Why, Hasbro!?

[ringwraith10]

I think they might think that because Barbie and her handful of friends keep selling like crazy, every toy line only needs about 6 characters.

Though Barbie has some friends that she disowns for a few decades at a time (poor Midge!).

[zombienixon]

I've heard several people in this thread and elsewhere say that MLP is defined as "brightly colored ponies." 

Well, that's more of a perspective thing.  If G1, G2, or early G3 was what introduced you to MLP, then there's going to be a more specific definition. For new collectors like me and others here it's going to be more general since G4 is what introduced us to MLP, and they've always had the blind bags and brushables alongside each other, so it's kind of what you're accustomed to, especially if you had no knowledge of or interest in previous generations.

[Sunset]

I've heard several people in this thread and elsewhere say that MLP is defined as "brightly colored ponies." 

Well, that's more of a perspective thing.  If G1, G2, or early G3 was what introduced you to MLP, then there's going to be a more specific definition. For new collectors like me and others here it's going to be more general since G4 is what introduced us to MLP, and they've always had the blind bags and brushables alongside each other, so it's kind of what you're accustomed to, especially if you had no knowledge of or interest in previous generations.

Exactly, that's exactly what I am trying to say.  If you are newer to ponies, then your definition of what "My Little Pony" is comes from what is out now.  But if you grew up with G1, then your definition is going to be different.  Even if it has been decades since then, still G1 was the original version of "My Little Pony" and it can be hard to change that definition after all this time.

With my previous post I was trying to illustrate to newer fans what it would look like if *your* definition of "My Little Pony" was no longer what Hasbro was producing.  That is how older fans feel and it can be hard to accept.

[rearing_palomino164]

I personally enjoyed how much selection the G3's had....

[ladybastilla]

Hasbro needs to figure out what today's children want and they need to produce that. If I want to buy it, I will. If not, I'll collect something else. I recognize and appreciate the fact that toys need to be designed for children of the times in which they are invented. That doesn't mean I don't wish there was more variety for me to collect in stores--it just means I know that whether I like them or not Hasbro isn't making them "for me".

I'm not too upset though, really. I do swaps here and get my g1 collection that way, my mom hunts for g3 for me at thrift shops and garage sales, I buy anything g4 that I do want, and I have a couple other blossoming collections that are eating up the finances I would put into MLP otherwise.