Sonic the Hedgehog Modern Pins & Keychains of the USA

This page of USA Sonic Pins & Keychains will have only modern items. For actual classic items, see Pins/Keychains pages 1 and 2. Because they're not that big, some of the older ones may be harder to find. There was a dry spell for pins and keychains in the early 2000s. Some of these keychains may be available in the Sonic Gear Store.

Sonic Gear Main Merchandise Page * Sonic Pins & Keychains 1 * Sonic Pins Keychains 2 * Sonic Pins Keychains 3 * Sonic Pins Keychains 5 * Sonic Pins Keychains 6 * Sonic Pins Keychains 7 *

Here are 2 small size pin buttons. They're only about the size of a quarter. These are available in Hot Topic in 2015, but they will be in 'the pin bowl' a display bowl filled with small pins from many different brands. Each pin is classic styled, the first with forward-facing Sonic face & no outline, while the 2nd

is more complex. It uses neo-classic art for both Sonic & Tails. There's jumping-pointing Tails and running profile Sonic on a gray scattered checker background. These pins are 2.99 , which is extreme over-pricing as they're quite tiny and extremely simple for companies to produce. (The mark-up here is huge, look for a sale) With mark-ups like this, it isn't any wonder that fakers step in by cloning or producing their own pins. Photo & owned by CrystalSonicFan

A special keychain for a special anniversary! This is the 25th Anniversary Sonic Stainless Steel keychain. This sturdy, thick metal key chain is shaped like the winged star ring with ribbon base & 25th Anniversary logo. It has finger-waving Sonic in the ring. Everything is done in relief-style, with black coating to fill in the deepest parts so the polished raised areas look bright silver.

The ring itself is a sturdy, spring-loaded clip, & it hangs on a two-link turn-able loop pair. This even comes in a special collectible-preserving soft black bag with some cool silver ink too! This is a limited time anniversary-only item, so it'll be collectible for sure. You can get this at www.thinkgeek.com while it lasts. Fan photo (with bag) by RaeLogan

Here's a cute plush doll keychain! Look familiar? It should, it's a down-sized version of the Hello Kitty Sanrio & Sonic crossover 'costume doll' that was a Toy Fair exclusive. This time, the keychain is the exclusive for the New York Comic Con 2016 (the full-size doll was for the California one) The costume is made from the same gold shiny fabric, but this time the eyes & nose are embroidered, the bow is flat & the shoe details are embroidery as well.

Here's how the two compare! Since it's Sanrio doing the plush work, it stacks up very well against the original, despite the tiny size. They didn't miss a detail, and the proportions/costume all still work really well. The paper tag is an uneven rectangle with art of the other Sanrio characters all dressed as Sonic characters. Being an exclusive, this is sure to be rare & really collectible. It's cute! Photo & owned by All-Star Warriors

KidRobot is making Sonic 'mini vinyl keychains' in 2017. This panel shows all the art they are using to base the keychains off of. It includes badniks, 2 Genesis systems (compact & original) & game covers/box art.

The keychains themselves though, are 3D, for the most part...though they're very tiny. They're only about a few centimeters high. Note the "?" chain in the art above was to be a 'secret' but you can see it revealed right here as the white box-art next to the Motobug. These keychains are blindboxed. You can see their tiny cube box there with the 16 bit style graphics & logo.

Above you can see the retail display box you should be able to find them in, in stores. It looks nice, with large winged ring & finger waving Sonic. What's NOT as nice, is the price tag. Each one is about 5.95. Combining that with how totally tiny they are, & that you can't control which one you get, and the price starts feeling rather prohibitivly high, especially for people who wanted to collect more than one, or are hoping for a cute Tails and having quite a slim chance of getting him. They've chosen a lot of fun ideas with variety though. However, not everything is executed super well, note "dying Sonic" up there (why??) he doesn't really look that good. Is Orbot anyones' favorite badnick? Would you be happy paying 6 dollars for Orbot? These have been found at Barnes & Noble book stores in spring 2017.

Here's a fan photo of one of these small keychains. It's the "Wing Ring Title" one, and it's different front to back. One side has it in English, the other in Japanese. Notice the size of the finger here with the box: these things are super tiny & made of vinyl. Look at the bad odds on the box sides below. Some of the items have a 1/48 chance to get it, while it lists others as ?/?? The problem is the price, it may say 'collect them all', but at over 6 dollars each and 1/48 odds that's not going to be a reasonably priced task. Photo & owned by RaeLogan

The box is an ok display piece too. It's printed on every side with Sonic designs. The other sides show the other keychains you could get, & the odds of getting it, except the 'surprise' one which is the Japanese game box art shown above.

