The latest update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons has introduced 16 new villagers to the game, and trading website Nookazon has shared the most popular of the new releases. Shino the deer and Sasha the bunny have become the latest must-have island residents, beating out Animal Crossing favorites Raymond the cat and Marshall the squirrel when it comes to trade prices.
One of the most popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons activities is villager hunting, in which fans use their Nook Miles Tickets to travel to mystery islands in the hopes of finding their favorite characters. Once found, these villagers can move to players’ islands as full-time residents and, as expected, some villagers are more popular than others. New Horizons introduced new characters to the series, previously unavailable as amiibo cards, and these have naturally been more popular than some of the franchise’s recurring faces due to their rarity. Since the game launched in 2020 there’s been a fairly consistent list of fan-favorite villagers within the AC community, often topping fan tier lists and fetching a high price when trading.
Animal Crossing trading site Nookazon has shared with Kotaku its current list of most-traded new villagers, with Shino and Sasha taking the top spots. Space-squirrel Ione takes third place, while Azalea and Quinn bring up the rear. Currently, the average price for an ungifted Shino (a villager gifted no items during play) has an average trading price of 40 million Bells and 400 NMT, while an ungifted Sasha could set players back 8 million Bells and 450 NMT. By comparison, Raymond, previously one of the most expensive villagers to acquire through Nookazon, has an averaging trading price of 5 million Bells and 200 NMT. Looking at cost over popularity, Shino is currently the game’s most pricey villager, with Ione coming in second place at 10 million Bells and 400 NMT, followed by Quinn at 8,250,000 Bells and 60 NMT. Meanwhile, auction site eBay shows Shino’s physical amiibo card is also proving popular, with authentic Shino cards having sold for up to $30 each. Nookazon’s list of top 10 most-traded new villagers is as follows:
- Shino
- Sasha
- Ione
- Cephalobot
- Marlo
- Petri
- Tiansheng
- Faith
- Azalea
- Quinn
While Animal Crossing trading site Nookazon can be a great way for players to hunt down their favorite villagers and items, fans might want to wait to see if the new villagers will drop in price before investing their hard-earned Bells. The recent release of the season five AC amiibo cards should mean that rarer villagers like Raymond, as well as new characters like Shino, should become more readily available in the future. Those who struggle to get hold of the new amiibo cards and who don’t have millions of Bells in the bank can still find the new villagers through villager hunting, using their Nook Miles Tickets, and a bit of luck.
While Animal Crossing players have 16 new villagers to enjoy, only eight are completely unique creations. Eight of the new batch of villagers have previously appeared in other games in the AC franchise, with Chabwick (penguin), Zoe (anteater), Ace (bird), Rio (ostrich), Frett (dog), Azalea (rhino), Roswell (alligator), and Faith (koala) all being pre-existing characters now making their New Horizons debut. Along with new villagers, the latest game update has also welcomed back returning NPCs, including fan-favorite Animal Crossing characters like Kapp’n and Tortimer.
Source: Nookazon (via Kotaku)