Sonic Live wins Topless Robot Contest

You may or may not have heard of the site http://www.toplessrobot.com .
It is an entertainment/news/comics/video games/retro/humor blog type site with several fun articles or videos each day. If you like games, sci fi, comic books or general nerdery you'll probably like the place. It's run by a funny writer (sometimes bitter) and has a weekly contest. On this contest if you win it you get a Tshirt.

This past week's was "Worst Single Issue Comic Book":
You had to write a mini paragraph about the worst single issue comic you ever saw and why it is so bad. Of course, all the entries make for great humor too, so it's a good idea to read them. On a whim, because I didn't see it yet, I entered "Sonic Live" (The only comic to get the MUTANT tag on Gear) I didn't think anything would happen because there are a lot more famous comics doing dumber things...like Barkley vs Godzilla and Spiderman vs. Public transit (hint: he loses) and Ghost Rider threatening kids in Canada who don't wear bike helmets. You'd really have to read them all.

I think SL won out of sheer oddity. Oddity AND dumbnity. As far as I know, no other comic pulled quite as horrible and strange a stunt as that (which is a good thing) which helped it along. Also encouraging was the fact that the guy hadn't heard of it before meaning SLive is rightfully really obscure because who wants that dumb thing out there polluting Sonics' name? Hopefully it'll continue to rest in obscurity and quit frightening the fans despite what I did.

I'm totally amazed it won, and it's kind of a goodbad that it did. Good that Sonic is in the media, but bad because of infamy of the book. Also the writer tore up on it as well which I'd hoped would happen because in that category the more the merrier. I've of course added a special micro-update to Gear containing the TR link as well.

First South Africa Sonic Item

Well this week was a rather difficult update.
Only a minor theme emerged (Housewares) so I set up a bit of a 'world tour' type update again with stuff from all over. Part of what made it hard was mail was high again, and trying to get it down so that more of the Sonic Store can be tended to. Too many people (usually parents) facing a "Bad birthday party" if they can't find some good Sonic Gifts in time. The store when it is completed should help fix all of that...except the need for party decorations which are the #1 thing people are looking for (who write in) but CANT GET. Despite the huge supply, no company is making any current deco. Very dissapointing.

Most notable item:
South African Sonic X Pencil Case. That's actually the first item from that whole continent. Sort of surprising when you consider how big the joint is and how many countries over there could contain Sonic fans, but oh well. It's from McDonalds (a meal toy) so that makes people wonder if there's another (there should be...the things always came in sets) Of course unless you actually LIVE in Africa somewhere perhaps your perception isn't that its' covered in fast food joints. (Is it? I don't know) Still, it's great to add another country to the list!

Possibly a frivolous item this time too, with a 70$ chair that is guarenteed to be outgrown in like...a year or something. Yes, it looks pretty cool, but how about throwing the other 99% of the world who don't weigh 50 lbs a bone? And really 70 is pushing ones' luck for such 'disposable' furnishing.

Also pushing luck:
The QEE line. "Designer Vinyl" means you pay ten bucks for a keychain. That has a chance of not being Sonic and instead having his body but with a faceless-bear head slapped on top like some kind of logo-frankenstien monster. Yes that's right, they are using Blind Boxing too, to make sure that 'collecting them all' will cost you more than $70.00. Only want Rouge the Bat? Too bad, you just got 3 Tailses in a row and an Eggman, so that's 40 bucks--whoops!

That kind of stuff worked for things like the Gashapon set and those vending-figures and even claw game figures/dolls because they were CHEAP. Jam in some quarters or pences or whatever your coins are and a figure comes out. It's no problem to swap 'em because it's coins at a time. But now with a chance for dud-bear...yikes.

Next week:
Likely to be a mail grab bag again with no certain theme. A huge load of Mascot Suits came in, but that's got no rush on it and it's going to take time to sift through. Though, with Sonic Universe comic on the shelves now, expect Archie to get an update thrown in there as well with cover shot and details. The store may or may not do something before the weekend, but whenever it happens it's going to be more videos, to warp up the video section.

Special blog post alert:
Look out for the next post! It's a mid-week post and concerns a contest. (Yes I won a contest...because I entered Sonic Live (the comic) into a 'worst comic' contest)