Following leaks last month, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 toys have been officially confirmed for release in North America. The toys feature the four main cast members from the movie, including Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. Each Happy Meal contains a non-posable figure, as well as a plastic ring that the figure can clip into, allowing it to roll along surfaces. There are also included stickers that can be used to decorate the ring. The official McDonald’s website does not have a starting date, but the toys should be available at participating locations starting this week, if not today.
Videos by ComicBook.com
To build hype for the promotion, McDonald’s has released a commercial, featuring Sonic and friends delivering Happy Meals to hungry kids. Notably, the commercial does not feature images of the toys themselves. Interestingly, it appears that the North American promotion is slightly altered from the one offered in other regions. While other regions received 12 toys, North America is only getting 8. Each character is getting 2 figures, with 2 for Tails, and 2 for Knuckles. In other regions, there are 2 versions of the standard Sonic and Shadow, and 2 for their Super forms. However, it appears the promotion in North America is just offering one standard Sonic figure and a Super form, and one standard Shadow and a Super form.
The timing for this promotion lines up nicely with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which will arrive in theaters later this week. The highly-anticipated sequel will largely focus on Shadow the Hedgehog, who was teased at the end of the previous Sonic movie. Shadow has been all over the promotional material for the movie, including merchandise, video game tie-ins, and now this Happy Meal promotion. Paramount and Sega are building up Shadow in a very big way, so it will be interesting to see if audiences embrace the character when the movie comes out. In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Shadow will be voiced by actor Keanu Reeves.
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Now that the Sonic promotion has been officially announced by McDonald’s, it will be interesting to see when (or if) the recent Pokemon Trading Card Game promotion will be confirmed for North America. A Pokemon TCG promotion was released in other regions earlier this year to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. That promotion has yet to make its way here, even as the Year of the Dragon is about to come to a close. Of course, McDonald’s has never needed an excuse to offer Pokemon cards in the past, so it’s possible the promotion could be slightly tweaked when it makes its way here. Hopefully we’ll end up seeing those cards next month, or maybe in February to coincide with Pokemon Day.
Are you excited about this new Happy Meal promotion at McDonald’s? Do you plan on trying to get any of these toys? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
