The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: freezestime on May 24, 2019, 06:32:35 AM

Title: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: freezestime on May 24, 2019, 06:32:35 AM
AAAAAA friends I am excited! There's gonna be some G4.5 babies (Albeit of the mane six) and they're super adorable! I'm not too interested in them but I'd love some new characters, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence and Baby Flurry Heart (Since's she's still a newborn in the show)

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https://www.mlpmerch.com/2019/05/mlp-my-baby-pinkie-pie-twilight-sparkle.html (https://www.mlpmerch.com/2019/05/mlp-my-baby-pinkie-pie-twilight-sparkle.html)

What do you guys think of it?
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ponyfan on May 24, 2019, 06:39:02 AM
I'm happy you're excited about them but these are not for me. I do wonder why Baby Twilight is a winged unicorn instead of a unicorn. The only one of these that I'd get might be a baby Flurry Heart if Hasbro makes one.



Ponyfan
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Carrehz on May 24, 2019, 06:48:45 AM
I guess Twilight has wings for some "branding" reason, or marketing, or however you want to put it. That's what the character currently looks like, so that's what they want to focus on for merchandise? Like... there's no chance we'll get merch of, say, G3 Rarity any time soon, because that would be "confusing" because of G4 Rarity? I'm sure there's a term for this but it's escaping me right now. Brand consistency, something like that?

Setting that aside, yeah, the fact that she has wings kinda bothers me, too XP It's not right! haha. The small one is awfully cute, though. These bigger ones, well.. I'm glad they have their fans. But I'm not one of them. :p
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 24, 2019, 07:56:41 AM
I'm not too interested in these, but I give them props for giving them proper knees instead of broken-backwards hind legs like the G3.5 Newborn Cuties (I think they were called?).

I do think Pinkie Pie's candy themed hair bow is adorable though.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: sd_dreamcrystal on May 24, 2019, 08:38:49 AM
I won't be getting these but I do think Twilight should have been a unicorn and not a winged unicorn..

To be honest they look like they have duck faces XD
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Shaiyeh on May 24, 2019, 09:55:15 AM
Aw they're cute!  :lovey: They look rather big, too o: Pity they have molded hair though, I liked the g3 so soft newborns (or what they're called... I have a bunch but can never remember XD ) with the molded head and soft body, and brushable hair ^^'
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: SaraMari on May 24, 2019, 10:30:31 AM
I'm someone who usually unbothered by the big eye trend but this is too much. 😰 They make me uncomfortable and I agree with sd_dreamcrystal they have tiny strange duck bill mouths
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Elva on May 24, 2019, 10:36:07 AM
I really like the ponies but the mouths are bothering me, what's going on with them? They look like some instagram model's big pouty lips on a baby!
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 24, 2019, 10:38:36 AM
I'm afraid I saw this and went, oh no, the return of the scary babies from G3.5! XD.

I'm kind of at the point LAW mentioned in the Unpopular opinions thread though. I'm over anything featuring any of the M6.


There's also something disconcertingly teeny weeny pony about their facial proportions...
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Moonbreeze on May 24, 2019, 12:31:45 PM
So... they shouldn't have their cutiemarks right? 
I wonder what their actual size is going to be :)
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: PrincessNikki on May 24, 2019, 02:56:22 PM
good god....I cant tell if these are better or worse than 3.5s.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on May 24, 2019, 03:54:30 PM
They're cute! I'll be picking baby Twilight up on clearance or second-hand, I doubt full price will be a price I'm willing to pay.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Minty_Magic on May 24, 2019, 05:28:03 PM
Guess I’m in the minority on these guys, I think they’re way cuter than the other babies we saw! Well...much more we’ll made at least. I really dislike their mouths but I can look past it because their molds are pretty nice other than that! And I like their big glittery eyes. :) I might possibly buy these if I see them in stores.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: gemini_pony on May 24, 2019, 05:42:42 PM
I want a couple of 5he pinkie pie. I want one to customize.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Nemesis on May 24, 2019, 05:47:40 PM
As to Twilight being an alicorn: I’m about 90% sure we’re going to get an episode or some type of tie-in media where the cast are magically transformed into babies for a day. There’s also the inconsistencies of Pinkie’s curly hair (it was flat and straight until she received her cutie mark as a school-age pony, in the show), the fact that Twilight is wearing a crown, and the fact that they have cutie marks AT ALL. Even if they never do an episode where they’re magically de-aged, that’s where my head canon is. XP

