Case of the Wilting Werehog

As Xmas approaches...
The updates are a bit hard to do, but they'll all come out in a timely (hopefully enough) manner. However, not everything can stay precicely on schedule as evidenced by this very post and the 2 part nature of the update.

This update had the hands-on with Wave 2 of the JW figures.
I was fortunate to be able to get them ahead of any mail floods and just get the review up. This is another good wave, much in the style of the last one. However, if Jazwares even KNOWS about this site or blog (I doubt it) they'd be "Having A Cow, Man". Only Bart's phrase is appropriate here and you'll see why...

"Why the HFIL does THE REVIEW SITE get the ONE BROKEN GUY???aaarghwekjrwehjt!"

Is likely what they'd say if they knew either of these 2 places existed on the web to help them shill their stuff. Because yes, I managed to score a defective Werehog. The most top-heavy figure on the whole line and it has a bum knee that totally disables it from standing, at all, ever. Yeah, the one busted guy out of the whole run and I'm the one that gets it. It wouldn't matter if little Jonny Q Public out in Arizona somewhere picked him up because really, what's he gonna say? (not much, he's 12 and just wanted to play with it not run a whole website)

It would even matter less if it was a Tails or a Shadow or somebody like that, that doesn't have the 2-ton solid plastic upper body, it would matter less if it wasn't the LEG THAT HOLDS HIM UP on the BASE...but noooo it was the Werehog...the guy I don't like...the guy who I would hate to have to buy again, the most reluctant re-buy because I'm not fond of the char itself...but will have to later on because this one won't stand...ughhhh...and now I blabber about it on a blog that people actually read o noes.

See how bad that is?
It creates a storm of nasty because 1 bum figure fell into the exact wrong hands. I don't know who's bad luck it is either, (theirs or mine) but it's no good. Especially because like "Turning Tails Tails" he's impossible to detect while still in the box. No one will know if they've got a wilting werehog or a Tails Dissapointment until they actually open them up, making it non-return-able.

Waiting to be seen...
Whether this is really an isolated incidend (I got unlucky) or if it's wide-spread and lots of people's guy just collapses with 180 degree knees. I'm sure I'll find out either way as Gear fields a lot of complaints and warnings.

Big news...
They're making Big. Big was the prototype that went up this week. And...not surprisingly, he looks good. Curiously, that isn't a shock to anyone. Big ALWAYS looks good, which is a goodbad because who really likes Big? By nature, he is not cool. He does not have tons of fans and everyone clamoring for more Big shirts and Big stuff. I personally don't like big, but I'm not going to grudge any Bigfans their Big stuff either. More Sonic/stuff ? = more power.

However, I DO find it highly curious that no matter what company picks this guy up, they always do a great and highly accurate job with him, even if they botch up Sonic & co. to the nth degree. ToyIsland 6inch line Big was fantastic and well accessorized--but their big 3 (STK) stunk. ReSaurus had some decent Sonics (compared with Jazwares today, they look a little poorer) but their Big...was spot on! Even the dastardly ToyNetwork (makers of mutant plush) makes quite decent Bigs while they cannot sew a Sonic to save their souls! (from what, I'm not sure) It is a Big mystery.

A much needed clothing update was also carried out on the first half, it had been sitting around for a while due to much mail. Good to see busy/loud co. doing another predictably un-wearably tacky shirt to collect. (yes I do own a few) after their while-abscence.

Since the update is in 2 parts so will the blog post be, with the 2nd part coming on the 23rd.

Busy Season @ SonicGear

This holiday season has been SUPER busy.
Just getting the updates out on time has been really hard to do. Some of them havn't come out that great either--short on stuff or simply cut off. Last week's update had no blog post OR second half as it should have due to a router that died. All the time was eaten up trying to fix it or get the network going again. (added trouble to the already busy!)

This week, with a new router in place, the 2nd half of the update carries on as usual. A few interesting things to note on this one...

GE+ Modern Sonic Plush?
As you know, GE has been releasing some GREAT classic style Sonic dolls. It's also "About damm time" America got something like that. Japan always has had more than its share, and even Europe has had some goodies with the new super high end dolls and the GAME store carrying classics as well. This update sees their first modern one, in a very large (presumably, no real details in yet) size. And....he's just ok. Maybe it's the super size (patterns do not always scale well) but only time will tell if their modern dolls live up to their classics.

