Sonic Boom! 1st Facts Blog Post

So.
Sonic Boom.

New show they teased a while back, new game announced today for DS & Wii U. Okaaaaaaaay let the ASDFRAGE of the interweb begin!

Or not.
This is the Gear blog, let's lay out some facts first:

1. It WILL NOT REPLACE ANYTHING
We have a confirmation on that from official sources and SOA president as well. The so called "Boom Style" will NOT REPLACE the style that is in place now for neither modern nor classic Sonic.

2. We will have to "deal with it" for a period of time.
Like it? Hate it? Too bad, because they're going to be marketing it all over the place. Why?

3. It was "Made for America" and "Made to appeal to a younger audience"
This is what's been said to the press. The other fact is, it's a company, they spent a bunch of money and they are going to make it try to succeed because they believe it is good and right.

*These 2 things.......they never work. They never go as intended. "Baby-ifying" anything for the tots has never worked, but companies never actually learn this. But it means the goobers who said "complicate everything/change everything/maek4babby" have to push it down everyone's throats in an effort to seem successful even if it stinks. Look up all the other franchises that did this. I think only Muppet Babies worked?

4. The show is tied into the games & features teamwork
They're going to act like having Sonic characters work together is something all new that they just made up (yeah Chaotix, Heroes yeah...uh huh) so that's the gimmick that they have said for Boom.

5. TOMY will be making toys for this.
What does that mean? Will JW continue with the "normal" Sonic figures? As you know, Tomy is international, so Australia, Canada, USA, Europe, some South America areas, etc will probably get toys if they really want to push hard, because Tomy already sells Sonic things in all of these places. That's good news if you like the look...........and they do a good job.

So, for now:
This will be a show on Cartoon Network and ONLY 2 Games on WiiU & DS. Something about CryEngine3 & new developers doing the games. New devs' arent a surprise because we've had Traveller's Tales & whoever else down the line, and it never stopped anyone from calling the games "Sonic Games".

That's it for the mini facts briefing--more posts to follow on character re-designs, more facts, opinions & information as it rolls in.

Black Knight Silver & Knuckles - Released

This week brings some (that people feel is long over due) good news.

Sonic & Black Knight 5 inch Jazwares Silver & Knuckles figures ARE released.
They're showing up in people's Toys R Us's. So far, someone has only sent a picture of the Silver, but both are being released at the same time. (According to JW)

Why is this good?
The "Sonic Section" at Toys R Us'es were dwindling. In most stores it used to occupy part of 1 aisle. Most stores changed it to a single end-cap, shared with other brands, often not on the "main aisle" of the store, but toward an outer one that not everyone sees. Sounds like a bummer move doesn't it?

It was well deserved.
All-stars monkey cars, poorly made scruffy dolls and things from YEARS ago, as well as re-re-re-re-release poorly done Super Poser Sonic & Shadow are just going to sit around stinking up shelves and not making the store any money. Of course they're going to hide these things in favor of toys that actually sell. According to clearance bins everywhere, those Erector Sets All Stars things didn't do so well either. (Sorry guys, Sonic fans don't always equal "random car fans who can't get enough cars for no apparent reason")

It's time to bring back action figures & toys.
Notice I didn't say "cars" or "poorly made over priced dolls" or "keychains", the word was figures and toys. That's what's going to keep TRU selling Sonic stuff, and it's super important. That whole "Branching out into Target & Walmart" thing seems to have flopped. Nobody's seen a single figure there. I also imagine JW would fail hard if they were only selling online because anyone who finds their stuff in online stores (hobby shops, Amazon, wherever) the markup is always like 3 or 4 times what JW Suggested Retail is.
They DONT have the quality to command this.
Sure Goodsmile (that Nendoroid expensive company) has the quality to command 40 dollar figures, but anyone who pays more than regular retail for JW's shabby "fake Super Sonic poser" will fly into a disappointment fueled rage.

How's that Silver?
Early opinion is good. They've got the detachable visor, his unique Sword and the armor looks detailed and properly colored. (Hopefully that purple tint Shadow gets fixed) Silver's a little frowny/aggravated looking, but really getting him out of the package is the best way to tell. I'm a total figure collector so I personally can't wait for these to come out here. I hope they stock enough.

What else will there be?
Sonic & Shadow will re-release with these guys. Hopefully the Shadow is fixed, and they put plenty of the new figures with few of the old ones in the retail bulk boxes. Otherwise you get the problem of the Free Riders: Sonic & Jet who have been out forever/everyone already owned hogging shelf space while each box only had 1 or 2 of Wave or Storm...who everyone didn't have, but wanted.

Item of the week:
The old CES Sonic 3 statue. And not because it's good, just because it's unusual, old, and seldom seen. It also raises the question of "why can't they get fiberglass right?" Obviously fiberglass big stuff like that is a ton of money, so why are almost all fiberglasses AWFUL? It had been known since Sonic 2 that his spikes aren't rows of flat shark fins on his head. So why let them sculpt it like that? And it's not like this thing was the last mutant fiberglass too, "they" have been making goofy mistake Sonics all the way up through Sonic Adventure 2.

Next week:
HOPEfully more Jazwares, some Deadly 6 stuff, and probably clothing.