As to the toys themselves: I think they’re cute! I don’t love the “duck lips” look, but it doesn’t ruin them for me. To each his own, I suppose! :)
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Leave a Whisper on May 24, 2019, 07:13:24 PM
They look duck-faced. *Quack quack*
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 24, 2019, 07:19:02 PM
My impression is Hasbro's toy designers don't watch the show much, if at all. The show people might try to explain why Baby Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn, like everyone getting deaged.  But as far as the toy designers go, I think that's just not something it makes sense to worry about from a toy perspective.

That's assuming these toys even get a "show" explanation.  They might be like Princess Skyla (the first G4 plush alicorn baby) or Princess Sterling & Princess Other-Alicorn, where they're just toys and don't get anything in the way of show appearances.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Goanna on May 24, 2019, 10:30:58 PM
Those duck-lip faces are just awful lmao  :lol:
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 24, 2019, 11:24:12 PM

That's assuming these toys even get a "show" explanation.  They might be like Princess Skyla (the first G4 plush alicorn baby) or Princess Sterling & Princess Other-Alicorn, where they're just toys and don't get anything in the way of show appearances.


....Gold Lily?
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: WingsOfMasquerade on May 25, 2019, 01:10:06 AM
+-*Its Real Goblin Hours*-+
Wow these are super weird. And confusing. I keep wanting to like stuff but can't. It's like the bodies are a good idea by themselves, they have 'pony like' limbs (finally) but then the turbo giant heads wreck it for me. Then, the style of the eyes are cute, with the hearts & glitter....but they're way too big for even the super-bigheads. And it's like how did they get from 'its a pony' to somehow "The horse is the animal known for having a perfectly spherical head"? Where does that keep coming from? I also agree that the 'nose' does look like foofy over-done lips...eerie human lips. You can see almost a good idea in there but...

Yes the 2 random princesses were Gold Lilly (Buzz-saw) and Sterling (a diamond)
Also like G4 Sunny Daze and Cotton Cloud can go up there with Skyla...they had that mold and they were gonna milk it, show be thrown to the side or not. That's super duper likely to be what they did here. Just 'baby ize' it, because everything ends with babies.
Monster high got babies and stopped,
bratz babiez and stopped,
G3 turned into 3.5 babies doing magical belching ...and stopped...
when they trot out the babies that's the end of the line it seems like so this is fitting because we know it's ending. With the show down to 'the last season' there's not likely much chance to baby-ize everyone to reinforce the toyline. Plus, their history of ignoring cool stuff in the show that would've made a great toy (changeling toys? no. Griffen toys? no. non-mane toys? no.) shows that they don't care about the show at all. Having them make sense (no wings, no symbol, no curls) would be too much effort and 'make less pretty toy' so they wouldn't be bothered.

Looking at the size/construction of the sippy bottles, I rather bet these are big. I also bet they're costly.
What a wacky thing to turn up late in the game.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ponyfan on May 25, 2019, 05:13:05 AM
As to Twilight being an alicorn: I’m about 90% sure we’re going to get an episode or some type of tie-in media where the cast are magically transformed into babies for a day. There’s also the inconsistencies of Pinkie’s curly hair (it was flat and straight until she received her cutie mark as a school-age pony, in the show), the fact that Twilight is wearing a crown, and the fact that they have cutie marks AT ALL. Even if they never do an episode where they’re magically de-aged, that’s where my head canon is. XP



I like that explanation for why Twilight is a winged unicorn :) but I also think it's also because kids will expect a baby Twilight to be a winged unicorn instead of a unicorn.

I just noticed their cutie marks on their upper legs instead of their rumps but I guess that's due to the diapers covering where the cutie marks should be,


I'm afraid I saw this and went, oh no, the return of the scary babies from G3.5! XD.

