Everything from standees (cardboard cut outs) to posters to shelf-related attention grabbing items will be featured on this page. If it was meant for stores to advertise Sonic, it should be here. However, after stores are finished with the promotion, sometimes it's possible for fans to collect these items. Because stores aren't as numerous as consumers however, promo items are natrually less abundant than regular collectibles. Items here can be from any time classic or modern.
Gems was the 9 older games compilation released for the PS2 and the Gamecube. This poster is a little busier than others but still has eye-catching art. It has a Sonic vs Metal Sonic theme, with a good big graphic of both of them. The headline separates them. The square is the release date & the title sits (appropriatly) over an emerald graphic. There are many screen shots along the bottom, to show you which games are included. The blue band appears to have a bunch of other info too. Photo & owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
(Sonic Unleashed was called World Adventure everywhere except the USA) It uses the 'half Sonic / half werehog' design where he's running right at the viewer, but adds several different visited-places in the background to illustrate that the game is in diverse areas. There's a headline right across him (can't read) & the date of the game's release at the bottom. It also has the consoles you can play it on down there in the fine print. The little colored tiles at the very bottom are other games that are coming out in a close timeframe getting in on the advertising action of this poster. Photo & owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
It's for the "Neo Geo Pocket Color", which was a portable game system that didn't really succeede for that long. The poster is a little confusing too. It shows SA1 wierd walking Sonic, but then look at the screen shots they show you in the bottom right: Those are Sonic 2 things, like the half-pipe special stage.
The headline up there (can't read it) may explain it a little bit, but it may not be a wonder it wasn't a success if it says Pocket Adventure, cribs the SA1 logo, uses SA1 art, and then delivers Sonic 2 looking content. (Remember, this was 1999 when it came out, Sonic going into "3d" instead of side-scrolling was a big deal then) The game itself WAS a success, as critics rated it really well. It used elements like music & style from earlier Sonic games, had a vs. race mode (link cable) & a few puzzles too. This poster is an interesting relic of the old system. Photo & owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
Notice the little "10th Anniversary" ring logo there in the top. This one, with it's large Sonic & Shadow art with big logo, is pretty decorative. There's a headline in the middle splitting them & a dot with another announcement...looks like maybe the date and price. The bottom has several nice screen shots to let you know what the game will look like, and show off a few areas.
Note that the Sonic/Shadow back to back graphic with the sort of nebulous background here WAS used for an actual wall-scroll that was sheerly decorative. Photo & owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
This one isn't "10th branded" like the one above & features way more characters. A yellow vertical headline divides the Hero & Dark side down the middle. There are several screen shots toward the bottom, a Neutral Chao has something to say as well, & you get some CG shots of the characters too, along with some description down there. It's nice that it also includes a Hero & Dark chao art on the main poster part. This is another good one, especially for chao fans since they seldom get much attention on posters. Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
In Japan, even portable games get retail display posters made for them. This features Sonic, NiGHTS & Amigo the monkey from Samba De Amigo rythmn game. The pinball stages all had themes & cameos from other Sonic Team games. There's a big headline, large logo & several screen shots at the bottom. The chao is shown thinking about how you could play on the Game Cube or the GBA with this game. The blue bar at the bottom of the poster also has a small announcement for Sonic X the TV show along with a date. (Interesting to see, seems the first time it happens) Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
It is the large CG art of him running through the castle ruins area, with not much else to clutter the scene. The logo & release date are at the bottom corner, and it has 2 smaller vertical headlines down the right edge. The bottom, under his shoe only has 4 screen shots from the game, and a small line of text.
This poster is a bit different from the others. Notice the shiny spot at the top in the center. That's the bar that holds this up right, as it is a wall-scroll type poster instead of just the usual paper. Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
It's a Sonic Adventure 1 retail poster that's pretty unusual. Instead of screen shots, head lines, big character art or console images, it's all just black. The only design is the Sonic Eyes & Grin (Later got called the BDG Big Dumb Grin) right in the middle. When SA1 was first being advertised, a lot of the promo materials just had the green eyes/BDG as the graphic, though it was later phased out. The bottom has some small text in white for the console, title, likely website, and release date. Being all art (however minimalist) this poster makes a big statement in stores or in the home.Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
These are blind-bagged bath enhancement items that make the water scented & fizzy. In this case, the scent is said to be mint. Each aqua blue colored ball inside the packages you see here has a surprise: a 'little cuite' style Sonic figure. The figure is revealed once the ball dissloves into the bath. So, it's a toy AND a fun bath time item at the same time.
The Sonic art for the display has him in a tub, obviously smelling the nice scent of the product. The bottom has the price. The 'rubber ducky' looks a bit like it has been melting, however. What does the vertical pink headline say? These appeared in early 2017. Photo discovered by Taaron
It's a poster announcing/promoting the Shadow the Hedgehog game. It is also co-promoting the Japanese rap duo group "M-Flo". The rappers are shown in front of a random large fireball photo, while holding some kind of large or automatic guns. Shadow is in front of them, skidding toward the game's logo while holding his own gun. The headline (in English, somehow) says "M-Flo Loves Shadow the Hedgehog" and " will he good...or evil?"
Yes, they DID wreck the grammar there, and the whole thing (at this point) comes across as super rediculous with "dark grim edgy fire/explosions guns irl rapping prickly logo cartooooon hedgehogs!" The grammar error doesn't help it at all. M-Flo did a song on the game's soundtrack, is why they're there, helping to co-promote.
*Sure, Shadow can be dark and edgy in the Sonic environment.
Sure, he can be taken seriously about his quest there, there's nothing about being a cartoon hedgehog that precludes one from serious storylines, actual emotions, or good vs evil. However, the whole thing kind of melts when you throw in photos of IRL rappers pretending to be gangsters (or whatever they are?) into the background. The game gets a lot of flak, and it's likely this poster didn't help. Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram
Just what that is, is unknown. (A regular restaurant, a pop-up theme cafe?) However, the "recommendation" here is a selection of chili dogs for 300 yen. )Cheese appears to add 20 more yen. There's a CG Sonic at the bottom, holding a chili dog in one hand, and a drink cup that's D Lounge branded in the other. The first word in the black text of the ad says "Sonic", so maybe it describes a theme too?
It's a lively looking poster with nice big modern art for Sonic, Knuckles & Tails in a star ring. The Knuckles art is a seldom used profile type one. It has a headline, and the game's logo in Japanese. The background is a collage of game box art, to represent all the games in the collection.
The bottom of the poster has a screen shot and game title for each game in the compilation. There's only a minimum of description, and a release date at the bottom. This poster is packed with colorful Sonic content. Photo and owned by: @JapanAnimePosters on Instagram