When will G4 end? And how we will know it?

[Shimmer Mist]

Hasbro and toy-wise G4 will certainly end. I'm sure it'll be a lot like what you see with cartoon/movie oriented Transformers toy lines. The end-of-the-line figures will probably be harder to hunt down or perhaps even cancelled all together.  Certainly at the next toy fair you'll see what ever else they have planned next right away. With as popular as ponies are I doubt Hasbro would want to show up at a Toy Fair without anything MLP to speak of, even if it is a new generation.

Even if G4 is officially "over" as far as Hasbro is concerned I'm sure some licensed pony stuff might keep rolling into places like Hot Topic. If they are smart they'll keep riding that FIM cash cow long after they declare it dead. >>

[Leave a Whisper]

Well I wasn't collecting anymore when G2 rolled around, but I noticed G1s ended when they stopped making them and I noticed that G3s ended when the ponies at the store got a complete overhaul in design. I have no idea if there will be a G5 (probably will because its been a lucrative brand for 30 years) or how much it will differ from G4

[gabumon]

based on the G3 wiki entry:  http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G3_Ponies

It looks like G3 (the last biggest modern line) lasted 8 years, with trailing overlap to G4.

So FiM started in 2010 (I think), so we still have 4 more years at least from now I'd guess.  And likely overlap like G3 did.

[hathorcat]

Essentially we will see the start of the new generation when the style of the toys change; however with its level of success right now I think that will be quite some time And even when they change it may be a minor one that we end up with G4.5 rather than straight to G5.

[Malicieuse]

I remember that we got to know G4 because of some toyfair images. One of the first G4 toys was that gift set with fully molded ponies.
I think that was one of the first times we got to see the new style and the characters. Later on more news about a new show was starting to pop up everywhere.
People who worked on the show also used to visit the mlparena. This before the show even got aired.

With G3 i found out thanks to some news paper article.

Ah you mean these?
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Gosh they actually look so much better then their final versions.

Yup, that's the picture. : )

[achab1984]

Gosh I hope not anytime soon

[zombienixon]

I remember that we got to know G4 because of some toyfair images. One of the first G4 toys was that gift set with fully molded ponies.
I think that was one of the first times we got to see the new style and the characters. Later on more news about a new show was starting to pop up everywhere.
People who worked on the show also used to visit the mlparena. This before the show even got aired.

With G3 i found out thanks to some news paper article.

Ah you mean these?
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Gosh they actually look so much better then their final versions.

Yup, that's the picture. : )

Wow, so at some point they originally planned to make Celestia's toys white? And the detailing on her tiara and necklace look great, too. I'm guessing making them look like this would have been too expensive, and too not-pink.

[Wardah]

I don't think there will ever be a time that there aren't ponies on the shelves again. The end of G1 and the US end of G2 (since I have heard G2 was still going in Europe until G3) took place in a different era. Hasbro is now aware how important it's brands are.

[shabbychicdee]

i would normally say 10 years to follow suit with other gens
G1 80s
G2 90s
G3 00s
G4 10s
but there has never been such a popular cartoon with the other gens and pop culture though G3 did have a bit.
however the saying goes.....the bigger they come the bigger they fall. if all the fans turns there interest on something else then it might stop and something else horse/pony related will take its place.

[daffodil101]

this looks like it'll be a fun, cheerful topic

lol


This has never occurred to me before for some reason- that Hasbro actually plans for new generations to come out.  I always just thought they must have stopped selling, so they stopped making them.  In Australia it seemed like pony releases were a few years behind the US.  I only ever knew about year 8-10 ponies, I remember getting year 8 G1 ponies for my birthday as late as 1997.  When they disappeared from stores we thought it was the END. 

I was vaguely aware of G2 and 3 but after seeing how different G2 was from our beloved G1, I lost interest.  I guess I just figured, when the lines become less successful and make less money for Hasbro, they sort of fizzle out and they make something else. 

Out of interest, when did G2 first come out in other places??  For us it was the early 2000s. 

[Sapphire-Light]

I not sure, but it appears that if it wasn't for the EQG doll good sells, the g4 must likely would have be finished by now   

EQG are kind like a G4.5 , before they arrived at the store the ponies were collecting dust at the shelves, EQG gave new life to G4 when the pony toys were just the main 6 and princesses, the dolls have new charets that haven't beeing made into pony versions 

[SilverHorsey]

Holy moly, this topic is going to be very interesting

My opinion is that G4 will last for some more time, cause it's quite popular, but when I look at how long last generations lasted I'd want to say G4 has aprox. about 3 or 4 years to go?

[Sparkle Pony]

I can't shake the mental image of G4 ending in some fiery apocalypse, with collectors and bronies desperately grabbing the last merchandise off the shelves (of course the shelves are on fire) while a child from the next isle over raises an eyebrow at us and buys the newest Monster High doll.

But seriously though, I think G4 is going to end a bit differently than the other generations.  My reasoning is twofold: the bigger emphasis on the TV show and sheer amount of adult fans.  The toyline will probably last shortly without the TV show.  If you ask me, we're probably on the last one or two seasons, so there isn't too much more of that, but I've been wrong before.  However, because of the adult fans that G4 has garnered, there will be a lot more resistance to having the line end, so we'll probably be seeing resistance to the series ending never seen before.  No matter what though, I think the end will be veeeery interesting this time around.

[Carrehz]

No matter what though, I think the end will be veeeery interesting this time around.

This.

I wasn't really collecting when G2/G3/G3.5 ended, so I'm not sure what happened back then But I'm interested to see how G4 will end..

[Shimmer Mist]

I can't shake the mental image of G4 ending in some fiery apocalypse, with collectors and bronies desperately grabbing the last merchandise off the shelves (of course the shelves are on fire) while a child from the next isle over raises an eyebrow at us and buys the newest Monster High doll.

But seriously though, I think G4 is going to end a bit differently than the other generations.  My reasoning is twofold: the bigger emphasis on the TV show and sheer amount of adult fans.  The toyline will probably last shortly without the TV show.  If you ask me, we're probably on the last one or two seasons, so there isn't too much more of that, but I've been wrong before.  However, because of the adult fans that G4 has garnered, there will be a lot more resistance to having the line end, so we'll probably be seeing resistance to the series ending never seen before.  No matter what though, I think the end will be veeeery interesting this time around.

The cartoon's cancellation means there will be mass brony outrage for sure. Just look at how "well" that portion of the fandom handled changes that have happened with the show. A certain pegasus getting redubbeb, Princess Cadance, Twilight having a brother, Twilight becoming a princess, Equestria Girls.  It's just Drama, drama, and MORE drama. No changes can happen to the show's Status Quo without a whole lot of fans getting angry and crying that it will ruin their precious Friendship is Magic. This happens a lot with any fandom that has multiple iterations but it's been especially bad when so much whining about changes happens just in reference to a single generation of ponies. Transofrmers fans like to refer to it as RUINED FOREVER.

And indeed it will be very interesting. I don't want FIM to end soon or anything but I am genuinely curious as to how it will inevitably go down.