The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Mana Minori on September 05, 2020, 04:35:56 PM

Title: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Mana Minori on September 05, 2020, 04:35:56 PM
We all know that a large majority of the g4 fandom and past gen fandoms don’t see eye to eye, and beyond that, much of the g4 toyline has been....less than stellar quality, for the most part. Buuuut...there are many other aspects to g4, including fan made content, official games, animated media, TCG, comics, manga, higher end collectibles and figures, and more that can be appreciated as well.

So- what one takeaway from the g4 era of My Little Pony been appreciated by the OG fans of the franchise- be it merch, animation, or even a single friendship with a fan of g4?
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: gabumon on September 05, 2020, 04:48:39 PM
oh yes lots of things! I think people are more sophisticated than just "hate vs love".  there are even things about G1 i don't like so. it's give and take.  two way street imo.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Mana Minori on September 05, 2020, 04:53:34 PM
oh yes lots of things! I think people are more sophisticated than just "hate vs love".  there are even things about G1 i don't like so. it's give and take.  two way street imo.
oh, I know it’s more complicated than that. I wasn’t trying to paint it out to be, really. XD I wouldn’t want anyone taking it that way, either. And I’m quite sure that that og fans know and can admit to no mlp gen being perfect, and I’m not saying they are. I just want to pic people’s brains and see what they most liked about g4 is all.

Would you care to rattle off some of what endeared YOU?
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: goddessofpeep on September 05, 2020, 05:09:46 PM
I collect all generations, and have a *massive* collection(and a tiny house). That’s probably why the thing I like most about G4 is...the size.  Those tiny ponies don’t take up much space, which is at a premium over here.  A lot of people complained about the size when they first came out. I remember one person comparing all the different generations, and G4s were about the size of McDonald’s ponies. That got a big reaction, and not a good one.  From day one I was into the tiny ponies. 

Going along with that, I really loved the blind bag sized ponies - especially the playsets and figure lines that replaced the G3 Ponyville line.  The whole “Nightmare Night” playset, mini playsets, and figures were a particular favorite.  I thought the sculpts were well done, and the accessories were excellent.  This was also where you got to see more than just the same 6 ponies over and over. They had all sorts of characters!  It’s what the main line should have been.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on September 05, 2020, 05:20:10 PM
oh yes lots of things! I think people are more sophisticated than just "hate vs love".  there are even things about G1 i don't like so. it's give and take.  two way street imo.
Echoing this. :)
I will take the opportunity to discuss G4 though. It was the first generation I was into collecting and the show grew alongside me so I'm very kind towards it.
I adore the collections like the neon rainbow power and Pinkies Boutique that add different hair colors in! It's such a cool take on the characters.
This is usually a negative, but I think it's neat finding minute differences between each release. I figured out how to discern the bagged singles from the rest and it's really cool to me to be able to do so.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Mana Minori on September 05, 2020, 05:23:42 PM
I collect all generations, and have a *massive* collection(and a tiny house). That’s probably why the thing I like most about G4 is...the size.  Those tiny ponies don’t take up much space, which is at a premium over here.  A lot of people complained about the size when they first came out. I remember one person comparing all the different generations, and G4s were about the size of McDonald’s ponies. That got a big reaction, and not a good one.  From day one I was into the tiny ponies. 

Going along with that, I really loved the blind bag sized ponies - especially the playsets and figure lines that replaced the G3 Ponyville line.  The whole “Nightmare Night” playset, mini playsets, and figures were a particular favorite.  I thought the sculpts were well done, and the accessories were excellent.  This was also where you got to see more than just the same 6 ponies over and over. They had all sorts of characters!  It’s what the main line should have been.
ooh, that’s a good one!
 But I’m actually torn between agreeing with you, haha. On the one hand, I love the weight and feel of the earlier ponies- even the G3’s.  It if we’re talking about space requirements alone, then yeah, I gotta give it up for the G4’s. They’re definitely more compact, as you said. I can fit so many in plastic bins than the g1’s, g2’s and g3’s, since I definitely don’t have the space to properly display much.
Though I can’t say the same for the larger GoH’s and Kotobukiyas.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: gabumon on September 05, 2020, 06:23:38 PM
My favorite part of G4 was the first few years of releases.  Loved the variety.  Also loved the blind bags - when there was a way to tell who was in there. LOL.

Many of the fashion style releases were just amazing with four rows of thick soft hair.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Marshie on September 05, 2020, 07:29:54 PM
My favorite part of G4 was definitely the animation and story line of the show. G4 was my first real MLP thing that I actively enjoyed, while I grew up with G3 ponies. Was a big fan back in my high school days! Made a lot of friends though it to that I still talk to today!

I can see how there can be some conflict between the gens not getting along, but I cannot understand why! We all love different aspects of the franchise all in different ways and we can all respect one another for it <3 :frolic:
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on September 05, 2020, 08:40:21 PM
They did create a LOT of characters, even if not all of them have toys
More people to appreciate MLP
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: fuzzysherbet on September 05, 2020, 10:25:28 PM
While I do prefer the bigger toys for a lot of reasons, g4s being so small really comes with perks! With an average g4 just barely being taller than a g3's rump, it's really easy to sneak them into any display; and they don't require the bigger display spaces that the bigger generations do.
I know that the name 6 got really old really fast, believe me, I'm sick of seeing them as every toy too, but at least they have nice and varied designs!
The later toys are... pretty hit or miss in terms of quality, there's no denying that. But the hits tend to be pretty good, and the older g4s were generally good as well!
The toys that came out after the movie proved that Hasbro is still willing to give the ponies poses! I don't like the execution of most of the reboot poses; I personally think the toys are too small and the style too incompatible to be able to do it in a way that doesn't result in overexaggerated poses and odd mouths. But, they are growing on me, and I think it was a good direction to go!
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Ragamuffin on September 05, 2020, 11:00:40 PM
At this point I feel indifferent towards FiM. Even though I only watch episodes of a series once and then, like... never touch it again, I remember adoring FiM's early seasons, especially season one. The rest of the series was a chore to sit down and watch, to a point where I just wouldn't unless it was a season premier/finale. First season though I've felt nostalgia towards and have sometimes wanted to rewatch it even if I'm not someone who usually rewatches things.

