What to call this line of figures: Vinyl.
These 2 were spotted at ToyFair 2015. Both feature a 'transportation method' for their feet. Will all characters be released with something like this? Knuckles has sort of rocket (with propellor?) shoe clamps for his shoes, and Sonic is shown on a yellow hoverboard. (Carefully set up to not look like Riders, but to imitate it--accusations of 'cashing in' are thrown around--but really, Riders is old by 2015) These figures are supposed to be larger than the regular line, at 8 inches.

In the Gallary you can see more of Tomy's 8 inch figures, these are made of vinyl instead of their usual plastic, and are much larger than their normal line. There's Sonic on a hover board, & Knuckles with some kind of propeller shoe attachements. Look at Knuckles face though, he's having a facial expression. (New for Tomy)
Despite the figures' larger sizes, they seem to still have the same quite limited articulation of the smaller figures. Hopefully vinyl means they're sturdier, though. (Knuckles photo has pixelation problem and black blob left in by factory edit) How much will these figures cost?

Sadly, Tomy has chosen a fully open front box. The figure is strapped in with plastic cord, as is the hover board accessory. However, open front boxes are rarely a good thing, because the figure can be easily scuffed, dirtied, scratched and broken...before you even get the opportunity to buy it. With a larger, costly figure like this one, that's the opposite of what anyone wants to see. Hopefully this package type will change.