Hot Topic finds: Not sure how to feel

[Like A Tea Spoon]

I seriously, seriously dislike Hot Topic. Why? Over priced crap quality merchandise. The "oh so edgy" store is laughable at best. It's a goth/punk kids' Abercombie and Fitch.  Sorry, you any of you adore this place, but I make sure I stay the heck away from this store.

$4.99 Blind Bag figures?  Seriously?
My sister shops at HT because they mark stuff down ridiculously so often. I have a collection of Invader Zim/Gir stuff she got for 80% off! lol
I'd rather get my pony stuff online or from Ebay or even here and the Trading Post.

The fact that these $14.99 MLP figures are being scalped on EBay and here at almost four times the retail value really irks me. People do what they want, yadda, yadda, yadda...

/Rant/

Anyway, I'll stick to hanging out with you here on the Arena. This place and the Trading Post are probably the only multi generation MLP forums that I know and I love sharing MLP with people who are not just "fair weather fans" and are fans because it's the "it" thing right now.

[Moss]

I think there are a decent number of gender-neutral or female merch items. I'm female, and I have the following merch items (all from HT), none of which mention bronies:
- Wonderbolts Hoodie
- Luna T shirt
- sunglasses
- 2 RD T shirts
- Pinkie Pie T shirt
- Full Cast T shirt
My sister got a belt today in HT today, too, again, brony-free. Just being there today I saw many t shirts that didn't have "brony" plastered all over them, as well as belts and sweatshirts. I AM getting a bit tired of seeing "brony" all over everything, but it doesn't bother me all that much. The socks were a pack of 5, and only one of them had that on it. I think it's awesome to see more adult-oriented merch, regardless of what gender it's being marketed towards.

And girls have had control of the franchise for years. Why not let the guys have some fun? 

And the prices are crazy there because it's licensed. HT doens't own MLP, so they have to pay fees to Hasbro. Most of there stuff isn't really their brand either. For example, most of the pony shirts come from welovefine. So they hike up prices because they need to make a profit.

[BerryPunch]

The "oh so edgy" store is laughable at best. It's a goth/punk kids' Abercombie and Fitch. 

I would barely call it a goth store.  There's way more normal stuff there that any sorta punk stuff.

[michelle53]

Let me state my case:

My biggest issue with MLP underwear for grown-ups is simply trying to turn something innocent into a sexual item.  I'm sorry, but wearing undies with Fluttershy on them over the age of puberty just seems so creepy and perverted to me.  You know it's only a matter of time before sexy pictures of women wearing MLP 'lingerie' pop up.  To me, that crosses a line; taking a symbol of girlhood innocence and morphing into something construed as sexual diminishes the FiM line in my eyes. 

I'm sure there are those out there who think its 'cute' and 'cool', but I am not one of them. 

[DirePony]

As far as the pricing at Hot Topic outside of the blind bag figures I don't feel their pricing is bad at all. Most of their shirts are $20 or under and a lot of these same styles are ones that welovefine has on their website for $25 and you don't have to wait 2 weeks for them to ship. On top of that they are always offering Buy One Get One 1/2 off or 25% off or something. I got my Luna, Octavia and Lyra shirts for $15 EA and my Join the Herd hoodie for $38 during their sales. I really want to pick up that Wonderbolts hoodie at some point to.

I have shopped at Hot Topic for years mostly for t-shirts and hoodies, as that makes up about 90% of my wardrobe.

[Pinkie21]

I'll just state this as someone who just bought a set...  Maybe some might see it as that, but there are lots of people who don't see it like that.  As I said before, the little girls have their MLP undies.  I missed having fun cartoon undies like I did when I was a kid, so this is a bit of nostalgia for me.  Just putting in my own 2 cents   I know a few people who also want these for the nostalgia factor. 

[BerryPunch]

I know this sounds kinda weird, but I would wear em  I've always thought it was so funny that most underwear nowadays have awesome images on them   

[Rosencrantz]

I'm gonna weigh in about the MLP underwear thing. I'm pre-op FTM, so women's clothes still fits my figure best and I know, at least, underwear isn't a sex thing for me. It's a 'well, good, no chafing' thing. I'd kill for some good Wonder Woman or Superman undies, and I don't see MLP underwear being much different.

It's just fun clothes, you know? Some people are creepers, but that doesn't mean the clothing itself is bad. I mean, I know my *existence* is someone's fetish, but that doesn't mean that I'm the bad sort of sexual myself.

[kakenterprise]

I'm gonna weigh in about the MLP underwear thing. I'm pre-op FTM, so women's clothes still fits my figure best and I know, at least, underwear isn't a sex thing for me. It's a 'well, good, no chafing' thing. I'd kill for some good Wonder Woman or Superman undies, and I don't see MLP underwear being much different.

