Issues with 35th Anniversary Ponies

[Leave a Whisper]

Can anyone confirm if the SSC dolls have issues then?

[Taffeta]

G1 when I was growing up I never had any major flaws show up within a year or two. 

Mm, my first pony Windy has one leg shorter than the others. She doesn't stand well and never has. There are numerous problems like this and across multiple batches from store, rather than developing later, although they are not always clear. I am not talking about G1s now, I'm talking about the flaws they came with - symbol prints, misplaced blush, plastic bubbles, misaligned heads, etc. And we still love them all the same.

In regards the issue you have with the CP set - you're the only person I've heard mention that particular issue, so it may be to do with how you are keeping them or where? Just a thought since as Wardah says the CP set seems pretty stable thus far (haven't seen the peg.uni set yet).

We've talked ad nauseum in other threads about the scent discolouration issue on the Rainbows but even that seems to be limited to some not all. It's a nusiance and a pain but then again of all the ponies I've seen on shelves here near where I live, I've seen minor discolouration on Starshine twice and major discolouration on Parasol once and no issues on any of the others through about five restocks. Of course that doesn't rule out it getting worse as time goes on though. None of mine have discolouration (yet) but if they get it I will live with it.

I want them to keep selling these, and I'll reiterate. They're cheap ponies. They're toy retail price. They're not intended as collector items. We are part of their market but they wouldn't be sustainable if we were their market. Their real market is much broader and includes the demographic that plays with ponies. And honestly, the only flaw that really is a big problem for that demographic is the occasional pony with hair loss issues (which do exist but again seem to be a minority).

I dunno, I think we're lucky to have any kind of retro program like this, with such attention to detail. Hasbro didn't get things right either at times, and now they really don't care about us at all. Basic Fun are at least trying, even if their customer service operates at dinosaur speed and their production ideas may not be perfect. I'm grateful for that effort and the opportunity to see G1 in stores again, albeit replicas not originals. To me that's a bigger thing. Just my personal view.

And honestly, I worry about the risk of the line disappearing because of overzealous nitpicking. I would understand if it were a $30 or $50 pony. But it isn't. Whatever price other countries (like the UK) put on these items, they are at source a $10 pony. And there's only so much you can expect from that price point.

[PoserBeachball]

Taffeta, I agree.

It was lovely to get some of the CP ponies, in boxes, with accessories (mine are on display still in their boxes because they look so attractive - as far as I know they are fine).

The original 80s ponies were never the cheapest toys in the shop - I think the equivalent prices today would probably be more than $10.
With regard to the price point, I know it's not a direct comparison, but I'd venture that it is difficult to find an original pony with accessories that's near mint for $10, at least here in the UK - there is likely to be some flaw.  And it's for each of us to decide what we can live with and what we can't (I don't mind the odd flaw, it gives the pony character, and some of my favourites certainly have some flaws!) ETA - thinking of my own collection here, a near-mint Butterscotch with accs, a near-mint Windy without, and a Minty who's near-mint but who needed a darn good clean, were all more than $10 each

I'm pleased that the retros are about - hope the uni/peg set comes here soon, I'd like some of them

[CinnamonOnions]

I wouldn't mind minor flaws like misplaced symbols on TOYS, and I'm not picky with G1 conditions for example either. But even I don't like seeing Moonstones and Starshines with this level issues everytime I stop to go trough the 35th rainbow ponies at a store:
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10$ toys (that cost well over 20$ on Europe) or not, I would expect something better than THIS. They're great otherwise and I shouldn't feel lucky I found a white Starshine and a normal Moonstone.

[Leave a Whisper]

I wouldn't mind minor flaws like misplaced symbols on TOYS, and I'm not picky with G1 conditions for example either. But even I don't like seeing Moonstones and Starshines with this level issues everytime I stop to go trough the 35th rainbow ponies at a store:
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10$ toys (that cost well over 20$ on Europe) or not, I would expect something better than THIS. They're great otherwise and I shouldn't feel lucky I found a white Starshine and a normal Moonstone.

That is ridiculous. These girls aren't even a year old and look like they've been around for years.

[Taffeta]

I'm not saying that the discolouration isn't an issue, it obviously is. But it doesn't affect all batches of the ponies as present.

As for the prices, I'm in Europe too, so I also have to pay more for them than the US pricing. I used the US pricing deliberately because it's a US product. We pay extra because of all the import export stuff going on. That doesn't change the fact that it is a $10 item as far as the toy producers are concerned. I can understand the frustration of a higher price and flawed ponies, I am absolutely not condoning that - but I don't want it to be the case that problems in the minority of products ultimately end up bringing down the whole of the line.

