The Sonic Snuggie

It's been a cold and terrible winter up here in New England, with our third big storm this month coming up over the next couple of days. Most of the country seems to be in a similar predicament, as just a couple of weeks ago, 49 out of the 50 states had snow on the ground.

Every morning after a big storm, our condo building requires that we vacate the parking lot for a couple of hours to allow the plows to do their job. The last time this happened, my boyfriend and I decided to kill some time at the mall. Now, when it's this cold outside, I don't want to be at the mall. I want to be curled up on the couch, sipping hot coffee, cuddled under a warm, cozy blanket. Comfy and fuzzy blankets are in my list of top ten favorite things, after all.  

So imagine my delight when my boyfriend pointed out this cool item! Perfect for a snowy winter day, it was a Sonic the Hedgehog fleece blanket.

I picked up the box to check the price. Upon doing this, I suddenly realized: this wasn't a blanket at all. No, a blanket would have been way too awesome. And this item was the exact opposite of awesome. Because... it... was... THIS!!!

A SONIC SNUGGIE?!?!

I was going to model it myself, but I was too embarrassed don't have
a good digital camera.

I bought it immediately, naturally.

There's something ironic about Sonic, the "fastest thing alive", being plastered all over a Snuggie, arguably the "laziest thing alive". Sometimes it surprises me where I find licensed video game properties. As for this imitation Snuggie (or as the box calls it, "cozy blanket with sleeves") it's made of a soft fleece and is more than long enough to cover your legs. Just like with the original Snuggie, I find the sleeves to be cumbersome and the lack of any fasteners on the back make it impossible to move around (contrary to what the Snuggie commercials suggest.)

Out of curiosity, I looked online to see what other retro video game-related blankets with sleeves were on the market. Here are four more that I found: 

It's a Snug-gie! Mario! If Sonic has one, you know Mario had to have one too! His was probably first, actually. And I think the fabric may be better quality. And no matter how many times you wash the thing, it really stands the test of time. Also, it doesn't turn into a were-hog at night.

Pac-Man! I actually really love this one, it's so retro-looking!

Street Fighter IV! Not a retro game, but definitely a retro franchise! Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li are all here. And look, the guy on the box is probably playing Street Fighter IV right now! He's smiling to himself because he knows how stylish he looks while he's doing it.

    Kingdom Hearts! Wait... not retro whatsoever. Errr....







So I know what you're dying to know: Where can I get one of these awesome, backwards robes? The answer is... well, I don't know. I got my Sonic Snuggie at F.Y.E. where it was on clearance. They also had the Kingdom Hearts one in stock, but both seemed to be on the way out. I've heard reports that you can find these in Hot Topic as well, though I didn't see any the last time I was in. A quick Google search seems to link most finds back to eBay, for waaaaaay more than you should be paying for these. I'd recommend doing your own search, as they seem to be popping up in random web-based stores as well.

Stay warm this winter, everybody!