To mark Sonic's 35th anniversary, SEGA has decided to lay on a little event, complete with a rather lovely collectible. The Japanese publisher has just announced a porcelain statue of the famous blue hedgehog, going for the tidy sum of 1 million yen — around $6,300 (that's €5,595.34 at the current exchange rate) — and limited to just 50 pieces worldwide. Yes, 50 units only, which means you'll have to fight tooth and nail to get your hands on one. Dubbed "Infinite Blue", the porcelain figure goes on sale in Japan from 9 October. There's even a video of more than 18 minutes showing how it was designed and made. Got a bit of time on your hands?
Handmade by Japanese artisans using centuries-old techniques
Inevitably, behind that eye-watering $6,300 price tag lies some genuine Japanese craftsmanship. SEGA has teamed up with porcelain brand YOYOYO to create the statue alongside two workshops from Arita, a town in Saga Prefecture considered the birthplace of Japanese porcelain. The model was designed by 224porcelain, a company that blends the 400-year-old traditional techniques of Hizen Yoshida porcelain with digital 3D design technology.
The statue is then finished by Riso Kiln, a workshop based on the site associated with Lee Sam-pyeong, regarded as one of the founding fathers of Japanese porcelain. The blue used for Sonic comes from gosu, a cobalt-based mineral pigment renowned for holding its colour over time. The whole thing was conceived as a piece capable of lasting several generations — in other words, it's built to be handed down.
Ikuzo Ikebukuro!
SEGA is making a proper event of it, too: Sonic Infinite Blue will be shown to the public from 9 October at the 'Sonic the Exhibition: Across Generations' show, held at the Ikebukuro Parco shopping centre in Tokyo. Five pieces will go on sale on site, first come, first served. For the rest, a lottery opens the same day on the official YOYOYO online store, with deliveries planned for Asia, the Americas, Europe and Australia.
With only 50 pieces available and a starting price of around $6,300, you'd imagine this statue's value will shoot up in the years to come. And people say gaming isn't a rich man's hobby.
