A whole array of Monogram Backpack Clips featuring the famous characters of PlayStation have just been released; not that reaction from the gaming community has been… well, it has become an attraction. The lineup consists of Astro Bot, Aloy from Horizon, Atsu, Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us, Kratos from God of War, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal. The announcement, however, has engendered rather mixed emotions on social media, beyond pure excitement.
Let’s start. PlayStation announces that these collectible clips may be attached to a backpack to hold their favorite gaming heroes. Cute? Well, players started to point out some… questionable choices for the lineup. Like, there are FOUR separate characters of The Last of Us—Joel, Ellie, Abby, and a Clicker—which feels like a lot for just one series. Meanwhile, some huge franchises got completely left out.
The comments section of the announcement post pretty much turned into a wishlist for forgotten PlayStation classics. People were asking—nay, demanding—to know where Ratchet and Clank were. Where’s Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet? Why no Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima? And the Bloodborne community is feeling that special kind of hurt yet again, with multiple players noting the lack of any Hunter representation. “Damn,4 of the fucking TLOU 2 but not a single bloodborne one?” one player tweeted, and honestly? Mood.
And here’s where it gets juicy. Some gamers noticed that maybe these clips had in fact been there for weeks already. One reply claimed they had already seen them in stock at GameStop closest to them; another one shared a link showing that they had already managed to pull Joel, Abby, and Clicker from what should restricted bags. Blind bags? All serious collectors, hold your hats-these are random, hence, everyone’s anxious about completing their collection.
Oh, this nostalgia is hitting hard. Sweet Tooth is creating feelings among the older crowd that strongly argue there hasn’t really been a PlayStation association with Twisted Metal for what feels like forever. Then, mentioning of Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter stirs feelings yet frustration; a player summarized it brilliantly: “PlayStation are overusing Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper for merch everytime they can but still without announcing new games for them.” Oof. That one stings because it’s so true.
There’s this weird tension happening where players are happy to see these classic characters getting love, but they’d rather have new games than new merch. Another comment roasted Sony pretty good: “that they are aware that they finally own more than 2 franchises” which honestly? Fair point. For years it felt like PlayStation only remembered like three IPs, and now they’re reminding us of all these amazing characters we haven’t seen in actual games for ages.
And so, the situation has created a very interesting dynamic whereby people are half excited about the clips and half using them as an excuse to rail on PlayStation about certain franchises. “Yay, Sly Cooper merch! Now where’s my new game?” Or “Cool, Sweet Tooth is back! Now how about that Twisted Metal reboot we’ve been waiting for?”
Then there’s just all that Last of Us overrepresentation and multiple players who said that having 4 slots dedicated to one property seems excessive when many other series got nothing for the same treatment. One person essentially asked “Do they really needed to add 4 charachters from the last of us instead of giving it to some other PS franchise?” to which… yeah, that’s a valid question.
Well, the search for these things is apparently well underway! Folks are showing their pulls, inquiring about where to buy them from (GameStop and PlayStation Gear store seem to be a great shout), and trying to complete their sets. The blind bags create a situation whereby certain players will end up with duplicates of characters they don’t want and will be desperate to find the very last clip.
Fascinatingly, merch drop has become this microcosm for bigger conversations taking place in the PlayStation community. It is not just about some backpack bling-the discussion is about which franchises PlayStation values, which are seemingly forgotten, and what the players actually want against what they’re given. The clips are cute, sure, but they’ve gone and opened a whole can of worms about PlayStation’s IP management.
At least these guys from Sony can learn a few things from the reaction they received: it almost appeared as if one line of clips was probably the last thing on PlayStation’s mind while somebody went along and made a quick contentious announcement on its behalf.
At the end of the day, it’s just another case of gamers being passionate about their beloved characters. Whether you’re excited that Sly Cooper finally received some representation or you’re frustrated that your favorite didn’t, the reactions just prove that PlayStation’s roster matters to people. These aren’t merely characters; they are memories, childhood heroes, part of gaming history. Maybe that’s exactly why everyone is so invested in what basically amounts to some plastic backpack accessories; it’s never just about the merch-it’s about what these personalities stand for and what we hope to see them in again someday.
So if you’re looking to grab some clips for yourself, keep your eyes peeled at GameStop and the official PlayStation Gear store. Just be prepped for the chance of blind bags, though, and repeatedly ending up with your third Ellie when all you wanted was that Sweet Tooth clip. Maybe if enough peeps demand it, a grand second wave will be made featuring Ratchet, Sackboy, and that Bloodborne Hunter everyone’s been begging for. A gamer can dream, can he not?
