The Story Of The 1992 Sonic The Hedgehog Pin Badge Competition

"Baydge!?"
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[@BadnikMechanic]

My favourite part is when he says "Baydge" If you'd like to support my channel further you can do so at the following. Back me on Patreon!: www.patreon.com/BadnikMechanic Please Buy me a Coffee: ko-fi.com/T6T4JQR6 Twitter: twitter.com/DaveLuty Instagram: instagram.com/dave_luty/

[@Pudakota]

Helo

[@internetloser2336]

@Badnik Mechanic Hey I absolutely love your Sonic stuff! I actually have a question. Being a huge Sonic fan myself, I'm highly interested getting one of these badges. Do you of a way to obtain one of these badges?

[@BadnikMechanic]

@@Pudakota good day to you!

[@BadnikMechanic]

@@internetloser2336 Best way is eBay. They pop up there every month or two.

[@DylannK_]

Hi

[@Mr.Pumpkin_Head]

@Badnik Mechanic I'm from Italy. First of all i'm shocked yet really happy that someone from outside my country is intrested in this old campaign. Second of all you might be interested to know that there was another method to get the sonic badge besides buying a mega drive/master system/game gear. You would also receive it by buying 3 sega games together. Also, in case you actually won, you could choose from an assortment of 100 sega consoles, ranging from mega drive to master system II plus to game gear to mega cd to tv tuner, and you could also choose from an assortment of 2900 sega games. You would receive a karaoke system as a bundle. In case you didn't win, you could still send the letter bundled with the sonic badge to try and win a random game. Now you know.😉

[@BadnikMechanic]

Ah so you could get it another way! Yeah the source I read about the 3 games thing mentioned a 'coupon' but not the badge. I did find it amazingly odd that if you bought a MegaDrive you could win a MegaDrive lol.

[@Mr.Pumpkin_Head]

@@BadnikMechanic yeah i know but to their credit they did that so that if you bought a sega console you could basically receive some games for free so it kinda makes sense.

[@Mr.Pumpkin_Head]

@@BadnikMechanic Oh by the way. About your future video regarding the sonic from the commercials, you might wanna know that someone recently uploaded an old commercial for the sonic school gear, where you can see sonic complete with almost forgotten animations and voicelines. I won't spoil much to you but just know this is probably the only commercial where you can see sonic wearing a backpack.

[@monospasmo_7122]

@@Mr.Pumpkin_Head wow quindi sei anche tu italiano?!

[@Mr.Pumpkin_Head]

@@monospasmo_7122 eh già

[@somenameidc]

God, did Giochi Preziosi really make such an elaborate thing for a contest? P.s. It's strange being an Italian that follows an English channel that made a video about an Italian competition about a Japanese gaming console

[@OpenWarfare]

Ayy im italian too!

[@monospasmo_7122]

Ciao amche io sono italiano

[@valeriobagnoli2007]

Me too im italian!!!

[@bellbeeferburger]

Despite how rare and small the badge is, the little jingle it plays when you turn it on is adorable and I want it so bad. If I ever get it, I'm gonna play the heck out of that thing.

[@Maniac536]

I can’t imagine the television blanking signal would work today even if you did have a winning badge. This is probably a pal signal intended to broadcast through a CRT pal tv and who knows if the entire signal was recorded by the tape or survived the digital transfer

[@Bro3256Films]

2:10 Ayy shoutouts to Chris Tang. He's one of the few people I know that can get 1st in Tetris 99 lmao.

[@dariocosta2498]

I never thought I would find a video in English in 2019 about Sonic Badge, with such an astonishment about that! I own a Sonic Badge, since I bought a Sega Megadrive in 1992, since I am Italian and I was 10 at the time. Yeah, the campaign was really huge, and stuck in mind of most of my videogame-lover friends, that still remember it. My badge never ringed during Bim Bum Bam... damn, I watched it every day hoping it would. The girl in Bim Bum Bam (Debora Magnaghi is her name, if I'm not wrong) says "Look, Roberto, I reached the last level!" while she was actually in Marble Zone, with Green Hill Zone music on the background. I hated such things when I was a child, made me think that adults were actually idiots, and they thought that all children were so stupid you can make them believe anything.

[@BadnikMechanic]

Glad you enjoyed it! Check out my other content. I kinda have a thing for finding obscure stuff like this.

