Monday, August 29, 2016

Tomy Sonic & The Not Very Action Figures

This week's update brings...
Boring news!

More 25th Anniversary stuff you're unlikely to be able to get that's actually cool (Pre Order Boom Fire Ice only in Japan for an exorbitant rate and get the items...yay) more classic style stuff plus genuinely old things too.

Why don't they SELL actual COOL stuff? (more often)
It's great to have cool items that people really want/haven't seen before as pre-order bonuses, prizes, or things like that. Of course, bonuses should be desirable. But...what controls for never selling stuff like that at retail? Instead we get:

"Oh here's the 3 billionth tee with 'forward facing Sonic face' AGAIN."

It's not like the flat acrylics wouldn't sell, or people wouldn't want a crystal cube. Certain things of course, must be limited, like the commemorative coin, but that ought not to apply to everything that's not just another tee. I don't get it.

Terrible Tomy?
Anti-Item of the Week:
Get a look at Tomy's prototype 'modern Sonic' action figure.
UGH!
They need to get back into the 1990s with that sad excuse. It's so static (straight arms, straight legs, hardly any articulation, static boring hands in 'claw' poses that are merely a reflection of each other) that it looks like it ought to be a free meal toy.

Then, we're somehow back to off-model Sonic figures?
How does this even HAPPEN in 2016?
Jazwares was making the heads from the data in the games so you don't get wonky sculpts and people just guessing what the characters should look like (EX. ReSaurus). But that's them, they're not Tomy. However, with the license should come being forced to make accurate figures...and should come with the CG models to make that happen.
It's Tomy: The Boom figures were likely coming from their models in the show...so those were decently accurate looking as well. And that IS Tomy. So we know they can do show-accurate figures. But somehow their "modern Sonic" has a body shape no version of Sonic ever had (And Tomy KNOWS THIS! They've made classic Sonic before!)

Ok so they're not really good at articulation like Jazwares was (so why give them the license?) but they don't try to make up for it in any way and just create this stiff boring figure. Which to top it off isn't accurate to the games or anything else.

What's best:
When it doesn't do very well because it isn't fun & doesn't look fun & has a sky high price Tomy & Sega will blame the fans saying "Well nobody wants Sonic action figures any more...might as well give up...clearly Sonic has no fans left booooo hooooo".

Ray of hope 1: This thing's still a prototype. Maybe they could fix it before it's released?
Damper: Doubtful. Tomy is unskilled at figure making articulation. The best anyone could hope is they fix his body away from looking like a stupid grape.

Ray of hope 2: Modern Sonic is allowed to exist again.
Damper: None. After the whole "Boomstyle is third-style it affects no other Sonic" was proven to be total lies by Sega/whoever else Boom thoroughly stamped out all instances of Modern Sonic merch. This new figure & GE's new plush prove modern Sonic is being allowed into merchandising again. Hopefully this continues because a lot of unnecessary ire was raised among modern fans over it. (As in, they wouldn't normally have a problem with Boom, if it WAS a third style, but everyone got angry when they took away modern style instead of allowing all 3 to exist to satisfy fans)

Next Week:
Spencers selections! Spencers gifts is apparently taking a break from all the pot they've been shilling to focus on a few new Sonic items. (It had been previously thought that they were winding down Sonic brand carrying/no more stuff from them, but apparently that's false)