Does anyone remember video game licensing back in the day? I was born in 1976 so I grew up with gaming as it was new each generation. I was a toy fan as well, rocking Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Go-Bots, the various knock-offs – many I preferred because they were often different colors that I liked more. Back to the subject here though, video game licensing back then was nearly non-existent except for the “big names” and even then, it was hit or miss (I remember Street Fighter II crossing over with GI Joe or something but not much else). I do not remember seeing Super Mario coloring books for instance, shoot I don’t remember Pac-Man coloring books and only ever saw one Transformers coloring book during this period. Today, video game licenses are all over the place, especially toys.
Sega Genesis Merch Goes Small
Sega’s Genesis was, arguably, their only real success in the console market – nothing else touched it in sales or market share. Sadly, they were not keen in the late 80s into the mid 90’s on capitalizing on that success – don’t worry, this was seemingly normal for gaming companies.
Fast forward to 2025 and we are finally celebrating the 16-Bit era with new toys. A while back we started seeing action figures based on Altered Beast (affiliate link) and Streets of Rage (affiliate link) among other characters. Even Nintendo finally got into the licensing with Legend of Zelda’s Zelda (affiliate link) and Link (affiliate link) among other characters.
The toys I want to discuss here are the Console Heroes line by Wilder Games. They currently have three sets available. Sonic 3 (affiliate link), Sonic 2 (affiliate link) and Super Street Fighter II (affiliate link).
Gaming Scenes in Micro Form
Each cartridge captures a piece of the game referenced. I am not sure why there is no Sonic 1 but they did great with each of these. While there is not as much play action as those Polly Pocket toys, these “diorama” style sets are still cute and can be great conversation starters.
They even replicated the look of the cartridges when closed, down to artwork that is very similar to, if not exactly like, the originals.
The attention to detail is great.
I know Nintendo has been all over the licensed merch situation these last few years thanks to things like the Super Mario Movie but Sega seems new to this. It is odd considering Sonic has been rocking the movie theaters for a few years now.
Anyhow, merch is here and covers many types so surely there is something available for fans of these games. If not, look around, it is probably out there somewhere.
Gaming merch still falls WAY short of anime though. I do not think anything can catch the sheer amount of merch being released in that category, I just wish more of it was Macross/Robotech related myself.
I know a bunch of people that would really enjoy getting these as gifts. They are pretty but also kind of useless. But i suppose all collectibles are kind of useless.
I agree, at the end fo the day, there is not much to these other than conversation starters but still, I can see them being popular with certain fans. Interesting they went with two Sonic games in this set rather than another Sega Genesis title (Golden Axe, maybe?).
I have a lot of collectibles that mean nothing to others but to me, they are the best. From old Go-Bot knock off bubble blowers to a partial Trypticon from the 80s (and a bunch of miniature dinosaurs).
se ve genial la consola, jamas la tuve pero me gusta verla ^^ !hug
Definitivamente son pequeños juguetes de aspecto genial.
These toys are incredible!!! I have the original Street Fighter 2 SNES cassette with me, made in Japan! I need that toy, it looks awesome! Super vintage!
That is the main thing that caught my eye with these, how they captured the look of the cartridges when closed. That was a great touch.
How many beautyfull memorias comes to me playing with My brothers on the Sega génesis. Thanks!
That is awesome! I played most of my early Genesis gaming on my brothers system, I was a devout Nintendo fan and was saving up for the SNES but since he had a Genesis I figured why not try it out. It is such an amazing console.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t2ors7vzjibcu6lgnay5c2un/post/3luvtxqgkqk2z
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t2ors7vzjibcu6lgnay5c2un/post/3luvtxqgkqk2z
The rewards earned on this comment will go to the author of the blog post.