Hasbro and MLP TLC

[Mana Minori]

Does anyone think that Hasbro cares enough about the pony brand? I know that MLP is Hasbro’s most successful girl line, but when I see the Pokémon Company doing all these amazing things for the highest grossing brand in the word, I can’t help but compare, even though they are on massively different scales. TPC looks like they put so much care and love and anticipation to what should be big and celebrated and hyped, like their brand’s anniversaries (the 25th is coming soon). This Pokémon music video just came out that hits on delivering nostalgia to all the gens, and it LOOKS GOOD, and it’s just -chef’s kiss-. And I WANT that kind of awesomeness and care and updates and such given to the ponies- all their generations. And when I look at Hasbro and their past anniversary actions- there’s rereleases of the same g1 original 6. Ok. Yaaaay? Again, I know there’s bigger things at stake with TPC and their brand, but I just feel like Hasbro could definitely step up their game- not just with anniversary releases, either. How do you guys feel?  Is Hasbro giving the pony brand as much love and care and building anticipation for new and nostalgia with its brand, as it should be? (Or am I just jealous and imagining things? )

[lovesbabysquirmy]

No Hasbro is a company that focuses on the short-term success of whatever their competitor is putting out.  For decades it was Mattel, now it's Mattel and MGA and Moose.

the girls toy brands have always been thought of in terms of whether or not they are good sales performers or not. 
This is why Hasbro hands all the licensing off to other companies when it comes to "celebrating their fans" with product.  They are designing and branding the next New Thing that will be landing on Walmart shelves a year from now. 

This is very different from how TPC works.  TPC keeps all the business internal by having a separate department of the company handle all the actual property management. 

[banditpony]

Well, I think comparing pokemon to mlp is apples to oranges.

What is it you are specifically wanting more of? All you mentioned was a music video.

IIRC, pokemon doesn't re-release their old merch. I'm all about fat pikachu. So I'm not even sure re-releases of MLP are even in direct comparison.

[Mana Minori]

No Hasbro is a company that focuses on the short-term success of whatever their competitor is putting out.  For decades it was Mattel, now it's Mattel and MGA and Moose.

the girls toy brands have always been thought of in terms of whether or not they are good sales performers or not. 
This is why Hasbro hands all the licensing off to other companies when it comes to "celebrating their fans" with product.  They are designing and branding the next New Thing that will be landing on Walmart shelves a year from now. 

This is very different from how TPC works.  TPC keeps all the business internal by having a separate department of the company handle all the actual property management.

yeah, I was aware of that when they started competing with MH by creating EG.  I don’t much care for that business model, though. I guess if just feels like the brand and company doesn’t do as much for its fans and collectors as TPC does. Hell- we have Basic Fun-  third party company- doing more for fans (not all gen fans, though) than the parent company is. And it kinda sucks. I mean, what BF is doing with its g1 retros is good, don’t get me wrong. They need doing great. But my issue is with Hasbro. Pony is their IP, and while I really like some of the third party things we’ve gotten, I would love to see what’s brewing done by TPC bleed over to Hasbro with regard for the fans and collectors.

Post Merge: October 02, 2020, 02:46:32 PM

Well, I think comparing pokemon to mlp is apples to oranges.

What is it you are specifically wanting more of? All you mentioned was a music video.

IIRC, pokemon doesn't re-release their old merch. I'm all about fat pikachu. So I'm not even sure re-releases of MLP are even in direct comparison.

i already admitted to that. It’s not about the rereleases. I don’t want rereleases from Hasbro. I just feel like TPC does far more to bring their communities together, delivering these cool things like nostalgia and interacting with their IP through VR and phones and being active, and every aspect of your life- from sleep to brushing your dang teeth, and Hasbro, just doesn’t. Want to live and breathe Pony? Here. Have a toy. Have a figure.
Have some stickers that you can put on things! Have a broken community that we at Hasbro assisted in dividing!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Pokemon has a much larger fandom composed of older, nostalgic adults. Pony has Bronies, sure, but not so many as before, and a good chunk of Bronies never engage with Hasbro-made toys. Fan-made pony stuff is much more popular than Hasbro and their Licensees in that particular group. I agree that Hasbro could have done more. Pony collectors are an even smaller group and I'm seeing a lot of intersection in interests versus people who just Only Do Pony.
Pokemon comparison still doesn't quite work because it's video games vs a toyline. What apps would you like to see created with the Pony IP?

[banditpony]

Well, I think comparing pokemon to mlp is apples to oranges.

What is it you are specifically wanting more of? All you mentioned was a music video.

IIRC, pokemon doesn't re-release their old merch. I'm all about fat pikachu. So I'm not even sure re-releases of MLP are even in direct comparison.

i already admitted to that. It’s not about the rereleases. I don’t want rereleases from Hasbro. I just feel like TPC does far more to bring their communities together, delivering these cool things like nostalgia and interacting with their IP through VR and phones and being active, and every aspect of your life- from sleep to brushing your dang teeth, and Hasbro, just doesn’t. Want to live and breathe Pony? Here. Have a toy. Have a figure.
Have some stickers that you can put on things! Have a broken community that we at Hasbro assisted in dividing!

I'm still confused on what you are looking for.

Pokemon is rooted in games, etc... so it makes sense for them to have apps and games.

And Hasbro does kinda release things beyond toys, but people don't seem to talk much about merch here..I mean, there have been stickers?

[Nemesis]

The two properties are just too wildly different in scope, genre, and audience to really make a fair comparison.

Pokemon has a very broad target audience. Nothing about the franchise is inherently gendered or targeted at a specific age group. At its core is a thriving game franchise that is equally open to all demographics regardless of age or gender. Furthermore, its an IP owned by Nintendo, who generally treat their licenses like royalty and release a ton of merch ranging from plushies to high-end dinnerware.

