Sonic the Hedgehog Collector
Ever since I saw Asteroids in 1979 at our local skating rink, I have been a video gamer! Throughout the 1980s all the way up to now, I have loved video games! (I could go on for hours about this!!) In 1991, a new video game came out for the Sega Genesis called Sonic the Hedgehog, My best friend Manuel Gonzales bought the game first and we set it up the console at his apartment in the fall of 1991. We loved the game immediately! I purchased my own Sega Genesis & Sonic the Hedgehog a day later! I must have played the game a thousand times that year!
On Tuesday November 24th 1992, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released. I was blown away by how much fun the game was. Shortly after the release of Sonic 2, my friend Manuel showed me he found a Sonic the Hedgehog candy filled character toy! I had to have one for myself, so I went to the store and bought myself one!! This is where my collecting of Sonic the Hedgehog began!!
Over the years, I began to see more Sonic items, and decorated my room with them, and quickly my collection grew, along with other items of video games and arcade related items.
My most favorite item in my collection is the Sonic & Tails store display statues I acquired from our local Toys R Us! This was no simple feat, only “Flagship” Toys R Us stores received the statues in 1994, and I was amazed at them!
I inquired with the manager on how/where they came from and the manager said they came directly from Sega. I asked for contact information and if there was any way to purchase them. Unfortunately, there was not. So I asked the managers if somehow, someway if they ever decide to part with them to please let me know! I actually checked with the store every 6 months for almost 10 years, and in the spring of 2001 I got a call “if you want those statues, come right now to get them” I asked my boss if I could slip away from work to go get them, and they have been the centerpiece of my collection for 21 years!!
Among other items I’m very proud of are the numerous Sonic the Hedgehog store signs, posters and displays that I have acquired over my 30+ years of collecting. Some I have never seen in anyone else’s collections.
Another item of particular interest is one that is not an “official” Sonic item is a one of a kind jewelry piece made by a jeweler in San Antonio, Texas. It is a pound of silver and covered in Swarovski crystals. It is a very eye catching piece and I’m happy to house it in my collection.
Lastly, I built a custom Sonic the Hedgehog arcade machine! In the summer of 1993, I purchased an old arcade cabinet, had an arcade company install a 25’’CRT monitor into it, I had a custom video wire harness made, and wired the Genesis controllers to the arcade buttons and joystick! The start button is wired to the coin switch, so you have to put in a quarter to start the game!
I have been collecting Sonic the Hedgehog related items since Sonic was new and it didn’t take long to run out of room. I had to start storing the items away, and it all remained stored for years until we built our home in 2007 (Dayton, Texas) with the game room in a separate building behind our house. It is also worth mentioning that having a very loving and supporting wife made this all possible!
My Game Room & Museum that I call “Yesterdays” is named after the local arcade I grew up in the 1980’s! (I actually have the original signage!) It’s my private museum to preserving all the feels of the happy times of video games! The collection covers so many eras of video games, but Sonic the Hedgehog is the main feature of the collection.
The game room is 1,650 square feet that is fully temperature and humidity controlled! I regularly have guests come to visit, and they are always overwhelmed by it all.
Local Television and Newspapers have done stories on the game room, and has been featured on G4TV’s XPlay as well as many websites. When you review everything in the evidence folders, you will not be disappointed.
The Sonic collection continues to grow, usually adding at least 2 items per week.
