For nearly three decades Sonic the Hedgehog fans have been flinging our spiky blue hero against the armoured hull of Dr. Robotnik’s Death Egg Robot from Sonic 2. Why’d we have to wait until Sonic’s 30th anniversary for a proper Giant Eggman Robot Battle Set?
There are several perfectly logical reasons for the wait, actually. For one, toymakers did not care about the broken hearts of children back in the early ‘90s. Second, the $55 set seems to be a Target U.S. exclusive, and the retail chain was only just getting started in 1992. Finally, Jakks Pacific, the only toy company brave enough to give us a 10-inch tall Death Egg Robot with battle damage and firing wrist spikes, wasn’t founded until 1995, and it took them a while to get warmed up. Other than those three excuses, there is no excuse.
In all seriousness, Jakks Pacific has been picking up some serious toy slack recently on both the Sega and Nintendo fronts, with toys like this massive egg mech and this fall’s Super Mario Bowser Airship. Looks like if publishers want a big plastic playset representing scenes from their classic games, Jakks Pacific is the toymaker to tap.
As impressive as the Death Egg is, let us not discount the importance of a plastic catapult that launches a tiny balled-up hedgehog across our living rooms. I almost wish they sold Sonic and his catapult by themselves, so I could place them in strategic locations throughout my home should the need to fling tiny spiked mammals arise.
But in this playset Sonic is not the star. No, it’s of course the Death Egg, which Jakks Pacific cannot call the Death Egg because selling children things with “Death” in the name is generally frowned upon unless “Star” comes after it. Whatever you choose to call it, it’s a glorious tribute to Robotnik’s mechanical genius and gigantic ego. After spending millions of gold rings developing this murder robot, he added eyes, a nose, simulated teeth, and a moustache. That’s the kind of mad scientist we’re dealing with here.
Perhaps those golden rings would have been better spent on additional armour components, because all it takes for this toy robot to bust apart is three hits from a hedgehog catapult, conveniently included. You can watch Robotnik’s failure become complete in the delightfully old-school commercial below.
See the joy on that child’s face? That is a child who has never played Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Imagine how much more genuine and heartfelt that smile would be on the face of someone who knows what a Death Egg Robot is.
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