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American football is about to get super-charged courtesy of Sonic and Knuckles this summer, as SEGA has announced a new partnership with sports equipment brand Phenom Elite to release a set of branded kickabout gear.
‘Kicking’ things off with a set of cleats, mouthguards and gloves at launch, the partnership is said to expand beyond these products with compression wear and more accessories to come. Other Sonic series characters are set to feature as well, including Tails.
According to the press release, this set of sports equipment will “unlock athletes’ potential to ‘Go Fast’ across the gridiron,” and will “give athletes the extra encouragement to score big.” Of course.
The list of products that will go on sale in June include:
Sonic the Hedgehog Football Cleats – $124.00
Knuckles the Echidna Football Cleats – $124.00
Sonic the Hedgehog Football Gloves – $49.00
Knuckles the Echidna Football Gloves – $49.00
Sonic the Hedgehog Mouthguard – $19.00
Knuckles the Echidna Mouthguard – $19.00
Full press release can be found below.
BURBANK, Calif., – March 15th, 2023 – Today, SEGA of America, Inc. and Phenom Elite, the groundbreaking sports equipment brand, have announced a partnership bringing Sonic the Hedgehog to a trendy line of sports equipment. The Sonic the Hedgehog collection for Phenom Elite will span a variety of sports equipment products including American football cleats, gloves, mouthguards, compression wear, and various other accessories featuring some of the beloved franchise’s most iconic characters including Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and more.
“At SEGA, we’re proud to work with partners who align with the core principals of Sonic, and Phenom Elite is exactly that,” said Maida Chan, Licensing Specialist at SEGA of America. “Phenom Elite is a cutting-edge operation in sports equipment that enables athletes to perform their best, and we hope that the Sonic the Hedgehog collection inspires them to succeed.”
Similar to Sonic speeding through Green Hill Zone, these Sonic-branded equipment items will unlock athletes’ potential to “Go Fast” across the gridiron. The Sonic the Hedgehog collection for Phenom Elite marks the brand’s third major pop culture licensing deal following collaborations with Warner Brothers and Activision. Through the collaboration, Sonic and friends will give athletes the extra encouragement to score big with some of Phenom Elite’s high-quality equipment, including:
Sonic the Hedgehog Football Cleats – $124.00
Knuckles the Echidna Football Cleats – $124.00
Sonic the Hedgehog Football Gloves – $49.00
Knuckles the Echidna Football Gloves – $49.00
Sonic the Hedgehog Mouthguard – $19.00
Knuckles the Echidna Mouthguard – $19.00
“Sonic has always embodied endurance, speed, and perseverance, much like the athletes who sport Phenom Elite, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with SEGA to bring this pop culture icon to our equipment,” said Nathan Dorton, CEO & Founder at Phenom Elite.
Set to release in June, Sonic fans will be able to purchase the Sonic the Hedgehog collection for Phenom Elite from retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Sport Services Inc., and PhenomElite.com. For more information about this supersonic collaboration, head to www.phenomelite.com.
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About a month ago, we posted news about License Global doing a ‘salute to Sonic’ in their upcoming May issue… well.. that issue is now out, and there is a rather large article with contributions from Ivo Gerscovich, chief brand officer, Sonic the Hedgehog, and senior vice president, SEGA of America & Kristen B. Zimmer retail licensing manager, SEGA
of America. Continue reading Yes Even More Sonic 25th Anniversary Details Posted! E3 ‘Sonic’ Event planned!
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The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
So… following the panel at SXSW many are speculating that we’ll have to wait a number of months before we get more information regarding the 25th anniversary, specifically game information. However based on this information, we might be getting information a lot sooner than expected. Continue reading Sonic to Get Licensing “Salute” in May
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So the latest issue of Licensing Today Worldwide has a rather nice surprise on the cover, it’s Sonic! Inside the issue there is a two page interview with Jason Rice, Sega’s Director of Brand Licensing for EMEA.
Despite this, most of the information is already known, except for one really odd detail.
That being, the Sonic franchise is divided into two licensing programmes; Sonic Boom and Classic Sonic. Wait…. what about Modern Sonic? Well… that’s the thing, Modern Sonic is not mentioned at all anywhere in the article.
Stranger still is that when you look at the imagery used in the article, it’s just Classic and Boom, whilst Modern Sonic is present, it’s just in a group shot showing how Sonic’s design has changed over the years.
Now the article is for the 25th/2016 celebrations, so it’s likely that Sega are just putting the Modern Sonic license on hiatus for a while.
But this is really interesting, we’ve speculated for a while that the 25th anniversary would be a Classic focused affair, with several companies confirming they’re making Classic themed products, but it’s never been stated that the Modern Sonic license isn’t being issued for the 25th?
