Tomy's Emoji Obssession continues in 2018.
This is a page from their 2018 toy catalog, that features the 'refresh' of their Emoji-type boom plushes. The 'refresh' part just means they updated/changed the expressions, it's still the same dolls. This line up features Love Sonic, Happy Tails, Happy Knuckles, Happy Sonic, Mad Shadow & Mad Eggman.
These are 'weighted to sit up freely', so, the bottom of the body is likely full of weight-pellet material since the heads are so large. The rest of the description there says they'll be found in an open top tray box on store shelves.
These are fairly cute, as they're 'chibi-fied' with tiny bodies, no legs and big heads. The heads are also flattened, to a degree (look at Sonic's spikes) to make them flatter & more like an emoji disk. Shadow looks more concerned or dissapointed than he does mad, Knuckles has lost his 'boom styling' & Eggman seems silly here. How much will these cost?
As promised, in spring 2018, the Emoji plushes pictured in the catalog above begin to appear in stores. These are shown in a Toys R Us, which, also went out of business later on in 2018. As you can see here, the dolls' heads are quite thin/flat, with features like Sonic's spikes "pressed" to one side to give an 'illusion' of 3D. They're flat to be more like the smily-face-emoji disk things from phone texting.
With this photo you can really see that the tiny shoes, little hands and bodies aren't really flat, it's just the heads. Yes the bodies are thinner than normal & "chibi-fied" but...
Is this a really cute look for plush, or is it just odd?
Opinion zone: It's kind of odd. Why flatten just the head? Why give it a body at all? There HAVE been "Face pillows" where it's just the character's face which might have made a bit more sense here.
Photo by Taaron
Here are 2 expressions Emoji Sonic plushes displayed in the store. These are (from the catalog page above) Love Sonic & Worry Sonic. They're pretty accurate to the catalog, although look at the ears: they've mostly fallen forward. This is an effect of them being super flat, like the head. The flatness means there's less to stitch to, to 'position' the ear so it doesn't just curl forward. The fabric is soft & they're fairly large.
Photo by Taaron
Additional Info
- Year: 2019
- Region: International
- Brand: Tomy