Classic Brittish Sonic the Hedgehog Clothing Page 3

As more classics are discovered, the history of Sonic shirts in the UK spreads to Page 3. Pre-Sonic adventure there was still plenty to choose from, though none of it is that easy to get, especially today. A theme you'll also find on this page will be 'promotional shirts' which were used as give-aways for if you pre-ordered Sonic games, or to celebrate the launch of games. (Sometimes, shirts would become generally available in stores despite being just a logo for the latest game instead of an actual design)

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This shirt has a positively giant logo for Sonic 2. The large colorful art and well styled Sonic leaning out of the classic star circle make this a real classic. It's not that common to see shirts with such huge solid designs these days, which also helps it stand out. Naturally, this came out right around Sonic 2 on the Megadrive. Photo Credit: OrangeUnicorn 1984

What do you do when 3 Sonic games are to be released all in one day? Why, release a shirt, too! This one says "A Hedgehog for all formats", which was indeed true on that day. The games announced are: Sonic CD, Sonic Chaos and Sonic Spinball, all set for Nov. 23rd. The graphic of Sonic is nice too, as it's pretty 3D looking and not the same old image that's been used a zillion times. Photo Credit: Orange Unicorn 1984.

A second shirt for Sonic 2's release. It was also available in the USA. This is another nice one, this time with well-shaded Sonic &Tails standing around in front of the large checkered "2" which tried to become iconic back in the day. This shirt is also seldom-seen, but looks to be a good addition to anyone's collection with it's solid and un-repetitive yet classic design. It was available at Burtons stores for 10.99 pound. Photo credit: Flare the Hedgehog (left) and Sam Brown of England (right)

This is a rather cute or clever shirt. A plain gray shirt has a fake pocket drawn on, and Knuckles is popping out of it! This appeared around the time of Sonic 3 when Knuckles was still really a rival character, so it makes sense to have him 'under cover' in the pocket. He's watching over running stock Sonic and the phrase "Just can't be caught!" which is rather appropriate. With it's rather charming design, this is a good old shirt to collect...if you can find it.

This is a very strange tie! Is it official? Is it really from England? All these are a mystery. As you can see the art style is very 'scratchy' and strange. Sonic is climbing a dirt cliff out in space above an island of palm trees in the clouds. There's also another island slapped on above him, and he's 'lit' by strange yellow light. Saturn or a ringed planet appears in the starry sky. With it's odd style and bizzarre composition it comes across as rather tacky...but it is still interesting to see.

This tie uses badnik robots for it's design! Jumping up Sonic is among Rollers, caterkillers, bat-bots and Dr. eggman in his egg-o-matic complete with checker-wrecker ball. This is clearly a Sonic 1 theme tie, though the color scheme of the robots is changed. (as you recall, caterkiller is purple in the game etc) This is another TieRack tie.

This nice green tee comes from the Segaworld of London. (You can see the Segaworld logo on the tag, if you look closely) Colored shirts (other than black/white/blue) were not that common for Sonic the hedgehog merchandise. This is a rather cleverly designed classic piece, with a detailed huge running Sonic right on the edge. (he does not wrap to the back) It looks nearly airbrushed, so it isn't a standard stock-art. The likeness is good though, with nothing really off model. The size of the design and positioning make this shirt stylish and edgy for it's time. Great for collectors!

Now here's something interesting. This is a varient tie. Varients (color-wise) were not that common with classic items such as this, so it is curious to see. This is a different version of the tie seen on UK Classic Clothes 1, only this one is more subtle and darker. (The other is full of explosions) The artwork here is also positioned differently, revealing more of Tails.

Here's an interesting graffiti-theme shirt. This has the somewhat less-common 'gettin ready to go' Sonic stock art placed to look like he's just got done marking up a brick wall. A handbill on the wall says "Robotnik Rules" but a large "NOT!" has been scrawled over it, along with a wacky drawing of Robonik's face and the words "Dead Head!". The phrase 'dead head' must be a somewhat UK equivalent of 'loser' while in the USA it's associated with the band, The Grateful Dead, sort of disrupting its impact depending on who sees it. This is quite a tiny shirt, meant for 2 or 3 year olds...oddly enough. Usually it took a bit of an older fan to appriciate such wordy items...