[@Antoniovolante]

I know the guy who did animate the sonic commercial. On my channel you can find I video with an original cel from the spot. I’ve posted it just some days before this. What a coincidence 😁😁😁

[@dfjt]

I love the obscure topics you discuss, as well as the work you put into these videos. Keep it up :)

[@toonpool7511]

Now this is interesting Whats also wierd is that this sonic has blue arms?

[@Discust]

JR Romero holy shit I didn’t even notice that

[@Goat81093]

Lots of comics and animations make that mistake

[@christophercase6042]

All I know is the Chris Chan made a big deal about it; he doesn't care that Sonic Boom wasn't canon and he admits he doesn't care about the *other* changes it made but Sonic's arms being blue ? That's his trigger!

[@1upGaming1up]

Sonic having blue arms don't really bother Me that much. I'm aware that Boom Sonic had blue arms is part of His character but it's more of a color error.

[@dudeout7]

B o o m S o n i c, I s T h a t Y o u ?

[@stefanofanigliulo7859]

I'm Italian and I didn't know it happened only here :o it's so weird seeing a video of something I know so well that was actually very obscure outside of Italy lmao

[@Novecento]

I am Italian and after almost 30 years, we don't know if there ever was a winner. So I'm quite sure it was a big hoax, none of those badge worked because none of them contained anything that could react to a tv signal. Probably if you switched to TV, it was just like turning it off. But thanks anyway for making this video! It was refreshing!

[@MolatinoSuperStar]

It's so awesome that there's a lot of things that Sonic has (games, merch, toys, etc) that are so obscure barely anyone knows about, and it's amazing there are ppl like you who show and speak about those stuff.

[@BadnikMechanic]

Thank you very much.

[@ElrobertosuperioESA]

Same with spongebob

[@MaggieVenhuizen]

Never even knew about this! Was cool to learn about. Keep it up!

[@michaelparker2449]

I'd like to see someone disassemble one of those badges, because there's 3 ways it could work... An image sensor meaning it has to be pointed directly at the TV, a microphone listening for a certain sound, or RF tuned to either the same frequency as the channel or a separate signal they transmit when the show aired.

[@robertanderson9447]

"But Sonic, if I'm buying a Mega Drive... to win another Mega Drive--" "PURCHASE IT OR PERISH IN THE FIRES OF THE UNHOLY, ALL-SEEING EYE"

[@jeremykrane4855]

your sonic mystery/story/history videos are always a joy to watch. brings a lot more variety in your videos than your collection videos keep them up!

[@ThatSoni]

This is the first time I’ve heard of anything like this and wowza, what a setup it was! I’m just bewildered by how Italian Death Ray Eyes Sonic has blue arms but that’s a common mistake in the classic era I suppose. Great work as always showcasing the obscure aspects Dave my guy!

[@OscarFaustoPelosi]

Well, I was like 12 or 13 y.o. at the time and remember the thing: it was a SCAM. Involuntary scam but a scam indeed. Back in the time we didn't have the tech to make that thing work in domestic premises as TVs were so old. The Sonic Badge did work in a controlled environment but it didn't while home because of many factors, noise before everything, that's why they kept saying "Call the number if your badge rang" and thus they added "Send a participation postcard EVEN IF IT DIDN'T RING!". Yeah, they acknowledged that their system didn't work and so swapped the game to a mere "send postcard, participate, hope to get something". Cheers mate! PS. Elaborate competitions for us Italians because, you know, Italians do it better! XD

[@evergreenforevergreen]

The reason why his eyes are like that are to tell you that he's calling someone and the eyes are glowing to signify the ringing of the phone

[@ZLostCowboyZ]

In this video there are various inaccuracies: 1) Giochi Preziosi wasn't the owner of Fininvest, the television group belonged and belongs to the Berlusconi family, Giochi Preziosi only had an agreement to advertise Sega products; 2) The badge could be obtained by buying a Mega Drive, a Master System, a Game Gear, a TV Tuner or three cartridges for Sega consoles, not only a Mega Drive; 3) The informations about the contest are visible on the screen to those who can read and understand Italian, in the advertising material shown in the video itself. Everything else in the video is fine.