That said, I'm a toy collector. I'm more worried about the toys. Yeah, G4 mostly sucks in that department. What did they get right? We're still stuck in 2011...

Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Mewtwofan1 on September 06, 2020, 12:07:49 AM
I enjoy FIM as it’s what got me into pony, and into animation as a career. I quite enjoyed the cartoon, though some of the toys were a bit lacking IMO. Like, I think I’d much rather play with the dream castle than canterlot castle. I also enjoyed the variety in toy/merchandise type. Not all of it was brushables. But I think what the most positive aspect is what this generation managed to accomplish. Critical acclaim across numerous countries and demographics, plenty of fan work and inspiring a new generation of creators.
    Don’t get me wrong, I dislike a few of the toys (like playsets built like walls and the 4.5 reboot ponies) but ultimately, I think it was a pretty positive ride.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 06, 2020, 01:04:03 AM
Interesting question!

Although I also echo the fact that polarising the debate can be problematic. The divide between communities is not really based (at least from this side) on a wholesale hate of G4 and love of older gens. Most of us collect G4 in some form, or whatever. It's always been about how the 'bronies' behaved that's really created the division.

I like the G4 brushables that were not part of the M6. I prefer the original pose although it was repetitive. I have maybe 90 or 100 brushable G4 in my collection. Most are not M6, although some are. Some of them are really pretty. It's just a shame there aren't more of those as the line progressed.

I don't like FIM. To be honest, without FIM there would not be any kind of controversy about G4 and other gens and whatever. But I do recognise FIM did bring some people into MLP who are not crazy and offensive, and that's a plus we can take going forward. Just, a show that can encourage the kind of things bronydom have been connected with is clearly going wrong somewhere. A show that is meant to be about friendship should not be fuelling a bunch of crazies to spew abuse at people who disagree with them, either. But I have fundamental problems with any show that presents popular crowd clique behaviour as 'friendship' and 'normality'. So my reasons for not liking FIM are more wide ranging than my dislike of the bronies.

I DO like EqG (because of Sunset Shimmer). Even though the stories are formulaic and mostly follow the same path, I like that Sunset Shimmer has character progression, thus EqG > FIM to me. I have not seen all of FIM, but what I have seen, it feels like episodes can be played in pretty much any order (they actually were being on Tiny Pop here), and it doesn't make a difference. It doesn't feel like FIM really went in for character progression except for major moments like "Gasp, Twilight has wings!").

If you took FIM out of G4, the only complaints I would have with the line would be quality control (which is a Hasbro thing, not a G4 thing) and repetitive characters (which could have been altered if Hasbro had put those blind bag characters into brushables).

Really it's just another generation and of course it has its positives. Only they are overshadowed to a large degree by the broadly negative cloud of unpleasantness that surrounds the brony fandom and their activities. (And genuinely, if you think that side of it is done and over now G4 is ending, it's not. The Atlantic wrote an article about subversive bronies as recently as July, and all pony fans were lumped together in the way they wrote the article...proving that the real problem of G4 is not G4, but the people who have tainted it by trying to make it something else.)

Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Shaz on September 06, 2020, 01:53:53 AM
Blind bag sized ponies <3 I just love mini ponies. My mini :muffin: Pony and Daring Do are among my favourites in my collection. I love how they're ideal for carrying in a bag or pocket, and there are lots of fun photos you can take with them because they are just so dinky!

I realise this is heresy for a pony collector but sometimes I just want a pony whose hair doesn't need grooming every five minutes. G4 has delivered in that respect with a good choice of ponies with moulded hair. It's just more convenient when they're out and about having adventures!

Being able to buy ponies and pony-related things in the shops has been fun. I only got into ponies in 2013, thanks to discovering my girlfriend's childhood G1 collection. Then we were in Tesco's one day and I was there exclaiming 'OH WOW LOOK THERE'S A NEW VERSION OF MY LITTLE PONY!'. Then I bought Cheerilee and two sparkly blind bags :) It's just such a happy memory.

I don't like the cartoon with its endless friendship preaching; Twilight being told to put her books away and go out and make friends is a bit too painfully autobiographical for me, except in my case I got an anxiety disorder rather than the Elements of Harmony. So FiM and I were never likely to see eye to eye. I did like Rainbow Rocks though, the songs were awesome.

Anyway, obviously G4 didn't exist for the purpose of making Shaz happy, but it managed it anyway :lol:. So good on you, G4!
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 06, 2020, 02:08:17 AM
I don't like the cartoon with its endless friendship preaching; Twilight being told to put her books away and go out and make friends is a bit too painfully autobiographical for me,
I can relate to this too.

Every kid develops at their own speed and in their own way, but the last thing that any child needs is to be told by a tv show they're watching that they're not behaving 'normally' because they don't want to go out and have parties. More bothersome to me is the idea of "if you're nice to bad people they will become your friend" and "you can make friends with anyone if you try hard enough." One is dangerous, two is just not true. But not liking someone is not the same as not respecting someone, and having different perspectives is not a bad thing. Will never forget that horrible episode where Pinkie and Dash destroy an important cultural artefact in the Gryffin's territory and then say it doesn't matter because now they have the more precious notion of friendship instead.

...So many issues.

I think FIM taught people how to enforce their views on other people, not how to actually become friends with people, which involves accepting them, not trying to change them to fit your values.

So yeah. FIM is both the thing that popularised attention to MLP and brought in new fans, and the thing that motivated some questionable moral behaviour and ideas. But I feel like if you took FIM out of G4, G4 would be absolutely fine. Just a bit repetitive.

...However without FIM, the toyline would have to make more of an effort and show more variety. So again it comes down to the show, NOT the generation.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Ponybookworm on September 06, 2020, 04:26:59 AM
The early days, when every Pony who came out had a pet & either a carrier or another accessory, was my fave part of G4.

Another thing I loved about the early days was we actually had variety in Pony releases. I've yet to see somebody who isn't bored with M6 variants ad nauseum...

The G4 books, especially the G M Berrow books, were awesome!!! Oh if only they'd released more of the Daring Do books as actual books we could read...

I also like the fact a wider audience than just little girls was brought  in to the show. Yep, we all hate the bad influences of certain Bronies, but when a show appeals to a wide demographic you know it's good.

Speaking of shows, though EQG never appealed to me as toys, the DVDs all sit in my collection at home, & I've watched every single one of them.

