Sonic the Nendoroid!

The Nendoroid range is a series of small, super deformed action figures made by Good Smile Company that have mostly been based on anime franchises. Sega has been associated with this range a bit thanks to their connection with the Hasume Miku phenomenon (the recent 3DS game Project Mirai is even somewhat based on how the Nendoroid toys look), and there was a Sakura Wars pair in the range. This company rarely does non-human characters, with exceptions being that of Mickey and Minnie Mouse as well as some baseball mascots, and now Sonic the Hedgehog! See more photos and details after the jump!

E3 2000 Power Stone 2 Shirt From the Dreamcast Glory Years

Ah, SEGA memories...

SEGA's third party years have been great, don't get me wrong, but I still miss the wonderful years of the Dreamcast. Between '99 and 2000, before 2001's January death announcement, being a Dreamcast fan was great. Tons of great games coming out, and tons of great games to look forward to. I remember following E3 in 2000, and being so hyped for the games being shown off. Shenmue was obviously the most epic game shown, but I was also intrigued by Capcom's Dreamcast launch game sequel Power Stone 2. Today's piece of merch from yesteryear isn't a SEGA item, but it IS very much associated with SEGA's past. After the break, let's take a look at a Power Stone 2 shirt from E3 2000!

The Game Gear TV Tuner: It's last day.

Today is the day the digital TV switchover happens in my area of the UK. This means all analog TV signal is being switched off for good. Because of this, all Sega Game Gear TV Tuners will not be able to tune in anything here anymore, deeming them as nothing but a static noise emulator for your Game Gear.

When I recorded this video this morning, I was expecting the thing to not pick up anything as my actual TV has lost all analog channels, yet it still managed to pick up ITV. Yes, that is about as good as a reception as you would get with this device anyway.

Still, sad to see one of Sega's old innovations (as daft looking as it was) come to an end, sort of like seeing the online servers of Dreamcast games go down, but not really.

Also Woody Pop is one of the best games on the Game Gear, haters get out.

The French Edition of The History of Sonic Book Goes to Print

Remember this thing? Back in December it was thought we'd be seeing it in January. Then it was pushed to February, then March. Well now, thanks to an email from publisher Pix'n Love, the book has been confirmed to be approved by SEGA and has now gone to print. The printing process will take four weeks. This all applies to the FRENCH version of the book, though it should be assumed that since an English version has been confirmed, that SEGA's approval covers both languages. The only question is: has the English version also gone to print? Pix'n Love's English site has yet to announce the book, so unfortunately at the moment there is no new news on the English version, but it's good to hear that the French version should be out by late April.

The Jazwares Facebook Page Gives Me a Nod

This was a nice surprise! Jazwares came across a photo of one of my shelves and featured it on their Facebook page. They didn't know whose it was, so I claimed credit in the comments box. Nice to see my display getting a little recognition. What made me laugh were those who claimed to have more figures than me - it's not a competition, guys! And I don't doubt that there are those out there who collect every figure. And there were those who pointed out that I didn't have modern Amy Rose - she's not a favorite of mine, nor is it easy to find her figure without getting it bundled with other figures I already have. Anyway, if anybody from Jazwares is seeing this, thanks for the shout out! 

New Sega Girls phone strap things!

We don't often get to post about new Sega merch that is not Sonic, but here's something different, as little as it may be...

Phone strap/key chain things of different Sega ladies. A bit like the seires of figures they did a while back, but not quite as interesting really. Still, you get cute SD renditions of quite a few characters from games new and old, including Honey from Fighting Vipers, Ulala, Amy Rose, Fei-Yen from Virtual On, Selvaria from Valkyria Chronicles, the lead lady from Sakura wars and more. There is also a mystery one which is in a fighting stance so could be Sarah from Virtua Fighter? Just a guess. If you wanna pre-order they are up at AmiAmi and probably a few other places too.

Sonic: From Video Games to Board Games

Thanks to the Sonic Stadium's resident merch hound Hogfather, it has been discovered that American board game company USAopoly will soon be releasing a line of Sonic the Hedgehog games and puzzles due out in August 2012! Various online toy and game retailers have started posting up pre-orders for games and puzzles, including a Sonic die cut puzzle, a Sonic memory game and... a Sonic Monopoly! The last item mentioned is the most exciting of the three. Many franchises have gotten the Monopoly treatment, including Nintendo, World of Warcraft, Seinfeld, Simpsons and Futurama.

A Sonic Monopoly could be awesome, or it could be a disappointment. USAopoly has a history of some great versions of the classic game, such as the Simpsons version. However, other franchises aren't so lucky. Nintendo Monopoly, for example, features a plain white board with Nintendo characters acting as property. How uninspired! I only hope that some Sonic fans are working on the project, so we get a Monopoly that the franchise deserves. And hey, if it doesn't work out, you can always print out and play the Sonic Monopoly that I'm making!

[Source: Sonic Stadium Boards]

New Sonic Toys Revealed At New York's Toy Fair!

Another year, another Toy Fair. That means more Sonic toys from Jazwares! Unlike last year, which revealed a LOAD of 20th anniversary figures, this year is rather light despite the many figures and plush dolls crowding the booth. The first thing you'll notice is that they'll be removing the 20th anniversary logo and will be replacing it with a standard gold ring and Sonic logo. There are a few repackagings of existing items, such as the classic 3" figures in a four pack. The new additions to the line, seen for the first time in these photos include:

• Metal Sonic plush doll - seen above
• Modern PVC figure set including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy and Metal - seen above in front of the classic PVC set
• Chaotix figure 3-pack featuring Charmy, Vector and Espio - seen after the break

Sega Magazine Highlight: Surf's Up! Sega's website from 1995!

Here's another neat article found in the official UK Sega magazine, from issue 15 (March 1995) featuring Sega of America's website at the time! Would you look at that! I thought this would be an interesting thing to put up as there is no way to access far back anymore: the Way back machine can go as far back as late 1996 but even that site was no where near as basic as this! Look at all that stock clip art and flame text! I also quite dig the pixel art of Sonic and Knuckles with the Sega logo surrounded by a web. Get it? Because it's a WEB site? Oh boy.

What's more Richard Leadbetter sums up the Internet in a way that shows that it really hasn't changed much at all! He also complains that the site was really quite slow compared to other websites at the time, but also states that the site has only been online for around three months. Does that mean this is the first ever revision of the official Sega website? Haha, wow.

Comix Zone promotional comic strip.

Now here's something I can't say I have seen anywhere before: a free promotional comic strip for the Mega Drive cult classic Comix Zone! This was a freebie with issue 38 of Mean Machines Sega (the issue of which was when the mag became an official one), though I would imagine it was available to pick up in game stores or events for free too.

While the comic is has no credits as to who made it, I would recognise that art style anywhere! Surely it is none other than Brain Williamson, who worked on many Sonic the Comic stories including Kid Chameleon, Eternal Champions, a couple Sonic stories and helped on the Mutant League story too. More than likely it is Steve White doing the colouring, as he did on most of Brain's other S.T.C art, and has that same psychedelic look to it. No idea who the writer could be, mind. Makes you wonder how Comix Zone never became a S.T.C series really, though by around 1995 they were giving up on non-Sonic franchise strips, the last of which was a Shining Force story in '96.

Without further a-do, check out scans of the entire comic after the jump!