[@Sohappytoshowus]

Agree, clearly there was no connection between Giochi Preziosi (owned by eponymous Enrico Preziosi) and Fininvest, the media company, owned by Berlusconi. I don't understand why they say here that the company owners were the same, simply it is not true: Preziosi and Berlusconi are two very different businessmen and their companies never merged.

[@cancelledbybigc]

This is amazing video as always 😊

[@jcastvideos]

Oh didnt know you watch his channel too hi

[@cancelledbybigc]

Hi🙂

[@Pokemorty1337]

Silver shamrock: pathetic (I couldn’t resist, the connection was there) Alternate punchline: I’m 5 parallel universes ahead of you

[@starpier]

I was 8 years old in 1992 and I do remember the bim bum bam ads with the Sonic badge, because me and my brother would always watch it after school and could only dream about owning a real Mega Drive. Anyway what is most puzzling to me about this competition is HOW could the Sonic badge react. I do not see any optical sensors on it (assuming they were available for cheap in 92), so either there should be a RF receiver inside the winning badge or a microphone. Unfortunately I do not think that anyone has shown so far a winning badge with such hardware included. Therefore, to this day, I am convinced such badge never existed. By the way, the name of the company "Giochi Preziosi" you pronounce the first word "Jawkee" it simply means "Precious games".

[@user-wm2up3tc1q]

1:06 this animation gets me

[@user-te1zl6jc1b]

0:49-0:51 I mean it was 1 year before Sonic CD and it was pretty demonic. Why? Because I appeard there.

[@user-te1zl6jc1b]

@@xamerk *_Music for my ears._*

[@sonicx0846]

That means if you buy a Sega Genesis I mean mega drive before this competition and you buy another mega drive just to get the sonic badge and you win the competition that means you will have 3 mega drive's I guess you can sell the other 2 consoles

[@ANDREALEONE95]

If it worked. It was just a fraud.

[@butcherax]

Blue arms and laser eyes? That's clearly not Sonic at all but an imposter. Did the kids who received the tv signal go on a killing spree?

[@OhKayEl]

Isn't it weird how Sonic looks more faithful in these obscure TV programs than the cartoons officially licensed by Sega?

[@raffaeleguido2828]

The true story was that only fews of those badges were programmed to ring randomly when switched on TV mode, inside the "lucky ones" badges there was an additional wire from the battery to the circuit board that made it possible.

[@iceflaretulipflames2313]

4:04 Moto Moto would like that. 😏👌

[@ottagol1985]

Surprised that Jerry Cala did promo work for Sega in Italy. Other than that, I mostly remember him as Bud Spencer's sidekick in "Bomber".

[@pietropetruccelli99]

1:40 "gioci presciosi" I'm kidding xD I'm another guy from Italy and at that time this get curios as hell and i wanted to know ho the fucc made that and this video is Gold!

[@BDSbowling]

Sonic does that weird pose because he’s imitating jerry cala’s (the same comedian that appears in the commercial) catchphrase “OCIO” which basically means “eyes open and watch out “

[@Nin10Guy]

I remember seeing that Sonic pin badge commercial 13 years ago on an old website that had recorded video game commercials. Since I didn't speak Italian, I didn't understand why there would be a TV commercial for a pin badge of all things. It wasn't until now, I finally found out the meaning behind that advert from all of those years ago.

[@spearmintpony7105]

I still think the Swordquest competition was more ambitious.

[@acoolbird3770]

Already in a few seconds and the commercial got us.

[@jcastvideos]

Great vid!!👍

[@superwaluigi6593]

I come from Italy, and honestly I never heard of this sonic "baydge" contest

[@ElrobertosuperioESA]

Probably because you weren't alive in 1992

[@superwaluigi6593]

@@ElrobertosuperioESA yea I was born in 2000

[@BADC0FFEE]

this video makes it sound really mysterious but it's something super well known in italy and sonic badges are very sought after collectables in the italian retro collecting scene, everyone remembers this

[@BadnikMechanic]

Not everybody lives in Italy.

[@Nic_2751]

I’m addicted to these mysterious now

[@ejisbored7438]

THE BLUE DEVIL THIS IS WHAT CRAZY CARL WAS TALKIN BOUT

[@Juak05]

Giochi preziosi is a known toy brand in Spain as well.