I don't like the small size, the fact several playsets (barn & school in particular) were just as another poster said "a wall", or the heavier focus on blind bags. I do however like the Guardians of Harmony & the Fashion Style Ponies.

The other thing I don't like is how many characters were NOT made as brushables, eg most of the male characters, Sugarbelle, Amethyst Star & most of the non-Ponies (GOH could have picked up more slack than it did).
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: SpacePinto on September 06, 2020, 04:41:05 AM
Quote
Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?

Not to me. I literally wish G4 never existed.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Baby Crumpet on September 07, 2020, 07:44:28 AM
I do quite like G4 - they were what got me into collecting, and introduced me to the world of G1, so for that, I will always be thankful to it!

I also was a huge fan of the size of the ponies - though they were way smaller than the G3 ponies I grew up with, they are so easy to display and store. The accessories, back when they came with a few, were absolutely adorable and I loved them! I had a box full of them, and it made setting up scenes with my ponies way easier. My shelves looked really cool, with all these ponies on them in little dioramas!

Blindbags I also really liked - there were lots of unique character designs, and they were very fun to collect. It was blingbags that I learned to customise on! The variety in those little toys - and the early G4 line - was something I grew to love quickly.

Though, it did have its issues. Especially at the end of the line. I stopped buying G4s a few years before they became G4.5s, simply because the quality was so low I could not justify to myself spending that money!! All in all though, I do have a fondness for G4s, and do want to have a roughly complete set of them at some point.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 07, 2020, 09:12:17 AM
I like the water cuties, pearlies and merponies.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Mrs. Prospector on September 07, 2020, 09:34:31 AM
Even though I've become more of a G1 fan, there's a lot I love about G4. FIM was a sweet, funny and exciting show until about season 5 or so, then there were a lot of plot points that I thought were really dumb and unnecessary, and overall it just felt like the show overstayed its welcome. But I was a huge fan of FIM, the characters, and their world, I thought it FIM initially was very well done.
Even though I think a huge fandom that arose from the bubbling pits of That One Toxic Anonymous Imageboard was the worst thing to happen to My Little Pony, I'm glad obsessing over ponies became big, because without the G4 fandom, I probably wouldn't have thought about MLP again after the age of 7. I had friends at school in the fandom, and there were a lot of spaces on the internet I went that were more chill and fun than the overall big brony crowd. We got a lot of great art, fics, music, and animations out of it, and a lot of people in this fanbase are genuinely creative and talented people, and I think the characters and universe of FIM provided a great outlet for creativity.
The 2011-2016 toys were pretty cute, I don't really collect them though because all I can find are Mane 6, which are very uninteresting.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: SunPony on September 07, 2020, 11:14:55 AM
My perspective is based only on the toys and the like...seven or so episodes of the show that I've seen and maybe two comics (actually this applies to all of the generations, I'm way more interested in the toys than the media they came up with to sell them).  I have only the vaguest awareness of some kind of issue with some bronies.  Honestly I'm not even sure if the term applies to all adult fans or just adult male fans or just male fans over a certain age or what.

Anyway! 

I think the blind bags were a good idea because as a kid I loved having a petite pony in my pocket when a regular pony would be too big (you have to have a pony on you at all times, ya know?).  So I think giving kids that option again was a smart move.

I also think the voice acting in the show was quite good, and the show just generally had a very well put together feel.  I also got the feeling that the FiM show was marginally less cheesy (not sure that is the right word) than the earlier shows.  Hopefully this trend will continue...
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: brightberry on September 07, 2020, 11:35:45 AM
I do still like the blind bag ponies though I have more than I ever wanted.

I did like the first two seasons of the cartoon.  But once all the characters had been fleshed out, the episodes got painfully repetitive and even bizarre.  I lost interest.

I also do not agree that kids should try to be friends with people who take advantage of, verbally abuse and shame them.  How many kids are going to grow up feeling like it’s their fault an abuser hurt them?  There is a difference between reaching out to someone and taking abuse from someone toxic.  This can lead to so many mental health issues down the road.  Self care should have been a part of FIM.

However, I do love the Wedding Episode.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: otocolobus_manul on September 07, 2020, 11:41:59 AM
Almost everything. The only downside to me is that, thanks to Hasbro’s cheap business strategy, the toyline didn’t live up to how incredible the show was (but really, what could?). So many characters never made in toy form, so many cool locations that would’ve made awesome playsets ignored or not given justice, so many cool ideas that could have made better gimmicks than what we got (“sparkly spinning skirt”, really?). For being a glorified commercial made to sell toys, FiM didn’t end up having much to do with the toyline. So many missed opportunities.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Sunset on September 07, 2020, 12:02:58 PM
The Pegasus wings on the playful sized ponies are very sweet.  Just the right proportions, not too clunky and very cute.

I have very mixed feelings about the blind bags.  On the one hand, I wish that Hasbro hadn’t decided to concentrate all of the “collectibility” of the line into the blind bag sized ponies to the detriment of the brushables.  However, I loved the FIM collection.  This is mostly because of the train.  I loved the train because I have spent a lot of time assisting my parents with their massive Christmas train display.  So the combination of the train and the FIM collection allowed me to make my own 8 foot pony train display.  Though I do agree that three dimensional play sets would have been even more ideal.  I really wish they had gotten around to doing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash’s houses.  Or at least Fluttershy’s with extra animal friends.

G4 is also the only generation so far to give us a carousel for the brushables.  (G1 had one for the petites.). But really, a carousel for ponies just makes so much sense that I can’t believe it isn’t a standard play set for every generation.  I’d have preferred for the g4 set to be even bigger and more traditional carousel shaped.  (I even bought an old matchbox carousel several years ago to customize for the g4 pones but I’ve never gotten around to working on it.)

I appreciate the inclusion of the hippogriffs.  I personally would have preferred they were more on model with the ponies with their own symbols but I really appreciate that Hasbro was willing to try out some other brushable toys past the usual earth, unicorn, Pegasus, and “mermaid” pony that they have done in every generation.

In regards to the show:
When I first saw it, I really loved it.  It was clearly aimed at a slightly older audience than the g3 specials which I appreciated.  While I have watched every episode, it really did become something of a chore in the later seasons, with a few bright spots.  I have always characterized myself as more of a collector/fan of the brand rather than a fan of the show.