Cutest item of the week:
Amy Key cap, hands down. Amy has never been that 'awww cute' of a character to me, but this key cap is really adorable. Tails CAN be super cute, but he can also be cool/normal. His key cap was also adorable. I want to collect the Amy one as well. (what about Sonic's, you ask? They used an old stock art on him while making up all new for Amy & Tails)

Another Fan Car:
Fan cars always impress, and this one is no exception to the rule. It's an active car too, which adds intrest. It headlines page 13 of fan items...which also got quite a few more things in.

Next Week:
Probably will have Virtual Items & Shirts, at the least. Other things will be news/submissions dependant.

Notice:
Soon, I hope to be able to move SonicGear. The computer that it's on will be the only thing that changes. IF all goes well, no one will notice. If not, it could skip a couple of updates. A real formal announcement will be made on the site and the blog when the time approaches, but it IS coming. Hopefully, it'll be after the holidays, like mid-jan some time. If something goes wrong (or very right) it may be sooner but it should be mentioned.

Sonic on Cyber Monday 2009

What comes after BlackFriday?
CyberMonday. The day when everyone who couldn't get everything they wanted out of offline-store sales charges onto the internet to try and get their holiday shopping done early. A great time for online retail, because online...there are NO lines!

What is SonicGear going to do about it?
Well, update the Sonic Gear Store, naturally! It's a celebration of fixed links and added items with this update. It's not so much precicely about the Sonic Fans themselves, as they know where to get Sonic items year-round, and don't need some holiday as an excuse to grab an action figure or a keychain. However, a lot of gift-givers shop on SonicGear and I'm sure gift-getters would appriciate something official and not bootleg off of ebay. If parents are doing holiday cruising, wouldn't it be great if they could just pick up anything Sonic and cool without having to deal with ebay fools? This update aims to help out with that.

Of course, there's hopefully something for everyone but...

*It's looking like Rouge fans may be in for a bit of dissapointment because some of her item links just won't come back up with in-stock things.
* Some things have been 'marked down'--
as in cheaper links were found and replaced the older more expensive ones to help everyone get a bargain. Usually when this happens though the cheaper link sells out so if you see something you know just got less expensive, pick it up right off or it might go away.
* Some entries tell you flat out "Don't buy this here".
What kind of a store would ever tell anyone that? A store that really cares about the fans! I realize that Gear comes up in searches for a lot of stuff. It's the best way to get the word out that buying from Toys R Us directly is the best way to go...simply throwing it on the entry for the actual item.
* Items not added-
I refuse to add stuff that's over priced AND lame! This goes for those awful tiny Jazwares plushes. This thing was trying to serve me links with them in there for 20 bucks a piece and no one wants them anyway.
*Items finally added-
Solved the mystery of some of those KellyToy sporting goods. They may be 'kiddie stuff' but they really did use good design on them. Quite stylish! Also GLAD to have added the Tails Keycap. That thing is rediculously cute and everyone needs one. NEEDS.

Wacky Facts:
The store is not easy to update. It is actually invisible to me while I do it. Half the descriptions are there for my own use so I can tell what happened if something broke.
The link server serves all kinds of wierd garbage to weed through. Zelda game cases, crash bandicoot plushes, and a comic with Kit Fisto on the front labeled as a Sonic comic. Yes, bootlegs come up too and have to be ignored.

New Page:
A new page has been added to the store: Sonic Books. It's been a while in coming because the book selection is actually pretty decent and cheap. There's even stuff from the UK and ye olde 1990s thrown in there. Because Amazon is serving, it's not too much of a surprise, but the penny prices on some of them sure are. Hopefully people take advantage of this part while the getting's good, because that 65$ where's Waldo style one proves what happens when they don't.

Next post will detail the 'stuff part' of the update that's not the store. This week is getting a type of dual update with half focused on the store, and half on the regular part of gear.

Knuckles Neglect?

Lot of stuff going up this week.
Jazwares was only inactive in the news for a short period, this week they return in fine form with a fixed version of Tails 3inch, and a fixed paint job on the 10in Metal Sonic, plus news of the upcoming small line AND a Super Poser Knuckles.

