled wire that connects to Big Man's headset. The boy himself is made up of a translucent gray plastic. When light shines through it gives the amiibo a shiny aura that makes him look like a real-life slimy stingray and not a toy you can connect to your Nintendo Switch 2.
The figures are some of my favorites in the entire amiibo line-up, which is saying a lot as I fell just as much in love with the Super Mario Galaxy amiibo figures, which were released earlier this year. However, I was a bit disappointed with what they actually unlock in-game.
Once you enable amiibo functionality in Splatoon Raiders, you can tap Big Man, Shiver, or Frye to gain access to a series of three outfits for your mechanic to wear. They're all a variation of a similar-looking jumpsuit, each taking colors and elements depending on the character you tap. They're a little boring to say the least, and I would have preferred it if you could tap the amiibo again to get access to rare weapon drops, but alas, that's not the case. You can at least tap one other Splatoon series toy to get access to the Bite Waders outfit, which includes a pair of orange overalls similar to your Salmon Run gear used in Splatoon 3. But all in all, the unlocks of these figures aren't as interesting as the amiibo themselves.
Splatoon amiibo have an annoying habit of being hard to find after the initial wave of stock has sold out. If you have your eyes on this version of the Deep Cut team, I still recommend you grab them as soon as you can to avoid feeling like a fish out of water. At least in the US, you can grab each of them separately for $24.99 (GameStop) so you can space out your Splatoon budget more than I could. Hurry up, payday- a day where I definitely will be recouping my costs and not buying more amiibo - cough.
- View all amiibo at Nintendo
- Splatoon Raiders amiibo | $24.99 at GameStop
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