Hasbro’s Missed Opportunities

[JazzMatazz]

Every single major anniversary  Occasionally we got some half-hearted “special” release, but if you look at what some of their other toy lines got(Transformers, GI Joe, etc) for their major anniversaries, it’s shocking how little effort Hasbro put into MLP.

  this!!!!! with every single collectors transformer they come out with their collector pulse line I end up ranting to my bf about it like why can't we get that for ponies!

[Mana Minori]

ohohohooo, don't get me started. Hasbro missed so many golden opportunities. greenlighting FUNKO to make a Sunset Shimmer vinyl? Ya missed out Hasbro. making pony anniversaries noteworthy and memorable with fun new merch and potentially awesome anniversary movies? Ya missed out, Hasbro. crossgen movie? Ya missed out, Hasbro. Fracking MORE g4 background pony brushables?!?! Celestiadurnit, Hasbro!!!

[Pokeyonekenobie]

Actually...interestingly...there was a period about 10 years or so ago where it seemed less intrusive. But now the pink aisle is back with a bang, not helped by all the pink packaging that girls' toys tend to come in. One plus point for MH because that rarely happened.

So I think maybe even though we've got more accepting of gender fluidity and people's different gender identities, the same old binary pink blue tropes are in play as much as they were or more years ago.

Slightly off topic but when I was doing my MA - which was 8 years ago now, admittedly - one of the articles we had to translate was about pink and blue gender stereotypes in Japan and how traditionally they are the other way around (since pink resonates to sakura, and thus the warrior) but the influence of the West has now made pink more feminine. And other things I can't remember because it was a while ago.

Actually, if you study the history of fashion in America, back when stores first started carrying "store bought clothing" for babies, pink was for boys because it was a softer shade of the very masculine red.  It slowly transitioned to being a "girl" color--my guess is because of the feminist movements that happened through the various decades as women tried to prove that they were just as good as men and deserved the same "strong" color palette.  (The things I learned in the History of Musical Theatre )

Here's a missed opportunity compliments of my 5-year-old son: he thinks they should have made the Grundels as toys. (Not sure how he remembers them; we watched that movie together almost a year ago, but he randomly brought them up tonight!) Personally, I can't really see them selling that well on their own, but maybe paired with another pony character from the movie as an extra (much like the Bushwoolies with the princess ponies) it might have worked.

I'd have bought the Grundles. 

With the slime craze lately they could have made some money selling purple smooze and marketing it with the G1 artwork alongside clear green smooze with the G4 artwork.

And with the anniversary releases, they totally could have sold movie sets for the original movie instead of the collector's pose all over again.  They could have packaged Wind Whistler, Spike, Baby Lickety-Split and Molly in one and Shady, a Bushwoolie, Rose Dust and Megan in another (or something like that). 

And they totally should have created a Danny to go along with Megan and Molly.  And what about Megan's horse, TJ?  He should have come with her stable set.  And what about the horse Molly was riding in the movie (when Danny was teasing her about not being able to ride)?  They could have made that for the stable as well.  But maybe those two bordered too close to "real" and didn't follow the fantastic designs of the ponies.  Though, a brown collector's pose (much like the original My Pretty Pony) would probably have been accepted by kids as part of Megan's world.

[MintyMyndi]

Actually...interestingly...there was a period about 10 years or so ago where it seemed less intrusive. But now the pink aisle is back with a bang, not helped by all the pink packaging that girls' toys tend to come in. One plus point for MH because that rarely happened.

So I think maybe even though we've got more accepting of gender fluidity and people's different gender identities, the same old binary pink blue tropes are in play as much as they were or more years ago.

Slightly off topic but when I was doing my MA - which was 8 years ago now, admittedly - one of the articles we had to translate was about pink and blue gender stereotypes in Japan and how traditionally they are the other way around (since pink resonates to sakura, and thus the warrior) but the influence of the West has now made pink more feminine. And other things I can't remember because it was a while ago.

Actually, if you study the history of fashion in America, back when stores first started carrying "store bought clothing" for babies, pink was for boys because it was a softer shade of the very masculine red.  It slowly transitioned to being a "girl" color--my guess is because of the feminist movements that happened through the various decades as women tried to prove that they were just as good as men and deserved the same "strong" color palette.  (The things I learned in the History of Musical Theatre )

IIRC, there was a massively successful ad campaign in the 40s with the tagline "pretty in pink" that kicked the whole thing off, but I could be wrong.

