DHX hit with major data breach (beware of spoilers)

[StarDapple]

I am really liking the more traditional look some of the unicorn concepts have. As for translating the tail into toys, I would think the hairless part of the tail would be short with a flowing tail coming out of it.
I also would like to see the more equine qualities put into the line. It is called My Little PONY after all.

[Al-1701]

I still don't like the idea of using the more "traditional" unicorn design.  If you were making toys of something exclusively unicorns, sure, knock yourselves out.  However, when put together with earth ponies and pegasi, they look too alien in comparison.  Especially the split hooves.  It would be like having about a third of your population having six fingers and toes for no good reason but them having a different number of fingers.

[Taffeta]

I still don't like the idea of using the more "traditional" unicorn design.  If you were making toys of something exclusively unicorns, sure, knock yourselves out.  However, when put together with earth ponies and pegasi, they look too alien in comparison.  Especially the split hooves.  It would be like having about a third of your population having six fingers and toes for no good reason but them having a different number of fingers.

Agree.

I also don't want realistic horses in the sense of Dream Beauties. Nothing says Barbie Horse Ripoff than trying to be too realistic. These are My Little Ponies, they have evolved into different forms over the years. I don't really mind how equine they do or don't look so long as they appeal to kids - but while I love the Dream Beauties, they also come with restrictions. They're harder to store and more prone to breakage in legs and so on. If you think that Monster High and Mattel downgraded the quality of their dolls' articulation to appeal to younger kids who are more likely to break the delicate joints, it seems unlikely that equine style ponies are going to be high on the agenda. MLP's target age range is generally age 3 and up. It's not us.

I think there are also enough crazy people in the world who object to even the bare existence of unicorns. I can see only a step away from that to more hysteria if unicorns had traditionally split hooves. It doesn't take much for crazy people to start calling them demonic because they have 'cloven hooves' or something mad like that. On a more practical point, if Hasbro want to keep the current practice of reusing mould bodies excessively, it's an extra production expense on an otherwise earth pony body to put those features in place. I know in earlier generations unicorns did have unique poses, but we're not still in the mindset of earlier generations. They already have to make concessions for pegasus pony bodies, but in G4, earth and unicorn ponies generally use the same bodies. I can't imagine why Hasbro would want to change that.

Besides, brushable hair is one of the appeals of MLP. If you take that away from the unicorns to make them traditional, then you lose that magic.

The one thing I don't get is that if they want to reboot but change the potential species and gender of the existing mane 6, why bother using the mane 6 as their characters at all? Why not keep one or two of the mane six and then add in new characters to fill those roles? What happens when you reboot an existing character is that you risk falling flat on two sides. It's not new enough to attract new people, and it's not enough like what went before to attract the older fans. True, this is aimed at kids, but I do wonder why kids would want handmedown concepts in a toy rather than something new and designed for them uniquely.

And I find it offensive that Hasbro want to make these six characters the eternal face of MLP. If they have to have a mane 6, start from scratch and make a new mane 6 to carry the new concept.

[Al-1701]

I think it's fear and a lack of creativity or understanding of their own concept.

They look on the Transformers side and see them constantly using characters.  However, what works for Transformers doesn't necessarily work for My Little Pony.  Transformers tells essentially the same story over and over again.  Two factions of transforming robots are fighting over resources on their home world of Cybertron and exhaustion has driven their war to earth.  That means the same archetypes will always be in play, and therefore they use the same core characters.  Both sides need leaders, so Optimus Prime and Megatron are obvious staples.  Starscream is Megatron's scheming second in command always looking to usurp him which shows how untrustworthy the Decepticons are.  And those are really the only consistent characters in the Transformers.  Bumblebee is everywhere now, but he had been replaced by Hot Shot in the "Unicron Trilogy" lines and the current Bumblebee more resembles Hot Shot than his G1 version (muscle car instead of a Volkswagen Beetle).  The recent resurgence of G1 characters was because Orci, Kurtzman, and Spielberg were huge Transformers fans and wanted to use the old crew in the live action movies.

Also, the vehicles they become have evolved over time.  None of the Optimus Primes are the same because he has been various kinds of semi trucks and fire engines.  How many kinds of jets has Starscream been?  And Megatron has gone from being a gun to a tank to a Cybetronian aircraft.  When in vehicle mode, they look different which makes them appealing to collect.

My Little Pony doesn't have a set story like that, so there are no set archetypes to recycle characters in as easily.  Just look at the work being done here.  We know one character is being completely rewritten, so why not make another character.  Little kids are not going to care if it's a different pony.  If anything, it might get older kids to take more notice because they don't have that pony.

I don't think Hasbro realizes they have a brand they can be bold with.  My Little Pony is popular and known, and they can use that capital to expand the brand and invest in it like they couldn't in almost thirty years.  By making the same six character, it suggests they have no faith in the brand, just Faust's six characters.  Forget it's more than three and half decades of history and any future.  It didn't begin until 2010 with was is becoming more and more a mediocre show that happens to have a rabid fanbase.

[Taffeta]

We can probably blame that on the shortsightedness of Hasbro RI to get rid of so much information in the mid 1990s. I wrote to a lot of Hasbro departments back then because I was a geeky obsessed teenager, and I got a lot of information from Hasbro UK, but Hasbro US barely knew what MLP was any more and certainly didn't seem to have any information on their previous stuff.

True, they wouldn't have sent random production information to a strange foreign kid, so they probably did keep back some stuff. I just feel like even though that plan thing that someone posted indicated they were beginning with classic MLP and updating it to modern 'relevance'...they're not. Because if they were, they wouldn't need a mane 6, just characters and a story. And if the fanbase of MLP is constantly changing, why is it bad to have the ponies also constantly changing to reflect that fanbase. You might even keep the attention of kids for longer, by not plying them with the same stuff over and over.