Important:
Them fixing the figures like that shows that they CARE about the figures they make, and the fans who buy them. Most companies would have been like 'so what' and just kept churning out wrong figues. Really, replacing/adding an entire new JOINT to an already released figure is a big deal and they were not afraid to do it, to give everyone a good Tails who doesn't break. Repainting MS is also a great touch. But, at 18.00 how many will re buy him for the shoe stripe?The Tails was a different story, only hovering around 4-5.

Knuckles Neglect-
The Sonic universes' resident tough-guy seems to be getting the short end of the stick in modern clothing. Shadow gets tons of solo shirts in the USA and UK....while Knuckles hardly appears at all. There are so many cool things that could be done with him on shirts and other merchandise, it's a shame to see everything always going to only Sonic or just Shadow. He's also great because he can be classic and modern too, either style works fine for him so long as it's based off of good stock art.

Super Poser Knuckles-
As you may or may not remember, ToyIsland initially planned to have S, T, K, & Shadow Super Posers. However, the Tails & Knuckles ones were totally hideous. The Sonic & Shadow (early ones) also had sideways goat eyes upon release. The eyes were fixed, but their sculpts never got Jazwares quality. (JW took the sculpts on as their own, later, and fixed the paint but did not retool) It's no surprise that Toy Island scrapped the Tails & Knuckles, being as ugly as they were...and that once again Knuckles was precieved as less popular than Shadow.

So, it is MEGA good news to hear that JW is RESCULPTING SP Knuckles. Everyone already knows the original was horrible/mutant, and that JW does a super great job so this figure overhaul should make this super poser a real big deal. It's totally possible that the Knuckles will become the best of the 3. Hopefully it brings SP's back into the spotlight as they're a cool concept and could really go far if done with quality to justify the price tag.

With a HotTopic Knuckles shirt, and a Knuckles addition to Super Sonic Gear, plus the news it's looking like the Knuckles neglect could be ending.

Item of the week:
Fixed shoe Metal Sonic 10 inch. This will qualify him for Super Gear, if they manage to release it.

Next week:
An update may actually come before next week. Going to try and update the store for Black Friday shoppers before black friday actually occurs. The easier it is to get Sonic gifts, the better. As for next week, expect more mail-bag randomness, a theme is not expected.

Ordinary Update

A pretty ordinary update.
No big news pieces, no amazingly different items. But there was plenty of variety, and plenty of items, so it was a good one. Mail is doing better too, getting down into some of the older ones that needed responding. Hopefully the senders won't be as dissapointed now...

Curiosity piece:
Why does Europe get a Sonic related prize for the Winter Games contest, but the USA doesn't? It's not like they're bashing the USA...it still gets a prize, but it's just a generic bag (runner up) and the grand is a TV. EU gets a Sonic/Mario theme display-snowboard (full size) and no TV. Sure, who wouldn't want a TV and it does make sense (you want to play games on TV) but it just seemed a little strange.

Rumor mill
Yes lots of people are sending in "THIS IS Who is going to be on Jazwares Line 2 aaah!" and then not enclosing any source. Who agrees? The list is a mile long if I actually combined all the things I get in the mail. Everyone from Espio to the Tornado to Blaze is said to be on the line...but nothing's getting published until someone actually comes up with some authority or PROOF of who is really going to be on the line, not just some made-up wish-list that makes for a bogus announcement.

Return of Crud?
A previous post wondered about the Calander of Crud. Well, wonder no more, at least for now as a 'fresh' new doll appears and the Halloween Sonic gets a better photo. Better really should be subjective here because the nicer lighting really highlights how awful it is. The patchy hat, the pink polka-dot tights. Yes I just DID write that in a sentance "Sonic is wearing pink polkadot tights". Some officially licensed company (Toynetwork, the usual culprits) somehow put THAT past Sega and onto the market. One may never know how or why...
The new addition is just a curious green-shoe Sonic. Is he St. Pats? Is he just strange? Who knows....certainly not like to by ToyNetwork.

Next week:
Hopefully more variety and more of the same! With the mail on such a roll, be on the look out for Store possibilities too. Hopefully people will be able to actually find a good selection of Sonic gifts for the holidays this year if I can get the place in order enough.