I'm kind of at the point LAW mentioned in the Unpopular opinions thread though. I'm over anything featuring any of the M6.


There's also something disconcertingly teeny weeny pony about their facial proportions...



The G3.5 babies were relaesed at the end of G3 right? Maybe Hasbro is reapeating themselves and these huge babies are the end of G4.


Ponyfan
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: freezestime on May 25, 2019, 05:23:39 AM
Maybe they'll be reborn as is? That'd explain why Twilight is a baby alicorn.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 25, 2019, 06:13:48 AM

That's assuming these toys even get a "show" explanation.  They might be like Princess Skyla (the first G4 plush alicorn baby) or Princess Sterling & Princess Other-Alicorn, where they're just toys and don't get anything in the way of show appearances.


....Gold Lily?

That's the one! XD 

I agree with the comments about these babies being duck-lipped.  I am pretty sure they were inspired by LOL Surprise dolls:

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They're not my thing, but they are crazy popular with kids.  Sometimes I ask the clerks at Target what the most popular toys are at the moment and the top two answers are Shopkins and LOL Surprise.  (Of course the answer I am always hoping for is Basic Fun's MLPs, lol.)
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Leave a Whisper on May 25, 2019, 08:12:13 AM
BABALITY! You Win!
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Sparkle Pony on May 25, 2019, 11:32:36 AM
These scare me.  They look like some of the jokes we came up with ages ago where there was a thread we made up fake G5 leaks.  I think it was Apple Dazzle, the G5 pony with peg legs and a tiny smooshed face with massive eyes? :lol:
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: EnaRocketQueen on May 25, 2019, 11:36:58 AM
What on earth are those?! It looks like G3.5 refusing to die quietly
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Leave a Whisper on May 25, 2019, 02:41:48 PM
These scare me.  They look like some of the jokes we came up with ages ago where there was a thread we made up fake G5 leaks.  I think it was Apple Dazzle, the G5 pony with peg legs and a tiny smooshed face with massive eyes? :lol:


:lmao:
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 25, 2019, 03:30:01 PM
What on earth are those?! It looks like G3.5 refusing to die quietly

WE'RE BAAAACK!!

All they need now to complete the creepy is to insert the voice box from the G1 talking ponies...

"I love you!"

Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Sora on May 25, 2019, 03:36:42 PM
Those duck-lip faces are just awful lmao  :lol:
I feel the same way :lol:

I definitely think they're 'inspired' by LOL dolls. And since I don't like them.... :yikes:
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: BubbleTea on May 25, 2019, 09:41:43 PM
Never have I ever seen anything so ugly. so putrid. so repulsive. so horrendously atrociously abominable.

3.5s were waaaaaaaaaaaay better.

Quote
how did they get from 'its a pony' to somehow "The horse is the animal known for having a perfectly spherical head"?]

Questions like these are what keep me up at night.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Leave a Whisper on May 25, 2019, 10:05:54 PM
+-*Its Real Goblin Hours*-+
Wow these are super weird. And confusing. I keep wanting to like stuff but can't. It's like the bodies are a good idea by themselves, they have 'pony like' limbs (finally) but then the turbo giant heads wreck it for me. Then, the style of the eyes are cute, with the hearts & glitter....but they're way too big for even the super-bigheads. And it's like how did they get from 'its a pony' to somehow "The horse is the animal known for having a perfectly spherical head"? Where does that keep coming from? I also agree that the 'nose' does look like foofy over-done lips...eerie human lips. You can see almost a good idea in there but...

Yes the 2 random princesses were Gold Lilly (Buzz-saw) and Sterling (a diamond)
Also like G4 Sunny Daze and Cotton Cloud can go up there with Skyla...they had that mold and they were gonna milk it, show be thrown to the side or not. That's super duper likely to be what they did here. Just 'baby ize' it, because everything ends with babies.
Monster high got babies and stopped,
bratz babiez and stopped,
G3 turned into 3.5 babies doing magical belching ...and stopped...
when they trot out the babies that's the end of the line it seems like so this is fitting because we know it's ending. With the show down to 'the last season' there's not likely much chance to baby-ize everyone to reinforce the toyline. Plus, their history of ignoring cool stuff in the show that would've made a great toy (changeling toys? no. Griffen toys? no. non-mane toys? no.) shows that they don't care about the show at all. Having them make sense (no wings, no symbol, no curls) would be too much effort and 'make less pretty toy' so they wouldn't be bothered.

