Sonic the Hedgehog related merchandise seems to permeate everything these days; it wasn’t too long ago that you couldn’t get moved for the overwhelming amount of very mediocre Sonic X gear that was lying around to pick up for next to nothing. There are however some absolute gems out there – the joy of collecting Sonic stuff is that you also collect a little piece of Hedgehog history along with them. I think a lot of the collectors amongst the Sonic community would be agreed that some pieces are truly works of art.
Over the next few weeks I’d like to focus on some of the best bits of nearly 18 years of collecting, from generally going about finding yourself a nice addition to your Sonic the Hedgehog merchandise collection, to some of the more elusive and exclusive things that have been produced in the past.
This first article takes a look at some of the most desirable items that there are going; the 10th and 15th Anniversary Merchandise. A lot of the community will remember the 10th birthday of Sonic, as it was the launch date of Sonic Adventure 2, which is still held in high regards amongst the 3D Sonic titles. If you were a resident in Europe Japan or the US, and fast enough off the mark, you had a chance to grab yourself a box set with the pre-order of the game, which contained a rather nifty CD of some of the best Sonic tunes, along with a Gold coin and a booklet full of interesting Sonic facts, pictures, and a rather odd little story. These were however produced in rather large numbers, so aren’t as collectible as initially intended; on the plus side, you can easily pick one up on ebay for £25 ($35USD)! Those lucky enough to attend E3 that year would have also had a chance to scoop up a 10th anniversary badge, which do occasionally appear for purchase.
The main contenders for collector’s money thesedays are the trio of anniversary gifts produced by the Sonic Factory (Which closed soon after), being the 10th Anniversary statue, the Crystal Cube, and the Sterling silver ring. Each object was made to extremely high standards; the statue (on an engraved marble base!) was hand-painted, and the crystal cubes were carefully laser-etched to create a wire frame Sonic inside the glass. Each item was limited to 500 units worldwide; some where given away as prizes at a SEGA sports event in Japan, with the remainder being quickly snapped up from the Sonic Factory. In the highly unlikely case you see one on sale online, you’d better get your cheque book ready and phone your bank manager – you are most likely going to be in a bidding war that will go into hundreds of dollars!
Fast forwarding 5 years, the 15th anniversary churned out a number of nice little items. We were treated to two different statues, one was again on sale through SEGA Direct, but was later released as a freebie in the US with the pre-order of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Xbox and PS3. The other statue was produced in a limited run of 2,500 pieces – each was stamped on the base and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. A number of T-Shirts were also produced to commemorate the occasion, two of which depicted a running sonic in his pixelated form á la Sonic 1, with the 15th birthday logo on the back. Again, E3 goers in 2006 were treated to a nice distressed shirt, the number ‘91 (the year of Sonic’s launch) emblazoned on the back. The keen-eyed ebayer can still pick the odd one of these items up on ebay, albeit at a slightly higher price.
So, did you manage to get any of these items? Which are your favourite? Are there any items you managed to pick up that we’ve missed off our list? Let us know, and keep an eye out for the next feature!
I have both of the 15th Anniversary statues which are very nice, picked those up on eBay back in February time. I also have the SA2 Boxset that was sold in Japan for 2 days, it comes with the Anniversary coin, booklet and a nice case to put it all in :D.
Now for a much much sadder story…
Back in June probably, I was lucky enough to come across the 10th Anniversary statue on eBay, I had never seen or heard of it before and was absolutely amazed by it. I watched it for about a week and the bidding price was going up slowly from $20(!!!!) to $40(!!), at the last 30 minutes I started bidding and I was doing well, I was growing confident (I bet you can guess what happened next). WHOOSH. Someone went in and placed a colossal $350 bid on it, there was no way I could compete and I was absolutely gutted. I went back to the auction after it had ended and saw that it had sold for nearly $500…Broke my heart ):
One day maybe…One day.
I have the limited edition 10th Anniversary SA2 pack. Its great and the audio CD was my first expierience of the non-American Sonic CD vocal tracks which, at the time, I ended up loving.
I wish I got the tenth anniversary statue as a kid when it was only 100 dollars on amazon… I was stupid not to take the offer and instead got an aosth dvd which is now lost. Oh well the statue would’ve been broken since I was six or seven at the time.
man i definatly want the special edition sonic adventure 2
I have both 15th aniver. figures. They’re okay but at first I thought they were bigger. The sega direct version of it looks different than the one I have. :s
I have the 10th anniversary CD set and the 15th anniversary limited edition statue (limited 2,500). I got the CD set from ebay, and the statue from KB Toys in early 2007. There were a whole bunch there, and we bought 3 or 4, kept one and sold the rest on ebay.
all of sonics anniversery items are argubly the best in gaming, namly the 15th statue (non-freebee) and the ring…, i myself only have the free-bee statue (i would have been honored if it didnt come with the biggest dissapointment of 06 (sonic 06, for those who were lucky not to play it). im still thinking about getting the other 15th statue… i cant wait for his 20th anniversery, how about you guys?!?
Great to see so many people rocking out the 15th anniversary stuff!!! ^___^
ENVY16, I feel your pain; I have many times tried to bid on things only to watch them spiral out of control. I’ve had two shots at trying to get a 10th anniversary ring, on both occassions they sold in excess of £200 (about $300 at the moment). As with most things, the more rare they are, the more desirable they are! Don’t dispair though – as I tell most people, half the fun is in the hunt!
I don’t have any of the anniversary stuff. I have the game with the logo, however, I must note it was (as Detroit Free Press called it) the “Trainwreck”.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sonic-The-Hedgehog-Official-SEGA-Phone-card-NEW-RARE_W0QQitemZ250290657873QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_2?hash=item250290657873&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177#ebayphotohosting go on this website
could anyone tell me if this is a rare because it looks pretty cool 🙂
oh, don’t forget that the archie comics made durring sonic’s 10th and 15th anniversery have the 10th (or 15th) anniversery logo in the top left corner of the page, i guess that kind of also counts as a anniversery collectable
Got the 10th Anniversary Sonic Adventure 2 Pack, got both of the 15th anniversary statues (number 2295/2500), got the E3 2006 Shirt
Missed out on the 10th anniv. statue, the crystal cube ( saw them on eBay years ago ) and the silver ring.
I’d love to get my hands on the Happy birthday Mario shirt with Sonic donning Marios cap
I have the Sonic 06 preorder gift, but got it off ebay as it was not offered in Australia, so it makes it a bit more “special” xD
Id love the 10th anniversary statue, but like thats going to happen xD
I have the Sonic 10th Anniversary crystal cube, statue, pin and box set, and I have both Sonic 15th Anniversary figures. I paid about $380 for the 10th Anniversary statue which was ALOT I think, especially considering he isn’t as nice looking as I once thought IMO, but I’m still happy to actually own one. The crystal cube is my favourite Anniversary item, I paid £127 for it, I was originally going up to £125 but because it was 2am I accidentally put in £225, so if it wasn’t for my mistake I wouldn’t of got it! I just need the 10th Anniversary ring now, but to be honest I’m not atall interested in getting it, it looks pretty boring to me, so I’ll probably give that one a miss unless I see one cheap.