France Sonic Items Page 2

France had quite a few of its own items, but not nearly on the scale of Japan or the UK. Other countries also got a hold of the items as people shared and mailed things around. Some of these items may turn up in other Europe areas, but if it's generally considered to have originated in France, you can find it here. They were fairly good about them too, and made enough so that you will still encounter a few for sale. The quality was decent as well, so broken things are not common.

Sonic Gear Main Page * France Sonic Items 1 * France Sonic Items 2 *

History of Sonic Foil Exclusive Book Edition

This is The History of Sonic hardcover big book. It has a full review with lots of photos at USA Sonic Books. However, this is the special edition. Done by Pix n' Love of France, it's somewhat exclusive to there. However, you can order it via Pixnlove publishing's European Website (for however long they keep it active)
The only difference between the editions is the cover. This one has gold foil on a sort of satin/matte finish hardcover, while the other has a color cover. Photo & owned by UltimateFreiza.

Here is another set of glasses from France. These are all regular drinking glass size, and clear. Depending how you held the glass, the different side of the art would show. You can see they did the sort of mutating (But not yet recolored wrong to brown) Tails stock art, a Robotnick in ranting pose...and oddly enough Picky the pig (animal released from badnik) but here, he's standing up and has fingers. There are also 3 different poses for Sonic, including the seldom used 'arms crossed classic'. The "Back" of the glasses are all the same, in that it's just the forward-facing face, with the logo in red & black. These were made in 1992, so right-right after Sonic 2. A great & collectible set! ....If you can find them. Very classic, with good attention to adding lots of detail, it's just what to expect from interesting old items like these. Photo & owned by Or@ngeUnicorn1984

Danone is a dairy company in France. They have a sort of USA counterpart in "Dannon" which you will see does like yogurt & icecream. At some point in the 1990s, Danone made these little Sonic pins as a pack in/give-away with some of their products (but what?) There were 6 different ones in total. The reason the eyes look shiny/white here is because instead of using black enamel, they use the silvertone of the pin to fill in for the color. These pins are tiny, that's a regular size staple you see there. The first has Sonic in a heart, the next has an unusual sitting Sonic, 3rd is the winged title screen ring, next row has wind-surfing Sonic, Sonic & a random bush & classic finger waving Sonic. These aren't that common.

This is the "Sonic & Knuckles Le Guide Ultime" (Ulitmate Guide, probably) made by Cyril Direct. It's probably just a regular game guide (like all those Brady Games ones that get made) but the cover sure is odd. Look at stock art copy...sorta Knuckles with his super small fists. He's clearly standing on Robotnick's giant butt/back area? It's hard to tell because his arms are growing out of his neck, while his mustache has somehow gotten BEHIND his head. Sonic doesn't fare much better, he has a huge wierd mono spike thing, blobby body & strange shoes. Why does he have Robotnick on a leash? Is that a blue ribbon he's holding? It's like the illustrator they got barely had a grasp of anything before doing the cover. It's just very strange & indicates nothing of what the game might be like. Hopefully the interior is actually useful and not so strange.
Photo discovered by Piplupfan77

A cool clock!
This is a Sonic 2 themed wall clock. It was made in 1992 (so, right around the time of Sonic 2 release) It is flat, and sits a bit away from the wall. The edge is checkered, and features Sonic & Tails art running along it as

if the face were a loop from the game. The Sonic 2 logo is at the top, with the Japanese art of Sonic doing a peace sign/2 fingers in a ring of stars.
Look at the pendulum, it's Eggman in his egg-o-matic! He's hanging by a chain of 'rings', and has the spike-ball-dropper attachment on his vehicle. He really swings back and forth while the clock is ticking! You can literally "watch the clock" at Sonic 2 Wall Clock Footage, with that link to the video.

This clock is quite uncommon because you had to be a member of the Sega Fan Club France in 1992 AND win it as a prize to get it, it was not sold in stores. It is actually a simple thing, with plastic-like cardboard for the face, a super-simple clockworks box on the back, and metal rod to attach/swing the pendulum. It requires 1 battery (seen above) & has plastic hands. The round metal part has rusted over time, but the clock still works after all these years. It has no yellowing or cracking. The copyright is 1991. Photo & owned by: Jacques MEULI

France Exclusive DSLite Black Statue Pack

This special pack was only sold in France! It has a black DS Lite, 15th Anniversary Sonic figure/statue & the game Sonic Rush.

This is a collectors' set that came in a specially branded 15th anniversary box. Inside the big box ('tied' with the illusion of string printed graphic) is a smaller box that has the black DS lite, the normal looking game Sonic Rush & the Sonic 15th Anniversary display figure on base. (This shows up as a pre-order item elsewhere) The yellow label on the top lists what you get (in French) while the faux "stuck on" Sonic name tag says "The Pack Anniversary" It was sold in 2006. This is a cool collectible item pack! Photo discovered by: Lemonyuri

Sonic Tumbler Drinking Glasses!
This set of 5 glasses is from France. However, they look like something that would be from Sega World Sydney. France would usually take a few cues from the UK comic, so something "Very SWS" is slightly unusual for them.
The glasses are two sided, which is extra quality / someone was really making an effort for design and not being cheap. Each glass has a side-stamp showing that it was made in France, and the usual copyright/Sega info but otherwise doesn't make a lot of sense.