Here's an interesting Sonic 2 shirt. But, they've drawn a line right trhough the words, and also chosen to cover up Sonic's hand. It says "Zone" something but...without another photo, this shirt isn't going anywhere. What makes it interesting is, no stock Sonic! His climbing/crouching pose is all new, and his expression is also mostly unique. This is very unusual for shirts of the time. You can also see Tails near the top, and he's not that awful stock art either that was popular at the time. This must be an interesting design, if you could see the whole thing. This one could be found for 10.99 pound at Woolworths stores. Photo credit Ricky Lee

Here's another shirt to celebrate the release of Sonic 2. This one is similar to, but not the same as the above black one. This 2 is instead flat and glossy, not 3D and turned to an edge. The Sonic and Tails appear the same, but since they've chosen to put their dot *right on Tails' head* (yeah, couldn't of used anywhere else on the shirt, JUST his face) you can't really tell. Still, the design is crisp, bright and on-model. Look at the tag though! It clearly says "Sonic Gear". Did the website exist at the time of the tag? No. This is the first appearance of such a tag. Again, 10.99 Woolworths. Photo credit Ricky Lee

Though he never actually played a sport in a game, Sonic & sports as a theme comes up more often than one might imagine. Here he is again with a soccer/football on this black & white tee. The shirt itself gains a sporty look from the black sleeves and collar. Sonic is a somewhat-modified stock art, meant to look like he's kicking the ball. The size of the ball however, makes it a little unclear exactly what's going on though. Still, if you enjoy soccer/football, this is definitely an excellent classic shirt to add to your collection. Photo provided by: Rhia

Here's a really odd piece. It's actually most reminicant of bootlegs, where they try to hide Sonic among clothing to 'get away' with their faking ways. However, this strange long sleeve shirt is the real deal. (unfortunately?) Sonic is dressed in a very bizzarre (due to his spike) watchcap/hat, a sports styled shirt (with Sonic written on it) baggy jeans and more traditional styled sneakers. He already wears sneakers...who knows why he needed a new pair for this "hip hop" attempt at a shirt. Also note: he has a gold earring through his second spike, and there's no way physics would allow the hat like that. Though rather OOC, this is still an interesting shirt to see. Photo provided by: Rhia

While tees and even sweatshirts were fairly common, outerwear such as this windbreaker, were not. This is a windbreaker style jacket (note the shiny cloth) with elastic cuffs and waist. The back has a combination of embroidery and felt-like material sewn on in a very large patch to form a rather odd-perspective for Sonic. Above, is a smaller Eggman/Robotnick head (his design here appears to be in the 'between' stages when they had not decided on his look outside Japan) The jacket may be rare, but it has a rather dynamic look thanks to the large quality patch. Photo provided by: Rhia

This classic shirt adds a word and Robotnick to give the rather large design a different look. Sonic's name appears in the classic logo, but then again at the bottom, with the word "Spin" to describe the crouched/ready to spin Sonic stock art they chose. Also, oddly enough, a small Robotnick appears near the bottom, but they've chosen to duplicate his graphic 3 times with overlap, perhaps to try and get a sense of movement out of the running Doctor. This shirt is uncommon. Photo provided by: Rhia

Here is a promotional tee from the release of Sonic & Knuckles. The S&K symbol is an absolutely marvelous feat of graphic design. The clean lines of the symbol and its instantly-recognizable characters are fantastic. Here, they didn't need to do any more than drop the symbol on the front of this white tee (the speck is the copyright) and release it. It stands as it is, without need of klutter or even a title. Photo provided by: Rhia

This is a little kid size Sonic sweatshirt. It has likely had all the art re-drawn from classic stock arts. Sonic's shading is somewhat unusual, and his hand is rather small. The Tails is clearly based off of the one that peeks out from behind the "2" in the Sonic 2 graphic...but it too is slightly different. Eggman (not Robotnick-ified yet) is shown peering over the edge of the ring that Sonic is in. It makes for a rather different looking presentation, along with the colored stripes on the sleeves and the over-all color mixture. This sweatshirt was not common. Photo by: JaQ . S