It's a well established fact that I'm a giant nerd for Sonic the Hedgehog, and around the time of these figures you wouldn't have been able to part me from my Sonic comics. Unfortunately with these being a UK only set I never had them as a child, but that doesn't stop me from wanting them now.

Take a journey with me back to the early 90s, where you'll get your knowledge on about this large set of Sonic & Knuckles mini figures that only part of the world got a chance to know. Hit the jump to check 'em all out!

[Via SEGA Memories]

First off I should explain that these were technically Sonic & Knuckles mini figures, but I've just dubbed them as Sonic the Hedgehog figures personally based on the fact that majority of the Badniks are actually from the original game, that way it just covers all the bases and we're all on the same page.

As you can see these TOMY figures came in packs of four, in which you would always get two characters and two Badniks to add to your collection. There were five sets in all, which makes the grand total in this set 20 different figures for you to collect.

The back of the boxes were nice, as they always gave you a checklist to see which of the figures you were still missing. Just looking at this makes me so happy to see the names of some of my favorite Badniks that have been long sense forgotten in most of the newer games. In my heart there's always room for Crabmeat, Caterkiller and Splats, which I hope to see again one day in a new game.

It's interesting that they would have different poses of the actual characters, granted most of them not being insanely well sculpted or painted. If I could only pick a couple of the characters though I'd have to go with my boy Knuckles, as well as Metal Sonic, who for some reason is just dubbed as 'Sonic' on the box.

As you can see some of the details are less than can be desired, but they're so insanely awesome, especially given that these were released somewhere around 1992 and 1994. Just seeing these Badniks get me giddy and happy, so we'll move on.

Interestingly enough the one character that isn't nearly as badly painted seems to be Knuckles, which would have been one of the newest characters at that point. Tails pretty much looks like he was just based off some not so great basic artwork, as his hand is kind of wobbly and his eyes are very spacey looking.

If you want a duo that's pretty badical, here are up close and personal shots of both Knuckles and Metal Sonic. Kind of sad that the character made of metal is one of the most lively looking, but I want both of these so badly it's not even funny... Well yeah maybe it is.

This picture makes me laugh because Dr. Robotnik totally just looks like a peeping Tom back there trying to spy on whoever comes his way.

Here's an up close shot of the previously mentioned spacey looking Tails, which bless him, he never gets very good toys. It's weird how different the paint can differ from toy to toy, as apparently this is a pretty decently painted one. It also looks like Motobug and Newtron are about to gang up on him, and it probably won't be pretty.

Oh God, look who's lost their rings now! I knew it wouldn't be pretty and I was right, oh god.. so much blood! He was just a small PVC figure.. what'd he ever do to you, Newtron? Well, you know, except jump on your head a lot.

Unfortunately these guys are long gone, and are pretty tough to find these days. Those that you will find have a good chance of being beat to death considering how awesome they were, and everyone wanting to play with them.

In fact, most of the time I can at least find one auction on eBay for the toys I write about, but this time that's a no go, so keep checking and maybe one day you'll get lucky. I know I'd fall in love with a set of these figures, and would take so many pictures my camera would probably die, so I'll be on a search for them myself.