[@alonsosuareztocino7775]

I Know, but in 2020-2021 now the giochi preziosi products in spain are now distributed by a spanish toy company called muñecas famosa (Fábricas Agrupadas de Muñecas de Onil Sociedad Anónima)

[@alonsosuareztocino7775]

And you Know, spain is my home country where i live

[@Furby_Productions]

Friend: What is your favorite version of Sonic Me: Death ray eyes Sonic Friend: ...

[@perseomazzoni8869]

Great video! By the way, the "chi" on "giochi" is spelled like the "ki" in "killer" :-)

[@nurifu_nightly]

Italy? Mario: Luigi, paizano! Please cook me spaghetti! This hedgehog steals our country!

[@jadetealaaron2003]

Lol. I just thought of that

[@tylerkidd9320]

Im Italian and this only hurts a little.

[@giackthedemonandothermadne2863]

a una certa sonic ci rubava la mascotte

[@robbiewalker2831]

Where did you get the extra "Sonic Badge" animation footage (the one where he's near the Greg Martin backdrop)? I can't find it elsewhere.

[@nuffin]

You deserve more subscribers.

[@BadnikMechanic]

Feel free to share my stuff so more people can find out about it!

[@ferretman6790]

The part were the puppet is talking needs to have an errape version

[@izayahcarter1406]

0:10 It Came From Green Hill Zone 3: Ray Eyes Of Death.

[@classiccustoms2010]

6:23 That is quite possibly the most bass ackwords way for a Mega Drive BOGO deal.

[@SonicZuki]

The 90s was so interesting of Sonic for my hole life I knew Sonic i didn't know some of these exist for Sonic but now I do know they exist thanks to u u know Sonic more then me kind of lol nice video

[@balsamon69]

The badge is kinda cute, in my opinion.

[@judithtorio2526]

I laughed when you said “you need to buy a megadrive to get a badge to win a megadrive”

[@marcoc6105]

I'm an Italian guy who was only 4 years old in 1992 but I remember a few things... I clearly remember that spot (the guy in the video, called Gerry Calà, was a very popular comedian in those years) and the massive campaign. I also remember that I had a Sega Master System but I didn't get the badge... I was very sad when this spot came on the TV

[@NarjaraSMagalhaes]

bro ur dumb u had to buy a genesis

[@sharky-mn3tv]

It's very funny that nobody knew about this outside of Italy. I saw the contest live when I was visiting Italy in 1992, unfortunately I was a beginner in speaking Italian. However, my friend who was Italian and did enter the contest, won a Mega CD. I already had a Mega Drive by 1991, but he bought one just so he could get the Sonic badge. He then immediately returned the console back to the store, except for the papers and the badge. He is lucky that he didn't get caught but he entered the competition for free. He then listened on the radio for hours, which he did what they told him to do. Unfortunately the badge didn't get detected, so he went and bought three Mega Drive games, sent the postcard then won the Mega CD. Then it got kind of confusing, why did he enter the contest, if he didn't have a Mega Drive for himself? Well it turns out, he had a knockoff Mega Drive hiding in his suitcase under his clothes. He then gave me the Sonic badge, which is obviously somewhere in a junk drawer at my parents' house. I didn't really care about it, as I had moved to California far away from my parents. I wasn't rich, but my Italian friend kind of was, I still have my Mega Drive to this day. People have asked me, how I got my Mega Drive working in the states, well that's what travel converters are for. :)

[@megaben99]

If i lived in Italy in 90s and i won a second mega drive from this contest i would have given it to one of my brothers.

[@themaddekuboi430]

i liked your content and everyone want you to get 1 million subs thanks man

[@solarikku]

Omg I loved this I subbed!!!

[@RoyalBlood1996]

In Italy GioGio golden wing

[@monospasmo_7122]

Sup I am also italian in the real life

[@riverrapids438]

But how does the TV Program's wired signal going into the TV become a signal the pin badge can pick up?

[@CatalinaMaxCisternasJofre]

Italian Sonic's origin

[@doritorancho4735]

*Its honesly pretty well animated*

[@funnyman8161]

Should've been green flashing lights. That would've been perfect.

[@PlainSaber]

Love your videos!

[@truebluesonic2787]

An interactive accessory that responds to a signal from the TV? Sounds like the plot of Halloween 3... with less child genocide, though.

