SDCC 2019 Exclusive revealed

[Nemesis]

Taffeta: Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Like I said, Faust’s interpretations of these characters are indeed a big part of the mane six (the biggest part, really). Firefly and RD are very different ponies, although they share a degree of stubbornness, being headstrong/impulsive, and the obvious “stunt-flying” passion. Posey and Surprise (and I think Sparkler, but I’m not sure) are all featured throughout MLP & Friends as well, and so are popular/well-remembered. But when Hasbro wants to really say “Wow! Look how much MLP has changed!”, they like to turn to either the CP ponies or RaMC. I can hardly think of any post-G1 Sundance merch (despite her place as “Megan’s special pony”, and being the main character in Catrina), but Firefly on the other hand...

My real point though is that the original seed of inspiration for Twilight Sparkle comes from G1 Twilight, which is a huge link between them IMO.

I am curious... When did Faust say that she recalled G1 being full of parties and such? Granted, some episodes are, but no more than G4. I faintly recall her saying that about G3/.5, but maybe my memory is fuzzy...

[Taffeta]

I'm not expert enough on G4 to be able to cite where it's from. It may be a false report, but I've seen it cited a few times around. It's not that important anyway to this discussion.

There was a sundance bobblehead and I have a tshirt from 2003 with Sundance on it. But I also have a notepad with birthflower Rose on it and a Tshirt with Princess Amethyst on it...as well as a ton of rainbow pony stuff (and they were never in the animation), so I guess it's not really tied up with that at all.

I think we can tie it just to Faust honestly, and how she saw the ponies.

Firefly is much more annoying in the comics IMO than in RaMC. But Dash is more annoying than that. It's how the daredevil is presented, I think...Dash is a lot more arrogant. Comic Firefly was a lot more foolhardy and silly about danger, and RaMC seems a bit more brave and actually bothered about the fate of the world in general...

So it's not hard to imagine many individual interpretations of any of these ponies.

But yeah, I dunno. Whatever the reason, the SDCC one is still way more G3 influenced than G1 animation, so I don't think it's RaMC so much as the name/Faust's original concept. Since I believe Hasbro pressed to include Dash and Pinkie Pie and names that they already had in copyright...that makes a lot more sense to me.

[Ponyfan]

G1 Twilight the unicorn is one of my favorite ponies. I really like this set because it features a G1 inspired Twilight along with the modern Twilight Sparkle but I also agree with Taffeta that I think it's more of the "these ponies share the same name" than Twilight Sparkle being inspired by G1 Twilight.

I've seen some Hasbro art with Twilight shown with stars that were more redish pink than purple so that might be what Hasbro is basing the stars on. I just looked at my G1 Twilight charms and they have redish pink stars instead of purple also.


Ponyfan

Twilight Charms?

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Ponyfan

[Nemesis]

Taffeta: Yeah, the reasoning behind the SDCC pony could well be because of the concept art/Faust, and thus recognizability amongst G4 fans. I mentioned RaMC mostly because (in the U.S.) that’s Twilight’s biggest moment in the spotlight, and thus why she may have stood out in Faust’s memory (and then been carried over into her G4 concept work). In any case, the only point I was originally trying to make is that she and Twilight Sparkle have a special link.

I would love to read the UK G1 comics... It’s a shame they’ve never been collected/re-issued (to my knowledge). In the U.S. at least, Firefly seems to get the most general “nostalgia merch”. Tees, knick-knacks, art, etc.... I can imagine it’s different in other parts of the world, given the massive differences in releases and marketing back in the day. Maybe Firefly’s popularity is because of RaMC, or maybe it’s just because... she’s a pink, 80s-tastic pony. Hard to say for sure.

[LadyMoondancer]

Re: the American experience

What was most important in the US was the toys themselves, there isn't any canon that every American kid would know.  Sure, the specials and the 80s cartoon exist but I never saw the specials as a kid and remembered, like, ten minutes of the syndicated cartoon.  I think my experience was pretty typical of a little girl in the 80s.  You made up your own pony personalities, talents, and relationships.

A similar franchise would be Popples (although it was never nearly as popular).  Everyone think about what you know about Popples canon.  Can you name the personality traits of every original Popple?  What were the names of the two kids they hung out with?  That info technically exists because they had a special and a syndicated cartoon.  But most people don't know it, they only know "Popples, those cuddly toys that rolled into fuzzy balls that you threw at your siblings."   

Likewise with My Little Pony in the US.  My guess is if you time traveled back to 1986 and asked little girls "What is Wind Whistler's personality?", over half of them would be unaware of canon and would improvise. "She likes whistles!"

