Collectable Review - Amy Rose's Fortune Card Deck
In 2022, SEGA re-introduced a little remembered characteristic of Sonic the Hedgehog’s not-quite-girlfriend Amy Rose; she practices tarot.
While only mentioned in the Japanese manual for the original 1992 release, 2022’s re-realease of Sonic CD in Sonic Origins, and it’s new intro animations, reminded everyone that the reason Amy went after Sonic was because she’d read about him in the cards. The following year in the Sonic Frontiers DLC Final Horizon, Amy became a playable character and used her fortune cards as part of her new attack.
With Sonic being more popular than ever thanks to the amazing films, it was only a matter of time before Amy’s Fortune Cards would become an item fans could purchase. Thanks to Titan Books, this indeed became a reality.
The Official Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck, which usually goes for £24.99 but can be grabbed from Forbidden Planet currently for £15.991, is 78-card deck which comes in a really lovely, and quite sturdy, box, as well as a 128-page guide book. The guide book is written by Ian Flynn, the long-time (and, in my opinion, absolute best) writer of Sonic comics, as well the aforementioned Frontiers and much of Sonic’s expanded media. The art for each card, as well as that featured on the front of the box, is by Diana Skelly who has also done a lot of work for the Sonic comics, both when they were at Archie and their current home of IDW.
The whole package is really nice. The box, as I mentioned, is very strudy, and you could easily pop this in your bag to take to a mate’s place or for a bit of tarot reading at school or work if that’s your thing. The art on both the box and the cards themselves is beautiful with a wonderfully bold style and vibrant colours. Much of it references aspects of wider Sonic lore, such as the mural seen in Hidden Palace Zone during Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The cards themselves are nice and thick, so you’d have to be throwing them around a bit to damage them. The little guidebook is small enough to fit in your pocket and is colour illustrated. The text from Flynn is written in Amy’s voice and matches her character well. I don’t know much about tarot, but the explanations given on how to use the cards and what each mean were easy for a drongo like me to understand. I’d be interested to hear what people more versed in tarot think of it.
While I’ve some interest in occult things - I’ve read a bit about Aleister Crowley, I know who Helena Blavatsky is and I’ve bought every issue of Hellebore - tarot isn't something I’ve ever really explored. However, in the words of Fox Mulder, “I want to believe,” so I was more than happy to do myself a reading for the purposes of this article.
The guidebook offers three different readings: Never Lake’s Clarity, a quick three-card reading named after the lake near where Amy first met Sonic; Time Stone Circuit, a more in-depth reading named after the Time Stones from Sonic CD, and The Seven Servers, the most in-depth reading named after the powerful Chaos Emeralds.
The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power... Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos.
— Tikal, Sonic Adventure
Of course I had to go for The Seven Servers!
In the image above you can see the seven cards I drew. Ian Amy tells us to focus on a question you’d like answered when drawing the cards, so I thought about my new job, and asked if I’d enjoy it and if it would lead to bigger and better things.
Here, from top left and across and down, are the cards I drew.
Companions: According to Amy, this card is all about “warmth, friendship and celebration.” Hopefully, this means I’m going to have a good time at the new job, and possibly even make a few mates. 👍
Time: Amy says this card suggests that change is on the horizon, and that I might be making a journey soon. Could this relate to the “leading to bigger and better things” part of my question? 🤔
Travel: This card means you’re about to start something new. Well, that makes sense. 😉
Page of Fire: Amy says this card means you’re driven by a love of exploration. I’m not sure what that might mean in regards to a new job; maybe that I should fully explore all it has to offer? At any rate, I’m kinda chuffed I pulled this card as it depicts Marine who is what passes for Australian in Sonic’s world (or, more accurately, Blaze’s). 🔥
10 of Rings: “Everything has lead to this point.” I don’t know, Amy, that sounds a little…ominous. She also says “you’re inheriting all that has come before.” What came before? You mean the not being able to get a full time job, being made redundant and fired? Doesn’t sound great, if I’m honest. I’m just going to take it as the more logical “all the time you spent job hunting and writing applications finally paid off.” 🤷♂️
9 of Lightning: “You’re feeling hopeless and anxious. This is likely because you’ve got unprocessed emotions. You need to accept they way you feel.” Well, I guess this could be applicable. As happy as I am to finally have a new job, it’s yet another temporary gig. Since moving to the UK seven years ago, I’ve had one permanent job…and I was made redundant when the collage it was at amalgamated with another. So yeah, you could say I’m anxious about knowing I’ll have to go through the whole job hunt thing again in the future. ⚡
Page of Water: “You’re like Chao. You’re sensitive to change but also full of happy surprises and big dreams.” That…actually kind of fits. I wouldn’t say I’m “sensitive” to change, but I do like to prep for it. And big dreams? Well, I am here on Substack trying to make a writing career. I’d never turn my nose up to being compared to Chao, though! 😁
While the meaning behind those cards could pertain to my new job, the thing with tarot is - and the guidebook even says this - you need to think about their meaning in relation to your initial question. So, in essence, it’s comfirmation bias. I don’t know if tarot is really a form of divination, but it was fun to do.
So; would I recommend the Official Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy Rose’s Fortune Card Deck? Yeah, I would. It’s a top notch product made from quality materials. The whole presentation is beautiful with Skelly’s wonderful art meaning it’ll look good on your shelf if you want to keep it on display. Taking it out to show other Sonic fans I’d wager will always get a positive reaction. Flynn’s explanation of how to read the cards and their meanings is easy to understand, and the voice stays in line with Amy’s character. While I doubt it’d have much appeal outside of Sonic or tarot fans (I wonder how often those two cross over?), except from maybe an art appreciation perspective. Still, it’s a really cool, fun item. I reckon it’s completely worth the RRP of £24.99, but if you can get it cheaper then it’s an absolute bargain!
TTFN
I have quite a few items that I’m thinking of doing similar articles like this on. If you enjoyed this (or even if you didn’t) please let me know in the comments!
I don’t earn anything from this link. It’s certainly available other places as well. I still feel a bit…icky promoting Amazon here.