Here's a missed opportunity compliments of my 5-year-old son: he thinks they should have made the Grundels as toys. (Not sure how he remembers them; we watched that movie together almost a year ago, but he randomly brought them up tonight!) Personally, I can't really see them selling that well on their own, but maybe paired with another pony character from the movie as an extra (much like the Bushwoolies with the princess ponies) it might have worked.

I'd have bought the Grundles. 

With the slime craze lately they could have made some money selling purple smooze and marketing it with the G1 artwork alongside clear green smooze with the G4 artwork.

And with the anniversary releases, they totally could have sold movie sets for the original movie instead of the collector's pose all over again.  They could have packaged Wind Whistler, Spike, Baby Lickety-Split and Molly in one and Shady, a Bushwoolie, Rose Dust and Megan in another (or something like that). 

And they totally should have created a Danny to go along with Megan and Molly.  And what about Megan's horse, TJ?  He should have come with her stable set.  And what about the horse Molly was riding in the movie (when Danny was teasing her about not being able to ride)?  They could have made that for the stable as well.  But maybe those two bordered too close to "real" and didn't follow the fantastic designs of the ponies.  Though, a brown collector's pose (much like the original My Pretty Pony) would probably have been accepted by kids as part of Megan's world.

Brown collector's pony? Like Macau Jenny? She was by no means a universal release, nor was she intended to be a "real horse" (she had Snuzzle's heart symbols), but I've seen people (incorrectly) refer to her as TJ, and I'm sure at least one child owned her, saw TJ, and made the connection also.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

Brown collector's pony? Like Macau Jenny? She was by no means a universal release, nor was she intended to be a "real horse" (she had Snuzzle's heart symbols), but I've seen people (incorrectly) refer to her as TJ, and I'm sure at least one child owned her, saw TJ, and made the connection also.

Yes, like Macau Jenny, but more widely released.  Weren't the original prototypes in black and brown anyway?  They could have used those and I don't think anyone would have minded.

[Poster]

For as many mane 6 variants as we got, a complete, matching GoH set wasn't one of them! No GoH Rarity whatsoever, and Fluttershy's only wide-release version had non-removable pirate garb.

[JazzMatazz]

For as many mane 6 variants as we got, a complete, matching GoH set wasn't one of them! No GoH Rarity whatsoever, and Fluttershy's only wide-release version had non-removable pirate garb.

GoH was my favorite line and it was sad to see it killed so short. Obviously as an adult not the target audience apparently seeing as they just sat on the shelves. I sold off all my g4 brushables and picked up the GoH line it was super exciting to get articulated figures!

[Leave a Whisper]

Other species in G2-I think Flutters would have been a perfect come back. And why pegasus and winged unicorns with removal hairclip wings?

More merry-go-rounds in other generations. I'd love a bigger set with detailed ponies and a proper carousel like the matchbox carousel animals.

[Nemesis]

More merry-go-rounds in other generations. I'd love a bigger set with detailed ponies and a proper carousel like the matchbox carousel animals.

Imagine a rotating carousel with slots for all the G1 Merry Go Round ponies. <3 That would have been the best MLP playset ever.

[Ponybookworm]

More merry-go-rounds in other generations. I'd love a bigger set with detailed ponies and a proper carousel like the matchbox carousel animals.

Imagine a rotating carousel with slots for all the G1 Merry Go Round ponies. <3 That would have been the best MLP playset ever.

This!!! So this!!!

[Taffeta]

That would've sent Hasbro UK into meltdown. "But there's six slots and we're only selling 4 MGR ponies here! The kids will KNOW THEY'RE BEING CHEATED!" >.>

Does remind me of the whirligig story, though. Would've been nice given all the thought the comic put into the MGR ponies and their background that they had done a bit more with them in the line overall.

For some reason it's always been one of the stories from the later comics that sticks in my mind. I mean, let's be honest, I would've been happy with Twirler's frisbee like record flying discs. They could have little holes for the hoovesd. Imagine the fun throwing them at things >.> Even better if they were remote controlled pony saucers.

[Zapper]

The greatest missed opportunity of all: not keeping the amazing tone and stylings of RaMC for the entirety of the series. X3 RaMC was MLP at its very finest, IMO.

Which leads into... We need more villain toys! G4 was the first time we received any at all, if I’m not mistaken. Tragically, we still don’t have a single representation of Tirek or Scorpan, despite them making it into FiM.