But things I like specifically about the show:

The songs!  There are very few of the songs that I don’t like.  The more songs the better, I always say 😆

The walking and running cycles are really nice.  I appreciate that someone actually researched how a horse walks/runs.

The Kirin.  I really wish that we had gotten some Kirin toys and I hope that they make it into G5.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: SunPony on September 07, 2020, 01:22:23 PM
The Pegasus wings on the playful sized ponies are very sweet.  Just the right proportions, not too clunky and very cute.

I just came back to comment on the same thing that I had forgotten to before!  Yes, the pegasuses...pegasi...pegusus? toys in G4 have the best wings, in size and shape, of any of the generations imho!
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 07, 2020, 02:01:22 PM
I like the wing shapes too
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Ponyfan on September 07, 2020, 02:33:54 PM
I don't like the cartoon with its endless friendship preaching; Twilight being told to put her books away and go out and make friends is a bit too painfully autobiographical for me,
I can relate to this too.

Every kid develops at their own speed and in their own way, but the last thing that any child needs is to be told by a tv show they're watching that they're not behaving 'normally' because they don't want to go out and have parties. More bothersome to me is the idea of "if you're nice to bad people they will become your friend" and "you can make friends with anyone if you try hard enough." One is dangerous, two is just not true. But not liking someone is not the same as not respecting someone, and having different perspectives is not a bad thing. Will never forget that horrible episode where Pinkie and Dash destroy an important cultural artefact in the Gryffin's territory and then say it doesn't matter because now they have the more precious notion of friendship instead.

...So many issues.



I wish FIM would have left Diamond Tiara as a bully.  It was realistic that there was a pony that just didn’t like Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom and was mean to them. Instead Diamond Tiara was reformed by the 3 ponies continuing to be nice to her.

Ponyfan
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 07, 2020, 02:52:21 PM
As much as we complain about FiM shoving Friendship down people's throats, I suddenly realise that its kind of unfair and hypocritical when many of us grew up in the peak era for cartoons that shoved morals, pet care, safety messages, and PSAs in little kid's faces.

I don't claim to know what other countries were doing with their programs, so maybe you guys had less preachy toons.

But here in the US we grew up with cartoons telling us lot of stuff like don't do drugs, don't run away from home, always wear a life jacket, don't steal cars, clean up litter, always tell a trusted adult if you're being abused, guns arent toys.

And Hasbro has at least 5 shows that did this in some way or another.

GI Joe
Transformers
Jem and the Holograms
C.O.P.S
My Little Pony Tales


I guess they're just continuing that grand holdover tradition of ham-fisted moralizing.  -_-

Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: kittyhasnosoul on September 07, 2020, 03:06:06 PM
(I am biased, because I love g4 so much.)

I liked the show the best! I love getting to know the characters in depth. Something that's lacking for me with the other generations is lack of movies, shows, etc for me to watch. I love watching pony movies, and just relaxing while seeing some colorful horses do wholesome things. What I didn't like was the fandom :( When I was into FiM as a young child, I got into the brony fandom as a result, and it messed me up, I was isolated and only talked to older adults. I think the brony fanbase was a dangerous part of FiM and I wish it hadn't came with the awesome show.

As far as the toys, I prefer other generations. The toys are too small for me in g4.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 07, 2020, 04:40:36 PM
As much as we complain about FiM shoving Friendship down people's throats, I suddenly realise that its kind of unfair and hypocritical when many of us grew up in the peak era for cartoons that shoved morals, pet care, safety messages, and PSAs in little kid's faces.

I think you forgot Captain Planet. xD.

Thundercats, watching that again as an adult, also seemed a lot more preachy than I remember from when I was a kid...

Jem. I'm gonna put my comments on this in spoilers because it may ramble and it's a bit OT..

Spoiler
I discovered at a later point that in the US Jem aired with these "do the right thing" clips at the end of episodes. And they sometimes ended here. And one of them I am sure is road safety and basically told kids in the Uk to go walk in front of traffic...>.> But hey, FIM tells kids to go drink alcohol, since cider here is generally alcoholic. SO! Yay for that.

But on the subject of Jem, I HATE the attitude towards illiteracy in Roxy Rumbles. I grew up with a friend who had serious dyslexia and struggled so hard with reading. He was super smart and I think he now works in computer programming. But still. Here's this patronising episode where JATH butt their middle class noses into a community, patronise them by insulting their abilities and then basically don't do anything to help, but do mess up Roxy's already messed up situation a bunch more with their interference. I think it says everything that it's ten year old BaNee who is the only one adult and mature enough to reach out to Roxy to help her. Seriously.

There's also serious political irony in the Presidential Dilemma, which is an episode about the FBI trying to shut down and confiscate Synergy as a security risk and basically getting in JATH's way on a grand scale. And then the ep ends with a song called "Freedom". Which seems like it should be tongue in cheek, but I don't think it was meant to be...

All that stuff aside - and the random gratuitous violence, awkward representations of other cultures and occasional hero complex males needing to save the girls from themselves, though, I have more of a problem with FIM because of its emphasis on friendship in particular.

Growing up as an undiagnosed autistic kid in the eighties and nineties had a lot of challenges, the biggest of which were bullies. And people I tried to be nice to to get them to leave me alone, and you know what happens? You get more bullied. And having been through the experience of learning that you can't make friends with everyone the hard way...and having had to learn manually from scratch to "conform and fit in" because society really can't be bothered with adapting to difference...FIM just bothers me. It feeds the wrong ideas about friendship. Whereas on the other hand you have Monster High which was continuously pushing the idea, it doesn't matter if you're different, we're all different, share your differences and be quirky and weird. (Just random small details like the fact Rochelle can't swim because she's a gargoyle and so made of stone...)

Well, I was (and probably still am) quirky and weird. But I was basically made to feel ashamed of that my whole childhood by the kind of mindset that FIM also puts out. And based on the fact that some (not all) of the brony community in those early days interpreted everything FIM said as gospel...you had incidents of brony on brony crime against people who expressed a different opinion on something in the show that "went against the values of friendship". So whatever it was preaching was missing the point in that community as well.

