Japanese Sonic Plush Title Card
Japan was (and still is) quite prolific with Sonic character plushes.
This page will have a mix of classic and modern plush doll photos. Pretty much all of the Japan plushes are collectible, regardless of how common or ultra-expensive they were/are. Adding to the collectibility is the general theme of these to be better quality more consistently than plush from elsewhere.
Sonic Gear Main Merchandise Page *Japan Sonic Plush 1* Japan Sonic Plush 2 * Japan Sonic Plush 3 * Japan Sonic Plush 4 * Japan Sonic Plush 5 * Japan Sonic Plush 6 * Sonic Plush 7 * Sonic Plush 8 * Sonic Plush 9 * Sonic Plush 10 *
Sonic Plush 12 * Sonic Plush 13 *
Simple Felt Plush Eggman Small Doll
Simple felty Eggman is sort of funny in his small size simplicity. With these photos you can get a better look at this very early plush. (It appears elsewhere, but in group shots) All the details are felt, including the legs arms & hands. His buttons, collar, cape, mustache & even eye dots are felt. The nose is a pink pompom. Since the legs are short & he's super round, it gives the plush a sort of 'chibi SD' look & the felt details are rather charming. Photo & owned by: Spazer
Different Posed Plush 1992 Compare Here is a comparison between the 2 'posed plush' that came out around 1992 or so. They were meant to look like the stock art poses "hands on hips" and "hand on hip with 1 waving finger", however, plush isn't really that conductive to this, so it sort of looks like the pose and that's it.
Notice how they both have '2 mouths' because they hadn't quite got the design down at this point. They're made with the same pattern, the difference is how the hands are tacked to each doll. The spikes are short, but even this early they're in the right configuration. It's good to have a side by side of these 2 uncommon early plushes. Photo & owned by: Spazer
Plush Size Compare Row Just how big were some of the classic plushes? This photo shows you with a cute line up.At the far left is the widely available Caltoy Sonic. In the center are the little simple 1991 Sonics & felty simple Eggman. The pale doll isn't very big at all (Though it did come in 2 sizes) and the right is one of the larger early Japan Sonics. Photo & owned by: Spazer
Soccer Ball Sonic Plush Detail Photos Here's a closer look at the Soccer Ball Holding Sonic plush. He's pretty normal from the front, the ball is a cute addition for the little sport theme plushes...but look at the back.
His head has a pretty unusual structure for the spikes, where there's 6 on the edges and then 1 giant one in the middle. His tail is also pretty big. The early dolls may not have had a
consistent/agreed upon spikes structure. The paper tag here is curious also. It has "leaning on something" Sonic, but his proportions are that of modern Sonic & he even looks a little neo-classic there...however this is an early 90s tag. Photo by Mizukii Moon
Suction-Cups Hands Knuckles Plush
To go with "Suction-Cups Sonic" here's suction-cups stick-up Knuckles. He belongs to a set of 3 plushes who have white suction cups sewn onto the undersides of their hands so you can cling them to your window/smooth surface. This Knuckles is a little different with distinguishing features like the fabric is a little fuzzier, the chest stripe is wide/low & his fists are small. Notice also that the shoes doen't have the bolt details for the tops. This set was one of the last few "Segasonic" branded items as it came out right around Sonic 3 when Knuckles was first introduced.
The cloth tag in the back (pictured in inset, top) is all in Japanese, while the paper tag is the usual early tag with shaded stock art. He's pretty cute over-all, very classic looking. Photo & owned by Spazer
Here is the turn-around for the suction cups Knuckles plush. The different views of him give you an idea of how wide/long his head actually is. It's quite an unusual shape in profile there. The spikes for this plush are also really long & clearly defined. This is now confirmed to be from 1995.
Suction Cups Knuckles Plush 1995 Someone was really looking at the game art and pondering the pattern for this. Notice also that the red for the shoes is different than that for Knuckls himself, which is a nice touch. His woolyness of the fabric kind of hides the mouth a little, but the doll is actually rather chipper looking. Photos by Spazer
Sanrio Sonic Friend Plush 6 Inch Smalls Sanrio Sonic Friends Plushes 10 Inch
Sonic has more than one friend...
And Hello Kitty has more than one friend too...so why not just dress up ALL the friends! Sanrio is getting even more characters in on the costume cute action with these 2 sets of plushes. There are small 6 inch size ones, and the larger 10 inch size ones, but both sets feature the same characters.
You have Cococat dressed as Tails, My Melody (a rabbit) dressed as Amy, of course Hello Kitty as Sonic, then Badtz Maru the penguin is dressed as Knuckles...sort of. The little 'costumes' work pretty well. Chococat is instantly recognizable as Tails, though My Melody's ears (which are usually red) get a bit in the way of her having spikes like Amy, though she does keep the bangs. Amy's little classic dress & sneakers are super cute for her though. Badtz Maru the perpetually annoyed penguin (IS he annoyed? Or does he just look that way?) makes for a bit of a dumpy Knuckles with very feeble spikes but fun little fists for the tips of his flippers.
