Inside Jokes Abound so...Let Them Out
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Inside Jokes...so you better let them out!
If you've noticed several items from the Sega Shop this past while on gear, you can see that they're getting really....really into inside jokes. However, no one's asking the important question which is what happens when fans are outside instead? They don't buy. That's what happens. Like if you shout out an obscure internet meme and nobody gets it, then the situation isn't funny, it's lame instead.
Things that count toward this are
Toast items
Froggy stuff
Valentines
April Fools
The Froggy tee & hat took some serious explaining and research just to make the entry appropriate for SonicGear this week. If you didn't see / couldn't track down the TSR ad cutie cartoon thing, then the hat and tee would just be....meh. Then, the SS clearly considers the Sonic toaster (a real appliance) to be significant enough to dedicate other merchandise to showing pictures of pieces of toast on them.
And then, unless you're penguin/spork levels of 'forcedly random', the stuff is still in the range of 'why'. What adds even MORE WHY is the expense. All that stuff is at least 10+ dollars more than the Sega Shop's already fairly high prices. The froggy hat being 40 dollars is just out of bounds. Outside of the joke/gag, it isn't even a great looking cap hat. The point of the stuff in the cartoon was that it was cringey/tacky so that only Big would like it. If it was something cheap /easy to produce somehow, maybe it would be appealing on a lark, but 40 dollars is no lark.
Valentines Day: What's the joke?
I never found out what the joke/point of Valentines day Sonic stuff was. Why bother with art of him dressed as Cupid? What does that do? How is that supposed to be cool? And it's not just a small thing, there's TONS of v-day stuff they made. I can't figure out why.
Opinion Zone:
Maybe I'm way off base and everyone loves inside jokes and tacky costly hats. I could well be. However, I also know (from other fandoms) that it's a very short ride in company minds between "haha we are smart" and "everyone must hate Sonic because nobody is buying our stuff!"
For an easy modern example of it see Hasbro vs My Little Pony. They blame the fans for 'hating ponies' when their 300th version of Pinkie Pie doesn't sell well. No one at Hasbro ever asks the question "well maybe should we release something that ISNT Pinkie Pie? After all, we just released her 5 times in 2 months." or gets the idea "Let's read fan blogs and forums to see if people are tired of 1 single character out of all 50 or whatever that we made."
Barrel of Doom:
Yes it's also an 'inside thing', but the mug itself just looks like a geometric pattern to an outside eye. AND it is inside specifically to games, not to tiny cartoons or holidays.
Item of the Week: Boom8 figures
Another good show from Boom8, Super Sonic & Classic Amy are excellent choices to follow up Tails & Knuckles. They keep the spotlight on Sonic while bringing in drastically different looking figures. Fan-fave SS is also an instant win when they pair it with their sculpting skill & quality of the display figure. All around very positive here.
Next week:
Probably more general variety, with the Sega Shop hopefully taking more of a back seat. The fans want more stuff that's not so USA focused...or really store-centric like that. However, item submissions are still slow / low.
Who's there?
Inside Jokes...so you better let them out!
If you've noticed several items from the Sega Shop this past while on gear, you can see that they're getting really....really into inside jokes. However, no one's asking the important question which is what happens when fans are outside instead? They don't buy. That's what happens. Like if you shout out an obscure internet meme and nobody gets it, then the situation isn't funny, it's lame instead.
Things that count toward this are
Toast items
Froggy stuff
Valentines
April Fools
The Froggy tee & hat took some serious explaining and research just to make the entry appropriate for SonicGear this week. If you didn't see / couldn't track down the TSR ad cutie cartoon thing, then the hat and tee would just be....meh. Then, the SS clearly considers the Sonic toaster (a real appliance) to be significant enough to dedicate other merchandise to showing pictures of pieces of toast on them.
And then, unless you're penguin/spork levels of 'forcedly random', the stuff is still in the range of 'why'. What adds even MORE WHY is the expense. All that stuff is at least 10+ dollars more than the Sega Shop's already fairly high prices. The froggy hat being 40 dollars is just out of bounds. Outside of the joke/gag, it isn't even a great looking cap hat. The point of the stuff in the cartoon was that it was cringey/tacky so that only Big would like it. If it was something cheap /easy to produce somehow, maybe it would be appealing on a lark, but 40 dollars is no lark.
Valentines Day: What's the joke?
I never found out what the joke/point of Valentines day Sonic stuff was. Why bother with art of him dressed as Cupid? What does that do? How is that supposed to be cool? And it's not just a small thing, there's TONS of v-day stuff they made. I can't figure out why.
Opinion Zone:
Maybe I'm way off base and everyone loves inside jokes and tacky costly hats. I could well be. However, I also know (from other fandoms) that it's a very short ride in company minds between "haha we are smart" and "everyone must hate Sonic because nobody is buying our stuff!"
For an easy modern example of it see Hasbro vs My Little Pony. They blame the fans for 'hating ponies' when their 300th version of Pinkie Pie doesn't sell well. No one at Hasbro ever asks the question "well maybe should we release something that ISNT Pinkie Pie? After all, we just released her 5 times in 2 months." or gets the idea "Let's read fan blogs and forums to see if people are tired of 1 single character out of all 50 or whatever that we made."
Barrel of Doom:
Yes it's also an 'inside thing', but the mug itself just looks like a geometric pattern to an outside eye. AND it is inside specifically to games, not to tiny cartoons or holidays.
Item of the Week: Boom8 figures
Another good show from Boom8, Super Sonic & Classic Amy are excellent choices to follow up Tails & Knuckles. They keep the spotlight on Sonic while bringing in drastically different looking figures. Fan-fave SS is also an instant win when they pair it with their sculpting skill & quality of the display figure. All around very positive here.
Next week:
Probably more general variety, with the Sega Shop hopefully taking more of a back seat. The fans want more stuff that's not so USA focused...or really store-centric like that. However, item submissions are still slow / low.
posted by AzureBlaze at 9:14 PM
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