[Carrehz]

Twilight's stars are pink in RaMC, but they're not THAT light...

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And yeah, I don't see the retro art and think "that looks like G3!" - it just looks like an "updated" G1 style. I mean, they're not using the watercolours, etc that G1 art used so of course they'll look a bit different, y'know? But somehow when that art style gets translated into a physical toy, it looks more like a blend of G1 and G3. Weird.

re: Twilight and winking in/out - I get the feeling that was meant to be her "thing" when RaMC was released. The way it's presented there makes it feel like it's something particular to her, rather than something any unicorn can do. Obviously that didn't stick, but hey.

[LadyMoondancer]

re: Twilight and winking in/out - I get the feeling that was meant to be her "thing" when RaMC was released. The way it's presented there makes it feel like it's something particular to her, rather than something any unicorn can do. Obviously that didn't stick, but hey.

That was the impression I got too.  Then they just expanded it to "every unicorn can do that!" when they made the syndicated cartoon.

[Nemesis]

But most people don't know it, they only know "Popples, those cuddly toys that rolled into fuzzy balls that you threw at your siblings."

re: Twilight and winking in/out - I get the feeling that was meant to be her "thing" when RaMC was released. The way it's presented there makes it feel like it's something particular to her, rather than something any unicorn can do. Obviously that didn't stick, but hey.

That was the impression I got too.  Then they just expanded it to "every unicorn can do that!" when they made the syndicated cartoon.

Same. It felt like they were trying to make Twilight “special” or unique in RaMC... Then when new unicorns were released, they just decided that gimmick was too good to drop. X3

[Ponyfan]

I agree with everyone else that Twilight was originally going to be the only pony that could wink in and out. RAMC indicates that each pony has something unique that only they can do. It's mentioned that Bowtie can jump further than any other pony but later Hasbro decided that all unicorns could wink in and out.


Ponyfan

[Leave a Whisper]

In my personal experience, it was toys and toon.

Post Merge: June 21, 2019, 02:10:18 PM

G1 Twilight the unicorn is one of my favorite ponies. I really like this set because it features a G1 inspired Twilight along with the modern Twilight Sparkle but I also agree with Taffeta that I think it's more of the "these ponies share the same name" than Twilight Sparkle being inspired by G1 Twilight.

I've seen some Hasbro art with Twilight shown with stars that were more redish pink than purple so that might be what Hasbro is basing the stars on. I just looked at my G1 Twilight charms and they have redish pink stars instead of purple also.


Ponyfan

Twilight Charms?

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Ponyfan

Cute!

[Taffeta]

They should so have made that the selling pitch of the popples ;D

And it was pretty much like that here too. It just feels like there's more of a strong feeling from the US part of the community over the TV shows so I wanted to be sure I wasn't just assuming based on the UK experience.

I think there's such a wide range of material that comprises "G1 artwork" that it's hard to just pigeonhole one style and say the new stuff is totally different.

@Nemesis, LM has a bunch of comic stories already scanned on her tumblr, and I think some books may be on the Wiki? I associate Twilight most with a book, not a comic I think...where her advice is sought on something. It might be the stolen shadow but I can't remember off hand now which one it was.

@LM - I know you probably know this, but that was pretty much Wind Whistler's UK character She's the only one who for me has a better personality in the US animation.

I can remember a lot of the odd things about G1 ponies but all of them are from the comic really. I think that the TV show was very generic with "unicorns can do magic" "unicorns can teleport" and then for the favourites, "here's a random gimmick" like bubble blowing, wind blowing, mind reading, etc. Probably it was inspired by Twilight but realistically Twilight's appearance in RAMC is quite...cameo overall, so it's hard to know what they intended for her :/

We have firefly on merch here too even though she was never sold here. Glory also. We did in the eighties as well. Irony doesn't age.

[gemini_pony]

I actually don't have a figure of Twilight Sparkle as an alicorn. I haven't bought a pony toy since before the movie. So this works.  Also what is Hasbro pulse?

[Galactica]

I love this.  No way for me to get one though.  I hate conventioron exclusive stuff cause I can't ever get them. My cousin goes. Every year but she has set stuff she waits in line for.

The Hasbrotoyshop (now called Hasbro Pulse) usually has a ton of extras a couple of weeks after the event-  I wouldn't be too worried.

[Nemesis]

Also what is Hasbro pulse?

The sort-of replacement for the now defunct Hasbro Toy Shop. Although HTS still exists as an Ebay store.

[achab1984]

I think this is a cute set, but I just don't feel this is a 100% need!