Given how Modern Sonic appears on the cover and Sega have been using him in their promotional material, odds are he’s not been axed or is now just classic Sonic, even if that’s how the article initially reads, but it’s beginning to look a lot like there won’t be any Modern Sonic merchandise produced for the 25th anniversary, unless the Classic Sonic License now includes Modern Sonic?
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Sega have revealed more details regarding Sonic’s 25th anniversary, it seems that their plans might be a lot bigger than anyone first predicted. In terms of licensing, Tomy is still the ‘master toy partner’ however this will be supported by over 100 additional partners worldwide!
We can now reveal some of those partners.
Accutime Watch (watches)
Bentex Group (children and junior’s swimwear)
Card.com (pre-paid and bank credit cards)
Concept One Accessories (headwear and cold weather accessories)
H2W/Sunstache (novelty eyewear)
Komar Brands (children’s sleepwear)
LoungeFly (buttons and stickers)
Rubber Road (holiday sweaters, socks, keychains)
Signorelli (women and juniors apparel)
Toy Factory (entertainment/amusement plush)
Vandor (novelty drinkware)
Out of curiosity we decided to take a look at each of those companies, one of which already has a bunch of new Sonic products listed, now I don’t believe these to be 25th anniversary merchandise since they were announced back in December 2015, however Vandor’s website lists them as being ‘new’ so I’m going to show you all them here just in case they turn out to be the goods. Also it gives you a good idea as to what to expect.
P.S. Check back later this week, TSS was at the London Toy Fair the other day, we have held actual 25th anniversary merch in our arms, you won’t want to miss it.
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SEGA Europe has appointed CPLG (Copyright Promotions Licensing Group) to handle its Sonic the Hedgehog licensing business in Europe. This deal will see the agency promoting both the Sonic Boom and Classic Sonic brands across all major European territories, utilizing the Sonic Boom TV series and by launching exciting new products.
CPLG is a big player in licensing and responsible for some major brands, like Tony Hawk, Jurassic World, Minions, Skylanders, Kiss, Sesame Street and more. No doubt it will be interesting to see what promotions and products we will see develop from this deal.
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This information is a little old, but it’s only just come to light as far as I’m aware and sheds some light onto Sega’s strategy for Boom in 2015.
At the Brand Licensing Europe event held in October of last year, Sega revealed some details regarding Sonic Boom and gave some details on products which will soon be revealed and even tentative release dates for their products.
The details include.
Cartorama will produce back to school products including backpacks and gym bags (coming July 2015 in Italy).
Cooneen & Misirli to launch a range of children’s nightwear for Spring 2015
A UK Sonic Boom branded launch begins in Spring 2015
As well as Sonic, a bunch of non Sonic products were also revealed.
A Dreamcast Documentary book by Pix N’ Love (2015)
Retro adult apparel & Accessories.
Football Manager on-line store (selling physical goods).
If we get hold of any images or details of these products, we’ll let you know.
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Following the Vegas Licensing Expo, Sega have held an interview with License! Global magazine in which they go into detail about Sonic Boom including a few new details regarding their plans with the Boom franchise. From what was said, it sounds like the plans for Boom run much deeper than the initially announced game, toyline and tv-show adaptation.
According to the interview Sega intends to license out boom along the following categories.
Toys & Games.
Clothing.
Publishing.
Accessories.
Food and Drink.
Temporary tattoos.
Sticker collections.
Party goods.
Cakes.
Boutiques within stores.
Trading cards.
In addition to this, Sega are also looking to work with Archie Comics to ‘explore publishing’ which would suggest a comic book adaptation.
Other details from the interview were suggestions that Knuckles is now comic relief, that Sonic has been split into a two tier franchise, with Boom being aimed at younger audiences, but a retro/classic look and style for older fans.
It sounds a lot like Sega really are putting everything into Boom, what do you think, excited for the plans or think it’s a bad idea? That’s why we have the comments.
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SEGA Europe have partnered up with TVMania to release a new range of Sonic-branded clothing and accessories. The hedgehog’s face will be plastered over items such as t-shirts and socks and are slated to hit retail store shelves in Germany, Austria and Switzerland at some point in July and August. The range will be for all ages ranging from babies to adults, so there should be something for everyone!
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You could have guessed this. But it’s one thing to speculate, it’s another thing to get some form of confirmation. Sega have confirmed several new Sonic game for 2013.
In the November 2012 edition of Toys ‘N’ Playthings there is an interview with Sissel Henno who happens to be the Head of Brand Licensing at Sega (Europe). The interview is mainly focused on Sonic merchandise, in it we get some insight into not only Sonic’s future as a brand, but also confirmation for several new games to be released in 2013.
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