Monday, April 11, 2016

Boom Bonanza & Unreliable Plushes Plus Classic Content

This week had a big update.
Mostly it was double the work because of all the new Sonic Boom theme party supplies. They had to be added to the regular site with descriptions/opinions etc. and then again to the Sonic Gear Store so that anyone who wanted to buy/collect them could just go right there and buy it.

Why all at once?
Party stuff is kind of different from other stuff. Once a 'party company' gets a license, they've got everything on hand to make all the associated items all in one go. (plate/cup/napkin/game/whatever) so everything releases at once, usually all appearing on one day. That's great if you're having a party!

Fun fact:
Party stuff tends to last on 'shelves'. Virtual or not, party supplies tend to stick around way way after their release dates. They're not brief like some action figures. As you'll notice 99% of the regular modern Sonic party supplies are all also still active. It's nice, and people enjoy a good selection.

Unreliable Plush?
With Tomy having the Boom license...you'd think they'd be a bit more careful. There have been published release dates for a lot of stuff (round 2 of the little bigheads, etc) and they've gone right by with no dolls available. And fans are taking notice! Fruitless trips to Toys r US are frustrating, and ordering online is giving the old run-around.

For example...
Amazon UK LISTS the dolls but then when you go to order it says: Available in 2 weeks
ToyWiz in the USA has them too...but they're "Temporarily out of stock"
Amazon USA? "Pre Order now"

Then, in 2 weeks, the notice is updated to 'wait 2 weeks', and it just carries on like that. So while there's good photos...there's no actual product you can get.

What's wrong?
I don't think anyone knows at this point. How timely was Tomy before on other lines? Did their first Boom stuff come out when they said it would? Is there some kind of not their fault distribution trouble? Those are the types of questions that might lead to an answer with this, but so far there hasn't really been any news on them.

Bonus Classic Content!
This is a GREAT piece of content from the Sonic Stadium. It's the classic Sonic style guide. They take a look at it and explain features to you in depth. Then, there are page scans to look at and save for your collection of art in the PC. It seems to include neoclassic art as well.

Classic Sonic Style Guide

Be sure to look at this!

Next week:
More party supplies, more mutant, the aforementioned pictured but not yet available Boom stuff & anything that can be found that's non Boom so that everything doesn't just turn to boom.