I don't think it meant to be problematic, I just don't think they thought in depth about the real implications of some of the messages. And I'd actually rather deal with Jem's infomercial about how to get splatted. >.>

That said, I worked with a lot of autistic kids who adored FIM. And in a sense that also worried me, because of the idealised image of friendship it provided was not the reality they experienced outside of the show :/ .

Going back on topic, I also really like the merbabies, they're adorable and one of the nicest nonbrushable parts of the line. The FIM ponies are generally really cute. I just wish they happened without the show.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 07, 2020, 05:10:24 PM
I was gonna mention Captain Planet, but that's in a league  all on its own. XD

And yeah I agree with you, their idea of friendship is toxic and unrealistic. I agree with you about being nice to bullies. It never ever works. That's not to say that they can't mature and grow as people and realize they were being little...you-know-whats later, but that doesn't help the people they harmed.

Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: SpacePinto on September 07, 2020, 06:32:47 PM
But here in the US we grew up with cartoons telling us lot of stuff like don't do drugs, don't run away from home, always wear a life jacket, don't steal cars, clean up litter, always tell a trusted adult if you're being abused, guns arent toys.

Yeah, but at least these are all lessons that are actually very useful to children in real life, instead of just preaching again and again about being nice to your friends.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: ChocolateStarfire on September 07, 2020, 07:22:19 PM

Speaking here as a non-Brony but someone who enjoys G4...

I feel like the G4 toys were...meh, if I am going to be brutally honest. The original brushables were the best, and the Build-a-Bears and blind bags were cute, but the rest...the continuous re-releases of the Mane 6, the over the top gimmicks, were not my cup of tea as a collector.

The show MLP:FiM was touching--I could relate to the characters in the first and second seasons, and again in the end of the show altogether. I feel that the series was dragged out and some characters, like Daring Do, were a phone in, rather than a true addition to the storyline. The music was beautiful, if anything the songs were what kept the story decent in many episodes over the years. Some of the messages of the show are problematic--making friends is not easy for some people, and being bullied is a part of life, and yeah life is hard sometimes given grief, separation and death. Some of these concepts were not addressed, but that is on the team that put the story together, not on fans of the show swaying it one way or another.

I do feel that the character development was far stronger with G4 than with previous gens. I think that attachment to the characters is what helped the show and ponies stay around for so long.

I think making toys and cartoons for said toys is hard. It's hard to have the team fall into place the way things did in the 90s with TMNT and Ghostbusters and Transformers and Power Rangers. It's hard to get people interested in the toys and the story. I think G4 did a pretty good job considering it lasted for nearly a decade before being phased out, and that is something nobody can deny.

I just hope future shows and toys for kids are as insightful and cool, if not better, than G4 (and G1!) was for many.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 07, 2020, 08:21:44 PM
But here in the US we grew up with cartoons telling us lot of stuff like don't do drugs, don't run away from home, always wear a life jacket, don't steal cars, clean up litter, always tell a trusted adult if you're being abused, guns arent toys.

Yeah, but at least these are all lessons that are actually very useful to children in real life, instead of just preaching again and again about being nice to your friends.

Well that is a good lesson. If you treat the people who care about you like crap, you'll end up with no one, or they'll tell you where you can shove it and to change your attitude before it gets to that point.

Its being nice to your enemies or trying to force everyone to be like you without bothering to understand them, that's the issue. But even the first two cartoons had ponies forgiving a good chunk of their enemies.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: ChocolateStarfire on September 07, 2020, 09:41:45 PM
But here in the US we grew up with cartoons telling us lot of stuff like don't do drugs, don't run away from home, always wear a life jacket, don't steal cars, clean up litter, always tell a trusted adult if you're being abused, guns arent toys.

Yeah, but at least these are all lessons that are actually very useful to children in real life, instead of just preaching again and again about being nice to your friends.

Well that is a good lesson. If you treat the people who care about you like crap, you'll end up with no one, or they'll tell you where you can shove it and to change your attitude before it gets to that point.

Its being nice to your enemies or trying to force everyone to be like you without bothering to understand them, that's the issue. But even the first two cartoons had ponies forgiving a good chunk of their enemies.

And from a healing perspective, you don't have to forgive everyone that has hurt you, but forgiving yourself for being hurt or upset...the show could have built on this concept.

And yeah, treating people like crap WILL leave you friendless, which was a major theme of many villains in the show. Some were reformed, but most stayed evil throughout the series. Not all villains were reformed, and doing so was kind of a cop-out, but keep in mind this is a kids' show. It's not meant for adults at all.

There were a few recent episodes in season 8 which had misunderstandings between friends, and I wish other episodes were like this, confronting real conflicts and how to resolve them. I also liked the letter writing at the end of the first season and I wish that was continued throughout the series.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Shaz on September 08, 2020, 01:26:10 AM
Growing up as an undiagnosed autistic kid in the eighties and nineties had a lot of challenges, the biggest of which were bullies. And people I tried to be nice to to get them to leave me alone, and you know what happens? You get more bullied. And having been through the experience of learning that you can't make friends with everyone the hard way...and having had to learn manually from scratch to "conform and fit in" because society really can't be bothered with adapting to difference...FIM just bothers me. It feeds the wrong ideas about friendship. Whereas on the other hand you have Monster High which was continuously pushing the idea, it doesn't matter if you're different, we're all different, share your differences and be quirky and weird. (Just random small details like the fact Rochelle can't swim because she's a gargoyle and so made of stone...)

Oh, how I identify. I think where many people just think 'hmm, cute cartoon about friendship', I'm there totally overreacting and going 'noooo, go away, enforced socialising!'. It's probably oversensitive of me but I didn't like how Twilight's academic leanings were often played for laughs. E.g., it's okay for Rainbow Dash to continually call Twilight an egghead just because their interests and ways of learning are different, because social skills are more important than brains anyway. I think Monster High did it better with Ghoulia. She was so brainy the other ghouls didn't always know what to make of her, but she was able to use her unique skills to help them out and I think they appreciated her for it (a rose-tinted glimpse of Monster High; I know it had its questionable moments as well). But I realise not everyone is going to see it that way. I'd rather be told not to play with guns and similar useful messages than be told 'FRIENDSHIP IS ALL. BOW BEFORE FRIENDSHIP!'.