Looking at the size/construction of the sippy bottles, I rather bet these are big. I also bet they're costly.
What a wacky thing to turn up late in the game.

Blame the artists and that whole era of cartoons.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: cottoncandycafe on May 26, 2019, 08:03:18 AM
these certainly... exist.... they do remind me of LOL surprise dolls, so i guess hasbro's trying to cash in on that trend? i am slightly concerned about the whole face situation here though. the forward facing eyes make them look like predator animals e_e not for me, no thanks, though i'm sure there are kids who'll enjoy them
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Zapper on May 26, 2019, 01:18:42 PM
People are pointing out Twilight's wings but Pinkie should also have straight hair. Her hair got curly when she saw RD's rainboom, she wasn't born with it.

Just 'baby ize' it, because everything ends with babies.
Monster high got babies and stopped,
bratz babiez and stopped,
G3 turned into 3.5 babies doing magical belching ...and stopped...
when they trot out the babies that's the end of the line it seems like so this is fitting because we know it's ending.

Good point! It's funny to me how they never made the Cake twins a thing. They had the baby stuff in season one but there was no merch, no nothing I guess because the babies weren't part of or related to the Mane Six.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Nemesis on May 26, 2019, 03:36:25 PM
Good point! It's funny to me how they never made the Cake twins a thing. They had the baby stuff in season one but there was no merch, no nothing I guess because the babies weren't part of or related to the Mane Six.

There was the blind bag/mini “Babysitting Fun” set: https://data.mlpmerch.com/blind-bags/set/cake-family-babysitting-fun/

But yeah, that’s it. Very odd that they didn’t capitalize on those two, I agree.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Zapper on May 27, 2019, 04:43:14 AM
Good point! It's funny to me how they never made the Cake twins a thing. They had the baby stuff in season one but there was no merch, no nothing I guess because the babies weren't part of or related to the Mane Six.

There was the blind bag/mini “Babysitting Fun” set: https://data.mlpmerch.com/blind-bags/set/cake-family-babysitting-fun/

But yeah, that’s it. Very odd that they didn’t capitalize on those two, I agree.

I am always confused by Hasbro's separation of toyline and show for MLP but every time there was a baby I thought they would dish out the baby merch. Because with the Cakes and even more so with Flurry Heart the show made a point about how special these babies are. The Cakes were an unusual pair of twins and had strong powers and Flurry was an unusual birth with even stronger powers.
Flurry was also an unusual design.

But eh, it's Hasbro. I will never understand their choices. Like introducing all these new species and the only figures we got are limited seaponies and three hippogryph figures with only one release per character. It's like they don't want the show to advertise the toys anymore.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Carrehz on May 28, 2019, 07:38:59 AM
I really wouldn't bother trying to figure out why X/Y/Z doesn't match up to the show canon, I doubt that the toy designers are concerned with stuff like that :P Plus there's the "brand consistency" thing, like I said before.

Just 'baby ize' it, because everything ends with babies.
Monster high got babies and stopped,
bratz babiez and stopped,
G3 turned into 3.5 babies doing magical belching ...and stopped...
when they trot out the babies that's the end of the line it seems like so this is fitting because we know it's ending.

This really good point and one I hadn't considered before.