It's just fun clothes, you know? Some people are creepers, but that doesn't mean the clothing itself is bad. I mean, I know my *existence* is someone's fetish, but that doesn't mean that I'm the bad sort of sexual myself.

They have some really nice looking Wonder Woman underwear at Target....

I don't like going into Hottopic.  I always feel really claustrophobic for some reason.  It just seems like they cram way to much stuff into that store and you can't move around.  I hate it when there's a bunch of people because it just makes things impossible.  I must have missed the mlp undies I'm really curious.     

[Rosencrantz]

They have some really nice looking Wonder Woman underwear at Target....

ONE DAY I got things in the way right now, but one day I'll have lucky superhero undies.

[nessa16]

I have also shopped at Hot Topic for quite a few years (since 2000?).  I liked it in high school and junior high because it did have so much for 80s children.  They had more Disney, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears and My Little Pony stuff back then.  They did have retro MLP stuff in the early 2000s like bobbleheads, air fresheners and other items.  I think I had a few pony buttons from there in high school.  They do kind cater to the punk/rock/goth crowd but that is part of their target group.  It did use to have more nostalgic stuff than now though but I think that just has to do with the current teen-early 20s crowd that may not know much about them.

[popyduggan]

I saw the underwear when I was looking for vinyls and thought,"If I had a gf I'd get those for...nah, too creepy.".

[Pinecone]

Of course Hot Topic is edgy. My Little Pony is extremely edgy and hardcore! Pink ponies man.

I'm a bit worried about the line someone posted, that this fandom should go towards men. Are we forgetting that most entertainment out there is aimed at men? Nobody is saying that men shouldn't have My Little Pony things, but it just seems unfair to ignore women who have stayed faithful to the franchise since childhood.

[HoustonCollector72]

Meh, I'd wear them anyway. They can't be that different.

They're not really, it just makes me uncomfortable to wear them as a personal preference. I mostly think it's stupid since not all mens' pajama pants have that extra flap in the first place, they can wear "normal" pants, so I don't know why they just didn't go with something more unisex.

  that is so true ,none of my PJ's have that   

Post Merge: November 11, 2012, 10:45:48 PM

Of course Hot Topic is edgy. My Little Pony is extremely edgy and hardcore! Pink ponies man.

I'm a bit worried about the line someone posted, that this fandom should go towards men. Are we forgetting that most entertainment out there is aimed at men? Nobody is saying that men shouldn't have My Little Pony things, but it just seems unfair to ignore women who have stayed faithful to the franchise since childhood.

  I agree , and it is a very complex ,the gender barrier goes both ways, is it so hard for the companies to just get rid of it?? I mean my 7 yo nephew wanted ponies, Her Mom was very uncomfortable saying  no to him and with no explanation to him as to why he could not have them ,I knew it was because the ponies to her are for girls and they are dolls in a sense , Then the Funko line came out and she was more welcoming to them for the boy, he goes to sleep with his Rainbow Dash now  .
But what if the Funko had never come out ?? So I guess the "brony" label on these other merchandise and the slot on the PJ ,and even the Vinyl ponies are just a clear green light for guys to go for them.
and a reassurance that is for an item for males .

Post Merge: November 11, 2012, 10:47:25 PM

I saw the underwear when I was looking for vinyls and thought,"If I had a gf I'd get those for...nah, too creepy.".

  LOL  !

Post Merge: November 11, 2012, 10:54:12 PM

Let me state my case:

My biggest issue with MLP underwear for grown-ups is simply trying to turn something innocent into a sexual item.  I'm sorry, but wearing undies with Fluttershy on them over the age of puberty just seems so creepy and perverted to me.  You know it's only a matter of time before sexy pictures of women wearing MLP 'lingerie' pop up.  To me, that crosses a line; taking a symbol of girlhood innocence and morphing into something construed as sexual diminishes the FiM line in my eyes. 

I'm sure there are those out there who think its 'cute' and 'cool', but I am not one of them.

I think that already happened on halloween, there were some sexy costumes of rarity and pinkie pie, someone on here had a thread on them,cause she had 2 options to go for, they were also adds of those costumes on the Equestria site 

[Moss]

Of course Hot Topic is edgy. My Little Pony is extremely edgy and hardcore! Pink ponies man.

I'm a bit worried about the line someone posted, that this fandom should go towards men. Are we forgetting that most entertainment out there is aimed at men? Nobody is saying that men shouldn't have My Little Pony things, but it just seems unfair to ignore women who have stayed faithful to the franchise since childhood.

I wasn't saying that the fandom should go entirely to men. Sure, there's a lot of "men's" entertainment out there, but it's much more acceptable for a girl to like boy things than it is for a boy to like girl things. So if the one little display booth in HT has mostly men's merch (even though it's pretty even), I don't see it as that horrible. I wasn't saying they should own the fandom, I just meant that women should be a bit more willing to share.