Q&A: Neamedia Icons Gets Retro with New Sonic Mini Icons

There are few characters more iconic in the retro gaming universe than Sonic the Hedgehog. Whether he’s starring in his own video games, TV shows, or even feature films, fans of the Blue Blur rush to speed alongside him.

Neamedia Icons is bringing this iconic character — and many more from the likes of Cyberpunk, The Little Prince, Bomberman, Pac-Man, and more — to life through collectibles. The newest Sonic Mini Icons are available in three different styles to add a unique, handpainted, resin touch to your display shelf. The Pop Insider caught up with Neamedia Icons’ CEO François Bernard to learn more about the company and their newest Sonic Mini Icons below!

The Pop Insider: Tell us a little bit about Neamedia Icons as a company. How did you come to be and what can fans expect from your products?

François Bernard: Neamedia has been creating and manufacturing figures for major video game players since 2022. We had the chance to work on fantastic properties such as Zelda, Pokémon, Mario Kart, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Gear of Wars, and Elden Ring during the last years.

Neamedia Icons is our licensed publishing label we started two years ago. All the creation process is monitored in our Paris Studio. Our first releases include Pac-Man, Bomberman, and Cyberpunk statues. We are now launching the Sonic series.

PI: What sort of fandoms do you provide merch for? How do you choose these fandoms?

FB: Our aim is to bring pop culture heroes inside the living room. We want our products to be nice and trendy. For example, we partnered with Richard Orlinski, the best-selling French artist worldwide, to deliver our own version of an iconic character such as Pac-Man.    

PI: Working in this realm, we expect that your team are huge pop culture fans yourselves. Here at the Pop Insider, our tagline is “Fuel your fandom.” What are some of your own personal fandoms — and what would you say “fuels your fandom”?

FB: We have the chance to choose the subjects we are working on. We select our licenses because we love them. For example, we really enjoyed working on Bomberman, a real retro-gaming icon with lot of fans in house. We also like to work on characters from our childhood, such as The Little Prince. Cyberpunk 2077 was also a very inspiring territory.

PI: Can you tell us a little bit about the Classic, Grey, and Blue editions of the Sonic figure?

FB: We had the chance to develop Sonic figurines for the GameStop-exclusive Totaku Collection a few years ago. It was a great success. Neamedia Icons wished to honor the legendary hedgehog by sculpting a 13-centimeter resin figure available in three colors to please every fan: Classic Sonic, Grey Sonic, and Blue Sonic.

Sonic the Hedgehog mini Icons statue by Neamedia Icons expresses everything that makes the character iconic. Inspired by his look in the ‘90s, the statue is remarkably precise and strikes a pose that perfectly shows Sonic’s rebellious, but warm character. Finger raised, sassy smirk, red striped sneakers — this figurine was designed to be timeless, energetic, and full of style!

PI: What is it about Sonic the Hedgehog that makes him such a classic character/brand?

FB: Retro gaming enthusiasts and fans of his modern adventures have proven that the bluest hedgehog is a lot more than a video game hero and that he truly deserves his status of a timeless icon.

PI: What can fans expect in the future from Neamedia Icons?

FB: We have a lot of great projects in the oven, fantastic figures are coming! Our catalog is growing and thanks to our distribution partners we can reach more and more fans in Europe. Building up our U.S. and Far East distribution is our next priority.

You can enter to win Sonic Mini Icons from Neamedia Icons of your very on our Instagram page through Friday, April 1!