(I think Rainbows here are about equivalent $18, and Collectors $14).

I want to see retro products and this is better than what Hasbro managed 10 years ago. It's not perfect. I'm not a perfectionist. It's not a collector item, it's a toy that's sort of aimed to snare us as well. I feel like if Mattel can get away with goophaired MH dolls for most of the franchise with a higher price point, there's not a lot to be done about this except deal with it and move on.

I want wave 3 to come to Europe. For that to happen wave 2 has to sell in Europe. For me this is the bigger picture. It's fine if you happen to live in a country where the wave 3 characters were sold but there are a lot of people in the UK who never had that opportunity 30 years ago, and don't now without importation hassles and currency issues. To get that set onto shelves here for me is enough. I can deal with it if the symbols are a bit squint or the hair a bit crinky or the hooves squashed at the base a little or whatever the problem might be. I just want them to come out here. And I absolutely get the frustrations everyone has. But for me this is a "bigger picture" problem. Yes, the issues should not be there, in a perfect world. BUT the choice is retro ponies with a percentage that have flaws or no retro ponies. And I like seeing them on the shelf.

I think that the percentage of CP with flaws is also extremely minimal. At least I've seen them in three different store chains here now and I've yet to see any with problems. (Though I've also seen plenty of Rainbows as well and have only seen three, total, with any problems - only one of which was severe).

Time will tell, of course, how well they hold up. But I really feel frustrated that we've been given this unexpected bonus in getting G1 back in stores and yet it's all negative and complaining. To be blunt, the QC on the retros is better than it's been for most G4 products for the past x number of years...

Incidentally, have the CP ponies made it to Europe?

[CinnamonOnions]

I wouldn't mind minor flaws like misplaced symbols on TOYS, and I'm not picky with G1 conditions for example either. But even I don't like seeing Moonstones and Starshines with this level issues everytime I stop to go trough the 35th rainbow ponies at a store:
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10$ toys (that cost well over 20$ on Europe) or not, I would expect something better than THIS. They're great otherwise and I shouldn't feel lucky I found a white Starshine and a normal Moonstone.

That is ridiculous. These girls aren't even a year old and they've been around for years.

Yuup. I'm not expecting the best from them and I'm really glad with them otherwise, but this level of discoloration shouldn't be seen on store shelves.

[Leave a Whisper]

I understand what your saying Taffeta, I wanna see lots more waves. I want all three of whatever years they're planning and then some. I'm gonna buy these regardless.

 But and I'm playing devil's advocate, its not much different then complaining about any other faulty, new product being made either.

I honestly don't think we'll see these kinds of problems all throughout the line, as I've only heard of one incident with the collector ponies, and I doubt the rest of the sets will be scented.

Ribbon staining is totally preventable. Although none of my daughter's CPs have it, nor does my Moonstone.

It is unfortunate and aggravating, that the Rainbows had to suffer because some dunderhead wanted them scented. I was so looking forward to having a pristine Starshine. And that level of discoloration is completely unacceptable. I'm sure even little kids don't want their toys screwed up right outta the package.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

The only one of mine I've deboxed so far is Moonstone because I was worried that the plastic in the packaging might contribute to discoloration.  So far she seems fine (I don't have a pic of her).  There is an extremely slight head/body mismatch that I had to look very closely in good lighting to notice and I've got her out of the sun on a shelf where I can see if that changes at all.  As far as I've been able to tell my Starshine is very white and there's no discoloration on my other Rainbows.  I've considered deboxing the set just in case it is something to do with the packaging.  I blame the packaging because I had a turquoise vinyl piggy bank that was wrapped in plastic and I left it that way for several months while I decided what to paint on it.  When I did pull off the plastic, it had discolored, much like Moonstone seems to, and had a yellowish tinge to it.  It also felt sticky, much like ponies with plasticizer leakage, so I wasn't sure if that had contributed to the discoloration.  I had another piggy bank of the same brand/style that didn't have the plastic on it and it didn't have any discoloring/plasticizer issues.

I suppose if I find the discolored ponies at the thrift store they would be good for custom bait but it is sad that they're showing up in the stores damaged like this.

