Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The SonicGear Email...Is Back!

 The return of the email!
For a long time, the SonicGear submissions email has been out of order. Now, it's back in action! So, responses to things that have been sent, questions, and additions/information for the site will now start appearing. It'll take a lot of doing to get it weeded out (spams) and all the responses done and items added, so the process will be long. There may be a double update or something soon to try and get everything accommodated and back on track. 
This is really the biggest deal of what's going on with the site now, is getting back into this and getting caught up with it/everyone written. It'll be a while to get to everyone though.

ReArrangement
The Sonic Prime Section is finally re arranged. Remember, at the start, nobody knew how much merch it would have, so it was just lumped all on one page. But, as tends to happen, there gets way more of one thing and so sub-pages need to be made. In this case, it's the mini figures: they were taking up all of the pages of Prime General.
The next thing to split off will probably be the regular size figures--but there's not enough prime stuff that is 'not a figure' to really keep the Prime General pages going if those figures are subtracted right now. 

Item of the Week:
GOT to be the Ground up Hightops or just their entry in general. Fans have wanted stylish Sonic shoes since FOREVER that weren't just crumby tiny kids sizes that don't even fit. These guys are not only reasonably enough priced but they're making cool designs. Hopefully someone finds out where these will be for sale....that Sonic Shadow mismatch I do want..
Opinion Zone-
Cooler than those Annipon loafers they're resurrecting from 2017. I get that they're trying to be 'subtle Sonic' but if you're wearing red loafers you're not subtle. Also, as a company that just has generic red loafers then adding that white strap isn't a high-effort thing.

ANTI-item of the week
The Goojit zu GARBAGE CARS. WHAT ARE THESE! Whoever did this needs to be written off the page and into the dumpster. How would Sega even approve these?? How are they licensed? This is the worst case of mutant trash that's come along in a LONG time! And it's not like 'the calendar of crud' where the people like just didn't know what they were doing and were churning out any stupid thing with leftover scraps they could think of. 
These were deliberately made as horrible and ugly as they are. This is 2024, how does trash like this keep getting past the checks? And who would even buy these? They don't look like Sonic characters/they are obviously "baby cars" for 2 year olds but like...they don't know who Sonic is? And these scary cars won't appeal to parents either? GooShitZu is the right twitter insult for this company* with this. 

*It's a shame too because their goo things are a cute idea for little kids. Squishy space dinosaurs with beads and whatever in them, their little animated bits, and them getting the Sonic license for stretchy classic characters, and then doing mini squish and stuff that's great. Squishy things are fun, and the quality seems nice enough for them. They had a good thing going, you'd hate to see them tank it by branching out into the worst cars anyone's ever seen. So stupid.

Next Time:
Burlington Bonanza! Apparently Burlington is the source for Sonic recently, and next update will have wall art galore. If you've got this store near you, by all means get in there at a 'gotta fast' rate to grab deals of all kinds. There will be mugs, wall art, candy, tee shirts, jakks gold line figures and more.

Monday, January 01, 2024

Strange Fake Trend: Fake Bundles Beware

 Sometimes there needs more to be said about something than just an entry for an item so...
What's up with the new (it wasn't around at the start of 2023 much) "Fake Bundles" of stuff on Amazon? I mean obviously as always the motivation with fakery is "trick people get money" but this seems to be a new trick in the big bad book. So let's learn how to spot it and debunk it so it can be rightfully avoided!

There's also a NEW fake trend see * below...but first know about:

Fake Bundle INDICATORS
1. If 1 or more items in the bundle looks low quality, odd or doesn't match
2. If it has BOTH modern AND classic things in it
3. If there is more than ONE franchise in the bundle
4. If there is an excess of generic things in the bundle
5. If it is being sold by an "Alphabet Soup" named company like "Hbexby's" or "BARQUOLAN" or something like that, which isn't a real word (these are absolutely prolific on Amazon)

The 5 main indicators there are really easy to spot.
For example like 'set of action figures' and one of them is mis-painted and awful, or if there's 1 thing Sonic and the rest are generic (like tees), and Sega will NEVER put/allow other franchises to be sold with Sonic in a bundle so that is automatically fake. The only one that's a bit odd is #2, because sometimes a company will mismatch the art (like classic card with modern item) it's not supposed to happen but if you see it do research it to be sure it's just a mistake and not a fake.

Things likely to find with this sort of bundling:
Currently a main culprit is art supplies, stickers and coloring books. School 'sets' where like a backpack/lunch box and both are fake, a bundle of 3 tees and all are also fake, 'keychains' also 'ornaments' (made from bogus figures) and birthday supplies because literally anyone can stamp anything onto balloons/plates and try to sell it as a set. As usual the 'mini figures' where there's sets of them are also still an issue and Amazon and Ebay have zero interest in policing these which remains annoying. 