This is a VERY cute and fun cross-over of the two brands, and the plushes will no doubt be super collectible because fans of both brands will certainly want them. Since Sanrio made them, they're sure to be of good quality too. Discovered by Taaron
UFO Claw Machine Santa Sonic Dolls It's 'Santa Sonic'!
This UFO prize machine is full of only Sonic plushes dressed in little red Santa Clause coats & wearing Santa hats. When a plush is made wearing a cute & well-crafted costume, the result can be seasonal and fun, like in this case. This plush will appear here in better detail if someone manages to win one.
Stringy Sonic Face Stringy Sonic has been seen before here on plushes, but this gives a look at the face. While he's cute from the front...the side shows that the plush maker didn't really have 'the look' of Sonic nailed down before they made it. The belly dot connects directly to the chin, his lower face is super pointy and...his eye isn't really connected to his face. It's a thick felt layer that's just sort of applied so up close it's a tad creepy because the eye isn't 'set in his head' as you're used to seeing it.
As one of the earliest plushes (notice how he lacks shoe-stripes too) it helps show the evolution of how Sonic stuff started being designed/how it got improved. Photo & owned by TheShinzNite
Center Smile HTP 1994 Plush Here's an older plush from 1994.
It can sometimes be found as "HTP Plush", but the most distinguishing feature is that the smile is in the center still, not off to one side as all dolls had later. It's about 25 CM high, is likely to have been a 'prize plush' from an arcade, and there's also likely to be a Tails done by the same company that would have been win-able with him. This is probably a better look at the same doll who appears on Plushes 6. There's a string to hang him, and he has the early problem that the belly-dot is also the neck, but it does get the spikes right. The 'pointing finger' hand was likely meant to follow the stock art (finger waving) but this leaves all the other fingers just a folded flap of cloth. Photo & owned by AguChamp
Stick Up Sonics Compare Photo For a while, in the 1990s, Japan really seemed to enjoy suction cup stick up plushes. Just about every character (Sonic & non) was made with suction cups to stick to solid surfaces. Sonic & anyone related was no exception...but it wasn't isolated to just Japan. But, what better place to set up
a comparison. Here are 3 different brands of stick-up Sonic. At the far left, you have Japan's, complete with tag. He's made of nice quality fuzzy material for the blue & peach, with white cups. But, look at his nose. It's flat, and has been set so it kind of goes sideways and doesn't look so great. In the middle is a Europe one, but the eyes are kind of tilted wrong. His spikes are flat felts & not set up correctly, but the hands are detailed & the nose is better. At the right is a USA/UK one (Tomy suspected) where he's fine enough from the front...then kinda wilty on the sides. The Japan one was likely made first. Despite all being early stick-up Sonics, you can see the variety of styles that resulted from many makers. Left photo discovered by Pichu97
Joypolis Updated Amy Plush Joypolis in Japan has updated their Amy Rose plush. In the interest of quality, they updated her pattern a little bit, and it's to good effect as you can see here. This Amy was never very large, but the quality was always quite solid. She has a cute face with center mouth & good proportion for
her nose. Take note of the eyelash & eyelash ridge portion: it's VERY thin and delicate as it should be, not some giant black flap that a lot of dolls do. The dress is good, her feet/boots are nice & big and the ears are properly shaped/stuffed & stand up. She is shorter than the Joypolis Sonic too, so they're paying attention to proportions with the set. As expected, she lives up to expectations of an item from that Sega-tastic place. Both dolls owned & photos by Pichu97
Beach Dress Up Dolls Here's a better look at some of the "Dress up Dolls" that seemed to be really popular (and numerous) in UFO type machines in the early 90s. Because there were only about 3 main characters to work with, they focused on dressing them up for various sports & occaisions. Here, it's "Beach" with Sonic & Tails in sunglasses. Sonic's got a surf-board while Tails is in a floaty-ring tube. The one on the right is "Christmas Sonic Version 1" where he has a bow around his neck & cute Santa-bag with holly-leaf picture on it. Because these are done well (unlike ToyNetwork) they're actually cute & fun and look like a good collectible. Photo by: Defunct Plush JP Site
SK Japan 2018 Sonic Plush Here's something new for 2018, from SK Japan.
This is their latest small size doll & it looks pretty decent. The shoes have a good shape to them, with buckles clearly on the side. The hands may be a little small, but they're clearly defined. His expression is decent as well, with right-size nose & nicely embroidered eyes. Also notice that he's modern (when everything had been classic style for quite some time)
Where would this be sold? Photo discovered by Pichu97/Charlie
Joypolis 2018 Modern Sonic Big Plush A Modern Sonic plush strait from Joypolis!
And Joypolis is really showing everyone how to do Sonic dolls right with this one. Naturally, you'd expect quality from them, and this gives it. The eyes are a thick quality embroidery, the ears stand up, everything on the face is nicely proportioned & the spikes are all really accurate. Look at the bottom of the shoe:
There is quite a large Joypolis logo embroidery there. There'll be no mistaking this plush. The paper tag is a circle with nice modern art on it & the Joypolis logo. The back probably has materials text, but it's all in Japanese. Photos & owned by Pich97/Charlie