Sonic the Hedgehog is everywhere when it comes to merch, but finally some more underrated characters are getting airtime thanks to Steady Hands

Sonic Adventure 2 was one of the first games I remember watching my sibling play, mostly because they would often fight about who gets a turn next while I just sat there, not really knowing what was going on. But I really liked the characters, and that feeling stuck around long after I started playing Sonic games for myself. It didn't take long for me to realise that merchandise for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise was dominated by the titular blue flash. Which is fair enough—it is named after him—but you'd think after this many years we'd see a little more merch for the wide variety of other characters.

I know you can get figures, plush toys, and plenty of t-shirts featuring the core group: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and now Shadow the Hedgehog too. But what about Rouge, Blaze, and even Amy? Or Cream, Big, and Vector? Luckily, Steady Hands, a US-based clothing brand have answered the prayers of people like me with their latest Sonic collection. Before you start, yes, you do have plenty of Sonic items to spend your rings on if he truly is your favourite character. Yet the thing that really impresses me with this collection is how many other characters you can now get merchandise for, and especially how it's not all limited to printed t-shirts.

I love a very specific clothing collection that spans more than just t-shirts, which might've been obvious from my column about Cool Shirtz Minecraft collaboration, and Steady Hands always delivers. From their shorts themed around Shadow and Sonic and with embroidered silhouettes for each on the front, to a huge variety of knitted cardigans featuring all sorts of characters on the backs, there's bound to be something to appeal to all sorts of Sonic players.

The item I adore most in this collection though has to be the vintage-looking Chao cardigan. I absolutely adore these little creatures and have done since I first laid eyes on them when I was younger, and this cardigan manages to create something even sweeter with their design. If you're after something even more specific, Steady Hands has created both an angel and dark Chao equivalent too.

The individual character cardigans also focus on a much wider range of famous Sonic faces, alongside the classics, but most importantly feature one of the series' most underrated characters: Blaze. Rather than just having a print of her on the back, the lavender cardigan has an impressive backprinted knitted into the design, which means no worries about it fading or cracking in the wash either. It also looks fantastic alongside the darker purple Rouge cardigan, but I think that's just me looking for an excuse to buy both.

I also adore that characters like the Werehog from Sonic Unleashed get their time in the spotlight in this collection. It goes to show that I'm far from the only person who is a little bit sick to death of seeing the same Sonic design plastered on cheap t-shirts and hoodies and I don't doubt so many people are elated to finally get decent merch of their favourites too.

Although we have plenty of items in this collection already, hopefully it expands in the future and Steady Hands produces more items featuring even more characters, like my beloved Big the Cat or Cream the Rabbit. For now, I'm happy just knowing merchandise for Blaze does in fact exist somewhere outside of a second-hand figure I found many many years ago, and she's not one of the characters Sega have let disappear into the void.