Pretty sure these have been a thing for a while- I know I heard of them being used for Skylanders.
I mean... on one hand, sure, it's "pirating" the digital content/functions that come with the Amiibo. On the other hand, the fact that they gate digital content with physical items that they proceed to produce in limited runs is bullshit and thus I have somewhat less sympathy for Nintendo losing money off of the content being "pirated" than I would for companies being harmed by other forms of piracy.
But most importantly... should Nintendo really care? While yes, it is "stealing" the digital content, from everything I've gathered the overwhelming majority of people buying Amiibo buy them for the physical content (ie the actual figure) first and the digital content as a distant second (show of hands, how many of you nerds own Amiibo that you've never actually touched to your gamepad? Hell, how many of you own Amiibo without even owning a Wii U?) The effect something like this would have on Nintendo's bottom line is most likely going to be negligible by the standards of piracy-enabling devices/exploits.