Innovative Designs:
1. This company gets a modern Sonic license
2. Proceeds to go absolutely HAM with it

These guys are going hedge-hog-wild with producing just silly amounts of stuff. It's actually a great thing because lots of inexpensive fun school/art supplies with Sonic spreads it easily to kids because it's simple for parents to gift and buy. It's also decent enough for collectors because who doesn't love stickers? Innovative Designs is mainly a stationary/supplies type company with loads of franchises they make things for. Branding items like markers, pens, stamps, notebooks, cases/boxes etc. is their field of work. They also have brands like G1 MLP, Paw Patrol, Care Bears, Gabby Dollhouse & etc. 

*NEW fake trend:
Apparently fakers buying up real things from places like Innovative Designs, breaking down their bundles, tossing fake garbage in with it and...turning around and selling that? How are they making money on that? What is the point of buying real stuff, adding fake stuff, and putting in all that work to scrape out a few cents? It's really odd.
You can spot some:
On Amazon you'll see 'Sonic art kit" bundles NOT sold by Innovative Designs but it looks like their stuff and then has either "tons of generic things" in with it OR "Other non-Sonic brand", in most cases it looks like Captain Rex Dinosaur?? It's very strange. 

Why is specifically fake art stuff EXTRA BAD?
Because art supplies like markers/etc 'for kids' NEED to be safe, they need to have some kind of chemical testing and be vetted by something reputable that the paints aren't full of lead and the markers aren't poisonous. Like some fake tee is just going to wear out and look shabby right away wasting everyone's money but dangerous chemicals are way worse than tricking poor grandma out of some buckaroos at the holidays for some lousy tee. 
Stamping out fakes doesn't seem to be something Amazon is into, so "PSAs" (I guess) like this one continue to have to be written. No idea how much good it'll do but well here it is.

Actual Gear Content:
It's hidden at the bottom! Of course, all this Innovative Designs stuff will show up on Gear in the upcoming times, there probably will be like at least a whole page dedicated to just their stuff on USA School Supplies. It's also amazing for people with Sonic Penpals overseas, decorating items like card collection notebooks/folders or etc. 

Where to find it:
Ross stores, Burlington, and Amazon are all confirmed to carry this brand at reasonable rates. Buy online or in person when it's the real deal: be sure the seller is branded "Innovative Designs".

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Happy Birthday SonicGear Web Software: Turns 20

 The update is back (after skipping one)
When I realize that the web software that makes SonicGear has had a birthday this year! It is now 20 years old, wow! Is the software older or younger than you are? Its final copyright was in 2003, so it could be anywhere between 2001 to 2003 but we give it the benefit of the doubt. If you wonder what it is, it's Adobe Golive. It's a product from when everything wasn't some stupid subscription you had to pay all the time for negligible updates, you just went and bought it on a CD and it worked forever. (The way things ought to be...really..)

But why use it if its that old?
Because Compy* has windows 7 (also known as 'best windows') and can do so, but more importantly its the only software (that I'm aware of) that can handle a site of the size and complexity of Gear. Like that online web builder WIX could never handle it at all. All this modern software and online 'ez toolz' are about generating flashy things that aren't very large. This seems to be able to build an infinite amount of stuff and keep it organized which is good because...

The Sonic Stuff sure isn't slowing down-
And that's how we like it. This week sees a relatively new addition to making tons of stuff all at once it seems: Box Lunch. This brand has of course a website, but also physical stores that sell only their stuff. They have many franchises not just Sonic, and they produce solid quality things. They're a bit costlier than other places, but tend to be worth it and also they're 'everybody' minded meaning its sized not just for kids. A welcome addition. (More will be on next week's update too)

Jakks Pacific Gold Line
What is this and why are they doing it? At maybe the beginning of the year fans noticed an odd classic Sonic with skateboard figure pop up only on Walmart's website with a shiny paint job that maybe tried to look 'cell shaded' or something and had the Jakks logo in gold/a different box. Then nothing happened until now where there's reports of Super Sonic but he's got a fade on him, and Metal & Mecha Sonics but they're shinier and in the same type of box. And...apparently not in stores (very much) because scalpers are busily 3rd party scalping them onto Amazon and ebay. 
More figures are generally a good thing, but it helps if fans are actually able to find and buy them not at fake scalper rates. Also for people that don't want 2 of everything, it would help to know which character was going to be on which line. (Like, I'd rather have the shiny version of Mecha Sonic so it's more like the game but nobody knew it was coming) I guess we'll see where this goes.