MLP is, and presumably always will be, a line aimed squarely at little girls. There are peripheral markets like nostalgic adults or the newfound (and already waning) brony community, but at the end of the day, Hasbro’s biggest market is still preschool-aged girls. That’s where their focus is, and the merch is going to reflect that in both price point and quality.

[Mewtwofan1]

I do think and would appreciate hasbro giving a little bit more TLC to pony, but ultimately they aren’t that concerned with it. Pokémon as the highest grossing franchise has a lot to live up to, and Pokémon knows how to play that. Hasbro is more focused on the here and now. Sure they have 35 years of pony success, but what would make them justify a massive venture like what Pokémon does for a small profit increase? It’s much easier to hand off licensing because hasbro has its own priority, making sure cute and colourful ponies get in the sticky hands of preschool age girls.

[Mana Minori]

Well, I think comparing pokemon to mlp is apples to oranges.

What is it you are specifically wanting more of? All you mentioned was a music video.

IIRC, pokemon doesn't re-release their old merch. I'm all about fat pikachu. So I'm not even sure re-releases of MLP are even in direct comparison.

i already admitted to that. It’s not about the rereleases. I don’t want rereleases from Hasbro. I just feel like TPC does far more to bring their communities together, delivering these cool things like nostalgia and interacting with their IP through VR and phones and being active, and every aspect of your life- from sleep to brushing your dang teeth, and Hasbro, just doesn’t. Want to live and breathe Pony? Here. Have a toy. Have a figure.
Have some stickers that you can put on things! Have a broken community that we at Hasbro assisted in dividing!

I'm still confused on what you are looking for.

Pokemon is rooted in games, etc... so it makes sense for them to have apps and games.

And Hasbro does kinda release things beyond toys, but people don't seem to talk much about merch here..I mean, there have been stickers?

I’m not asking for games, either. I know that’s not necessarily going to take off with everyone. All I’m saying is that while pony may be aimed here and now at the preschoolers, the brand of ponies goes back for generations and had been around much longer than Pokémon. I just want Hasbro to acknowledge everyone, from g1 to g4, trying to bring all the fandoms together and really celebrate the brand and make it seem special every so often. A one of a kind anniversary collection that incorporates all the gen ponies, a cross gen movie or music video. Just anything than what weaksauce they’ve been doing. I mean, hell- they’re relying on outsourcing other companies to celebrate their last milestone anniversary instead of doing it themselves! Kinda disrespectful.

I just want the same care from the company to do cool and noteworthy things like TPC does for its base.

[banditpony]

There's no combining "broken" communities with a movie...

I just feel like more examples would help me understand what you are wanting. I guess it sounds like that you specifically want more media driven things.

[Primaltimediamond]

I kinda disagree on GF always marketing towards their older fans, they def have made decisions that really make me quastion “really?” An example would be the azure flute event in gen4 games. They never distributed it because: “Kids wouldn’t be able to figure out that they need to take the item to spear pillar” nevermind they included a whole braille puzzle quest in the gen3 games in order to catch the regis...

I think the re-releases are nice, it’s a nod to the roots, I hope they’ll release some playsets in the future. Not just g1 ones but g2 and 3 too

[Leave a Whisper]

You mean in terms of QC? Yes, that'd be awesome. But its not gonna happen with Hasbro directly because they suck. Also, all their quality material is going into Transformers. But hey, at least BF cares enough to do it right, so get em while you can.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

The biggest thing to take away and remember about how Hasbro treats their brands:
their target market is preschool girls.   

regardless of a TV show, regardless of licensed merch to other companies, regardless of a community who has loyally enjoyed the product for almost 40 years!
PRESCHOOL GIRLS.

[LadyMoondancer]

Pokemon does have a great marketing strategy overall.  It has enough going on (card game, toys, anime, main games, side games) that it kind of self-perpetuates.  And it has the ability to easily combine the nostalgic with the new.  ("This new region has Caterpie, you remember dear old Caterpie, but it ALSO has this new bird Pokemon!")

The thing is, that level of success is hard to achieve if you aren't already there.  G4 kind of got there, in a wobbly way, but it never truly matched the perpetual motion machine that is Pokemon.  I'm sure Hasbro would love for MLP to be on that level, but I also don't think a brand can just be forced into that kind of success.  There's no magic formula.  Like, Digimon debuted at the same time as Pokemon and it still exists.  But (in the US at least) it's nowhere as well-known or popular as Pokemon. 

And that's despite being superficially similar.  Digimon, too, had card games, video games, an anime, even a movie.  (And IMO the original Digimon anime was better than the original Pokemon anime with better characterization and story arcs.)  Why did Pokemon do so much better?  I don't think anyone knows.  If it was possible to easily replicate its success, wouldn't every company do so?  Sometimes it's just luck.

Incidentally, from the outside it may seem like Pokemon is kind to their fanbase, but their serious fanbase (like, the ones who gather on forums or subreddits) hates approximately 20% of what TPC does, as far as I can tell.  I guess the grass is always greener.

I'm all about fat pikachu.

Saaaame, I find him cuter than modern Pikachu.

[Snapdragon]

Hasbro doesn't have a problem taking care of its boy-themed franchises, like Transformers, GI Joe, etc. MLP is, sadly, sort of tossed to the side, in terms of exclusives and attention paid to it. Things got better with G4, but it still often veered into that weird sort of 'let's market this to boys!' angle. So no, I don't think MLP will ever reach Pokemon levels, just because I don't think Hasbro will ever reach Nintendo/TPC levels of money/output, LOL! But the fact that MLP will never even reach GI Joe or Transformers levels of interest is pretty sad, because there's no reason for it not to have as much love and attention poured into the line, other than it's a 'girl's' toy.