Back on topic of things I like about G4, I agree with the people who like the wings! G1 wings are cute, but they're so tiny, however do they fly with them? G4 wings look like they might actually get a pony off the ground!
I also like how much pony-related merch there is around. Other generations had that too, but this is the only one since I became a collector. It's exciting to me to be able to just go to a shop and buy an MLP sticker book or pencil case. At one time it was ponies everywhere! And that's got to be good.
I liked a lot of the pony's designs too. I know we all moan about the Mane 6, but they are cute (until oversaturation sets in). I liked Rainbow Dash from the start (rainbow hair!!), which is a shame because she's not that nice in the cartoon. Luckily I can give my toys their own personalities :)
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: SpacePinto on September 08, 2020, 04:08:02 AM
Well that is a good lesson.

Maybe for a few episodes max, but not to base an entire nearly decade-long series around it ;)
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 08, 2020, 05:08:37 AM
@Shaz - this is why the Crunch the Rock Dog episode and its lessons are so important compared to the G4 stuff. They're horrible to Wind Whistler, but they ultimately come to understand her. She doesn't change who she is, and they dno't change who they are, but they just understand her better. And that's between ponies, which is in a sense more natural if you want a message on friendship and difference. Because in FIM it unfortunately looks like the imposition of one culture on the other (referencing again the one with the Griffons and their statue).

On the subject of Twilight being smart - yes, yes and yes again. I LIVED THAT EXACT thing. There were the kids who thought they could copy my work (hah, nope). The kids who would always want to know what my grade was for whatever reason. But more creepily, my mother used to get asked at the school gate what reading book I was on and there were parents convinced that I was also home taught to get me ahead at school because my parents were teachers (I wasn't. Hah fat chance getting me to sit down to study at home!).

So I was about 15 maths books ahead of my peers. I read at 2, learned to write at 3, could add up road signs by the age of four. At the same time I couldn't find my way from my desk to the register tray and I didn't know how to line up boy girl boy girl because I didn't understand lining up. I was absolutely both the smart kid and the weird kid and in my case the bullying was also FROM TEACHERS.

But I remember being called brainy, and brainbox, and all that stuff which I hated. I remember once in secondary school - and I was fairly quiet at school as a rule - but one of my friends got on my case about it because of a maths test we'd done and I'd got a good mark. She was like, you're the brainbox and I bet you worked on it so hard at home and revised. And I just took her apart, I'd had enough.

So yeah, poor Twilight. It may be part of the reason I hate Rainbow Dash in G4, but it's not the only reason. My experience was that sporty kids picked on brainy kids, but tv shows endorsed sporty kids and normalised bullying of brainy kids. FIM does nothing different.

...Although honestly, I don't think FIM as a series has much actual character development. It has character creation and those characters are expanded upon, but it's not the same as character growth. I admit I didn't see the whole range of episodes, but I got absolutely no growth from any of these characters.

...And there's a moment in the movie where frankly, the way the M6 behave (pirate ship) is fundamentally disgusting. It reminds me of some of Jem's moments of insensitive self-advantage, and it doesn't sit well with me at all. (In the MLP Movie, they basically get the ship in trouble then clear out and leave the pirates to face the consequences, but it's fine because you know, friendship and all means running off and leaving people behind when you have what you want. In Jem,  it's the expectation of a free gondola ride and then when the guy - who is probably supporting a family - doesn't want to give them a free ride, they're all snarky about it.)

...So yes. I have some issues with FIM.

And FIM DID create the brony problem. Without FIM, there are no bronies. It also created the fixation on the M6. So I would have liked G4 much more without FIM.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: NanoRuby on September 08, 2020, 07:09:04 AM
And FIM DID create the brony problem. Without FIM, there are no bronies.

Something people seem to forget is that the brony thing started of ironically. People started watching it because it was the kind of thing that wouldn't normally attract an older male audience. And it was these ironic bronies that brought in the genuine bronies, both good and bad. If the dudebros on the internet hadn't started watching the show as a joke and posting about it online, I can almost guarantee that the show would not be nearly as big as it is was.

Either way, I'm sorry you were treated like that in school, and I can understand why a lot of the messages in FiM would make you and others uncomfortable.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 08, 2020, 09:41:27 AM
And FIM DID create the brony problem. Without FIM, there are no bronies.

Something people seem to forget is that the brony thing started of ironically. People started watching it because it was the kind of thing that wouldn't normally attract an older male audience. And it was these ironic bronies that brought in the genuine bronies, both good and bad. If the dudebros on the internet hadn't started watching the show as a joke and posting about it online, I can almost guarantee that the show would not be nearly as big as it is was.

Either way, I'm sorry you were treated like that in school, and I can understand why a lot of the messages in FiM would make you and others uncomfortable.

How do you figure that when MLP gets along quite well without a toxic internet fanbase who thinks they're the only ones who are more important then everyone else Including the Target Audience? In the states, Hasbro was rolling in dough during the G1 and G3 eras.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: NanoRuby on September 08, 2020, 09:54:43 AM
Sorry, I should have been clearer with my wording. I can almost guarentee that the toxic brony fandom would not be nearly as big as it was without the dudebros on the internet who started watching it as a joke. I didn't mean to imply that G4 wouldn't have been successful.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 08, 2020, 09:58:07 AM
And FIM DID create the brony problem. Without FIM, there are no bronies.

Something people seem to forget is that the brony thing started of ironically. People started watching it because it was the kind of thing that wouldn't normally attract an older male audience. And it was these ironic bronies that brought in the genuine bronies, both good and bad. If the dudebros on the internet hadn't started watching the show as a joke and posting about it online, I can almost guarantee that the show would not be nearly as big as it is was.

Either way, I'm sorry you were treated like that in school, and I can understand why a lot of the messages in FiM would make you and others uncomfortable.

How do you figure that when MLP gets along quite well without a toxic internet fanbase who thinks they're the only ones who are more important then everyone else Including the Target Audience? In the states, Hasbro was rolling in dough during the G1 and G3 eras.

I think this is a difference in perception. Those of us who come to MLP prior to G4 don't necessarily see the publicity FIM got as a positive thing, since we didn't need it to make pony popular, we had a good, thriving and busy community before FIM happened, and in many ways, the whole ambience of pony was kind of messed up because of the sudden surge of interest online.