Item of the Week:
Sonic Fridge! If somebody said in 1995 "Sonic will be so popular that he will have a refrigerator you can buy from store shelves!" would it be believed? Is having a fridge some milestone of success for a video game character? Maybe, and you can have it for about 60 bucks and bragging rights, most likely. It's very fun, and I do like unexpected things like that where you'd have never guessed "Sonic ___" the more improbable the better. 

Next week:
There will be jewelry!
Also going to try to keep up with the 'more than usual' items to make up for the skipped update and try to clear thru the stuff that's coming out right now so at least people can know about it.

*Compy- Who's computer was also called this? The answer is just as old as the software (probably) and probably just as obscure at this point: Strongbad. (And if you have to look that up...he's known for receiving email...somewhat poorly. It's earlier internet humor.)

Friday, October 13, 2023

Fall Season Update- Path to the Holidays & More

 Movie review gets pushed off for 1 update worth/taking too long to work out the whole post and have it sound decent enough to be plastered onto the internet forever. So: time for a regular site update merch type post again...which is good, because boy is there a lot of stuff coming out like constantly.

If there was ever a big time to be a Sonic fan, I think now is really it!
There's NEVER been more positive stuff out for Sonic than here in 2022/2023. There's games that are big hits (Frontiers, Superstars) there's a well received show, and more merchandise than you can spin past just about everywhere that's pretty good. Having been from the start of Sonic, there's literally never been this much, he's never been this big of a star. And, there doesn't seem to be any reason that this situation should ever end or go away or anything...which is even better.*

The Holiday Way
September starts the prep for Halloween (in retail , at least) so that's on track, because Halloween used to be more of a usa-only type thing, but the candy and costume fun has been becoming more mainstream around the globe, which is great...because who doesn't love parties, dressing up in costumes and eating spooky or cute food. It's an all-around great holiday.
And, it means new Sonic costume stuff, so the site's tradition of adding at least 1 thing a week for it is going strong again this year. Make sure to get to Spirit Halloween stores if you're in the US, because there's more new stuff this year for certain. Party City may also have some too and that's important because...

There's a BUNCH of new Sonic Birthday Decorations.
If you want to party in Sonic Style new companies have you covered. Amscan (been around since basically forever) and the new Mighty Mojo BOTH released a whole slew of new decorations with nice modern themeing, good variety and decent prices. 
Party supplies are great because things like big backdrops can be used as posters, stickers are good for anything, and reusable plastic cups are always fun--not just at parties. Also, party supplies have shelf life of YEARS (some things being up to 7 to 10 years after that franchise went away: example "G3 Pony") so there's plenty of opportunity to buy them...always nice to have.

Of course, Christmas too- retail gets more desperate for this every year
And seemingly try to start it earlier too which is annoying. Already seen are Jakks holiday figures, a Prime advent calendar, Hallmark ornaments & more. Last year's Jakks advent was a success but Amazon spoiled it by actively promoting fake advents and ruining the holiday for lots of kids. Yes they took PAID ADS FOR BOOTLEG UGLY CALENDARS and PROMOTED THEM OVER THE OFFICIAL merchandise hopefully Sega yelled at them loud enough to care because that really sucked. 

NYCC 2023
Stuff is still showing up from booths there, which is normal and good. An East Coast chance to promote items is always welcome/plus getting to see what's upcoming from companies is always nice. What's NOT nice though, is locking things behind con-exclusives that everyone wants: specifically the Metal Sonic & streaky colors Sonic pins. Don't lock away the best stuff! Make some "cool con edition" of something like "Glitter Shadow" or "Glitter Metal Sonic" that's ONLY there at the con so people can feel special with their limited booth thing but then let out a normal version for everybody else! Let collectors collect! 

Item of the Week:
Well it would have been the pins but you can't have them and neither can I. 

Interesting of the Week:
That AI Bing Sonic Plush thing. SUPER DUPER interesting. What would usually be on this blog about it is instead on its entry. Nothing like this has ever existed before and I don't think the mainstream really appreciates exactly what all is under the surface of this and what it can mean for everybody. It's complicated enough that it'll get its own post most likely some point down the line.

Next week:
Party stuff, a bunch more for Halloween as the big day approaches, NYCC more items and trying to get some non-US stuff too because it needs variety.

*Not going away:
It looks like Sonic is likely (hopefully permanently) on the right track. Like Sega & everybody finally "gets it" instead of floundering around with goony attempts like 'create an oc' in Forces, the werehog, the Boom Ban, and trashy shows like Underground, unfinished Sonic 06 disaster, or letting nonsense run rampant like Archie and sometimes STC. Like how Frontiers is so great and the physics in Superstars is supposedly going to be very satisfactory for classic fans.
While there's some disagreement on Prime (Is it too kiddie? His characterization is???) it still looks good enough CG and the show is undeniably about Sonic & Sonic characters without gary stu or some left field nonsense injected by corporate whateverizing. and same with the Sonic Movies "it doesnt feel Sonic or look like him" etc...
The flood of merchandise and the flood of new companies signing on to Sonic shows that new fans are coming onboard all the time. (Ex. it's kids) which is a 100% requirement for ANY franchise to stay good and active. All he needs is to keep being very solid like Mario and this wave of greatness will never end.

