Hasbro is on a real 80s / G1 kick on Facebook this year, anyone noticed?

[Zapper]

It assumes that all girls tend to act/like certain things, and that the rest of the toys that don't emphasize a nuturing aspect are for boys. Studies show that boys who play with nurture/care driven toys often become more involved fathers, likely due to this practiced scenario in early youth.

^^^^ Exactly. I don't see how it's wrong if a boy wants to get a dollhouse or something. Being a good father? Nah........boys MUST like............Tools And Cars.......Mold And Fungus.......The Yuck...

Since G5 is planned to be more gender-neutral, I wonder how it's gonna be marketed? How will it be designed? Even if they go the more neutral route I can't image a dude going down the toy aisle with his son to pick him up a Pinkie Pie figure. Hasbro even made a "ponies with swords going to war" line and I guess it flopped since it was ALWAYS on clearance and lasted one (1) year. Because it's branded as "My Little Pony" it's for girls, so boys are physically incapable of playing with it.

This is a bit off-topic though, yeah?

Where did you read about that neutrality? Because as far as I know they just want to make dragons as important as ponies. That's not neutral to me, that's just another form of stereotyping.
"Boys get dangerous dragons, girls get pretty ponies". If it really was neutral they'd market it to boys just as much as girls, which will never happen because Hasbro has the gender split anchored down in all of their franchises.

And don't get me started on the rumor that AJ will get fused with Big Mac and become a stallion. That's even more stereorypical. "Let's make the physical worker a man"

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Perhaps the scalpers didn't sell too well? So they backed off.  I remember someone trying to sell the box (box that the set comes in) for $20.
I have NO clue who is buying them in my area, but I'm glad that they are! Unless they go on clearance I'm not picking any others up unless someone wants one shipped.
The Pony instagram has fallen silent for the past week or so. Perhaps when NYCC starts up they'll be more vocal.

[Leave a Whisper]

Never heard of that. But I'd be down for dragons.

[LadyMoondancer]

Could you guys put G5 speculation in spoiler boxes?  I've been trying hard to avoid all info on the upcoming series / generation.  Thanks!

[Ragamuffin]

I guess if they're selling, hey. I just find it hard to believe that nostalgia would make your average 30-40yo pick up a pink strawberry-scented toy with rainbow hair.
My very first ponies were G2s, and with how shortlived they were in the US, I played with fakies until G3 came out. So I get that kids will play with pony toys regardless. But I was also a Horse Girl, so I wasn't picky about what they looked like. Honestly? I've seen more little girls carry around Equestria Girls toys and watch EQG on their parents' phones than FiM/G4.

Spoiler

Where did you read about that neutrality? Because as far as I know they just want to make dragons as important as ponies. That's not neutral to me, that's just another form of stereotyping.
"Boys get dangerous dragons, girls get pretty ponies". If it really was neutral they'd market it to boys just as much as girls, which will never happen because Hasbro has the gender split anchored down in all of their franchises.

And don't get me started on the rumor that AJ will get fused with Big Mac and become a stallion. That's even more stereorypical. "Let's make the physical worker a man"

I'm pretty sure I read it months ago when the leaks first happened, or something like that. They're going for TVY7 or TVPG, aiming for an older audience and going for the adventure/drama genre rather than the educational "friendship lesson" TVY-TVY7 rating FiM was given. They also wanted to incorporate more dudes in the cast, have more male main characters. It sounds like they're making MLP into something bronies would want. Imo that sounds a lot more neutral than FiM's original concept, six girl ponies going around and solving friendship problems with the power of love and, well, friendship.

I haven't heard about the dragons = boys, ponies = girls thing or the AJ becoming a stallion or whatever. I heard dragons get their own world and act like humans, wearing clothes etc, I would guess that's where the longma fit in. I know for AJ they had a hard time redesigning her and debated removing her completely. I guess now they worked something out but I'm not sure what.

[Galactica]

I think most of the retros get sold to people who aren't collectors.  Nostalgia is a huge factor . . . "Oh, I remember having a toy just like that!"  I was looking at Russ Trolls listings on eBay today and was hit with a "omg, I had a baby Troll just like that one!" moment.  And I hated Trolls, lol!  But seeing it brought back memories of being a kid.  I was in Target again today and they were cleared out of all the retros except one Sunlight, one Parasol, and one Blossom . . . This was after having pretty much two full sets earlier in the week!  They can't all be going to collectors, there aren't that many of us in Seattle, LOL.

Older kids may want toys that "match" the show they watch.  But MLP's lowest age range is reeeeally low (if you look at Amazon reviews, you'll see a lot of "my 2 year old loved this!" reviews for MLP FIM toys).  The younger kids are going to want any pony-shaped toy.  I took some ponies to a small Transformers convention and sold a MIB retro Snuzzle, some G3s, and some G4s . . . The kids never questioned (or even seemed to notice) that some were in different styles.  They just wanted ponies, all the ponies, any ponies. 

On a similar note, I was in an airport a few months ago and there was a four year old toting around a well-loved G3 Rainbow Flash.

I think a lot of what happens is that a 30something-40+ mom or dad or relative walks by the display and says awwwww I had that pony I loved her!  And they buy the ponies for their kid/grandkid/niece/nephew

but really, they are indulging their own nostalgia...

And yeah, I think mostly for 2/3/4 year olds, who could care less whether the pony is G1, 2, 3, 4... 

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

Hmmm, 25/35/40 are milestone birthdays for people so maybe for toy brands. Or maybe it's simply the spacing and pacing of doing the throwbacks. In relation to the people who grew up with the brands as they age.

Not knocking it, I love having the chance to buy what I couldn't as a kid.

 All the hate towards earlier gens could be a kneejerk "eww, that's for girls". Only with more hate tacked on, plus depending on where one grew up. Boys even of the newer generations have been told, that anything which codes as female is bad for them. That liking such things is horrible and will undermine their gender for all time. Not excusing it of course just pondering the social pandemic that has befallen the fandom when G4 was ushered in. Trust me, I've been here long enough to watch it all start and there was/has been a shift in the feel of things.

[Taffeta]

Hmmm, 25/35/40 are milestone birthdays for people so maybe for toy brands.

Milestone for anniversaries maybe..? 35 as an age has no special significance. At least not here.
Although I was in Japan when I turned 35 so I guess I didn't really have my 35th birthday with family or friends till I came home :/ Maybe I just didn't notice!