(and, I've never understood why Hasbro seem so dang reluctant to make toys based off stuff in the show, either. I don't watch the show, just pick up stuff from people that do, but even so there's a lot of stuff where I've heard about it and thought "oooh that'd make a cool toy!" and.. nothing. It's bizarre.)
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: RoseNoire on May 28, 2019, 08:04:51 AM
These make me sad. Their design feels lazy and absolutely not "pony". I don't like the overall toy trends being currently released, and since every brand is ripping off each-other, I just feel like I'm going to need to wait another decade before seeing more passionately made designs instead of those abominations. And yet, I don't even know it they would get better until then, but boy did they get worse.
Yeah, I'm upset. I guess I needed to vent.
Thankfully there are brands like Basic Fun that releases actual ponies, but they are "just" re-releases. That's pretty nifty in itself, but I can't wait to see new ponies, new designs, new gimmicks. I guess I just need fresh air. That's why HQG1C are amazing to me. I can't wait to afford some.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 28, 2019, 09:09:33 AM
The current lack of connection between show and toyline is actually a critical weakness for G4. They've centred so much of their mantra around that show, that their fanbase are also centred on it. And this is the fanbase that care about show accurate hair and change the official names of ponies to the fan ones they like better because of some show related aspect. Not that I think the kids aren't involved in this too, but again, the show has been marketed to them like crazy as well.

With g1, it really didn't matter if the toys were in the tv show as the TV show was basically one long glorified advert for the toys and it got abandoned early on. Here there was the comic but again, each pony had its own card story so it didn't really matter. It was much more centred on the toy and everything else was promotional.

But with G4, you'd think they'd use the show much more and make toys based on the show. I don't really understand why they don't. It's like they got lazy and just decided kids don't have imagination any more and so will buy seventeen pinkie pie related items.

As a kid I was hugely influenced by the characterisations in the comics, even if I never played games based on them. Most all the ponies I wanted most from sets were because of comic references, and that was just promotional material to sell the toys. I can't imagine how annoying it must be for a parent if their kid is all like, "I must have x character!" and all they can find is...Pinkie Pie again.

I remember seeing a mother and her daughter in a store a year or two ago. The shelves were covered in M6. Kid was clearly a pony fan but not impressed by the display. I think I moved something to show my sister Soarin, who had been tucked away behind the others. I showed her, put the pony back on the rack, and literally WITHIN SECONDs this pony was going home with this suddenly excited kid.

For me that said everything about the disconnect between toy and marketing strategy. I don't watch the show so I don't know how much Soarin is in it, but I know that he IS in it. However, instead of selling a set with all of the Wonderbolts (and Dash?), they bury the individual characters in separate, unrelated lines and then they get swamped by M6 ponies.

Soarin was out for ages here. But he sold REALLY well.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Nemesis on May 28, 2019, 11:27:54 AM
But with G4, you'd think they'd use the show much more and make toys based on the show. I don't really understand why they don't. It's like they got lazy and just decided kids don't have imagination any more and so will buy seventeen pinkie pie related items.

...

I remember seeing a mother and her daughter in a store a year or two ago. The shelves were covered in M6. Kid was clearly a pony fan but not impressed by the display. I think I moved something to show my sister Soarin, who had been tucked away behind the others. I showed her, put the pony back on the rack, and literally WITHIN SECONDs this pony was going home with this suddenly excited kid.

For me that said everything about the disconnect between toy and marketing strategy. I don't watch the show so I don't know how much Soarin is in it, but I know that he IS in it. However, instead of selling a set with all of the Wonderbolts (and Dash?), they bury the individual characters in separate, unrelated lines and then they get swamped by M6 ponies.

Soarin was out for ages here. But he sold REALLY well.

Soarin is hardly ever in the show, and usually little more than a “backgrounder” when he is. But yeah, that’s how desperate kids must be to see any character outside of the mane six on shelves. =P Please learn from this in G5, Hasbro!

FiM was conceived to sell toys. All Hasbro shows were conceived to sell toys. When FiM became wildly popular, you’d think that would have been Hasbro’s cue to release every possible character, with assurance that the fanbase would be excited to buy them. Tragically, we only ever got to see that in the blind bag toys (which I have amassed a vast horde of, since that’s where the bulk of the characters are in G4). :( Such a wasted opportunity... Guardians of Harmony was refreshing, but that seems to be a dead line now. I still hold on to the delirious hope that we might somehow get a Tirek figure before the end of G4. T_T
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on May 28, 2019, 03:14:08 PM
But with G4, you'd think they'd use the show much more and make toys based on the show. I don't really understand why they don't. It's like they got lazy and just decided kids don't have imagination any more and so will buy seventeen pinkie pie related items.

