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But then it got into the core 7 rubbish and since then it's been a downhill slide.
Quote from: Taffeta on July 06, 2018, 04:06:36 AM But then it got into the core 7 rubbish and since then it's been a downhill slide.Oh I know the answer to that one, because I was there, in a Q&A session during the tour of Hasbro's headquarters at the 2008 MLP fair. THAT was directly because the marketing people at Hasbro at the time were relying exclusively on market research. "Little girls play this way, they want the same characters over and over again". They actually were a handful of women in their 20s and 30s with absolutely no vested interest in ponies. They had no nostalgic ties whatsoever so did what their test market, which involved bringing children in to observe them play. They just did some testing and decided to completely overhaul.What kind of children want to be involved in MLP marketing, and what kind of parents are likely to bring their children in for field marketing for a mid-2000s toy line that has been stereotypically girly, in New England? That's right, people who have children who do, or are being pushed into fairly traditional gender roles. Kids who are already fans of toy lines that that's baked into. Your SSC knockoffs, your Baby does whatevers. Hasbro has always, ALWAYS done this crap with MLP. From its very inception where Bonnie Zacherle pitched the concept, to a handful of years into the first line, and it always ends up the same. With Hasbro thinking:"Hmmmm little girls really want to be mothers to the same group of tiny pastel horses over and over again".The My Little Pony Mommy commercials were what made me stop collecting ponies the first time around. 8 year old me went: "Where was my excitement and adventure and magic and why are we supposed to pretend this is a Cabbage Patch Kid".
Wow. Those women saying that don't have a clue. Sounds more like they were shoving words in kids mouths to excuse their sudden laziness.
Quote from: Leave a Whisper on July 09, 2018, 09:51:22 PMWow. Those women saying that don't have a clue. Sounds more like they were shoving words in kids mouths to excuse their sudden laziness.I did not see one convention goer present who was not pretty annoyed with that conversation. The attitude was "tee-hee, we don't care as long as we get bonuses this year", and the consideration that since ponies weren't one of the top tier sellers at the time that they were doing their penance in ponies and were waiting to be bumped elsewhere. At the time they didn't have any plans whatsoever to market anything to adults either. Funny how the tables has turned. I sometimes wonder how those women survived the FIM early days. Maybe they moved on to Littlest Pet Shop.
Quote from: nightmare muffin on July 05, 2018, 10:53:51 PMreally obscure background fodder ponies like Pretzel, Pursey Pink, Flower Wishes, Lemony Gem, and Buttonbelle continue to get toys made of them. Even those above mentioned only got one release, except Flower Wishes who I think has 2. Others like Trixie have had a couple of releases, I think...Starlight Glimmer now has a few as well. The reboot has also seen more releases for DJ Pon3 and Photo Finish...and Cheerilee has also had several releases. And we have had Soarin and Spitfire as well, who I believe are more mainstream background characters because of the Wonderbolts. So there is a B-cast line of production as well.I don't watch the show and don't know (or really care) who most of the unproduced characters you mention are, but I totally agree with the lack of diversity in the production. I am happy to have all the fodder ones you mentioned because they are not mane 6. Speaking as a kid who grew up with pretty much zero relationship to the G1 animation and who still considers it a thing that happened, rather than something that defines any part of G1 canon, I think it's a shame G4 is so dependent on the animation. It means the rerelease of the same characters over and over because Hasbro can use the show as an excuse to resell their stars in barely different forms rather than diversifying. It also dictates to the audience which ponies are important and which are not, as opposed to letting the kid decide for themselves. I have a lot of non-mane 6 G4 toys, and I genuinely don't know where most of them fit in, if they even do - but I'm collecting with a G1 mentality. I think the G4 mentality is to prioritise the show characters in the way the show does, so there's less concern about what gets released among G4 only fans.But they stopped being original a long time ago. It was beginning at the end of G1 with the 7 characters (who also tied into the animation, so the blueprint for what G4 became was there in proto form even then). They went to town on it with G2 rereleases of the same characters, but as that line had no animation, it was a kind of balance between rereleased old ones in new forms and new ponies. Of course, the lack of presence in the US meant that that line was pretty much dictated by Europe.G3 didn't begin that way, although there were some that got different pose rereleases. But then it got into the core 7 rubbish and since then it's been a downhill slide.I think we've all discussed that ad nauseum to be honest. I don't think it's a new subject to raise that Hasbro lack diversity. If only us complaining about it on a forum like this actually made them change their approach - but it seems likely any reboot of MLP in the future will stay hopelessly tied to these six designs in some basic way or other.Kissthethunder is right about the mould thing, I guess - although they splashed out on a ton of new moulds for the reboot so it seems crazy that they can't do better with the characters. Mind you, the new moulds are hideous...
really obscure background fodder ponies like Pretzel, Pursey Pink, Flower Wishes, Lemony Gem, and Buttonbelle continue to get toys made of them.
That sounds like highly likely market research, with a complete disconnect from actual kids.I don't remember if I ever saw a MLP Mummy commercial as a kid.
I think the current line-up is a result of the popular "band of heroes" concept, not MLP Mommy.
And we still don’t have brushables of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with their cutie marks. Ponyfan
Not so Sweet Daes, kids enjoy diversity. But Hasbro bo longer cares, because they've been pulling this crap early on and never stopped. My daughter and my cousin were into MH dolls and asked for specific ones, Abby Bominable, Venus McFlytrap, Ghoulia Yelps. Not Draculara, Draculara and Clawdeen for example. Transformers and DC/Marvel has a butt ton of characters that kids go looking for. So yes, it is too samey. MLP isn't Barbie. Nor should Hasbro treat it as such.
Quote from: Leave a Whisper on July 12, 2018, 07:43:55 PMNot so Sweet Daes, kids enjoy diversity. But Hasbro bo longer cares, because they've been pulling this crap early on and never stopped. My daughter and my cousin were into MH dolls and asked for specific ones, Abby Bominable, Venus McFlytrap, Ghoulia Yelps. Not Draculara, Draculara and Clawdeen for example. Transformers and DC/Marvel has a butt ton of characters that kids go looking for. So yes, it is too samey. MLP isn't Barbie. Nor should Hasbro treat it as such. I say that because of my experience in the field.And, to be more fair, not every franchise has a death and rebirth as often as MLP.