Sonic the Hedgehog Action Figures & Emeralds Toy Island

Toy Island Sonic Action Figures & Chaos Emeralds

The "Figures & Emeralds" line is Toy Island's last #1 line. It was brought to stores after the the other 2 lines, which accidentally created 'scarcity' for these figures. Some areas got them before others, and people assumed they'd missed them, when they really weren't out yet.

These figures are, for the most part, the BEST set you could buy from Toy Island. They beat Mega Bot hands down for sculpting. Their Sonic and Shadow are something you WANT to own, as the head sculpts are really on par. Be sure to see every comparison photo below, you'll be amazed!
But that's not to say the line doesn't suffer in some areas. One areas' name is Chris. "Action Figure" is NOT his title...just read below to see why. Their articulation is less than the Space Fighters, but the limbs are all quite nice, and hand-quality is consistent.

You can already see that this face is far better than the previous lines. He resembles the large Bendy Sonic in expression.

You'll notice these figures have thicker limbs than the others, which actually look MORE proportional and nice. The others seem 'noodly' by comparison, and are actually more frail. The problem is, that they limit the range of motion, and didn't bother to joint the knees or elbows. Sonic also has a bigger body, but his head is also larger, so it all works out. He has nice hands, and one is doing the 'thumbs up'. His spikes are fine, and they did tread the bottom of his shoes.

These figures suffer from very little, if any, overspray, as Sonic demonstrates.

Here is the Megabot Sonic for comparison. This new Sonic is TONS better, just take a look!

Here's Cream the Rabbit and Cheese her Chao! Cream is made of really light-weight plastic, and feels hollow. This figure has not much to it. It is also small, so she is in proportion to the other figures. Nice.

As you can see, Creams' ears are one with her head. This is a moulding issue, and would be tough to skirt without a seriously complex mould. It looks fine anyway. Cream has the same problem as Amy, because she's in a skirt, her legs don't really do much other than pivot. Her likeness is good though, she doesn't seem ulgy or unproportional. Her paint is nice and solid as well. Cheese is also nice, although he doesn't have 'fades' for the yellow tips. You can turn Cheese's head, but that's it. Cream is 3.5 inches tall, and Cheese is 2.5. (Or about 9 and 6 cm)

By now you may have noticed a rather distinct line around the bottom of the figures' heads. They ALL have this. It's another mould issue, where the head is made in 2 parts and fused there, leaving the line. Why is it ultra-visible on these guys? Who knows, because their other lines have it too...but it's SO far down toward the "neck" that you don't notice it unless you turn them upside-down.
So this line is actually a retro-problem. They solved it for most of their figures, and then failed to solve it on these later guys. It's very mysterious to see...but it's not so disruptive that you don't want the figures. Just odd.

Shadow is another major improvement.
Like Sonic, his face is LOADS better than any other Shadow they've done. His body is a better sculpt, not that flat triangle thing, his shoes are much more decent, and this one has a nicer paint job, which is important in painting on an all-black figure.

This guy is actually a BIT lighter black than the other, it's not just the camera. He still looks fine though.

Size comparison for the new Emeralds. These are a better quality than before, with smoother surfaces and better transparency to the plastic. Very nice!

FE Shadow lacks the red border coming down the side of his eye, but oh well.Look at MegaBot Shadow! Nasty over-spray on his eyes, horrible expression, bad body, goofy lower face...no contest here!

Even the FEET are better. Look at the rounded more realistic shoes to the right, the fists are also larger, which is a more accurate to the game look.
As you can also see, the spikes were good before, and remain so on this guy. They still havn't bothered with his hover shoe-soles though, and none of the Toy Island ones ever did.

The sculpt for him does have an error in it. Did you notice it before? It's that the 2nd middle spike turns up instead of down. On all other Shadows the 2 spikes in the middle of his head always turn down. Having it turn up instead is a mistake, however, it's difficult to notice as it doesn't really look out of place here. All the spikes are well sculpted and normally colored so it's something that can easily be over-looked. Shoe bottom photo and upturn spike photo provided by JSHedgehog.

