Will the franchise ever be how it was, again?

[Mana Minori]

I know for too long of a time that g4 fans have criticized earlier generations of MLP, and I’m sure that past gen fans have felt the same. Generation 4 is a very strange era in the franchise that  as just a wholesome show for little girls to enjoy, but almost immediately began to cater to the older male fans that spawned out of some other site- I think the exact moment was from the beginning of the episode “The Last Roundup” straight through to the series’ end. What I mean by this is that the g4 fandom not only heavily influenced both the animated series, but the g4 comics that were made to feature more adult content that they couldn’t approach in the tv series, and also influencing the toyline- taking on more molded manes, like they wanted, being more show accurate like they wanted, and by in large having the mane 6 and Princesses be repetitively spawned because the Mane 6 and Secondary 6 fan favorites were favorites of the Bronies, getting a more mature  Guardians of Harmony line, blue and white packaging, poseable, articulated and angry-faced figures with weapons....

These are all things that were absent from the first 3 generations of MLP, and it is, admittedly, disheartening that this entire generation of g4 and every bit of Licensed content that came from it was shaped by and specifically tailored to and for the Bronies from early on it its run. (Whether they themselves admit to it or not)

I would like to know how early gen fans feel, and whether you guys think that the pony franchise will ever Return to the way it was before. Not largely  influenced by and made then onward by an adamant and vocal fandom.
On the flip side, are there any positive elements that you might think can result in fandom influence in future pony generations?

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

There certainly was an excess of Brony pandering (especially in the blasted comics), although I don't think the Mane 6 spam in the toyline was part of that. Several people have observed that that is a repeat of what happened in G3 with the Core 7. And the toyline was still as dependent on young girls for sales as it ever was.
That being said, I don't think pandering dominated the show to the extent that some people say - a lot of brony pet theories and characterizations were torpedoed over the years, to considerable immature outrage. There was a lot of focus on the Mane Six, but that's because of how Hasbro tends to handle the shows for their franchises: Focus on a small core cast, so as to better be able to flesh them out (a formula codified by Beast Wars).

The show itself also borrowed a lot from past gens, especially G1. Some things more blatantly than others ("Dragonquest" is a G4 retread of "Spike's Search"). More fool on the bronies for bashing what came before - they denied themselves the ability to truly appreciate FiM.

I don't think we'll see a full return to how things were in G1, for a very simple reason: G1 was the launch generation. It defined what My Little Pony is over its long years. That's not the kind of thing you can do twice.
But I do hope to see less brony pandering and a more balanced saturation in the toyline.

[Mana Minori]

I can excuse the mane6 spam if it was also done in past gens- I will admit that I didn’t get into pony collecting and any of the past gens until g4, and I worked my way backward in collecting and appreciating the past. But I have hung around long enough to know that a few did not appreciate the g1 call outs in g4- I know they don’t’ speak for the entire g1 through 3 fandoms- didn’t appreciate the callbacks to past gens that g4 did. And I can understand that. Especially when you consider that so much of g4 was shaped by its fandom, and that fandom hated anything that came from past gens (especially g3), and mocked it, and that this also was heavily influence in the show by the staff as well... (Too many Pinkie Pies and her g3 “crazier than this” face) and the blatant mocking In the mini series that was framed as a g1 tribute.....
It was very disrespectful, even to me, who didn’t grow up with the past gens, but fell in love with them during G4’s era, long after they ran their course.
I hope this sort of disrespect isn’t carried over to future generations.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I hope so as well. And yeah, that "tribute" series was utter garbage.

I have mixed feelings about that "Crazier than this" face. On the one hand, it does kinda come off as a dig at G3. On the other hand, it also lampoons how unhorsey the standard G4 heads are (mares have stubby catlike muzzles, most stallions have slightly more horse-ish wedge heads). Only Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor really have proper horse snouts.

I jumped on during G4 as well, but I also came to appreciate the older stuff. G1 is my favorite generation.

