Question about certain G4 Ponies

[Taffeta]

I did see a G4 Minty when doing some G4 research. Is she also from that same first wave? And difficult to get?

G4 Minty came in a large multi-pack set that, for whatever reason, somehow skipped the USA and got shipped North to Canada.  I found mine in a thrift store last year, but that was after years of searching. 

Ahh that explains why everyone talks about it as rare. I think it must have got to the UK as well because my Minty was from here. So there's probably a good chance it also got to you, Katrine...

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I'm confused about the Midnight at Canterlot set? I thought it was:
1. Set was released as a Costco exclusive early in the G4 line, maybe 2012 or so.
2. Set fell into obscurity
3. Set was brought back to Toys R Us 2015 or 2016
That's how I got my Minty and Dewdrop at least. Was it only in certain areas? I thought them bringing the set back helped to bring Minty's market price down.

[Ponyfan]

I'm confused about the Midnight at Canterlot set? I thought it was:
1. Set was released as a Costco exclusive early in the G4 line, maybe 2012 or so.
2. Set fell into obscurity
3. Set was brought back to Toys R Us 2015 or 2016
That's how I got my Minty and Dewdrop at least. Was it only in certain areas? I thought them bringing the set back helped to bring Minty's market price down.

I think this is correct. I got my Midnight in Canterlot set from Toys R Us which was a couple of years after it had been a Costco exclusive. I think one of the ponies names changed between the Costco version and the Toys R Us version. 


Ponyfan

[katrine2309]

I did see a G4 Minty when doing some G4 research. Is she also from that same first wave? And difficult to get?

G4 Minty came in a large multi-pack set that, for whatever reason, somehow skipped the USA and got shipped North to Canada.  I found mine in a thrift store last year, but that was after years of searching. 

Ahh that explains why everyone talks about it as rare. I think it must have got to the UK as well because my Minty was from here. So there's probably a good chance it also got to you, Katrine...

Wow- interesting. There is just so much about the G4 (and G3!) release I don’t know about...! I’m crossing my fingers for her to show up at fleamarkets. The seasonal autumn markets are starting next weekend and I’ll be first in line for the toy section *kids move away! Collector looking for ponies!*

[Taffeta]

Wait, it is the same set with Dewdrop? That was the first time I saw Dewdrop here, her original release was really badly distributed here...but I saw it in Smyths not TRU...??

[Ponyfan]

Wait, it is the same set with Dewdrop? That was the first time I saw Dewdrop here, her original release was really badly distributed here...but I saw it in Smyths not TRU...??

 Midnight in Canterlot included Dewdrop Dazzle and Minty.

Ponyfan

[tailrustedtealeaf]

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Here's a pic of Midnight in Canterlot, it's got a second release of Dewdrop Dazzle and the first of Minty, as well as a few show characters.
I just remember it being TrU exclusive in the US, but because it was originally from Costco, it's possible it just got picked up by whomever in whatever countries it appeared at.

[Sweet Daes]

Midnight in Canterlot has an interesting history. It has had one of the strangest releases that I have heard of.

One was released in 2013 after a different TrU release of Nightmare Moon from the Favorites collection (which included DJ Pon-3, Lemony Gem, Flower Wishes and Trixie all with glitter cutiemarks). It has a nice, non-glitter variant of NM Moon.

The original Midnight in Canterlot was released in the US to Costco in 2013 and then there was a re-release of the set to TrU in 2016. Overseas saw them sporadically in different places, probably to the highest bidders- it was not all that "exclusive" to specific retailers outside of N America. It was just rare due to TrU having shotgun to a lot of Hasbro's releases, and that likely led to them being  the only retailer that was named as being the dealer of the pack in N America.

As a side note, the second release in 2016 was near the tail end of TrU being saddled with a decade $5bil-worth of debt and being screwed over pretty hard by Amazon, litigation and different settlements for illegal business practices and all sorts of other bad juu juu). The main thing that kept them afloat for so long was that they had struck some fancy deals with Hasbro (among others, like Lego and Mattel because... well, where else were they going to go that was 100% toys?) so they probably got some favoritism based on that alone.

There were virtually no differences in the Midnight in Canterlot sets- they didn't have the "Only at <place>" markings on the packages, either. If you look at all sorts of other G4 releases "exclusive" to TrU (Costco, Target, Walmart, etc), you will see it being noted somewhere on the package. This is not the case for the Midnight in Canterlot set. Both releases have the same packaging, same setup, and some had noticed that the packs from TrU have deteriorating glue, as if the set packaging was OLD. This has led to the speculation that it wasn't meant to be "exclusive", but just turned out that way out of convenience and coincidence to satisfy something between Hasbro and TrU.





Oh, and a peak into the brain of the beast. There is also the marketing of the sets themselves. Many marketing teams function based on this:
Why sell one thing valued to us at $4 when I can mash all these characters together in one box to upsell, and mark it at $35 per unit? It's xxx% more profit per unit, which means the profit will rack up faster.