This is something that bugs me most about G4. They have this huge array of characters in FiM they could make toys of, so that they could therefore when FiM introduces a new character have their purpose in the show be like "hey here's a new pony you can buy now". But instead they're like "nah let's just rerelease Pinkie Pie for the fiftieth time kids will be all over that". :pout:

I dunno, it's like... they could use the show to promote their toys way more effectively if they really wanted to.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: brightberry on May 28, 2019, 03:26:10 PM
I think these are strangely cute! Probably because my niece started me down the path of LOL surprise (I'm still planning my escape). If these ponies are about the size of LOL and there are a lot of different characters, I might get one or two.  But if they are the size of brushables or bigger, then no.  Those eyes would be huge!
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 28, 2019, 07:47:35 PM
I dunno, it's like... they could use the show to promote their toys way more effectively if they really wanted to.

Yeah, even a lot of recurring support characters didn't get a lot of releases, like there are surprisingly few Cutie Mark Crusaders brushable sets.

The one-offs like kirins I get, because IIRC it takes like 10 months to a year to get a toy in production . . . So even if Hasbro toy people saw the kirin episode and thought "Oh, that's cute!", by the time they release the toys that episode is a year old.  (I mean I would still love to see them release kirins, I think they're adorable and it's a super creative idea.)

I really hope that for G5, they look at the abundance of cool species that were in G4 and plan to make them from the start.  (But in reality they will probably introduce a new species where every single member of it looks like Pinkie Pie, lol.)
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 29, 2019, 07:44:25 AM
That would suggest zero communication between Hasbro and the people making the cartoon.

I realise this is a different decade and a different toyline, but it wasn't ever a problem for the Jem TV show to time eps to promote a toy around the time it was going to come out. Because the toys were made as prototypes, sent to the animators, scripts were written, amended etc - and release dates decided in order to make the show promote the toy at the right time.

You can bet that the very product placement spammy Glitter & Gold episode didn't air 10 months before the dolls were on shelves. The problem is more that Hasbro don't appear to have that same toy-show relationship set up from the start. So it's like the show does it's own thing and Hasbro doesn't really catch up, rather than it being a collaboration.

I remember one of the chief Jem writers saying Hasbro weren't especially organised back then either, but there were a huge number of individuals involved in every step of both toy and show. People writing the songs, two voice casts (singing and speaking), etc etc. But they still got it done so dates coincided.

 I imagine G1 MLP was probably the same albeit it's not quite as effective a toy commercial as the Jem show which could rotate all the new fashions without changing the angle of the episode too much (beyond Glitter and Gold, which is basically a glorified new fashions and dolls advert).
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 29, 2019, 09:02:33 AM
I don't think there's zero communication, but I think there is a lot of separation and a lot of cases of the show people coming up with ideas on their own and want to incorporate them because they're fun or cool.  Which is fine IMO because I would hate it if Hasbro said "NO, don't put kirins in the show, we don't have toys of them so that is a waste of air time.  Put in Pinkie Pie #232 with New Dress."

I also feel like the show is a low risk testing ground for Hasbro.  Like, they let the show people do their thing and then if a lot of fans start clamoring for a show character . . . maybe they WILL make a toy of them.  Like Big Mac or Trixie or the various Wonderbolts.   Like a free way of testing what's popular.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ragamuffin on May 29, 2019, 09:10:39 AM
I also feel like the show is a low risk testing ground for Hasbro.  Like, they let the show people do their thing and then if a lot of fans start clamoring for a show character . . . maybe they WILL make a toy of them.  Like Big Mac or Trixie or the various Wonderbolts.   Like a free way of testing what's popular.

Babs Seed and Flash Sentry all seem decently popular ponies yet we still have nothing for them for brushables.

And Cloud Chaser and Vapor Trail are popular to a lesser extent. From what I've seen Autumn Blaze is very popular but we won't get anything from her...

Berry Punch, Golden Harvest Colgate, and the flower ponies (Roseluck etc) were huge with bronies but we never got much with them other than blind bags. They love rereleasing DJ P0N-3 at any opportunity, but we've only had one Octavia release... stll no Doctor Hooves surprisingly. No recent releases of Sunset Shimmer despite her being a major character.

