SDCC 2023 – The Sonic Stadium

News

The Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe is now open for business, and as you’d expect it is full of fast, filling Sonic food and fun! New images and details about the menu, merchandise and pricing have been revealed for anyone curious to find out before they visit (or stuck in the UK, like me – no, I’m not bitter).

These images come from the YouTube channel Parks and Cons (via the SDCC Unofficial Blog), who took the time to pop in to the pop-up on its early opening day yesterday. You can see the special branded packaging above that comes with your sides and chili dog – definitely worth unfolding and keeping if you’re a dedicated merch hunter!

Speaking of sides and mains, it appears that we weren’t told the full menu in our previous report by the restaurant organisers, as the above photos outline some helpful vegan options as well as alternative sides with some great names (we would totally go for a Chao Down Combo just for the title alone).

And here’s the part that we’re particularly interested in – the exclusive merchandise! You can order yourself a hoodie, hat or t-shirt, with an exclusive black t-shirt available in limited quantities for those ordering a “Gotta Go Fast” SDCC Bundle. We will have @Jason Berryvisit the pop-up to fully cover this as well as other Sonic elements of SDCC 2023, but I have to say personally I’m quite jealous that I won’t be able to waste my credit card on the above items myself.

You can check out the full video from Parks and Cons below.

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#Merchandise, News

Get A Sneak Peek at the SDCC Sonic Restaurant, Launching Tomorrow

12th July 202311th March 2024

Dreadknux

We have firm details and hi-res photos of the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog pop-up restaurant in San Diego, offering a little taste of what fans can expect to see when the venue opens. And it opens on July 13th! That’s tomorrow!

Called the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe, the restaurant is the result of a collaboration between SEGA and Secret Sauce Society restauranteur Andy Nguyen, with blue blur iconography throughout the venue as well as themed food to order.

And yes, chili dogs ARE on the menu.

Photo Credit: Noah Red

There will be much more on offer than just ‘dogs, though. The full menu features a crispy fried chicken “Knuckles Sandwich”, as well as an egg salad “Evil Genius” sandwich alongside “Sonic’s Classic Chili Dog”, with “Golden Ring” onion rings and “Fast Fries” on offer as tasty sides. For drinks, you can order a “Blue Blur” blueberry slushie (representing Sonic), a “Smashing Echidna” cherry slush (Knuckles), a “Flying Fox” mango orange slush (Tails) or a “Team Dark” mocha milkshake (Shadow).

Best of all, for all you merch hunters out there, there will be exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe merchandise available to buy on site including t-shirts, hoodies and hats. And if you’re that way inclined, the food itself will come with Sonic-themed packaging too, so you can take that home if you don’t mind your bedroom smelling of chili.

Photo Credit: Noah Red

The Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe will be situated at 910 J St Space 2, San Diego, CA 92101, and will formally open on Thursday July 13, 2023. The pop-up will be open until August 20, 2023 – so you will have a month to visit if you wish. After that, the venue switches back to its old Chick’NCone location.

For those attending San Diego Comic Con, there will be a special pre-con launch party for the restaurant on July 19.

Photo Credit: Noah Red

Here are the opening times:

Jul 13th – Jul 18th: Open 11am until 9pm PT
Jul 19th – Jul 23rd: Open 11am until midnight PT
Jul 24th – Aug 20th: Open 11am until 9pm PT

If you’re going to be at San Diego Comic Con 2023 in a week’s time and you’re hungry for some chill dogs (we assume the restaurant will be serving child dogs… there’s kind of no point to doing this otherwise), why not take some time out of the convention hall and have a little search for Sonic?

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story (Wed 12 Jul, 08:50am UK) focused on two off-street photos taken from a user called ‘royabagheri‘ and posted on the SDCC Unofficial Blog. We include these photos below and have edited the rest of the story to reflect updated information.

#Comics

IDW Announces SDCC 2023 Sonic Panel: “One for the History Books”

10th July 202311th March 2024

Dreadknux

San Diego Comic Con is right around the corner, and IDW Publishing is hyping up its annual Sonic the Hedgehog panel this year with teases of sneak peeks for upcoming works and brand new announcements – promising it will be “one for the history books”.

Titled “Sonic the Hedgehog: Speeding to the 900th Adventure!”, the event will no doubt be heavily discussing the latest one-shot comic (called, funnily enough, “Sonic the Hedgehog: 900th Adventure”) – but as this special book represents something of a landmark for IDW’s licensed series, it’s understandable that the publisher would also want to celebrate a little by announcing something cool there too.

For those attending (and for those curious to follow the news live with us online), IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog panel will take place on Sunday 22 July between 10am – 11am Pacific Time (that’s 6pm – 7pm in the UK), in Room 25ABC. Comic editor David Mariotte and writer/artist Evan Stanley will be present to discuss and answer questions, and there will also be a signing event taking place just after (11:30am – 12:30pm PT) featuring Stanley, Adam Bryce Thomas, Min Ho Kim and SEGA’s Mike Cisneros.

Full details from IDW’s press release below (courtesy AIPT, where you can find schedules and information on all the other IDW Publishing panels as well, such as TMNT and Star Trek):

Panels:

SUNDAY, JULY 22

Sonic The Hedgehog: Speeding to the 900th Adventure!
10:00am-11:00am, Room 25ABC

Gotta go fast to the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog panel at San Diego Comic-Con! Join the creative team – including Sonic editor David Mariotte and writer Evan Stanley – as they celebrate the upcoming 900th adventure of the Blue Blur with super fun stories that will leave fans spinning. Get ready to race into action with exciting sneak peeks and announcements that will make this panel one for the history books.

Signing Schedule:

SUNDAY, JULY 23

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
11:30am-12:30pm
Evan Stanley, Adam Bryce Thomas, Mike Cisneros, Min Ho Kim

You can bet your bottom dollar we at the Sonic Stadium are preparing our trip there so we can give you top coverage. As always, keep an eye on the Sonic Stadium for the latest news (and post in our forums to discuss the latest before we even get to it!).