Not talking specifically about the bronies now, but all the media, the articles about FIM, the articles about 'rare and expensive' ponies in your attic which only happened because suddenly MLP was in vogue again and getting social media attention. There was this sense that MLP "began" with FIM as a fan entity, which not only denied that we all existed quite peacefully for years before FIM happened, but that we were all somehow connected to FIM in some way - which not every pony fan is or wants to be.

I've heard it said before many times by people from the pre-G4 era that we didn't want the publicity, we didn't need the attention, and we'd happily go back to it being a world in which ponypeople just connected to ponypeople while the rest of the world got along on its own.

I don't know that people who were brought in from that media blitz see it the same way most of us do - but I was certainly happier being a pony collector before all the hype kicked off. Now I have to qualify that I'm a ponyperson, not a brony or a pegasister, that my ponies don't have cutie marks, I don't say everypony and I'm not going to pay £25 for a bait peachy because "people are into them now."

I genuinely got told by someone doing PR for some pony line that all pony fans were bronies and I didn't really know much about MLP if I didn't know that.

...Anyone who calls me a brony gets a digital black eye >.>


The thing is that MLP didn't need a show to be successful, as G1 and G3 proved. The idea of a show being important to a pony line is a new thing post 2011, and a lot of us pre-FIM really don't care if FIM was successful or not. We care about how we get treated because of FIM, both by FIM fans and the wider public :/ And all the hype for FIM brought a lot of bad stuff to us, even when it was connecting together creative and enthusiastic fans of G4 in among the toxic ones. I know really well that not all FIM/G4 fans are toxic twisted bronies. But we took a big hit from the popularity of FIM spilling out as it did. And a lot of us would've been fine if it never happened.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 08, 2020, 10:10:29 AM
One and/or the other would have been successful. Why?

1)Because it has little kids who love it first and foremost.

2) Its been one of Hasbro's big moneymakers for years.

Will it have some less profitable years? Of course. Any long-lived franchise will, due to any number of external factors.

Will it fall out of favor someday to the point where Hasbro will cut it from production because it's no longer profitable? Its a possibility. No brand, no company (except maybe the allmighty disney) is infallible.



Back OT: Anyway, I dunno if they're G4 or something else, but I like the retro/crossover lines a lot. Ahh if only space and money weren't a collector's natural enemies, I'd buy most of them.


@Taf Sounds like that person needs to get ripped a new one. Verbally and loudly and twice as rudely.  :mad:
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Ponyfan on September 08, 2020, 10:37:15 AM
I like some of the G4 songs.  Some are really catchy and Rainbow Dash’s version of Jingle Bells is hilarious.


Ponyfan
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Goanna on September 08, 2020, 08:27:07 PM
Well, yes, since G4 is what got me into MLP in the first place :)
I do love the show especially, and the characters in it.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Shaz on September 09, 2020, 02:01:32 AM
@Taffeta, this thread has turned into a therapeutic rant about our schooldays and why it made us hate friendship-preaching! I agree that Crunch the Rock Dog does a much better job of showing that it's okay to be different.
I'll put this in a spoiler because it's not on topic but it's doing me good getting it off my chest :lol:.
Spoiler
Your school experience sounds all too familiar. My girlfriend and I were both the bright but troubled kids at school, that's how we became friends (we met when we were fifteen). We always got good grades but we were bored out of our minds, stressed out by social demands, skipping school, visiting therapists etc, so no one really knew what to make of us. Intellectually we were ahead, emotionally we were pretty backward. Kitti eventually got diagnosed with autism when she was eighteen, I've never been officially diagnosed but I think it's pretty obvious that I have it too. My dad is undiagnosed dyslexic and had a tough time at school too, so we're all on the spectrum here!
Kitti has always had Mad Writing Skillz, she was writing awesome children's stories from the age of three or four (I've seen them, some have ponies in!), and one of the other parents once accused her mum of getting her to copy stories out at home :lol:. Yeah, good luck getting 4-year-old Kitti to do anything she doesn't want to do. There was also the ongoing saga of the English teacher who thought she was plagiarising poetry from an unknown source. In retrospect, you have to laugh.
So I do get pretty impatient with things like FiM. It's interesting that a lot of your autistic students liked it. I have seen it hailed as a guide to friendship, but I'm not sure it's one I'd want to follow....

Oh, another thing I like about G4, though: the Equestria Girls designs and outfits (especially in Rainbow Rocks), the cute if sometimes goofy-looking Equestria Girls dolls (one of my first doll purchases as an adult was Rainbow Rocks Rainbow Dash with the amazing mohican hairstyle!), and some of the songs (especially the ones in Rainbow Rocks). You'll notice a Rainbow Rocks theme here :lol:. It's pretty much the only G4 media I could imagine rewatching. I'm a sucker for storylines about bands (I really need to watch Jem!).
There's a lot of good toys in G4, really, but I think I'd like the whole generation more without the cartoon.
Saying that, there's a fandom thing I really like from G4: Round Trip's stick pony videos! I watched his summaries of the last season rather than the actual cartoon, they always got a giggle from me. Twinkle Sprinkle!
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 09, 2020, 06:05:15 AM
You should watch Jem. I am interested given that we've got so much past experience in common to see whether you end up being a Hologram or a Misfit ;)

But for comparison with Rainbow Rocks, you only need maybe the first episode...? Or the Truly Outrageous special (it was on Netflix but I can't remember if it still is or how it's divided. What happened was that they released a feature length pilot, which is known as Truly Outrageous, then when it became a series they took that pilot, divided it into five episodes and added scenes to make the first five episodes of Jem.) But if it's episodes, it should be the first one given that the scene in question is when Jem and co perform Only the Beginning for the first time. And that's their first song, pretty sure...

Edit: Or you can just watch this, I guess xD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6NBQeGQWXk

The end of RR seems to mirror this quite well.

On topic, I agree about EqG and it was Rainbow Rocks that suckered me in. Aside my slightly unhealthy Sunset Shimmer fixation (Sunset Shimmer is the reason I watched all the specials, because I love how she goes from the bad guy to the reformed villain to the one helping out another troubled soul), I really love Adagio and the doll is so pretty. But I was sad they never made a brushable of her. I would have bought her and her two dazzling sidekicks as ponies. Missed opportunity.

I will say for FIM that the first eps with Starlight Glimmer are quite interesting, Starlight Glimmer is a way more interesting character than all of the M6 in my view. Plus she makes for a pretty brushable.