Yet we got Coco Pommel merch, like... IMMEDIATELY.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 29, 2019, 10:12:29 AM
I remember that did happen with Jem too - characters that IT have since made technically were invented for the show (Craig, Sean, Anthony for example). But I guess with a doll line and therefore fashions to promote, it's easier than with actual ponies.

Added characters in the show not from Hasbro is fine, you know? But a complete disconnect seems a waste. I mean, even if they're not main characters, recurring side characters should probably have had more releases than they have...right?

Sunset Shimmer is so concentrated on EqG that she's mainly had that base and there have been many more dolls than ponies. I think I have all the brushable Sunsets, but I also think that's only like three or four max. There's one FS pony but she hasn't been a pony enough I guess to maintain it longer? Despite that she was a BAB plush not so long ago though...and she's in the CMC line a few times.

I am not sure we need more Sunsets than that. A few is good. Oversaturation is not...
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ponyfan on May 29, 2019, 03:21:48 PM


Added characters in the show not from Hasbro is fine, you know? But a complete disconnect seems a waste. I mean, even if they're not main characters, recurring side characters should probably have had more releases than they have...right?




This is one of my problems with FIM and the toyline. I feel like Hasbro has missed several opportunities to release interesting characters that would have been good sellers in the toyline.  Thorax is a recurring character but he never got a toy. Out of the students only Silverstream and Sandbar got toys and both of those were only stocked for a short time in the US.



Ponyfan
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Carrehz on May 29, 2019, 04:56:01 PM
See, I can understand why it took a while for characters like Lyra, Trixie etc to get toys. Lyra was a backgrounder and Trixie was a one-off originally, makes sense that Hasbro wouldn't necessarily consider them for toys. (I suspect the blind bags, at least the earlier waves, were mostly designed by just looking through character models for the show and picking any that seemed appealing; it'd explain why Trixie was initially named "Lulamoon" for the toys, they probably didn't realize she was an actual character?) I mean, I don't give a damn if the character's been in the show or not, or how much they've been in it, or whatever, but it makes sense to me that Hasbro would want to focus on the non-backgrounders (even though they didn't... really do that, either, but... bear with me, here xD).

But stuff like the students, those would've been planned way in advance, they would've known those were going to be recurring characters and such. (I understand they're recurrers? Again, don't watch the show so I'm just going off what I've gathered from posts on here) So why have only two of them gotten toys? Sandbar's got a unique head mold, so you can't tell me it's just Hasbro being too cheap/lazy to make new molds. :/
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 29, 2019, 06:02:29 PM
Yeah, the students not being heavily produced--some of them not being produced at all--is really weird to me.

All I can think is maybe it's a reverse Stratus Skyranger (the hippogriff) situation.  Stratus had a HUUUUGE toy but was barely in the movie.  I guess it was too late to cancel his toy by the time his role was cut down?  With the students . . . all I can think is someone at Hasbro said "Whoa there, we're rebooting soon, is it really worth it to make a single-use yak mold?"  And it was too late to revamp the season?  Or something??

The whole thing is very strange because they were practically "the replacement Mane Six".  But not in terms of toys.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Carrehz on May 30, 2019, 06:37:56 AM
Oh, I forgot about all the different molds they made for the movie (prolly since a lot of them didn't make it to the UK ^^;) - how well did those sell over there? If they were shelfwarmers I could see Hasbro being reluctant to make more one-off molds.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Leave a Whisper on May 30, 2019, 08:28:07 AM
Oh, I forgot about all the different molds they made for the movie (prolly since a lot of them didn't make it to the UK ^^;) - how well did those sell over there? If they were shelfwarmers I could see Hasbro being reluctant to make more one-off molds.

Mane Six were shelf sitters, new characters were harder to get hold of.


That ought to have clued hasbro in but no.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Taffeta on May 31, 2019, 09:41:19 AM
Oh, I forgot about all the different molds they made for the movie (prolly since a lot of them didn't make it to the UK ^^;) - how well did those sell over there? If they were shelfwarmers I could see Hasbro being reluctant to make more one-off molds.

Mane Six were shelf sitters, new characters were harder to get hold of.


