The game "Sega All Stars Racing" features lots of famous Sega characters, so of course Sonic & the main cast would be included in the racing action! Jazwares made two styles of figures and vehicles to celebrate the release of the game. There are figures with vehicles, and mini racers. The minis are much smaller, and have the figure fused to their vehicle. The figure/vehicle combo toys feature a 3 inch scale figure that's fully posable, with hands that hold the steering device, as well as their real rolling vehicle they used in the game!
Here's Sonic in his blue sports car. The car, of course, was designed in the game to resemble Sonic some-what, with over sized fins on the back (for the spikes) and a red theme to the wheels. Notice the tiny SonicTeam logo for the hood ornament. This is the exact same 3 inch scale figure (as is on the individual line) but, the hands have been opened/re-sculpted so he can hold the steering wheel for driving action! This is a great touch to the line.
Interestingly, Sonic is the only one not in/on his vehicle inside the box. Could it be because his is the only actual car like item, and they didn't want to hide the fact that you're getting a whole figure PLUS the vehicle? The boxes are meant to hang or sit on a shelf, due to their design. With a nice big front window, but solid sides, they make a good presentation that will likely hold up in the store. Each box has the game logo, the character name, and "From the hit game" in the dot. The holographic sticker proclaims it is "Safety Tested". Notice the absence of any Toys R Us labelling or 'sticker space' on these boxes. This should indicate good news for buyers if more than one place will release these. But, where is Tails? TODO: TAILS HAS BEEN DONE, make article and edit this text if he's not on sonicgear
The box is rather plain, and all boxes are identical except for the name plate on the front. The end has either the logo on it, or the exact same picture of Sonic in his car that's seen on the back. The 'spin shape' and checkered flag/light rays theme is all over the box.
These boxes display the figures & vehicles very well, if you're an MIB collector, you can still really admire the item inside and it makes a good presentation in the store.
Sonic's car presented a unique challenge: fitting a figure with huge feet inside it, and still making it proportional. Jazwares accomplished it though, and he fits easily in or out of his car. He had a bit of trouble gripping the wheel (it is small for his arm articulation) but he can indeed do it. The car is nicely detailed, with LED-look for the tail lights, Sonicteam logo on the front, and shiny silver paint for the accents. Curiously, the wheels are far less detailed than any of the other racers, and are also made of smooth hard plastic, which means he'll get hardly any traction on your surfaces. The 'spikes' of the car are made of hard rubber rather than plastic, to avoid break-ability. The seat of the car is a realistic racing style seat, and they did bother to paint it. Caution: sometimes Sonic's arm is set with the elbow in front, so you'll have to rotate the shoulder to get him right.
The Bottom Line:
This is another great line out of Jazwares. The figures didn't lose any quality, and the 'open hands' give you more action options for everyone in this scale. The vehicles are good, but Knuckles & Shadow could have been improved with some front end steering. It likely would have been too difficult to accomplish with Sonic's car. Sonic's car lacks wheel detail that's clearly shown on the box back, though. Vehicle max length is around 7 inches. At 12.99 each they may seem a bit steep at first, but remember that the figure by itself was 5--however, front-end steering would have thrown a 'quality bone' in there a little better to cushion the fact that it's basically 8$ for each vehicle. The figures and vehicles feel sturdy though, and it doesn't seem like much could go wrong with them. (ie, no easy-chip paint, little flaky bits or things that could easily break off) The axels are metal as well, adding sturdyness. With good packaging, 2 toys in 1, good paint, good wear-resistance and nice detailing, these are something you should pick up!
Remember: Stuff like this only costs MORE later so collect now!
Released Feb. 2010 (along with the Sega Allstars Racing Game)
Disaster can strike racers before you get them home...as this Sonic shows. His whole torso has been cut clean off while still in the box. Something broken like this should NEVER be bought. there's no way to fix him. The white dots at the tops of the legs indicate where the plastic was snapped, not just dis-jointed. Wierd things do happen.
Photo by BelovedDoll