Keychains of Japan

SonicGear Main Page Japan Sonic Keychains 1 * Japan Sonic Keychains 2 * Japan Keychains 3 * Japan Keychains 5 *

While page 3 has a mixture of both old and new keychains, this page, 4, will have ONLY modern. Keychains, key tags and charms / phone charms will all appear on this page. Keychains remain mostly easy to collect, even some of the older ones, if you can find them. Ebay is the best place to look for older ones, but do check the side-bar ad (right below this text block on the left) sometimes for some of the newer ones can appear in stores online. Japanese hobby stores show up in it & those love to sell keychains.

These are keychains & phone charms by Cospa. They're cute on purpose! Adorable mini versions of Sonic, Tails & Amy are drawn/styled to look like they are being pulled or held up by the loop that attaches them to the chain or cord. Amy's dress-back is pulled up, Tails' tails are pulled together, & 1 of Sonic's spikes are pulled up. Look at their cute expressions. The top row is keychain type, the bottom row is phone charm type. These are being sold at TGS (Tokyo Game Show) in 2013. They are about 630 yen each, or probably around 6 dollars or so. You can also see the prototypes / art for these over on Prototypes X. Photo by

Here's a close up of the 'pull' cute keychain seen below. This is a fan photo, so you can see the thickness of the plastic & what it looks like when you actually get it. Photo & owned by:

In the new year for 2015, Japan released 2 new character offiicial stock arts, one for Shadow & one for Sonic. They added these to a set of ceramic mugs, but also crafted these shaped plastic keychains. The plastic is clear, with the full color character art. The edges are shaped after the art (die-cut references metal things only, generally) They have a spring-loop for items, and a 2 link chain (so, quite short) Each character is shown running/gliding. The copyright info is on the back. Where can you buy these?

Here is an uncommon plastic keychain. It was never common to have one of the little animals inside the robots solo on an item...but here goes Pecky the Penguin on a shaped flat plastic keychain. The edges/interior lines are raised, and likely the yellow/white areas were poured. A metal button attaches the key clip below the feet. This is suspected to be a UFO catcher prize. This likely means there were other little animals & Sonic at least, done in this same plastic style. Credit: Hikari Site

This is a copper or copper-toned keychain. It's metal, with a raised Sonic design & wiggly die-cut edge. The "Segasonic the Hedgehog" early era logo is stamped across him in further-raised letters at an angle. It is on a round beaded chain. There is a whole set of these (notice that the shoe horn keychain is also this copper color metal) but the only known photo of the set is terribly small/poor & ancient. This is likely to be an uncommon keychain.

This metal & enamel keychain uses Sonic CD's "impatient laying Sonic" for its design. In CD, he would go from foot tapping, to laying down & finger-tapping (shown here) if you left the controller alone long enough. The Key Ring is gold-tone metal, & it uses all 5 colors of enamel. It's a pretty good likeness, though where exactly his other foot is...is not shown. This is an uncommon pose seen on an uncommon keychain, released around the time of Sonic CD (naturally). Credit: Hikari Site

Here is a simple & secure keychain. Its 'ring' has a screw-shut closure which is one of the more secure types. The keychain itself is just a basically rounded-ends rectangle shaped flat piece of metal with finger-waving Sonic & the Sega logo on it. It looks like it was stamped into the metal or left off when the metal was given the 'satin finish' you see here. It looks like it's taken a bit of wear in this photo. The right-side photo shows the item when it is new in the bag. With this, you can really see the shiny texture for Sonic/Sega logo, & how the rest is satin finish. Photos discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram

A flashy keychain! This flat plastic oval shaped keychain is covered in 'holofoil' which has a rainbow hue as you turn it in the light. The ink is stamped down on top of this, so the characters are visible at any angle. Here, it's Sonic & Tails standing next to eachother with some shapes in the background. What's extra special about this, is that it's still mint in the package. It has the backcard with scattered little Sonic designs & Sega sticker at one side of the plastic. Photo discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram

Here is a small & short keychain made from a decorated nylon strap. This tough woven 'fabric' has had a patch of other fabric sewn to it. The embroidered part has a big "S" made of colored stitches, a Sonic face outline in blue & Segasonic 1991 written on it, along with the copyright & Sega logo. It is folded over the D-ring attachment for the key clip & set with a permenent metal button. It's a nice way to make a sturdy & durable but 'soft' accessory for key holding. Here, you can see it new still in the clear packaging. Was this a UFO machine prize? Photo discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram

Here are 3 different plastic keychains. These are likely to all be from a set of them, as you can see by their identical packaging style. (A flat card with Sonic simple line-art imagry, always in orange & in a clear baggie) Each keychain also features a shiny sparkle foil-substance that the

graphics are printed on to give the keychain a shiny effect. The first is made to look like a strip of old-fasion film-negative material. It has thumbs-up Sonic, with different line-art scenes in the background. The second has a brick-wall pattern over a gold-tone version of the foil so that Sonic & Tails can look like they're leaning against it. The third is round with thumbs-backward Sonic in a red ring of stars. Each has the Sega logo fairly large & the "Segasonic" branding, so they're likely from right around the time of Sonic2.Photos discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram

Here are 2 Sonic figures. They're fully 3D, but one was used in some instances as a keychain (Sonic who snaps onto base with his name) & the other which is always a keychain (Arms crossed 1 finger Sonic) The base one was a SA1 era release, and other characters like a Chao, also appeared on the line. The other is simply a Sonic figure with loop on his head for the beaded key ring chain to attach. Both are well sculpted & nicely painted, perfect to collect. (And proof that a good job can be done, even on something that's pretty small, as shown by the ruler here in the photos. Photos discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram

Here's what the "figure & strap" Sonic Adventure 1 keychains looked like when they were in the packaging. Each keychain has a fully 3D figure of the character & a nylon black strap with their name. Each SA1 character was made this way as a sold-separatly keychain. The package has some STK character art on it & some text on the back. The keychain & figure are kept safe by the plastic bubble that's just snapped onto the card-backing. (so its not impossible to open) discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram.

Here's a closer look at the Tails Floater Keychain. This soft foam type of key chain is coated with a soft rubbery plastic so you can squeeze it. More importantly, anything attached to it will float if dropped in water. This is part of a set, seen earlier on Keychains 1. It's a nice bright yellow cut square-ish shape with happy arms-crossed Tails in a ring with lightening-bolt shapes next to him, above the "Segasonic" banner. This keychain is uncommon. discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram.

Here is a Sonic blue lanyard, that comes with a round medallion. The medallion is likely acrylic clear coating over a metal back. It's still mint on the card here, which shows Sonic jumping while facing a mobile phone screen at the viewer. The phone says "Sonic Cafe". What's that? It's the temporary 25th Anniversary celebration cafe set up in "Sweets Paradise", that included a Sonic themed menu, decorations, and clearly a buy-able souvenier type lanyard here. (Cafe photos appear on Gear too) discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram.

This is a cuite little 'chibi styled' Sonic all-plastic kiddie-keychain. The hollow hard plastic figure is fully 3D, but Sonic is sort of shrunk/compacted so he's more smooth/no break-able parts. It's not meant for actual use, because it's clip is just a plastic imitation with no real closure, so it is just a toy. However, with front-smile Sonic in this mini style, it's interesting to see. discovered by @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram