SEGA Japan unveiled a brand new batch of delicious blue blur merchandise this morning, including some new collaborations with PUMA and clothing brand H&M.
The goods were announced during SEGA’s inaugural ‘Sonic Station Live’ broadcast on social media, established as part of the #Sonic2020 campaign to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog throughout the year. This first episode was hosted by Sonic Team art director Kazuyuki Hoshino and sound director Jun Senoue, and there was a lot of stuff to uncover that will no doubt make all of our wallets cry.
First to be revealed was this cool sports/college jacket with Sonic embroidered on the back and front. Dubbed the ‘Speed Star スカジャン’ (the Katakana refers to the Japanese nickname for this kind of embroidered jacket), it prominently features the classic ‘Mega Drive’ Japanese design of Sonic, and includes the hero’s title screen pose from Sonic 2 on the front. It comes in both black and blue with white trim.
Senoue-san was on the livestream proudly wearing the jacket, and we must say it looked very cool on him!
The second merchandise announcement concerned clothing brand H&M. SEGA will be collaborating with the chain in Japan to sell a number of classic-inspired t-shirts and sweaters. You can see the range that will be on offer below.
While the ‘Speed Star’ focused a little more Sonic 2, this range seems to evoke memories of the original 1991 Mega Drive release, with some of the designs featuring either the classic title screen emblem, a 1-Up item box from the game or the name logo. We quite like the white hoodie and sweater on offer here.
So that’s jackets and shirts covered… but SEGA wants you to rock Sonic all over your body, so of course there is also mention of the PUMA collaboration we recently reported on. Senoue-san and Hoshino-san also showed off a variant of the RS-X3 special editions that is inspired by a combination of Knuckles and Shadow’s colour schemes.
Not only did they show off these new kicks on the stream, but they also revealed that PUMA would be collaborating further on a blue Sonic-branded sweater, and a Knuckles/Shadow themed black t-shirt to go with the RS-X3s. Surprisingly, Amy also gets some rep here – pink-coloured sandals and sneakers were also shown off on stream.
Finally, an announcement that is very much in Senoue-san’s wheelhouse – SEGA has shadow-dropped a brand new Sonic album today. Titled ‘Sonic the Hedgehog: Non-Stop Music Selection Vol. 1’, it possibly has the longest title in the world. But it is also a 20-track compilation packed with some of the best songs from recent Sonic games. It’s available to stream right now on Spotify and Apple Music worldwide.
And that was all the livestream had time for. Being a Japan-focused livestream, we were expecting less in the realm of new game announcements, and more merchandise-based reveals (because Japan seems to be really good at getting the best stuff). In that sense, the initial Sonic Station Live broadcast did not disappoint. SEGA says that there will be a new Sonic Station Live episode on the 20th of every month, so we’ll keep an eye out for what could be revealed in March.
You can watch the whole livestream here.
Hello, 2020. The cold, unfeeling Sonic merchandising machine chugs ever forward.
Good job, Sega. You took the time to create a news platform, and then the first time you used it, it was for this. This… Jacket with three distinct fonts, awkward stock art, and a layout that looks like it was made in Print Shop Deluxe circa 1995.
Yes, there will be later, better announcements, but come on! This was the first one! You set a tone, and that tone is, “We have a very marketable character, look at how marketable our character is!”
All I want is the Sonic Pumas from the movie! Made to order. Simple and sweet.