Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 Sells Out Everywhere But eBay
The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 has become the first big pre-order stress test of Nintendo’s new portable generation. It’s sold out at Nintendo’s own store, Amazon, Target, and Best Buy, with Polygon confirming the only current listings are on eBay—where the $519.99 special edition is asking around $850. That’s a $330 markup on a console that costs $20 more than the standard model before resellers even touch it.
Handheld collectors shouldn’t read that as inevitable fate. The Switch 2 lives in backpacks, coffee-shop tables, and airplane seatbacks, so a Zelda shell carries far more everyday visibility than a docked console. But the machine inside is still the machine Nintendo sells for less, and the first-wave drought says more about bot supply than real demand. The smart move is to treat eBay as the emergency exit, not the front door.
Out of Stock Everywhere, Open at $330 Over on eBay
Polygon’s retailer sweep is a catalog of empty buttons: Nintendo, Amazon, Target, and Best Buy all show no stock, and those store pages can be misleading because marketplace resellers share the same listings. On a handheld, where you’re often ordering from a phone with one thumb in a loading screen, it’s easy to miss that “in stock” means “third-party seller with their own markup.” Always check the seller name before paying.
The $850 eBay route has one advantage: it’s transparent. You know you’re paying a scalper premium before you click checkout, rather than discovering it after the fact. Just verify the seller’s feedback, read whether they actually hold a pre-order, and make sure you’re buying a console rather than a display box. The same scrutiny you’d give any high-value marketplace purchase applies here.
Restocks Are Coming — And Bots Are Already Lined Up
Polygon expects Nintendo to resupply ahead of the holidays because the Anniversary edition is the more profitable version of the console. Expect those drops to evaporate quickly: scalper Discord channels have bots queued to snap up inventory the moment it appears. Handheld players should treat this like a limited retro handheld launch: be logged in before the drop, let your payment details autofill, and focus on Nintendo’s store rather than chasing third-party pages.
If the console restock still slips away, don’t immediately default to a three-figure markup. The physical Ocarina of Time remake with its first-print foil cover is still orderable at Nintendo, Amazon, Best Buy, and Target at $69.99, even though Walmart has already sold through its allocation. It’s not a console, but for the anniversary it’s the piece that actually goes in your case and travels with the Switch 2.
The Carrying Case Is the Real Collector Item This Time
Nintendo has emptied its Zelda accessory lineup entirely, and the Pro Controller is gone at Walmart and Target. The carrying case, though, is still up for pre-order at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy—and for handheld owners, that’s the item with actual daily value. A themed Pro Controller stays at home; a Zelda case is what other passengers see when your Switch 2 comes out on a plane or train.
That stock pattern says more than you’d think. Controllers are treated as premium collectibles because they’re easy to photograph, but cases are what make the handheld lifestyle work. If the Zelda case is the practical piece you want, secure one before the next restock wave moves from consoles to accessories. It will still be a fair-priced reminder of the anniversary, and it won’t cost you an extra $330.