Chris is unfortunatly where they slip up on this line. This is not an "Action Figure". He only articulates at the shoulders and neck. His ankles do not even turn. What happened here??

The Chris defenetely needs work here. The lack of articulation is just bizarre, I mean he's practically a statue. He also LOOKS stiff. There's no emotion or anything to him. Granted, he's the only human they've done besides Eggman, but still...
Tha paint job is good, and his colors seem pretty spot-on with the show. His hair has the same 'smooth' quality that everyone else does, so that's no problem. His hands though, are *mirror images* of eachother, which is plain lazy and contributes to his stiffness. His face is somewhat plain, and you can't really tell what kind of an expression he is having. It's rather neutral.
So the Chris isn't offensivly ugly or bad like some of their previous Sonics, he just doesn't action at all, and is lack-luster.

Her body has a different style than the other figures. It looks like she is leaning foreward, even when she's not supposed to be.

Like all the figures on this line, Rouge is quite nice! The likeness is really good for Toy Island. She is VERY close to having a too-small head though. It's right on the borderline for her size, but she looks natural enough so they didn't cross it. She's articulated at the hip, shoulder and neck. Her wings don't do anything (they are soft smooth plastic) and you can't rotate her hands or feet, which is a shame because she'd look nice holding an emerald. She has minor "standing up" problems. Keeping her clean is a good idea, as her head plastic is (of course) white, but has a non-glossy surface and may trap/hold dirt if you're not careful.

Her hands are well done, with realistic wrinkles for the gloves and lady-like fingers. It's too bad you can't rotate her hands.

This group shot shows she' just a touch shorter than Sonic, but her head is actually smaller than Cream's! (not counting their ears) This was done to maintain a 'sexy' look for her, but they have to be *really* careful to keep her in proportion or she'll start looking wierd.

This close up reveals her eye lid paint does not go all the way to the edge of her eye, it's remarkable that it doesn't make her look strange! She also has a drop of paint for a 'lower lip' which is present in the show, but not in the games. It doesn't detract from her look. Because her head is put together lower, the ridge on the bottom is MUCH less noticeable, the other figures should be as lucky.

Figures & Emeralds
These are, by FAR, Toy Islands' best effort yet. These are figures you want to display, not hide because of embarassing expressions and ugly sculpts. They have consistent, solid sculpting for the heads that is accurate and proportional. The hands are all a realistic, good quality sculpt. There are no blatant paint errors running rampant or 'e-z break' action for these guys. The Chaos Emeralds they come with are also an improvement on their old ones, but there are less colors. (no green emerald, if you are wondering) If you're going to buy a Sonic the hedgehog action figure or line right now, make it this one!

That's not to say they are flawless.
-There's the issue with hands and feet that won't turn, even though it's simple to do and would help out.
-There's the Chris who can't really move.
-The line on the figures' chins could have been minimized because they've proven they could do it on other lines.
-They are not really posable, and won't stand up if you do

These are just little picky things that are simple to fix next line, and easy enough to overlook if you're buying. If Toy Island can keep up this quality, and then keep doing little improvements, they will have an EXCELLENT Sonic line that will really draw in the crowds. They CAN beat ReSaurus, and already have with this Sonic's head. Only tiny things hold these back from being really great, but SonicGear really recomends these as a good buy for your Sonic collection.

Figures & Emeralds Packaging Note!
In 2010, it is becoming apparent that the glue they use to hold the cards on CAN degrade. It may have to do with the humidity/dryness/positioning of the figure in your home, but DO be on the look-out for bubbles that fall off or peel away from the backing. This will only become MORE common as time goes on. Figures aren't necisarily meant to be kept MIB forever, so these can show signs of age/drop your figure on the floor (effectively de-boxing itself) if you hang the box from a peg on the wall. It's just a general reminder to watch over your figures (the weight of the toy pulls down on the bubble, if hung) for any signs of glue failure, and take action if needed. Info by: DioSoth