Monday, June 20, 2016

25th Anniversary - Coin Questions & More

Sonic's Birthday is June 23...
Will we see actual news on this day?
Sega/whoever has really been playing around this year and messing with fans. There was looking like some kind of news to appear at E3 which then proceeded to totally not. Then some annoying "hint" was released in the number 722 which is either 7 / 22 (July 22 the date) or seven hundred twenty two days which is a very long period of time. So the two closest chances to learning something are his birthday and July 22, apparently.

This is a merch blog, not games!
Yes it is. BUT. A new game with modern/classic Sonic WILL MEAN new merch when it happens. Breaking up the 'boom monopoly' on Sonic would be really nice as well, and a game will do it. So it's quite worth while to pay attention to game news. Plus, Sonic games are fun when done right so the more the better.

The coin:
It appears on JP random but may jump to 'high end'. Notice that it is numbered so 9999 will be the max produced even though all fans will likely want it. The pewter tone surprises some (aka why isnt it shiny--silvertone is the color of 25th anniversaries) but it's fine. Notice that it has classic Sonic only on it, and the other side isn't modern, it's a logo instead. No confirmation yet on how this will be gettable/where.

Opinion zone:
Do another coin! Ugh! Super limited edition stuff annoys me when it's the only choice. Geez, give fans another non-numbered coin or something that looks a bit different but serves the same purpose. Bothering everyone with ungettable items is annoying. The 10th coin was done right: you could buy it with the bonus pack in the store like a normal person if you were paying attention & there were enough to go around.

Opinion zone 2:
Put modern Sonic on the other side of the coin! Put both! He's looked both ways and neither look is a gimmick (like Boom is)

Vandor:
A good company to have on Sonic's merchandise side. As more items appear (This week and next week too) they're shaping up to have solid design work that's not boring, stale or over used. If they get nice distribution/availability it'll do just fine.

Item of the week:
Megadrive game box shape pouch.
This is such a fun idea I have no idea why it wasn't thought of before. Storage cases/boxes/pouches/wallets/whatever shaped like classic game boxes with all the game art. It's clever, fun, and practical. The art/look hasn't been used in such a long time too that it's cool to see new merch that uses it. Hopefully they continue with this theme on something else. It's a great example of a good merchandise idea.

Next week:
(Or before) It depends on if there's enough stuff to do the usual 'added birthday update', that generally happens around this time of year. History: it used to be that there was an update every day of the 'birthday week', but the amount of stuff is too dried up right now to be able to do it. So, even this week here on the 20th, it'll depend on what/if turns up.