[Ponyfan]

I have two sets of the 35th anniversary Collector ponies (both MIB hoping to eventually debox one set) Moonstone, Starshine and Windy, Twilight, Moondancer and Sunbeam. I just checked my Rainbow ponies and Moonstone and Starshine are fine. Windy does have very faint discoloration around her neck but it hasn’t spread since last time I checked her. I noticed that my Starshine and Windy’s box flaps are not completely closed and the scents are fading even though they are MIB. I’m hoping to be able to complete the Rainbow ponies and unicorn/pegasus set but last time my Target restocked they stocked the Collector Ponies.

I think the discoloring is due to the Rainbow ponies being scented but I have seen a poor Snuzzle at Target that has two blue marks on her. I can’t say for sure whether she is new or was returned by someone that didn’t want her/let their child play with her first before reboxing and returing her.


Ponyfan

[Noasar]

I won't be buying the rainbow ponies. I wouldn't mind a bit of paint smudging, wonky heads or 'factory errors' but I don't want a pony that will start looking yellow a few weeks in. They'll be totally discoloured in no time. They're not collectors items as such but I have ponies from my childhood collection that look better after 30+ years and they were not well looked after as kids toys, they enjoyed playing in the mud, dips in the bath and nice sunny stints on the window sill! They were not sold as collectors toys originally either but they were clearly well made as they still look good now.

I don't think a few collectors choosing not to buy a kids toy will make much difference to whether they decide to produce more lines or not. The unscented ones look like they're holding up much better so I'll stick to those

[rosierjay]

wow. they aren't that old are they?

[FiddlePhan]

I don't really think it's "overzealous nitpicking" that a pony less that a year old has started to develop flaws.   Dollar store ponies can look pristine after years so it's not expecting too much for a $10 one to look nice for at least a few years I'd hope.   I didn't think then posting that it was going to be some mass issue where everyone is having problems with their ponies.  My two collectors that changed colour was just so weird that I wondered if anyone else had the issue as I was baffled.  If they'd had those issues when I'd purchased them then I would have taken them back for replacement.  They were stored in the same room with identical shelves as all my ponies with nothing touching the discoloured areas.  No sunlight, no excessive heat, cold or humidity.

When I said my G1s when new didn't have flaws shortly after I didn't mean issues right out of the package.  Sorry I didn't state that right earlier.  My bad on that.   I meant I never had one start to have issues develop in less than a year or even two or three after buying them. Even my scented ones didn't discolour in short periods of time nor are they yellowed badly now.

I'm totally happy that we have the new ponies out and definitely hope we get more in this series.  Sooooo hoping that there is a Gusty along the way somewhere.   The rainbow ones I won't be getting any more of but it's more of because the scents are too strong for me.  I just got the ones that were my fav of the set.

[Taffeta]

To make things clear, I'm not saying that the problem doesn't matter or exist. With the Rainbows, it clearly does.

I just have two concerns or frustrations I suppose.

One is that we've already discussed the discolouring issue extensively months ago. I feel like we all know it could happen. It's not really logical to me to start a new complaint about it since anyone buying Rainbows now has the ability to be prepared for problems down the line.

The other thing is context and perspective. People complain about things when they go wrong more than they comment on them when they are normal or going right. I worry not about whether collectors buy the ponies. That's a superficial concern because as I said, we're a small part of the market. I am more bothered about negativity getting back to the company - reviews, complaints, feedback on websites, returns in store - those things are what might have an impact on production. And Basic Fun only does care really about the feedback from the domestic market. Complaints from US patrons could stop the line for everyone. They don't even know what stores they stock ponies in here, because they leave that to other people. That's why I focused on the $10 price point. Because it's only the US market that matters really to the company.
 

In any case, we have to leave it to time to see how these ponies will age. They are not made from the same things as G1s, which probably have some things in the plastic which are no longer legal anyway. I am not defending manufacturing imperfections or bad decisions. But in terms of the bigger picture, I think we all want to see the line continue. The bigger picture is making sure that happens.

There's plenty of time to complain about the products after the line is over.

On the subject of discolouration, my Windy from childhood is very beige. I don't really remember her ever being anything else, but my mother remembers she was much more lavender in the store. For that to be the case she must have discoloured really very quickly into my childhood...

[banditpony]

G1 when I was growing up I never had any major flaws show up within a year or two.  That's out of hundreds of ponies. 

Eh. Some ponies had regrind early on, Maybe not within 1-2 years... but I can remember it from 3-4 years. (It could of been earlier then that, since it was a friend's pony and not mine). Come to think of it, I remember discoloration on one of the Big Brothers too when I met her (I dunno if it was Chief or Trucker).

And flutters had an obvious flaw.

And any kid who left a saddle on their pony too long would have stains from the saddle. So. That's similar to the bows discoloring ponies.