Jazwares Sonic Racers Action Figures

Jazwares Sonic All Stars Racing Figures & Cars

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.

Knuckles on his dune-buggy style off-road racer. This vehicle is rather cool, with Knuckles inspired coloring, as well as continuing the metal theme from his shoes onto the wheel guards. The figure looks like it fits on there well too, and the gripping hands will surely help it. Jazwares didn't have anything to do with the design of the cars themselves, but they look pretty much game-accurate here.

Shadow on his motorcycle. For All-stars racing, they didn't need to come up with an all-new vehicle design. This one was easy to choose as it is the iconic motorcycle first seen used in Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) It appears to be somewhat less detailed here than it was in the original game, but it still looks quite cool. Notice the Shadow symbol in red on the fuel tank, it's a great detail and a cool touch to include this.

Here they all are, mint in the box. Interestingly, Sonic is the only one not in/on his vehicle. 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?

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.

Knuckles looks great with his off-road style vehicle. The tires have good traction and are made of rubbery/tire-feeling substance. The 'metal' parts are made of a silvery plastic, which does have a bit of shine to it. It rolls well, but has no front end steering ability.

There's a slot in the seat (seen here) for his tail so that he has an easier time of being placed on the vehicle. He's shown here wire-tied onto it, as the tie is descreet and really helps keep him on there, though the handlebar gripping action helps that as well. With a creative car that's well detailed and the good Jazwares sculpting, this is a great Knuckles item to get.

Shadow is the only one who has a slight degree of steering to his vehicle. The front handlebars can be turned just a little bit to the right and left. The bike is low to the ground, but will always tip over if you aren't holding onto it, or propping it on something. There is a tiny kickstand (on the bottom) which works on hard surfaces only. He stays on the bike purely by holding onto the handlebars, there are not seat modifications. The tires here are rubbery, with realistic motorcycle treads. The wheels are thick plastic, and the bike itself feels well constructed. It uses a mix of matte and shiny plastics to convey the different types of paint/metal that are found on it in the game. The Shadow symbol adds a great touch to the gas tank. The figure retains all the detail of the original, but now the hands are open so he can hold on.

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)

Jazwares Sonic Mini Racing Vehicles

These are the mini racers. They look almost the same as the larger figures above, but in this case the figure and vehicle are fused together, and they are not poseable. (the heads don't turn, as is sometimes common with figure/vehicle fusion toys. These are less expensive and come on the bubble card seen at left, rather than in a box. They released simultaneously with the above figure/vehicle combos. The box presentation is once again really nice here, with lots of attractive colors, and a cool engine block shaped bubble. It helps prevent bootlegging, and presents the car in an easy to see format that should be pretty safe in the stores. All photos in above section discovered by BleachXVizard, taken by ActionFigs.

Once again, all the bubble cards for these are the same, except for the name plate on the front. The backs always have this shot of Sonic in his car, and the logo. The shiny dot you see on the front says "Safety Tested" with a check mark. Notice the absence of any "Toys R Us" labeling, the dot merely says "From the Hit Game" All of the figures are packed slightly titlted downward for some reason, perhaps to expose the top better. The bubble and card are pretty large, likely as anti-theft, vs such a small item inside. A second clear inner shell keeps the figure in place inside.

Instead of using Knuckles on their small racers, they added Amy. Her pink 'bug style' car is a nice addition, and it shows their attention to detail, even in tiny sizes. She has her heart themed sticker on the spare and the hood, as well as 2-tone heart shaped tail lights. The mini Amy inside is nicely detailed, remember, this

is Jazwares first actual attempt at sculpting Amy as a figure of any kind, and they're starting off with a good job. You can see her spikes, dress, eyelashes, and eye paint as well as bracelets/glove cuffs. The axels to all the mini racers are metal, and it feels like the figure and vehicle are made of the same plastic substance, except for the wheels. Her wheels have no traction cut into them. Photos courtesy of Taaron

The Sonic car mini racer is nearly identical to the larger one, except that the 'vents' in the back are inexplicably switched to red here, where they were silver tone before. Otherwise, the tail lights are still textured, and everything that was painted on the larger one, appears

here as well. Sonic looks proportional in his car, and the car itself is that solid blue color, it's not covered in chip-able paint. His tires do not have traction. Also note that despite some (early claims) these are not pull-back-n-go racers, they just roll easily. He shows the same good attention to figure detail as the Shadow & the Amy. Photos courtesy of Taaron

Shadow mini-racer on his bike looks just about like the larger version, only he is totally non-pose-able. The bike also will not stand on its own. The tires do have traction though, and you can still spot the Shadow symbol on the gas tank. Notice that they detailed/painted the bottoms of his shoes, which is quite a nice touch, especially on something this small. Photos courtesy of Taaron.

This is how the vehicles relate in size, to one another. By far, Shadow's is the smallest, and his is propped up by the cars. Each of the mini racers is about 3 inches long, max and under 2 inches high, so they really are micro.

The Bottom Line:
Get these figures! At only 4.99 each, they're VERY affordable, and the cars are detailed really well for the small size. The characters inside are nicely done too, and with the metal axels, they roll well and should stand up to wear/play. They're also easy to display or store, everyone can fit them in somewhere.

These links should lead you to order pages on Toys R Us if you can't find these guys in your local stores. The TRU search function still leaves some to be desired, as they don't show up easliy. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3916254
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3916252
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3916244
Links provided by DioSoth

WARNING vs 'figure & vehicle racers Knuckles:
Due to packing & shipping & over wire-tie tightening, this figure may have broken legs. ALWAYS inspect your figure before you buy. The legs may be broken off at the hip. Several figures have been spotted with this break, MIB. Remember, if you order online, you have no control over broken figures getting shipped to you. It is something to watch out for, as this really wrecks the figure. Warning details provided by DioSoth