Here is a limited edition special metal & enamel pin. The pin is shaped & detailed like the mask of the villian Infinite from Sonic Forces. It was for sale only breifly around the release of the game in the Segashop. While it was sold, it was 10.95. However, for whatever (dumb) reason, it was limited to 200 pins only. At a reasonable price, more than 200 fans would likely have bought the pin, so why make the number so low? Why not 500 pins? Still, the pin itself is nice, with each detail from his mask done in quality enamel. Photo discovered by Taaron

And now for something weird. It's a ball-shaped modern Sonic plush keychain. But why a ball? Sonic already rolls up into a ball for spin attacks, so there's no need to strangely shape him into a ball with big body & tiny odd limbs...but that's just what happened here. It's like his head is combined with the body somehow & creates a rather impractical large sphere keychain. Interestingly, this is by GE who will release it once their license is re-activated. It is the first such confirmed product from them after it was removed via Boom Ban. The item's photo was discovered in spring 2018, but the license for GE is set to return in 2019...which is likely when they will be able to release this (if they choose 'right away') Hopefully GE can re-debut with something more practical and appealing. Photo discovered by Pichu97/Charlie

Here are some silly fun & cute keychains! It's Sonic & Eggman in metal and enamel. However, they're made/posed in the "Paper Child" style, where the character is 'reacting' to an outside force. In this case, they're shown inverted and literally 'hung' by their shoe. Eggman's cape is flipped up, as is his mustache & Sonic's spikes are slightly lifted while he allows his leg to go upward as well. Both have their arms crossed & a bored/annoyed expression at being flipped upside-down like they are. Eggman with his fun inverted details & legs crossed as if waiting to be turned upright is lots of fun as is Sonic's face. These were made in honor of the Mania 1 release, but they were sadly a limited edition right when the game first came out. It is likely these will end up uncommon.

Here's a really pretty pin! This is a crystal Chaos Emerald pin. Atop the metal back is a cut crystal in the shape of a chaos emerald. Each crystal is colored like a different one of the 7 emeralds. So what's the problem? You likely can't ever collect them all, unlike Sonic. This pin (and it's little framing card you see here) is a part of the "Loot Box Gaming Box" trend where if you subscribe, you get a randomized collection of themed items each month. In January 2018's box, people got a pin, but the color (of course) was randomized and you only got just a single one. They weren't sold anywhere else. Still, it's quite nice! Here, it's displayed at the feet of the First4Figures Tails Collectors Display figure. (So, it's pretty big) Photo & owned by Hedgy

Here's a triple pin pack! This is called "The Pixel Pin Set", and it features 3 metal pins of each of the classic characters' "victory pose" from Sonic & Knuckles when you win the game. The character would 'jump toward the screen' and the art you see here would be their 'sprite' but really big & nicely shaded/detailed. Because it was 16 bit, it was still pixelated to a degree, which is where these pins get the title. The mystery of the set is why it's selling for 30 dollars in the SegaShop. These appear to be ordinary metal pins with quality print-on graphics...that means no enamel or special metals were used. Why are they so costly at 10 dollars per small pin? The shop doesn't list the size but they're probably normal. It's a nice set, and a great idea to make the victory poses into merchandise...it just seems a little pricy. These are a Summer 2018 item.

Sonic Mania Plus spurrs the release of this metal & enamel pin set. It features only the heads of Mighty the Armadillo & Ray the Flying Squirrel. Their faces are based off of the new stock art that's been produced for the game. Each pin has silver metal for the line work & colored enamel for the face details. What's odd is that they left out the white/silver dot that pretty many other (older) pins use for the eye-shine-highlight. This makes the faces look a little duller/ less lively. And if older 1990s pins could do a tiny detail like that, why can't these? They come on a Mania Plus logo card with the geometric theme. This is a Sega Shop 2018 exclusive item, but it costs 25 dollars. That's over 12 dollars per small pin? The price is a little stiff but these are likely to become uncommon.

For the 25th Anniversary...a solo-Tails pin has been made! This is a nicely detailed metal and enamel pin. It has just Tails in the winged star ring. He's shown smiling and waving. The ribbon banner at the bottom has "25th Anniversary Tails Miles "Tails" Prower" instead of the usual Sonic logo. This is a SegaShop item, but it was 'limited edition', so it already sold out before it could appear here on Gear. While it was active, it was 11 dollars for 1 pin. It isn't very large...so it's a little on the pricey side. However, it was meant to be an exclusive/limited thing.

Here is a fluffy, puffy Amy Rose keychain. The SegaShop has this as a '25th Anniversary' item, but it doesn't use any 25th branding. It is a metal & enamel classic style Amy Rose face. She has her red headband, and the art is neoclassic. It shows her with her mouth open...but...her eyelids are white? Or has she somehow shut her pupils? Because both Amy & Sonic technically only have a single eye, how that eye is handled when it is closed can be a mystery for any artist or designer. The other component of the chain is a fluffy / faux-furry pink pom-pom or puffball. Both are held together with the metal ring & loop for your keys. It has a spring-clip at the top so you can attach it to your main key chain. A plush/soft item keychain is good to collect, but less good to actually use because the faux fur can get dirty. However, the metal face is very good at resisting wear. This should be about 15 dollars at the SegaShop online.

Wow, a Metal Sonic pin! The 25th Anniversary celebration really is being inclusive of lots of fan favorite characters with this one. This pin features the winged ring with stars along it, but instead of Sonic in the middle, there's Metal Sonic facing partially away. The background inside the ring is blue/pale blue 'sunburst' type rays as all the other pins have. The 'title ribbon' has the 25th logo & the name "Metal Sonic" spelled out below it. Everything here is goldtone metal & colored enamel. The art is really good, it's a neoclassic piece to keep things interesting. The pin is in the Sega Shop in 2019, and should be about 15 dollars. (It's high for a not-too-big pin...but it IS Metal Sonic by himself on merchandise....)