You and me both, sister.
I honestly admit I sometimes get a little sad thinking of RaMC or the Rainbow Brite pilot in the sense that girls cartoons would have probably went a different direction had they been not exec-meddled with.

I am trying to remember if we ever had a "dark" girls cartoon in the 80s? Sailor Moon had some real bad stuff happeneing but that was the 90s and a Japan import.
The darkest I can think of from the 80s was Jem. I'll never forget watching the episode where Minx tries to kill herself 
And nobody suggest Last Unicorn, as that was a full movie and based on a fantasy novel for adults, not a show with the target audience girls

Nowadays the closest I can think of to RamC would be The Owl House. And only because it has dark magic and monsters. But the tone is very tongue-in-cheek with references for adults. Just like with Star VS Evil, they are not playing it straight.

In the 00s, maybe W.I.T.C.H.? These kinds of shows are really not that popular with marketers, it seems.

[Taffeta]

It really depends on what you mean by 'dark'. Plenty of 'making jokes about creepy things that would otherwise be dark' in my recollections, like duckula and over here, the Trap Door. But yeah, in terms of psychologically, Jem is quite dark. Most especially when the Stingers are there.

The Minx episode is one thing but there's also the drugs episode, runaway kids, and the plot to blow up Kimber...okay, not Kimber, the Princess, but you know, same difference in the end. There's also a fair amount of dangerous moments, like when Jem crashes Pizzazz's hangglider (and she's the hero!)

Back to the Stingers but Rapture conning that old woman by pretending to commune with her dead relatives is also a bit...

Mind you, I don't know if pony needed to be majorly dark beyond what it already did. I feel like Somnambula and Bright Lights are quite dark tbh.

I am not sure all of it is dark, but SheRa is quite dark in places as well. The whole kidnapped as a baby and brainwashed while raised by the hoarde asks a few questions, but it's really Shadow Weaver and her decisions to sacrifice so much for her dark magic...

I feel SheRa was much darker than HeMan. I used to watch both.

[Leave a Whisper]

The greatest missed opportunity of all: not keeping the amazing tone and stylings of RaMC for the entirety of the series. X3 RaMC was MLP at its very finest, IMO.

Which leads into... We need more villain toys! G4 was the first time we received any at all, if I’m not mistaken. Tragically, we still don’t have a single representation of Tirek or Scorpan, despite them making it into FiM.

You and me both, sister.
I honestly admit I sometimes get a little sad thinking of RaMC or the Rainbow Brite pilot in the sense that girls cartoons would have probably went a different direction had they been not exec-meddled with.

I am trying to remember if we ever had a "dark" girls cartoon in the 80s? Sailor Moon had some real bad stuff happeneing but that was the 90s and a Japan import.
The darkest I can think of from the 80s was Jem. I'll never forget watching the episode where Minx tries to kill herself 
And nobody suggest Last Unicorn, as that was a full movie and based on a fantasy novel for adults, not a show with the target audience girls

Nowadays the closest I can think of to RamC would be The Owl House. And only because it has dark magic and monsters. But the tone is very tongue-in-cheek with references for adults. Just like with Star VS Evil, they are not playing it straight.

In the 00s, maybe W.I.T.C.H.? These kinds of shows are really not that popular with marketers, it seems.

I kinda see the g3/g1 mishmash as a stylistic successor of sorts to the ramc ponies. SDCC Twilight and RMS Applejack will likely be the closest we'll ever get.


In the 80s?  Hmm. Not seriously dark. But then, most cartoons period didn't get seriously dark, boys, girls, or neutral, aside from a few episodes. You wouldn't get that consistent tone until the 90s with stuff like Gargoyles and Batman the Animated Series.

We didn't have it in the US obviously, but when did Animals of Farthing Woods start airing?

As for movies, I'd attribute that more to Rankin/Bass and Jim Henson.

The Last Unicorn, Flight of Dragons, The Hobbit/LotR, Black Beauty.

And while not cartoons, Neverending Story and The Dark Crystal.

I haven't seen it in decades, but I think you can add The Black Cauldron in.

[brightberry]

I loved the RaMC style.  I remember thinking how different the real ponies and their backcards looked in comparison.

I was eventually ok with it because sometimes attempts to look "show accurate" came off really badly in the 80s and ponies may not had been as pretty. Maybe.  I love how G1 ponies look so maybe it's all for the best.

However, I did have a recent dream that Hasbro came out with RaMC playsets and ponies.  I want those.