When I walked into a Build-a-Bear Workshop last month and they were completely sold out of their Shadow the Hedgehog bears to stuff and dress to your liking, I don’t think I expected it to be a harbinger for a plague of scalpers taking advantage of the Sonic the Hedgehog community. But it turns out that is exactly what it was, and I’m feeling very lucky to have stumbled into a store that gave me the display version of the doll they had on their shelf so I wouldn’t be stuck in the purgatory of resellers posting the Ultimate Lifeform on sites like eBay for hundreds of dollars.
Skimming through the search results for Shadow the Hedgehog’s Build-a-Bear plush on eBay feels more absurd the more you scroll. The asking prices for the stuffed Ultimate Lifeform range from $370 to a whopping $800. To put that into perspective, that’s more than a PlayStation 5 Pro. Will these dressable hedgehogs actually sell for that much? I certainly hope not, but Shadow fans are getting desperate and scalpers know it, because Build-a-Bear is being pretty public about how much demand it has for the plush, and that it has no plans to restock them in the future.
Right now, you can open Build-a-Bear’s website and look for the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 collection, and Shadow and most of his associated accessories are no longer listed through the online store. Sonic and Tails are still available, but the only proof that Shadow was ever listed is his 4-in-1 phrase sound chip. You might still find him at your local store, but definitely call ahead if you don’t want to waste your time. Some stores have been told they will not be restocking Shadow at all, though fans are reporting that some Build-a-Bear employees have told them it’s possible the website will restock before any in-person stores do, while others are saying their locations will have him back in the store this month.
In the meantime, those who managed to get the Build-a-Bear Shadow at its intended price are counting their lucky stars and flexing on the poor souls who didn’t find him in time. Others are finding ways to cope and resist the temptation to feed into the scalper machine. Others still have bit the bullet, and if you’re one of them, I hope you paid something less than $300.
While it sucks for the fans in the short term, hopefully this frenzy of interest, along with the hype around Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Shadow Generations, tells Sega that it should keep our boy in the limelight moving forward after making him a brooding caricature for almost 20 years.