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1990s Sonic UFO Catcher prizes

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Pengi, Aug 22, 2018.

  1. Pengi

    Pengi

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    Have these ever been fully documented? There are a bunch of pictures on Sonic Gear, but it's a bit disorganized.

    Each set seems to have an official name. With the exception of the really early ones (1991-1992, with the "Super SONIC" tags), set names are on the white fabric tag. Dates are a bit trickier to pin down, without magazine/catalog images, but the fabric tag is a good guideline. The front of the fabric tag usually has a Sega copyright year (with the set name), which isn't much use, but the reverse (where it says "Made in ___") should have the actual production year.

    Here's what I've managed to piece together so far, in terms of a release timeline and set names. For my own sanity I've stuck to the pre-Sonic Adventure stuff. Most of the set pics are small and poor quality, so if anyone has any better ones then please share. (All photos found online, can't remember where. A lot of them from Sonic Gear.)

    ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグと仲間たちセット
    Sonic the Hedgehog and Friends Set
    1991, July

    [​IMG]

    The original set. The set name is from a 1991 Sega arcade catalog. This ad seems to be saying that the launch date was July 15th? Seems a bit precise, so correct me if I'm wrong.

    [​IMG]


    セガ・ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグと仲間たち3
    Sega Sonic the Hedgehog and Friends 3
    1992, August

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    So, obviously, there must have been a Sonic and Friends 2 at some point. I'll get to that in a later. This 1993 Sega prize / arcade catalog shows how many were in each assortment.

    Eggman, Flicky, Pocky and Pecky are much the same, but the two Sonic dolls (sitting and standing) are of much higher quality, no longer having string limbs and felt feet.

    Also notice that the branding has shifted from "Sonic" to "Sega Sonic". The paper tag has been adjusted too:

    [​IMG]

    Pecky, in the middle, is a later (made in China) release with the SEGASONIC branding on the chunky black and white logo and the Japanese text on the bottom. Eggman and Flicky are the Set 1 (made in Korea) versions with the standard SONIC branding.

    テイルス & エミー
    Tails & Amy
    1993

    [​IMG]

    This one is a bit of guess work. There's a tiny set photo, but no official name associated with it. But the Tails and Amy dolls appear to be these ones, which say "Tails & Amy" (in Japanese) on the fabric tag:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    So are there Sonic and Eggman dolls with "Tails & Amy" tags?

    おめかしソニックと仲間たち
    Dressing Up Sonic and Friends
    1993

    [​IMG]

    (This translation might be a little off.) Set name from the same 1993 catalogue as before, where it's advertised as "new". By this point the set names are on the fabric tag too. They all look to be based off the Tails & Amy set. Amy herself looks identical. Unsure whether there'd be two different Amys with two different fabric tags.


    お祭りソニック&テイルス
    Festival Sonic & Tails
    1993, August

    [​IMG]

    ソニック&テイルス サマーバージョン
    Sonic & Tails Summer Version
    1994

    [​IMG]

    Set name and year from the fabric tag.

    X'mas セガソニック
    X'mas Sega Sonic
    1994

    [​IMG]

    Set name and year from the fabric tag. The reef itself is one of the prizes.

    セガソニック スポーツ バージョン
    Sega Sonic Sports Version
    1995, February

    [​IMG]

    ジャンボ セガソニック
    Jumbo Sega Sonic
    1995

    [​IMG]

    You can't really tell in this tiny set photo, but these all have suction cups on their hands (or stomach, in Eggman's case). They're larger than most other sets, thus the name.

    バスケット セガソニック
    Basket Sega Sonic
    1996, September

    [​IMG]

    According to the Sonic Jam Official Guide these were released September 1996 (it calls them "Sega Sonic Basket", but both the paper and fabric tags say "Basket Sega Sonic"). This set is actually quite well made, as are the next two.