[CloudyGlow]

It's interesting how when predominately male fans get vocal they get what they want. Of course, you have to understand that the bronies also gave massive attention to the show staff and creators. I don't like that they tailored to bronies but the show is still more enjoyable than any other pony media to me.

[LadyMoondancer]

I think it depends what you mean by "return to how it was before."  If you mean "minimal influence from fanbase (either this fanbase or another, like bronies) with Hasbro just doing whatever THEY feel like" . . . yeah, that's what I expect.  I think Hasbro will produce what they think kids, specifically little girls, want.

(Now, what Hasbro thinks kids want will not necessarily be what we want as collectors.  It might not even be what little girls actually want!  But that's life.)

If you mean "will Hasbro return to specific things we've seen before", like a wide range of toy characters (less Mane Cast focus like FIM and Core 7 G3 / G3.5 and more like G1) . . . Honestly it just depends on that first point:  what will Hasbro decide that kids want? 

There are a lot of successful toylines that have oodles of collectible characters, like Littlest Pet Shop, and there are a lot of successful toylines that focus on a core cast, like TMNT, and make lots of variations of them.

Mostly I am just hoping they don't go a "L.O.L. Surprise" route because I really dislike those things.   Are those still popular even?  Anyway . . . I guess we'll see in a few years (or less?) what's next.

I do think it's a REALLY good sign that all the "MLP x Other Hasbro Properties" collectible MLP figures are unique characters as opposed to "Pinkie Pie, but in a Ghostbusters suit" etc.  Seems to indicate someone at Hasbro with decision-making powers is confident in the marketability of MLP as a brand even aside from the Mane 6 concept.

[lalalei2001]

I don't know, but I'm eager to see what the future holds for MLP!

[Leave a Whisper]

I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath. Hasbro has been making the same mistakes since G3.5. Sure G3's Bore Core kicked off this nonsense, but it was towards the tail end of the line, and there were still so many G3s to get. 3.5 solidified it. G4 has just been a lazy and frustrating obsessive rehash of Mane Suxx with horrible quality control.

Girls deserve the same quality and variety in their toylines that boys in Transformers are enjoying. Ah well, they can pick up the Basic Fun ponies. Good to know They at least, believe in delivering quality products to children.

[SpacePinto]

Nope, it will never be the same as it was before 2010, the stain left on it by bronies may fade over time but it will always be there, and just thinking about it makes me sad.

[LadyMoondancer]

Girls deserve the same quality and variety in their toylines that boys in Transformers are enjoying.

Now I'm not sure that I agree that little girls deserve Bumblebee shilled at every opportunity in every generation . . .

But I would be all about MLP versions of Botbots.  Tiny ponies that transform into household goods.

[Leave a Whisper]

Girls deserve the same quality and variety in their toylines that boys in Transformers are enjoying.

Now I'm not sure that I agree that little girls deserve Bumblebee shilled at every opportunity in every generation . . .

But I would be all about MLP versions of Botbots.  Tiny ponies that transform into household goods.

Okay, but only if we get the Sweet Talkins to morph into phones.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Maybe.  it's more likely if Hasbro gives it another 10 years though

[banditpony]

I don't know what you mean by how it was. Everything has to adapt to current days. There was a shift to a core group at the end of G3. And when they had the right formula.. it worked, really well.

Will the franchise only be for children? The main toyline has always been for children, and I think always will be for children. A lot of bronies did not collect the main toyline ... *ahem* "not show accurate".

There's going to be side stuff that are for adults. That's new, and I think that stays. Nostalgia is a trend that isn't going away any time soon.

And I think MLP will have a harder time competing with the other tiny collectable toys. It just feels like the other toys that are for "collecting" are smaller, easier to produce and a better "bargain" to a parent.

[Taffeta]

I know for too long of a time that g4 fans have criticized earlier generations of MLP, and I’m sure that past gen fans have felt the same.