Each glass features Sonic and the classic logo on one side, and a different character or graphic on the other. But one of these images isn't like the others....
The first glass has a scribble background with the slightly odd & seldom used 'standing on 1 leg Sonic', the 2nd has the forward facing-face, third has finger-waving Sonic, the third is the same forward-face (but why) and the fourth has finger-waving Sonic again, but this time it's the other finger/or the image is reversed.
The backs of the glasses have Robotnick/cartoon/AoStH, who, as you remember SegaWorld Sydney has as its favorite / they never acknowledge the games nor the 'eggman' name or look, ever. The first glass has the unusual/seldom-used art of him 'stalking' or 'sneaking' with hands above his head. The 2nd glass is fist shaking Knuckles, the third has 'surprised-hop' Tails, the fourth has....Japanese Sonic carrying Amy Rose (from Sonic CD) & the 5th has 'angry Robotnick'.

Notice that every instance of Sonic PURPOSELY has his arms colored to blue.
At this point, they were absolutely attempting to re-design him at SWS. Then, it seems like when they ran out of art, they chose a Japanese one even though the style doesn't match at all & the Sonic is completely different looking. It's also an odd choice because SWS never favored (did they even acknowlege the existance of??) Amy Rose because of its desire for Sally Acorn from the Archie Comics and Sat-Am Sonic show. (Notice how they never use SatAm Robotnick, who looks very different from the weekday one, but they want to use Sally--who was never on a weekday. So they mix up games, comics, and two TV shows worth to try and construct their own world of Sonic. It's very interesting and that effort is represented across this set of shot glasses--which aren't even from Australia.)

Naturally, actual glass-glasses set isn't as interesting to kids as plushes, clothes or toys (in a general reference--of course some kids love collectibles at any age) so these glasses aren't that common. Also, being glass...they can break, or the deisgns likely could chip if they were used a lot, further contributing to their uncommon status. Photos & owned by

Here's the usual copyright stuff like "Licensed by ELG BV."
But then, it's numbered with Robotnick A Reaction (normal) 2 Tails (normal) but then 3 Porker Lewis (He's no where to be found!) then 4 Robotnick En Colere (ok) 5 Johnny (Johnny who? Johnny Lightfoot? Also no-where) then 6 LE Renard What is that? No one had that for a name? The numbered things don't make sense. The STC England comic never had 'blue arms Sonic' and didn't use AOSTH Robotnick either, so listing their characters makes no sense on the glasses either. It is a mystery.

A puzzle!
This is an uncommon puzzle from France. It seems to have a little bit of combination art on it. The Sonic/wooden bridge bit looks like Game Gear game cover type stuff, but then look at cute little "lookin' out" Tails there. He's CERTAIN to be a seldom-seen Japanese stock art piece because he is actually cute and well done. (Remember this was the era where they let out less than stellar Tails art and started mis-coloring him sometimes too, in merch)
You've got Eggman up there in an Egg o Matic, some Buzz Bombers, a Batbrain, a Newttron & a chop chop fish too. The sky is mostly pink, and with the light green grass and light blue water, it gives the puzzle a mostly pastel look, save for Sonic himself and the badnicks. It's almost an 80s flavor to the art colors chosen.

This puzzle had a bonus, too:
It comes with that poster you see there of the picture, as well as the puzzle itself. It's a nice touch to include a real size poster. The box has "Funny Way" written on it but why? It's in English it would probably confuse French kids, is that the name of the line of puzzles? The actual maker of it is written in the white square there "Editions Nathan", although that part is difficult to read. Editions Nathan is famous in France for books & games. Photo & owned by Sonicx89

In 2020 a mysterious blue book appears!
This book showed up in French searches but not much is known about it. It's clearly some sort of non-story/perhaps coffee-table type tome about Sonic...but what's its deal?
The title is "Generations Sonic The Elegance of the Hedgehog Blue" (That's its direct translation) by Benjamin Benoit published by 3rd Publishing.
The cover has just his shoes in a white circle for the picture. The background is a grid of rings & little round Sonic heads, the same as the dot for the "i" in the title. The head's a bit scrubby looking, it isn't the ST logo head or even a trace of any stock head. It's more like a jagged sort of ball or something.
Do you know about this book? You can write in for credit with details.

It has now been confirmed that this set is from McDonald's of France when it did a Sonic & Pucca Happy Meal theme. You can see the kids using the round/spin toy in the ad. What's neat about the ad is it does use a little bit of animation, but that it actually looks pretty good for Sonic & Shadow? You can see the ad at Sonic France McDonalds Youtube. Ad found & mystery solved by Spearmint Pony

So what are the things? 2 and 3 are spinning top launchers. The figure on the top is either Sonic, or Shadow and you could battle the tops (like a primitive Beyblade) by launching from the spinner and having them spin at each other. But what's item number 1? It looks like some kind of unweildy pencil crossed with a measuring tool? The back end has Sonic...but there's some kind of red cog-wheel going on as well...what would it do?