    ソニック・ザ・ファイターズ
    Sonic the Fighters
    1997

    [​IMG]

    The game was released in 1996, but the fabric tag says 1997. The May/June 1997 issue of Sega Magazine mentions them, not sure if it says anything interesting.

    ソニック&テイルス ペールカラーぬいぐるみ
    Sonic & Tails Pale Color Plush Doll
    1998

    [​IMG]

    The fabric tag says 1998.

    Other Sets

    Here's all the ones that I haven't been able to find set names or full details of:

    Rubbery shoes Sonic

    As seen here in Sega Magazine. Similar to the Sonic in the original set. The arms and legs are still stringy, but thicker. Instead of felt shoes he has rubbery/plasticy ones. Has the "Sega Sonic" branding. Possibly part of "Sega Sonic the Hedgehog and Friends 2"? Likely included Flicky/Pocky/Pecky/Eggman, like sets 1 and 3 did.

    Go-Kart

    Same as the "Sega Sonic and Friends 3" set, but they're in little plastic go-karts. No official set name known. Sonic Gear has photos of Eggman, Flicky and the two types of Sonic. Pecky also exists. Has anyone seen a Pocky?

    Christmas Sonics

    [​IMG]

    These predate the 1994 Christmas set. They're the same two Sonics from "Sega Sonic and Friends 3", but with festive bits and pieces added on.

    Winking Sonic

    I've only ever seen this one on Sonic Gear. It's the same as one of the "Sega Sonic and Friends 3" Sonics, but winking.

    Goods Set
    1994

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    セガソニックキーグッズセット ? Not sure about the part underlined. The Google Translate app failed me. Sega Sonic something Goods Set. "Key" goods set? That doesn't seem right. Anyway, no idea what else was in this set.


    Suction Cups

    You can't really tell in this tiny set photo, but these all have suction cups on their hands (or stomach, in Eggman's case). Here's a photo I found of the fabric tag, if anyone can make out what it says (something Sega Sonic):

    Mystery solved - thanks Zycor!

    Soccer Sonic and Fan (??) Tails

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    These two have seemingly unique art on the paper tags. I'm not sure what Tails is carrying there. Anyway, if anyone owns either of these, it would be great if you could check the fabric tag for the set name.

    Sonic, Tails and Rocky

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    A set with Sonic, Tails and a Rocky similar to the one from the Basket set, sans basket. I haven't been able to find any photos of the fabric tag, so I've no idea what this set is called. So if anyone has one and wouldn't mind taking a photo...
     
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  2. MarkeyJester

    MarkeyJester

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    Something about Sonic's eyes in "Dressing Up Sonic and Friends" is really weird... Tails looks so cute though! I also love what they did with Amy's fringe~
     
  3. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Get it on the wiki - I've been close to hunting down these things myself.

    We could do with scans of those arcade catalogues - there's a few machines in there I don't think we have documented on Sega Retro.
     
  4. Xilla

    Xilla

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    An indie game store near my old flat was selling those pale colour plushies in a closing down sale for £5 each many years ago. If I'd known how rare they'd become.....!
     
  5. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    I'm not very good at Japanese, but maybe this is one of those cases where they don't need to put a "&" between two things, as in they actually meant "a bag for keys and goods in general"?
     
  6. FollOw

    FollOw

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    These are so cool to see. I was in Japan a month ago looking for any sonic UFO catchers and I couldn't find anything outside of Sega joypolis...lots of Kirby though...
     
  7. Pengi

    Pengi

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    That could be it! I wasn't sure if maybe I'd gotten a character wrong or something.

    Unfortunately, they're really rare. I've only ever seen that one posted on Twitter. There's a prize catalogue on eBay, but it's fairly pricey for a small pamphlet.

    Interestingly, near the top right in this one, there's Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car cabinet concept art.

    --

    Does anyone have any idea where we might find more of these set pictures? The Japanese Sega Magazine from around 1997 would advertise current UFO Catcher prizes and other merchandise. What official Sega magazines existed in Japan in the early '90s? I imagine Sega Jack would have merch ads - does anyone here own any copies?
     