If you mean fans of G2 and G3 towards G1 - this didn't happen. Not that all fans of G3 think G1 is better or even like G1. It just didn't happen. On the contrary, there was hostility from G1 fans towards G2. But that's all. Yeah, it was a bit nasty. But we learned from it and there wasn't any hostility over G3. The thing is though that that was all connected into THIS community. The social media world has exploded since the end of G3, and so has the way in which fandoms operate. So the tech has been a part of this too. I'm not saying it's necessarily because bronies are just more critical. (Although some are trash).

I don't know (or, I'll be honest, care) enough about the G4 animation to know what triggered the brony thing, because the brony thing as a whole to me is an abberation best forgotten. So I can't comment on that specifically. (Note, for me brony = a particular type of pony fan, not automatically a male fan of G4 or a G4 fan overall.)

Catering to the fandom - I actually don't know to what degree this happened within the actual sphere of the show and the toys associated with the show. I feel like other merch was more aimed at that demogeaphic and the pony toys were aimed at the kids.

I don't think the bronies are responsible for the M6 spam. I think the reverse. The m6 spam somehow appealed to the bronies by giving them figureheads to pin their stuff on.

The truth is that the idea of a mane 6 wasn't new to G4. This is probably something someone else touched on too, but we saw it for the first time at the end of G1 with the MLP Tales. But it never got to be too nauseating because the line ended. However even in the 2 years of that 'canon' (if you like), we saw reissues of Starlight, Sweetheart and Melody. The line was already moving in that direction, it just never got there. G2 had many repeated characters but it can be hard to track them all because of the European base for G2 - which led to multiple names and different translations for some of them (official translations or names I mean) that perhaps hides how many of these there actually are.  G3 had the core 7 at the end but even before that there were multiples of some of the original characters, including Pinkie and Dash. They were just in different poses. Sparkleworks, SunnyDaze, Wysteria, Minty...all have many versions. Even ponies like Cherry Blossom have at least 2.

The GoH is actually a decent idea. I saw young boys also interested in those toys in the toy stores near here. I don't have a problem with that line. Let's not forget that the darkest MLP animated story is not in G4, it's in G1. And in general when it wants to be, both the G1 animation and the UK comic could be dark, probably in ways broadcasting and such wouldn't ignore for FIM.

So I don't think MLP will ever recover from G4. I personally think G4 broke MLP. I'm not sure if I blame the bronies for that, though. Hasbro are the creators of MLP and they basically lost their creativity somewhere in the second or third year of G4, when they stopped putting out different brushables. The fact the G5 talk still clings to the M6 basically tells me MLP as a concept is dead. Certainly as a toyline it is dead. The only way that would change would be to gut it out completely and start over, which is what a real new generation would mean. So long as any dregs of G4 are remaining, MLP can't recover.

The thing is that G1 set the benchmark for everything in MLP, good, bad, successes and failures. It began everything. I think a lot of the hostility of the bronies is that fact. They want to be "the" generation of MLP. But it's basically just built on the bricks of all the past gens, whereas G1 had to create all these ideas and the popularity of the brand. Which means that even though G4 has taken over, you can't erase G1. Despite that, and the success of the retro line, the creativity for G1 is also closed. We get nothing new in G1 form, just old stuff rehashed. I love the retros, but yeah, the line is stagnant. It would require something intense to put that to rights.

I quite like some of the G4 toyline. I just think the tv show is really bad. I never really liked the G1 animation, but FIM gave me a new appreciation for it.

And in answer to your last question about fandom influence...no. Because the fandom isn't who the toyline is for. It should be kid input. Not fandom/adults. I never believed in previous gens that G1-type ponies are the only ponies that should be sold, and I still feel that. It should be driven for the kids of the time. I just feel that kids are bored with these ponies and that's why they're no longer selling.

In summary - do the bronies and their opinions matter? Nope.

P.S - Coming to G1 via G4 and coming to G1 from G1 are equally valid ways to be fans of G1. You don't need to validate it

[Carrehz]

I think the main 6 thing would've happened regardless of the bronies.

(For one thing, most bronies seemed to hate the official toys because they're "not show accurate!!!11" and instead spent their money on super-expensive custom plushies and the like )