What about Sonic items that have not been made yet? Or things that NEVER got made? It's time for prototypes & mock ups! All the things on this page are Sonic items which are NOT yet released, or are items which were NEVER released. If something doesn't ever get produced, it'll stay here forever, for you to see and read about it. Also included on the page are 'mock ups' which are not real items. They're an illustration created by a company to show what a final item would look like. Sometimes they're Photoshops, others are combination of art and photos. A mock up never becomes real itself...but the item it illustrates is often made. When any item on this page DOES get made, (and SonicGear gets some kind of retail confirmation/fan photo) it will leave this page and move away onto the page it belongs on. (EX: a keychain appears here, gets produced, a fan buys it and mails SonicGear--that key chain will then leave this page and show up on the Key Chains page) Anything that does/is getting made should have release date info near it if it is available, along with the company which should be producing it--to help you find it!

Sonic Gear Main Page * Sonic Prototypes 1 * Sonic Prototypes 2 * Sonic Prototypes 3 * Sonic Prototypes 4 * Sonic Prototypes 6 * Sonic Prototypes 8 * Sonic Prototypes 9 * Sonic Prototypes 10 *

This is the concept art that Jazwares presented for the JUVI figures. With how it looks, you can def. see how the line got approved. However, this also proves that items on paper can look better than when realized in 3D. This even, despite the problem that all their heads got attached facing almost straight down on the first run of the figures.

This is just an advertisement, but it had important information. It pre-confirmed the loss of Toys R Us' exclusive on Jazwares in 2010. It was thought of as good news because TRU has a bad reputation for busting up boxes when you order online, and a very 'big-retail' attitude when calling the store for figure availability. (ie they like to ignore customers, don't know their own merchandise, and are under-staffed more often than not) MORE Sonic figure availability is always better. However, the loss of the exclusive didn't really mean lots of major retail stores getting the figures as well. Nothing much really happened with the exclusivity loss.

Not confirmed but suspected: Is that 5 in. Sonic with new 5 in Knuckles & Tails? Are they a mix of 5 in and 3.75 in figures? You'll notice the Sonic has his hand OPEN (small Sonic has 2 fists) so it cannot be the same small one. Jazwares has been known to use 'stand in' art in the past so really the poster is not much an indication of anything other than TRU losing the exclusive. This appeared in October 2009 issue of "THE TOY BOOK" which is a publication for retailers/distributors only. Discovered by GolfGuy801

This very small image may be one of the STRANGEST prototypes around...in that it really DID get released....but the thing it was based upon never was! The interesting story is that Sonic 1 was supposed to have a badnik robot in there called "Splats". However, as you'll know when you play Sonic 1, no such robot ever appears. The PVC toy set in England (there were several boxes, with sort of poor Sonic figures &

pretty nice renditions of various robots (remember, this is before Tails, it's before just about everything) that is rare to this very day, had the Splats toy you see here on one of the sets. The back of the box also featured "official game art" complete with name (tiny inset) of the enemy. Probable description "The bouncing bunny with weighted base that tries to "splat" Sonic the hedgehog". So that gives you an idea of what the robot would do. This is a super rare case of an item that really got released...but for an in-game thing that never did. (Items with interesting stories are some of the best) Right side photo discovered by Crystal Kitsune

If you're familiar with Toy Island, you'll know this is the large 6 inch (not giant) but usually "figure w/accessories" they DID release...however, he's on a prototype base that was never released. The tubes on the back (by foot) are left-over because the base was originally for a different product line, and they recolored & added a sticker for it here. This gives this figure the impression of being LIKE the original proto-photos for the giant talking figures (Which originally had round bases) You COULD see it in photos though, each figure was originally planned to be on a circle shaped base with a name/picture sticker on it. It even made it to some packaging, but the final large figures were placed on oblong bases with a foot peg to help with posing. This is glued down to the base/factory glue. (Deciding against having it as a static figure, and instead including accessories like emeralds/rings/etc seems a better idea)