[@gdlxr]

The music sounds like something of a crappy creepy pasta

[@Rhettroizms]

Where can you buy a pin badge like that

[@spinballpac-man]

How on earth did they get the original source of these adverts in such great quality?

[@lostinthevault6439]

Hello small Friends?

[@JRAnimationStudios]

There wasn't enough details though :( Who won? did they ring in? did it work?

[@andknuckles101]

EMIRA SONIII MARESSA HIS PIALA SPILLA... TATATATAAAAAAAN!!!

[@superstarmarioplushes4794]

Is this green hell zone the prequel? They made it great with laser eyes sonic!

[@godzillapark9075]

sonic.exe origin????

[@jasminefayte9275]

Wait so like What kind of "signal" is it looking for? Is it a TV/radio broadcast signal? I'd personally bet on it being sound activated. Kinda like how the Pokemon SUMO z ring toy reacts with the games

[@gamrfam90]

Or somehow a camera that spys on you and it looks at the tv to wait for a time to make a person win

[@mlplnz]

Can you open the Sonic Badge to see what’s inside and the technology behind it? It would be very interesting.

[@nicolofonn4633]

In italy giochi preziosi also distributed the game&watches

[@lostinthevault6439]

Hello there small Friends?

[@alaska7149]

You keep amazing me!

[@xinus2286]

soo. how does this badge work? i think it would be interesting to look on what does this badge hold inside.

[@nightspawnson-of-luna4936]

Druid Magic and Stonehenge chunks?

[@LagBlowz]

Is it possible, and where can I get one of these?

[@SlothyWoffy]

What you willing to pay?

[@scarymonsters.supercreeps]

I tought for a second i clicked on the wrong video for a second

[@burst.7227]

I'm Italian and this is just so awesome

[@garrlawproductions]

Nice video!

[@jdrive4678]

Where did u get the pin badge

[@ElrobertosuperioESA]

eBay for $6969420420666666666

[@diamondx224_6]

Not gonna lie this was really interesting.

[@codenamegamma]

that does make me wonder how the badge worked. like id think that receiving a TV signal would be an expensive novelty to produce. so maybe it checked the AM or FM band? if so how would one badge be a winner and others not be? it kinda doesn't make a lot of sense. if only there were pictures of the PCB.

[@BadnikMechanic]

The computer scientist in me really wants to open it up... But given how much it originally cost me and the fact it still works I don't wanna risk it. (In fact I think you'd have to destroy the badge to see inside) But a big part of me believes it's just a hoax/marketing ploy, because in the TV broadcast, they demonstrate the badge and the lady reacts as if hers is a winning pin. But when the camera zooms in I can't see any sign of the eyes flashing.

[@codenamegamma]

@@BadnikMechanic hrm...probably the best way to see what's going on is to xray it, but yea i have a feeling maybe only 1 or 2 of the winning badges ever had the AM/FM receivers in them to win the contest in the first place. if they ever made them at all. it just wouldn't surprise me if the TV switch wasn't connected to anything at all.

[@james.d.morris8932]

I would have settled for just having the badge.

[@calmdownwoodywereyourfriends]

ok, so im italian and in my city theres like the same toy shop. with the name giocheria. it means toy shop, and giochi preziosi means precious toys. also shout outs to mr pumpkin head! - andy

[@foopthehoop3103]

Sonic more like terminator

[@ZekromVA]

11:05 I guess it's basically a buy one get one free guarantee!

[@the_fish_queen9934]

I've never heard of this before and I am a sonic maniac

[@alexshmalex1946]

Badnick guy: demonic glowing eyes Me: if this was the refrence to make sonic.exe we are legally allowed to squirt *T U R D* on the original concept

[@starmantheblaziken1453]

I may not understand Italian, but I found that pink creature's outburst to be really funny. ABBY WAH SORRY! Kamaeso peokeallaspeala, tatatataaah! :D

[@Chickenman_or_batman]

Son,you're disppointed about a "baydge"

[@mirabelkaaaa8728]

I wished youd explain what and how the signal worked ;u;

[@user-fy7un8tk3i]

I don’t know if you mention this but recently a animation cel Was recently discovered

[@curlypop]

Soul stares in my

[@ElrobertosuperioESA]

Baydge

[@chillaxinnappin]

*Sonic.ExE Joined The Chat* *Sonic.ExE is Typing...*

[@RealSwissShady]

*Sonic left the chat*