Let's take a look at my favorite plush right now (the one responsible for my url); the very first Sonic the Hedgehog UFO Capture plush made for the release of the original Sonic game in 1991!!! (More famously known as Stringy Sonic)
He was made to promote the release of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game on the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) in 1991 in Japan, and for a first Sonic plush, he doesn't look too bad!
I'm absolutely a huge fan of how they did his head spikes, as well as how they did his limbs, feet and hands. The rope they used to capture his limbs is where he got his namesake, Stringy Sonic, and its the only plush of its kind ever made. I promise you, now that Sega has a better handling on Sonic's design, you'll never get another Sonic plush like it again. (even tho i wish they made more like it T_T,,,,)
Here's what the tush tag they made for these plushies looks like! Drawn by Sonic's creator, Naoto Ohshima, this carried the "SEGASONIC THE HEDGEHOG" brand title (yet again, nothing you'll ever see today).