These are things like 'false cameos' where it LOOKS like it might be a Sonic thing, but then isn't. It's also for fishy things which look like bootlegs, but havn't been proven one way or another. Mysterious items that could be hoaxes of some kind (a hoax is something that doesn't actually get made/marketed, it's a trick played on people--so it's fake, but not really "real" as in for sale) also will appear in hopes of being solved. Items will be coming & going from the page, as they get proved one way or another. Things like red herrings will stay, as they have no other category to appear in.
This is supposed to be an official pin from the UK in the 90s around the release of Sonic 2. (Where the 'pointing Tails' art is from) However, it's just SO BAD and riddled with errors that it's difficult to believe it's the real deal & would pass Sega approval. First off, Sonic has blue arms. Australia Segaworld was fond of this error and got away with it frequently, but the UK never did. Then, look at his folded hand, it's shrivelled and way too small. What's even going on with his legs? Tails is missing a finger on his pointing hand & what's all the blue under Sonic's chin area between his body?
Yes, keep in mind that the shiny areas of the metal don't photograph well (they reflect and look black) but despite that....
Well...at first glance, you could think 'prototypes', because this group of plushes are supposed to be a prototype photo shoot of San-ei's modern Sonic line. San-ei is a legitimate company with a normal license. However, inspect closer and things begin to unravel...first, Sonic's eye color plastic pieces are sewn on upside-down. Then, Kncukles' eye plastic pieces are wrong, they're mis-stamped with the black bit at the top instead of in the middle. Next...he has FINGERS. Look at his hands, they're both tiny and fingers without the knuckle spikes. None of the other plushes seem to have anything wrong with them, and are pretty on model. It's the big and bad mistakes on Knuckles that send this photo here to suspicious stuff. Discovered by Pichu97
This Sonic is suspect because...his eye is small and his case of 'big body' is rather large. There's nothing overtly terrible about the doll though. It's not xtremely mutant, lame, or filled with wrong features. Sure the lower face is big, and the eye is kinda small (as are the ears) but the construction on the head is pretty solid, as well as the shoes. The fabric isn't the usual cheap garbage. He has 5 fingers and decently shaped hands too. The position of the nose makes it look like 2 eyes, but it's really 1, as it should be. Notice he's next to an Xbox, so you can see the size. Do write in if you have some kind of proof if this is either real, or a sure-fire phony. Photo discovered by Pichu97
These plushes may look familiar, because they are Toy Network (master of mutation) patterns. However, they have NON-TN features like fuzzy fabric TN never used as well as embroidered eyes. (TN always did the plastic piece eyes) Notice how they still managed to embroider Amy's on wrong despite the different method. Sonic is pretty bad too. Are these some kind of nasty TN prototype? Is someone copying them? It is a poorly-made mystery. Photo discovered by Pichu97
It could go either way, really. He's juuuust good enough to pull him out of 'mutation', but then, it's still not a great plush either. The plastic eye pieces look like TN, but they're properly placed. There are no skipped details, and he's pretty proportional, but look at the mouth....it could either be wrong/bad, or cheaply done so that the thread is pulled making it look like that. The bangs being stuffed is nice, as are the ears. But what company made this? Write in if you can clear up this mystery doll. Photo discovered by Pichu97
It's shown here next to one of those Chinese News Power plushes, so it's pretty big & is from the 1990s. What's so suspicious is the eye-shines are really big and oddly long. The nose is pretty long as well & the ears are a little wrongly shaped, but the rest of it seems normal/fine & the plush fabric is thick/fuzzy looking. The glove-cuff ridden up on the arm isn't really a sign of anything on an old doll like this. Even the Caltoy plushes only had some tack-stitching to keep these in place. Is this official or not? Hopefully something can confirm at some point. Photo by Pichu97
It's for a very small single/child bed. The 'blanket' looks more like a thin sheet but fits the bed in a blanket-like manner. It just has some dots & a CG of Sonic in a 3-point stance. The pillow has running forward CG Sonic & some stars on a blue background. Both of these CG pieces have been seen on other merchandise...but notice the lack of logos, tags or Sega copyrights anywhere. It doesn't look fake OR terrible, it just doesn't look very official. Discovered by Pichu97/Charlie
It uses the 'scribble pencil' coloring style that IS on some real merchandise. However, the Sonic art is a little unusual. His arms and body are really small. It's obvious that hes either rushing forward or 'wind-blown' with the way the ears & spikes are going. It's nothing terrible...but is it real? The 25th logo is at the bottom, and it does have a collar-back logo, but the photo's too far away to see what it really is. There's that rim of red/thick fabric in the collar too which is generally a sign of quality (its reinforced) and not fakery. But then, there's no obvious Sega copyright visible, and the bottom has a Chinese watermark text. This shirt has many mixed messages & so here it sits on suspicious items till someone can prove it either way. Discovered by:
Or...should that be BLUE herring? Here's a movie starring a blue hedgehog with tan belly dot & a girl hedgehog with pink quills. If you're thinking 'something Sonic' then the red herring MOVIE created by these guys is leading you down the wrong path...but is that what they intended? Aren't we past the era of 'blue for boy, pink for girl'??