Prototype or mock up? Probably a bit of both. Sometimes, when companies want to show at a fair or make a presentation, and don't have a product on hand, they fake one up as a 'mockup'. That appears to be the case here with poor Shadow. Is this supposed to be Super Shadow? (You might think: oh obviously!--but remember, TI is a fan of whacky paint & made Space Fighters & Metal Force which had nothing to do with anything) Also notice that his shoes, socks, & gloves are also pearlized/metallic while his super form only the skin/fur/eyes changed. Is this a painted regular Mega Bot Shadow? Absolutely. They painted over his red with a different red & threw gold on over the black. (note chipping at joints)

This would be suspect of a fan hoax, but the feet/shoe/gloves really are different. Also look how BAD the eyes are. The pupils are off to the bottom/edge, he looks just awful. They didn't even use the better face that they clearly had sculpted for this "extra edition" they were planning on making.

Here are some real proto-prototypes! These figures are described as being made of "white wax". Making an object out of wax is actually a (likely WAS, at this point) common prototypeing technique. Wax is carve-able easily and holds detail well. It is also likely inexpensive to work with, and molds can easily be made from it. It is rare to see such items, because companies usually keep these to themselves, or they're somehow destroyed in a process. It is also likely that any waxes are 'the only one' because of its prototype nature. These are LIKELY early Tomy mini figures. It is probably the prototype for their early Sonic 2 era PVCs. Notice how they're not really that accurate, even after Sonic 2 showed the back of the characters. Tails has a full fringe on the back of his head, about no legs at all, is super fat/big body, and is not particularly cute. (The Tails sprite in Sonic 2 was always quite cute) Sonic also has very small...eye...really large single finger & bigbody. Because the final actually produced PVC or display figure may be different from these sculpts, it's hard to tell what these are prototypes of. Can you take a guess? Write in if a figure looks familiar. Notice that they're not holding up too well, there's cracking and fracturing on the figures. Tails' hand, Sonic's shoe/ankle both have crack/chips, revealing this is no ordinary plastic material. A rare look at true prototypes!

Here is a prototype of Toy Island's Amy figure. She looks pretty similar to their final release, but there ARE some differences you can note here. First, the feet are blank. This is where the raised copyright data would have gone. Next, there's no screw in the back of her dress, the black line inside her eye edges is missing, and her glove cuff has an extra sort of small band of yellow on it right next to the hand. Her boot tops are also painted differently (above & below the 'sock' is painted) With a few detail tweaks, this is likely the figure that they changed into their release version. It's interesting to spot the little differences along the way, though.

Here is a prototype for Jazwares 3 inch line Tails figure with better joints. As you may remember, the early Tails (at left) had weak joints, including the tail, and could fall apart or have them go backward. In the middle, you can see the prototype unpainted figure. This one has their improved joints, but both hands are still open. At right is one of their later figures, the Tails who came with his small computer from Sonic Colors and had a clear base instead of a black base. Notice how you can see that the eyes & shoe-color divide are raised/cut in, not just colored on with paint. This is an interesting look at the progress of the figures over the course of the line. Photo & owned by Max6464

Here's a prototype for Jazwares classic style Super Sonic smaller size figure. (You can tell via no elbow or knee joints) As you can see here, there's not much difference between this and the actual release figure, except the paint. Note the cut in/raised details for the eye color & shoe stripe, just like the Tails above. This shows the only difference between their regular classic is the plastic color & the head sculpt. (The joints, arms/legs/body stayed the same) Photo & owned by Max6464

This is a type of prototype. It is a copy of a "style Guide 1994" for Sonic. It has small versions of air brushed art pieces that served as the ORIGINAL art for several items produced later. In the industry, one art piece can be created, and then given several uses, or cut apart to create several different items. In this case, you can see Spinball art from 1994, the Sonic 3 special stage 'planet' & a seldom-seen ski jump Sonic in a snow scene. A style guide gathers all the art of the time before it is actually used, into a book. The circle tabs there on the edge say "style model sheets" and "logotypes". This is a very interesting find, even if it is an exact copy of a 1 of a kind style guide book.