If it is a writing item, it'd be difficult to use with that big thing on the end of it. Also, it looks like there's a green square in the Sonic thing? Number 6 seems to be two things together, perhaps some kind of a plastic pencil case and what's clearly a chaos emerald themed key chain. Why is it 2 things in one? Because sometimes if a company decides an item is slightly lackluster, they'll add a 2nd easy one to it, which may be the case here. The emerald is yellow and it's keychain clip is clearly plastic. (So, not advisable to actually use for fear of losing it)
The last 2 items are the Sonic & Shadow spinners you see in the ad up there. Pushing the trigger type button obviously sets these rolling so you'd...roll them at each other? The "Sonic X" Sonic/Shadow rivalry is implied in the ad that the kids were going to duel the toys. You can write in for credit if you know what 1 and 6 are.

Here is a pair of kids sneakers that were found in France around the time of the Sonic & Knuckles release. They're clearly to help promote the game with the SK symbol on the tongue there. There are nice, other Sonic elements all around as well, such as the

These are kids-size shoes, as you can see here they're not very big when seen with the Happy Meal toys from Sonic 3 that are also in the photo.

Sonic & Sega logo on the velcro strips, Sonic word on one side & the classic logo font in blue on each heel. There is also a pattern of simple silouette Sonic faces (in blue) for the fabric on the edge of where the foot goes in. The sole does not seem to have any specific detail. They DO have a light up feature/lights flash when you step. When these were made, such a feature was a very new thing.
What's they mystery?
Who made the shoes? The brand has rubbed off because it seems it was only under the sole of the clearly-quite-used shoes. The clue to solving it is the shape of the treads on the bottom. Notice how it is made of paw prints like a dog. They wrap up the sides of the sole too, showing 4 little paw shapes in arches along the front. The manufacturer probably uses the same sole pattern for 'kids sneakers' regardless of the franchinse/branding that they're doing for the uppers. You can write in if you know more about these shoes. Photo & owned by

Car-wrapping is a fast way to create a large, travelling advertisement. Some where in France, Sega sponsored the wrapping of this mini-smart-type car with a Sonic Unleashed theme. It has a 2 sides and back wrap (but not the roof) which sows the logo, the game box and the running cg Sonic/some with the werehog hand going on. There is a phrase at the bottom with the sega logo in French which

seems to translate to something like "Always a bit stronger than you" C'est toujours fort que toi . Which...I guess is sort of trying to be a slogan but doesn't make 100% of sense...nor does the choice of a teeny tiny car to feature giant werehog or so on there. Photos discovered by The Tumblex

The company Aymax Sperl creates this "Sherpa Fleece Poncho" for the French market in fall season of 2023.
It is probably a 'fleecy fabric' liner material on the inside of the hood (where its white) with the 'fleecy feel fabric' that those blankets are made of for the exterior. It's smoother so you can get the bright, good quality CG desgins to work well/look right as they do here in the photo.
The design is an all-over pattern of cg gold rings of various sizes, with thumbs up modern Sonic in some of them. The background is a plain dark blue. It's an all right design if you didn't already have something similar. And, it is poncho shaped, but doesn't do what most ponchos do (be a light hooded thing to block rain and wind) so this is more like an indoor snuggle type thing maybe. Still, it is good to see a company stepping in with Sonic for France.

Here are some collectible 'emoji' style figures from the company Alcara in France. These continue that 'chibi' or little-big-heads style with simplified features that got started with Boom, and is now applied to any character classic or modern. There's 10 in the set to collect, and each one is on a white base with the modern logo. You can get Metal Sonic, standing Sonic, sit Sonic, strange Shadow, modern Eggman, cry Tails, waving Tails, happy Amy, sleep Super Sonic and normal Knuckles. Because these are ceramic, they're glazed, not painted, so that's why the details look as they do/kind of chunky.

There are some odd choices going on here though...
Why is Metal Sonic the 'false one' from that one Sega art where he had heart-shaped eyes? Look closely! This one does. He's also missing his 3rd head point. Shadow's spikes are slightly tipped up, but he just looks unfitting and bizzarre in the emoji style. Why choose crying tails? Sleeping Super Sonic also makes no sense, it's a hyped-up energy form, it's not like he could sleep when like that anyway=this would be the one least likely to depict as sleeping and yet...here it is.
Why ceramic?
France seems to get a LOT of ceramic things (that aren't mugs as those are usually ceramic) It's understandable in the past when not everything could be plastic but this is continuing it. Not that it's a bad thing, these will literally never fade/discolor/age oddly unlike plastics ceramics are incredibly stable in collections. It's an interesting question still, though.