At the start of lockdown I won a lot on ebay for about £6 which had the fashion style muffin pony in from whichever set it is with Soarin and Spitfire. It also had a really pretty FS Starlight Glimmer in it, and so I am going to keep her as well. Unfortunately lockdown means that the other four in the lot are lingering around waiting for me to find something to do with them. Spitfire I already have so will probably part with, but I'm not sure on the M6 ones (Soarin was not in the lot, I'd have kept him).

This is also on topic because when the hair quality is nice, the FS ponies are lovely. And I really like Spitfire. She is one of the only reboot mould regular brushables I like, and I got the FS one from Ponycon a few years back.

Plus, even though it's in the reboot style, the dark blue glittery Luna FS pony is...really lovely.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Shaz on September 09, 2020, 11:01:02 AM
Well, I haven't seen the Jem cartoon but I have seen the dolls, and I admit I usually like the Misfits better in doll form! I decided a while ago that I wanted to own a Jem doll and ended up choosing Clash (purple hair!). I don't think she's in the cartoon much but she's an awesome doll.

The nice quality G4 toys are lovely. Sadly the line seems to have gone steadily downhill over the years. I found Dewdrop Dazzle at a car-boot sale a few years ago and she's lovely, with nice hair and plenty of it! But the last ponies I bought new (around 2017) had hair like fakies. Someone on here said the other day that later G4s seem to have receding hairlines and it's true. Old man ponies :lol:. So the things I like about G4 always seem to be combined with things I don't like. I like the toys but not the cartoon. I liked the blind bags but lost interest when they started doing the ponies all one colour and transparent. I like the brushables but only when they're decent quality. Oh well, it still makes me happy to see ponies in the shops, and in charity shops too.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: brightberry on September 09, 2020, 11:02:26 AM
I have to agree that the songs are fun.  I also like the songs from G1 cartoons which was probably the only reason I watched when I was a kid.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Pokeyonekenobie on September 09, 2020, 12:44:59 PM
I'm going to throw it out there that all the M6 releases makes for a lot of ponies I don't feel bad about customizing.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Taffeta on September 09, 2020, 01:09:04 PM
Well, I haven't seen the Jem cartoon but I have seen the dolls, and I admit I usually like the Misfits better in doll form! I decided a while ago that I wanted to own a Jem doll and ended up choosing Clash (purple hair!). I don't think she's in the cartoon much but she's an awesome doll.


Clash is only a Misfit in her own dreams >.>


It's ironic because I'm a Misfit person through and through but the prettiest doll to me is 2nd edition Shana. She is everything I wanted in a fashion doll as a kid, but never had the opportunity to get till I was a fresher at university ;)

I agree on the QC thing. There are two brushable collections for G4 that I really like, and I get the members of each mixed up, but one is the one with Dewdrop Dazzle in.

Also!

This is a sort of personal thing for me with G4, but they also associate to me with travel. My first several G4 ponies came from places I visited.

So my first three came from Porvoo, Finland (Applejack, Rarity, Lily Blossom).
I picked up some in Lille (Starswirl, Rarity and the Carriage, Dewdrop Dazzle & Pinkie Pie. Those came as combined sets otherwise I wouldn't have got Pinkie xD)
Cadance with the fancy wings I bought from the main station in Prague.
Starlight Glimmer with the bow headband came back with me from Vienna.
And Water Cutie Blossomforth came back with me from Portugal...she was was the only G4 pony in the entire hypermarket in Lisbon.

Some of these I also have photos of in their respective locations.
Spoiler
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Applejack and her reindeer buddy Töölö - who she still hangs out with on the shelf - in the hotel in Helsinki
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Starlight Glimmer and Tropi Breeze on location in my hotel in Vienna
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Fluttsi and Blossomforth sharing a moment in my hotel in Lisbon ;)
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Cadence in the hotel in Prague, being my passport monitor ;)

Oh yes, and a couple of more recent ones came back from Tel Aviv airport...I had a conference in Jerusalem where I was presenting to help a friend out, and on the way back I found some of the ones I hadn't found in the UK. One is one of the water cuties with wings. Lily Blossom I think. Also I think Tempest Shadow? I forget now.


Closer to home, Feather May and Honeybuzz came from Harrods as a moving in present to myself when I started my MA in London in 2011.  I never saw that set in stores again. If I'd known I'd never see them again, I'd have bought more of the set - I am still missing a couple ><. That's the other favourite brushable set of mine ;)

And of course there's Fluttsi, who my sister bought for me here but who travelled all over Japan with me during my fieldwork. I even have a photo of her looking out at the ice across the north of Russia on the plane home! She also came with me to the course/conference in Lisbon and to my first ever conference in York.
FLuttsi on location...
Spoiler
in Japan: (full thread link underneath)
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http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,385952.msg1637467.html#msg1637467
In Portugal, playing in the sands at Belem:
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And in York ;)
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So, while FIM and the brony toxic drove me away from G4 and away from the overall pony fandom for a spell, they also kind of represent travelling and adventure to me.

I have some that came to live with me from other places as well. My Cupcake came from Scandinavia, I think Sweden, and I have a feeling one of the others did too. I know Ploomette and a couple of others came from France and Snowcatcher and Diamond Rose came from the US.

And there are some that I picked up in the charity shops and car boot sale where I lived the last year in London and where I miss living SO MUCH at the moment, that it's nice to have a little piece of that place here with me now too. I also have one which I bought at the big TRU in Brent Cross before it shut down, as a "farewell TRU" pony.

So overall, and especially at this time when travel is not possible, it's nice to see my G4 ponies and remember all the places they came from or went to or both :)

That's maybe not what the OP was looking for when asking the question, but it's the reason I have affection for G4 ponies even when I hate the brony culture and am not big on FIM, friendship-brainwashing and the mane 6 xD.
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Aflame on September 09, 2020, 01:45:17 PM
production values on the cartoon
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: gabumon on September 09, 2020, 08:36:50 PM
I'm going to throw it out there that all the M6 releases makes for a lot of ponies I don't feel bad about customizing.
:happy:
Title: Re: Are there any positive aspects to appreciate from g4?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on September 10, 2020, 07:35:59 AM
I'm going to throw it out there that all the M6 releases makes for a lot of ponies I don't feel bad about customizing.

True
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