Suuure they gave the boy a few rainbow quills & made him
The movie is called simply "HEDGEHOGS" and was supposed to release in 2017. It is all CG & released by Lionsgate. It is actually a Chinese movie, made for Chinese audiences but dubbed into English later. (So, some of the mouths don't line up) The LA Times Newspaper review doesn't feel positive about it, saying it's missing pieces of the story so it's disjointed & none of the characters are cute enough.
Hmmm....everythings' a little too fishy here so this entire movie's concept & designs go in the red herring area. But really, the whole thing is just so odd. Does it have any other parallels to Sonic? How did they avoid copyright cops? Discovered by Princess Panda Lover
It's hard to tell, so it's here on suspicious gear. The fabric looks quality & fuzzy, and none of the construction for the head is bad or ugly...but look at the body. It doesn't really have a "belly dot" so much as it has like a beige....torso. The bottom of it goes all the way down to between the legs. It doesn't make the doll look awful, but it's a strange error. Then, the white stripe for the shoes is half in the socks because the feet are so round and short. Again, it's not glaringly wierd...but it is some sort of wrong pattern. The eyes are embroidered, but the shine-dots in them are sort of small. But look at the detailed hands, well placed/ok length arms & decently sculpted spikes. Plus, ears that stand up (quality) and that do have the blue ear border that sometimes even Tomy forgets about. The lower face & expression are even also well sculpted. That's what makes this such a confusing doll. Photo discovered by Pichu97/Charlie
This is the so-called "DC-TV". It's a combination item of a Dreamcast that's built into this strangely shaped TV. It's mistaken for a Sonic item because it is blue and has a sort of spike or 'fin' on the back. The front even has little 'ears' or somehow antenna? You plug the blue controller into the base, where there are other holes for more. The control buttons go across the top. The Dreamcast disks load into the circle in the top that is surrounded by the speaker holes. The back fin thing appears to be where it vents the heat. As you can see by the size of the controller, this isn't a very large screen.
This sure is a curious item! Was it made for Space Channel 5? Did Morolians use it in the game? If you know any details about this odd item, you can write in for credit.
This one is borderline badly done, but nicely faked...if it isn't real. It has the cloth side tag & a paper tag too. Usually fakes don't bother with both. But, the paper tag shows classic Sonic though the plush is supposed to be modern. (this can officially happen, though) The next oddity is the belly dot is out of control. It's not a dot but an oval and it exends all the way down between the legs, which make it look strange & unfitting.
The shoes are large and properly shaped...but the stripe is poorly positioned. He has stuffed /stand up ears which are ok, but then the eyes are strangely tilted and their proportions aren't quite right. It's an ok doll...but something about it just looks "off" in quite a few places. It's also rather large, if the texture of the bed is any indication. This one could really go either way...but...that is the entire point of "Suspicious Gear".
Photo discovered by Pichu97/Charlie
Suspicious figures. Usually figures go 1 of 2 ways: either horribly awful garbage that fools no-one, or so super accurate you can't tell--so there's not much in the way of suspects, but these do fit the bill here. They're all Boom figures, and there's nothing glaringly wrong with any of them, for starters.
They have actual fun/interesting poses, and you can't really pick out any paint errors or big wrong colors. Amy's eyes look a little small but her angle is odd. The Sonic & Tails feet aren't exactly flat...but then official rubbery figures are also that way. The company name is a bit nonsense "JoySee", which usually indicates something fishy...but are they? They're not horrible by any means, so it would be nice to know if these were the real deal. They appear fall 2019
Let's get historical with this actual real artifact that is in a museum somewhere. This is an ancient Egyptian relic item that is made of glazed ceramic. It is, of course, a hedgehog (notice the big ears, the Africa ones are like that, they have a few kinds with big ears) and they have used blue glaze to paint it. What does it mean?
Well, it doesn't mean "Sonic", or that Sonic was a copy of something people were doing so long ago. The actual answer is that blue glaze for ceramic items was not that hard to make and it was really popular
Then somehow because it was so long ago the way to make it was lost and only by doing high tech chemical analysis today could we find out what they had to do to make it. If you think about it most people living for 100 years, then 1000 years is ten whole life times and if you don't know who your relative was 10-people-back and what they were like, imagine trying to go four times that for the 4,000 years. History is wild stuff, even if this is not a Red Herring item.