First of all, price has been confirmed to be pretty much the same as Skylanders (that was the quote), so 10-15$ for the standard figures.

Advertising of course we can't really know until much later.

Additionally, Amiibos aren't just CPU characters in Smash, they are like Pokemon. You level them up, you customize their moves and they become even stronger than level 9 CPUs if you put in the time. I know I will get one just to be able to play against stronger CPUs. I can certainly see people dueling with them and competing with them if you view them as something you've trained. Or just pulling them out mid battle to destroy your friend :P

We also know that Amiibo will work with multiple games, so buying just one figure could unlock cool features for multiple games. 

Finally, the way I view Amiibo, is like a game, like Mario Kart 8. Its a selling point for a system, something cool that can only be done on that system. It wont sell the console by itself, but it will push more people over the edge, and also provide Nintendo with a new direction to advertise from and a new market to appeal to. Stop thinking "would I buy a Wii U for Amiibo" and start thinking "would I buy a Wii U with Amiibo"...

The point of the amiibos aren't to directly sell a console, though that is the end result. They're essentially a huge marketing ploy that is designed to raise brand awareness. It's like how Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse at one point because Mario was everywhere. There was so much merchandising back then for Mario, it was absolutely crazy. The amiiibos are similar in that regard: heavy merchandising. By seeing the Nintendo brand in all of the toy stores, the aim would be to make kids and parents more aware of the Nintendo brand, and that would influence them to buy amiibos, Wii U's, and eventually 3DS's.

Nintendo just has to make sure that their brand is in all the major retailers, and then brand awareness should be driven through the roof. The consoles may not become the biggest thing since underwear but it'll definitely have a sizeable impact on sales.

I completely agree with you, except that the blue ocean is not gone and will never be gone. And I also don't agree that Nintendo should focus on the 'core' market any more than they already have tried as that has backfired completely. So I guess looking at it, when I say I agree completely I mean I disagree completely.

I hope theyre successful. The figurines are cool. Would be awesome if Sony and MS did it too. I would totally buy a Nathan Drake and Conker figurine

.. when the hell have they focused on the core market ??? was it their endless mario mario spinoffs mario sports mario partys and paltformers that are marioish ???

True. Thats pretty much a given at this point. It does give Nintendo the freedom to make whatever kinda console they want though.

They tried it at the beginning of the Wii U with Zombi U promising that the Wii U will have a lot of core games.

Didnt work at all, so they stopped with it.

big surprise such a half assed attempt failed.

If it turns out like Skylanders or Infinity dang it will be huge. Plus remember there's the Nintendo magic which grants it sales so it'd be like Skylanders times 20 if it really works out

I think it will be a lot bigger, specially with the 3DS also having those.

It wont improve hardware sales, but the profit will be huge.