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Sonic Movie 1: The Gear Review Preface

 If movies (well on dvd at least) count as items, what took the SonicGear review so long for Sonic Movie 1? 

The easy answer is I hated it and resisted watching it at all up until this point.
But, finally netflixed the thing and....it's kinda as bad as I had anticipated. However, in order to do it, I pretended it was "Baby Gremlin vs. Evil Jim Carrey" and then, if you don't view it as Sonic, it's a....very bog standard 80s like movie that is serviceable enough. How this thing managed to appear after 2010 when it belonged in the 1980s, that I do not know, however because it exists it gets looked at. Skip to "review area" in the next post to get right to it or...read the preface:

First off: Was it better than the first Sonic movie that the ancient plot leaked for in the 90s? Yes. (That's on SonicGear, as it is very obscure, if you're curious about what it was) But watching somebody else play the games poorly would have been better than that, so-low bar.

Set up:
The setup for the movie's release was pretty darn good. It was the literal last movie out before the pandemic really hit the world. There weren't any other kids' movies out at the time either, so competition was low. They were able to throw it on streaming and clean up more cash that way too, so it wasn't a persecuted release in any way. The studio was pretty happy with it.

It made 319 million dollars.
Mario 1 made 1.34 BILLION dollars.
Numbers don't lie. I guess "setting the movie in the characters' world" really would have been such a big mistake...................hmmm. Lesson...not learned. Clearly nobody wanted to see Mario in Mario World. Oh the poor thing.../s

To start with, it has "mark of the grownups" all over it who, when getting some "babies franchise" always put in stupid things that they think little kids want to see instead of focusing on making a good movie that appeals to anyone. They also love to repeat tropes because they're easy shortcuts so that they can slack off. They clearly had no grasp on what Sonic is supposed to be about and had no idea or didn't even read a single word about who the character is. They looked at a picture and said "Funny blue animal" and left it at that. Nothing deeper. And gee, it sure is a shame that in the Sonic franchise there are only 2 characters: Sonic & Eggman and there are literally no other characters than that to work with. Such a shame......hmmmmmm.

Aside:
Everyone's idea of Sonic is a little different. As many fans of him that there are, there are as many different perceptions of him. This is natural and normal for someone really popular like that. The fandom is really finding that out with Sonic Prime, as he's characterized differently there than he is the games, the movie, Sonic X, and etc. Each 'version' of him where he appears is slightly different too, and that also feeds into the wide variety of different headcannons everybody has for him.
Example:
Person A really likes the 'cool but attitude' aspect and there he's a more fiery personality
Person B really likes the 'friend of nature and helping animals' aspect, and there he's more level-headed

However, the movie makers didn't have anyone's (any fan, developer or etc) idea of what Sonic was other than "funny blue animal get money". That was obvious rrrright away with the hideous demon-thing that the entire planet wailed on so hard the producers spent squillions of dollars changing the CG to get rid of it. (NO the 'conspiracy' wasn't that they made him awful on purpose to garner free media attention--that was proven false by the toys=toys are made many months in advance because production takes huge amounts of time, and striking molds takes large amounts of money, and demon toys had to be scrapped after thousands were made/molds were struck etc. somebody was out WAY more money with this than 'possible free media attention' would EVER have made up for. The bad design was never 'on purpose for attention')

So with that, right away, you KNOW that they had no idea who Sonic is, no idea what he was about, and they weren't going to respect ANYthing with regards to him if they thought demon was ok. THAT is why I refused to see it or support it for so long. You could know that the respect wasn't there. That they changed the look of him in the end after backlash doesn't matter (to their idea) because the plot and characterization was already in place and was never changed.
This was also obvious because they weren't telling a Sonic story in his world, they were telling a Human story on Earth because they didn't know what to do with him due to all their lack of care or attention. The going-in theory was that "Sonic is not popular enough to have a real theatrical movie about him, nobody would go to see that, we need humans to get people to go see it, after all, Transformers movies barely have transformers in them, most of it is about the human drama, and those are great!" To bring in adults AND their kids, we need plenty of humans and Earth setting with a funny animal. 

End of the preface- Next post will be the actual review now that this is out of the way / the groundwork for understanding how/why the movie goes etc.