All the marketing teams that I have worked with have used this logic. As much as it sounds stupid, it works, and works well. More often then not, consumers see multipacks as a value because they are preprogrammed to view any sort of multipack as getting more than one of something for something that is a decent price, regardless if that pack is REALLY a value.

[Taffeta]

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Here's a pic of Midnight in Canterlot, it's got a second release of Dewdrop Dazzle and the first of Minty, as well as a few show characters.
I just remember it being TrU exclusive in the US, but because it was originally from Costco, it's possible it just got picked up by whomever in whatever countries it appeared at.

Now that you post the picture, I remember it. But it was definitely Smyths that stocked it. It makes me wonder if they did so as surplus from Costco rather than TRU, because mostly TRU exclusives transferred over if they were going to be sold here. Smyths, mind you, have had some weird stuff in the past. They had the Through the Mirror ponies (were they Target or Walmart?) and they also had something MH which was only available in Walmart in the US I believe. So it may just be they were buying up excess stock. They have had a lot of Canadian packed water cuties of AJ and Flower Wishes, and the ribbon ponies, also on Canadian cards, so I guess that's a possible.

I am trying to remember what sets I saw in TRU, but I only really recall the glittery ones (Dash and AJ) with the dolls. Elements of Harmony I think. I remmeber buying AJ for my sister when she was clearance, because we'd seen her before at a stupid price and Naynie hadn't had the cash to afford her then. Otherwise we definitely had the pony mania stuff but I don't remember Chrysalis.

And then with Target ponies, they traditionally went to Argos and Tesco. Now they only appear at Tesco, but at times they appear out of season (by which I mean 2 years later) at Entertainer with Target labels on them! The Tesco and Argos ones never had Target labels on them, so Entertainer is clearly buying up excess US stock as well.

Makes it really interesting what ends up on our shelves sometimes. We're a big dumping ground for everyone, apparently...just like we were at the end of G1...

Thank you for posting the pic though It clears things up for me. I remember seeing a few big packs but that one caught my attention because of the artwork and now I see it, I remember clearly where it was and when.

So Minty was definitely in the UK, in some numbers, and that's why I was able to get her at a low price.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I saw someone selling Minty at Bronycon for $45 and made an aside comment to someone who was lamenting over her price to check eBay...this same seller was at Ponyfair with the same exact prices and got undercut at every single stand.
It looks like her going price is about $20 right now, not too bad!
The Through the Mirror set was a Walmart exclusive, so it's interesting that they ended up at Smyths instead of Asda (? or what the UK equivalent is).
Your description reminds me of Ollies over on the east coast. I found a Target exclusive goth Pinkie Pie a while after they stopped carrying her in stores. It was a very lucky find for me! If we compared dates we could probably find out if it was excess stock or Hasbro just needed someone to sell overseas.

[Taffeta]

Dates...hrm...now you are testing a study broken brain . I want to say 2016ish though. I remember because I never saw Dewdrop in her single release here. I snapped mine up in Lille but when I saw the pack I remember thinking 5 years late but better than never.

Asda was the UK Walmart chain. I am not sure what id going on with it now because there has been some weird new deal with one of our domestic supermarket chains over ownership.

Smyths is a toy store not affiliated with any of the US chains I don't think. Entertainer is a British store...I am guessing those with US store labels like target or walmart must be clearance stock but dunno about the canterlot set.

I think my Minty was equivalent  $10 and she had her hair bands still in.

[katrine2309]

So, I have a question about another brushable, and I couldn’t see her mentioned- but didn’t look too closely on all the posts so sorry if you already covered her

Buttonbelle. I actually really, really like her. But I have no idea if she was ever sold in Europe. I haven’t seen her here (that doesn’t say much, because g4 ponies get snagged up incredibly fast second-hand).

[Taffeta]

So, I have a question about another brushable, and I couldn’t see her mentioned- but didn’t look too closely on all the posts so sorry if you already covered her

Buttonbelle. I actually really, really like her. But I have no idea if she was ever sold in Europe. I haven’t seen her here (that doesn’t say much, because g4 ponies get snagged up incredibly fast second-hand).

I saw her. But only in Harrods. BUT I believe she was in Argos here. That being a catalogue shop, though, it's not somewhere that you'd just see her on a shelf...

There's only one release of her, right?

[katrine2309]

I *think* there is only one of her. At least I have only seen the one with buttons around her eyes. That is the Cutie Mark release? Or rainbow power? I can’t remember really.

Hmm, interesting though. Let’s hope I’ll spot her when my thrifting season starts next week

[Princess Fizzy]

Yes, Buttonbelle only has one brushable release. It was called Cutie Mark Magic: Friendship Flutters (2015). She was packaged with 3 breezies. Trixie & Rarity were the other 2 ponies released in this wave. Yes, they do have symbols around their eyes & down their leg. I never actually found any of this set in a store, but they eventually came to Amazon & I was able to snag her. Even though she was only released once, I don’t think she’s considered all that rare. I think her current value is around $10.