That ought to have clued hasbro in but no.

Yeah, it took a long time for any version of Tempest to appear here (she's in the multipack still in Entertainer now, but it only appeared in about March this year), and I only saw the musical Songbird in Tesco once a fair time after the movie was out.

The new pose thing has happened before though. There are three (?) new poses in the 1993-4 pony line which is the last official full line. It's as if they have more plans and then the line folds and they lose interest and move on...
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Nemesis on May 31, 2019, 09:48:56 AM
All I can think is maybe it's a reverse Stratus Skyranger (the hippogriff) situation.  Stratus had a HUUUUGE toy but was barely in the movie.  I guess it was too late to cancel his toy by the time his role was cut down?  With the students . . . all I can think is someone at Hasbro said "Whoa there, we're rebooting soon, is it really worth it to make a single-use yak mold?"  And it was too late to revamp the season?  Or something??

What’s funny... is that I can’t even remember Stratus in the movie at all. XD I still love the toy, though. X3

I really wish we WOULD see a yak toy... There are so many wasted designs and species in G4. It strikes me as a bit odd, since the “unusual” characters seem to sell best, as LaW said. :/
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on May 31, 2019, 10:32:49 AM
He appears for like five seconds when Queen Novo arrives at the end to tell Princess Skystar she's grounded.  I would have missed him if I hadn't read a review mentioning he was there, lol.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ponyfan on June 01, 2019, 12:09:21 PM
I think Stratus also appears for a second in sea pony form as one of the guards that point the spears at Twilight and her friends when Queen Novo realizes Skystar has brought them.

I wonder if Stratus was supposed to be a major part in the sea  ponies imprison Twilight and her friends part of the plot that was dropped. I always wondered why he got such a huge toy and had such a minor role in the movie.


I never found the Captain Celaeno toy anywhere near me. I hope the Mane 6 babies will be cuter than the promo pictures make them look.



Ponyfan
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Nemesis on June 01, 2019, 12:23:23 PM
I found my Captain Celaeno at the local Walmart, but she was buried amongst other Guardians of Harmony sets. Pretty sure she was the only one there. Shortpacking or popularity?
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: LadyMoondancer on June 01, 2019, 12:45:40 PM
I think Stratus also appears for a second in sea pony form as one of the guards that point the spears at Twilight and her friends when Queen Novo realizes Skystar has brought them.

I wonder if Stratus was supposed to be a major part in the sea  ponies imprison Twilight and her friends part of the plot that was dropped. I always wondered why he got such a huge toy and had such a minor role in the movie.


I never found the Captain Celaeno toy anywhere near me. I hope the Mane 6 babies will be cuter than the promo pictures make them look.

I read there was originally a scene where the ponies are imprisoned in underwater jail cells (which fits in with the Seaquestria playset features, they have little holding cells on part of it--not that they call them that, ha ha) and Fluttershy uses her ability to communicate with animals to convince fish etc to free the ponies.  But it was cut for time.  Maybe Stratus was also involved in that part, like putting them in the jail or something.
Title: Re: MLPMerch newest post!
Post by: Ponyfan on June 02, 2019, 06:46:57 AM
I found my Captain Celaeno at the local Walmart, but she was buried amongst other Guardians of Harmony sets. Pretty sure she was the only one there. Shortpacking or popularity?


Congrats :) Captain Celaeno was the only bird pirate I wanted. I'm pretty sure none of the Walmart stores in my area ordered her because they were overstocked on the green pirate bird.






I read there was originally a scene where the ponies are imprisoned in underwater jail cells (which fits in with the Seaquestria playset features, they have little holding cells on part of it--not that they call them that, ha ha) and Fluttershy uses her ability to communicate with animals to convince fish etc to free the ponies.  But it was cut for time.  Maybe Stratus was also involved in that part, like putting them in the jail or something.



I'm assuming that scene would have taken place after Queen Novo discovers Twilight trying to steal the pearl and the scene where they break the surface of the water gasping for breath  I'm guesssing the final design for Sequestria was approved before that scene was cut so the jail cells were changed to "light up tower" on the box?



Ponyfan
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