  8. ICEknight

    ICEknight

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    Oh, there's also the Anpanman ride where this replacement button came from:
    [​IMG]
    (It's just a white button with the bad guy's face)
     
  9. Zycor

    Zycor

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    Beats me.
    I can't read the tag very well but the Knuckles you're showing with the suction cup says "Jumbo Sega Sonic" in the biggest text. ジャンボ The rest of the text is blurry.
     
  10. LockOnRommy11

    LockOnRommy11

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    These plushies are so cute and cool, I'm not ashamed to say I'd have loved to collect these back in the day. Alas I was a baby, and in the UK... :colbert:
     
  11. Pengi

    Pengi

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    Thanks! I'll update the original post. I don't think there's anything important in the small text.
     
  12. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    I know the odds are about as low as finding a Sonic 1 proto, but if I ever won the lotto I want that magnificent carousel thing in the center of my game room.

    I also own a fairly mint 199X(1/2) UFO plushie. I will see if I can get a nice pic of it.
     
  13. Boxer Hockey

    Boxer Hockey

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    I got the basketball-playing Eggman at Mandarake in Tokyo a few years ago for like 500 yen. God, I'd kill for the rest of these.
     
  14. Pengi

    Pengi

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    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    From Crane Game Senki (クレーンゲーム戦記 - or "クレーンゲーム戦記 プライズグッズ大集合 SINCE 1990", in full).

    Lots of information here!

    There appears to be a couple of mistakes though.

    The one labelled セガソニックキーチェーン&キーホルダー ("SegaSonic Keychain & Key Holder", I think) with the 1994-05 release date seems to be a photo of the "Keychain Mascot Sonic the Fighters" set, which has a 1996 copyright. But the SegaSonic Keychain & Key Holder name and 1994 date must relate to something. Perhaps this set?:

    [​IMG]

    It's hard to tell from the photo, but these are tiny. If anyone here owns one of these, it would be much appreciated if you could post a photo of the fabric tag, which should have a set name and year. Or if anyone knows where that set photo came from, post it!

    --

    The one labelled SegaSonic no X'mas Set, 1992-11, is actually a photo of the X'mas Sega Sonic series, which has a 1994 date on the tag. I would guess that the name and date actually relates to these guys:

    [​IMG]

    They were just Christmas-ised versions of the 1992 SegaSonic and Friends 3 set, so the timing would match up.

    I don't suppose anyone has seen official set photos for these anywhere?
     
  15. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    You might have read this already but

    https://retrocdn.net/Category:Sega_Magazine_(JP)_scans

    There is (some) coverage of UFO catcher prizes in the Japanese Sega Magazine. This is all 1996/1997 though so it doesn't answer that specific question (unless it does - I haven't looked at it too closely).
     
  16. Pengi

    Pengi

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  17. FSF

    FSF

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    These prizes are of great interest to me.
    I live in Japan and would love to buy these prizes if I could find them.
     
  18. Wildcat

    Wildcat

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    I have Metal Sonic from Sonic Fighters. I got it years ago off the online store AnimeMate. Based in Japan. The store is no longer up though. They sold many video game and anime related toys but most of the old stuff was out of stock. You had to keep checking.

    Sadly he got damaged a bit. Not in shipping but after I had him awhile. I only ever displayed him on a shelf with other plushies but the metallic material he's made of peels easily. It's hard to describe what it is. Kind of rubber-ish. You know when you touch it.

    Anyway his legs being in the folded position caused some sticking so a little peeled away when I picked him up one day. I don't think anything could have prevented it except displaying him hanging from the string so none of it rubbed against itself.

    I still have him of course. He's in good shape and was perfect at first. The problem is a lot of these are made well...kind of cheaply. You can see felt is used in many areas. They're very delicate. Definitely nothing anyone should be handling much. Now that I think of it some could have been damaged grabbed by the claw too.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2020