If I were a kid now, I probably wouldn't be into MLP. I'd have been bored the moment third Rarity etc hit the shelves. I mean, there's a reason why 2nd Edition Cherries Jubilee is harder to find than 1st edition, and ditto Posey over here. Yeah, some kids bought those because they missed out on the original release, but I wonder how many of them actually thought, I like Cherries Jubilee a lot, so I want her twice! Some of the G4 ponies are so similar to one another that it basically is like the same thing. I am of course talking about ponies released from new in stores, not what you might find at a second hand market (at which point a kid might pick up an extra if it's cheap and pretty).

I also wonder how many kids had both baby Lickety Split in either BBE or regular form and First Tooth form depending on where they grew up. Did any kid like Baby Lickety Split thaat much that they needed two versions in their childhood collection, or did they get one or the other and then different characters to go with them?

Yeah, the world has changed, but it's changed into a world where kids want something new every ten seconds. Rereleasing the same six characters over and over in a franchise that never really needed them to seems counterproductive. I can only interpret it as cost-saving, because it means less design cost and less production cost if they are constantly churning out the same ponies from the same material, instead of diversifying.

They need to realise character driven doesn't mean the same characters in every set. I don't think there's an issue to release these central characters once a year with a new theme or idea in the show, but they don't need to be in every single set release. It's absolutely clear that kids aren't taken in by this, because look at the pearly pony sets. These have all been in the UK now - the ones left on shelves are the mane 6 ones, mostly Twilight where I am.

(I also need to add that where I am, Applejack is one of the more popular and less likely to shelf-sit. My mother actually heard a young girl explaining to her mother why none of the ponies on the shelf were any good because she wanted Applejack. I genuinely wonder whether Applejack is perceived as unpopular because Bronies don't like her G1 connection or what it is. I think she's possibly one of the more popular mane 6 ponies around here, because when she is in a set, she doesn't shelf-sit. )

[Dragonflitter]

I totally understand what you mean Zapper. It's true that we have tons of shows out there with more male characters. And one of the things I love about MLP is the variety of female characters (not female stereotypes!) And the female characters in roles for males. I guess I just can't help but wish we'd have a few more male characters and get more male toys.

In regards to MLPs shelf sitting, I think that isn't so unusual, really. In fact, I was just thinking today that Hasbro is already using the G1 method in one of their toyline: LPS. Think about it, LPS has new characters with every wave. Sometimes they appear in the cartoon, but not often. Some waves have different gimmicks like rainbow, glitter, moms and babies, etc. All of it is similar to how G1s were sold. And yet LPS sits on the shelf just as much as some MLPs do. Sometimes I go to that spot at TRU and I see LPS figures that have been there for very long time. In fact, when I go to the boy toy aisle, I see TMNT figures from season 2 sitting next to the current season. I don't think shelf sitting is that unusual.

Regardless to what we collectors want, Hasbro definitely knows how to sell toys. If the Mane Six method has kept them going for eight years and it's just slowing down now, that is a proven, very successful sale method. No wonder they want to continue it.

[Al-1701]

I remember the 7 character ponies were put in sets with other ponies that fit them.  Sweet Heart was in a set of nurses, and Melody was in a set of roller skaters.  Why didn't Hasbro adopt that model for the Mane 6.  Instead of making the Mane 6 all crystal ponies, why not make a crystal Rarity in a set of Crystal Empire citizens?  Pinkie Pie a party themed set.  Rainbow Dash leading a set of rainbow ponies.  Fluttershy in a nature set.  Are they so scared the other ponies would be ignored for the Mane 6?  You don't see that in other brands.  Kids don't just buy Optimus Prime and Megatron or even the transformers who are in the show.  They buy the others too.

As for the diversity thing, why don't we turn it on its head?  Look to cast an African American for Rarity and give Applejack a British accent (I was thinking Liverpool and giving her a personality similar to Lister from Red Dwarf).

[Rarityfan2011]

Spoiler

The art for AJ is really pretty.

Spoiler

I also love that AJ art

[Jocelyn]

I also spent a good number of hours at that other site reading the thread these leaks came out in. Regarding the whole "Rarity = British" thing, I believe that was DHX summarizing the voice for current, FIM Rarity, not the new one in this future iteration. Which, honestly, may be even worse, because it's a Transatlantic accent, not British. You'd think they would know how to describe it correctly, but I guess it just happens to be as simple as refined = British?

Also, with them casting Tiffany Haddish as AJ...Another thing I read in that other nameless site was they hope to use celebrities for the main cast in the 2020 movie that will launch the new generation. However,  the tv series won't use the same voice talent, but "sound alikes". Which sounds really...cheap, lol.

[Al-1701]

Also, with them casting Tiffany Haddish as AJ...Another thing I read in that other nameless site was they hope to use celebrities for the main cast in the 2020 movie that will launch the new generation. However,  the tv series won't use the same voice talent, but "sound alikes". Which sounds really...cheap, lol.

This is what they did with the third season of the Transformers (and to a lesser extent My Little Pony 'n Friends).  They got big name talent for the movie, and then had in house talent voice them in the series.  Galvatron was still voiced by Frank Welker in the series (only now sounding like a crazed/constantly enraged Ray Stantz from the Real Ghostbusters).

[Wardah]

I think for diversity they mean something along the lines of Steven Universe where even tho the Gems are rainbow colored humanoids they aren't shaped the same. Like Amethyst is curvy and Garner is tall and Pearl is skinny. It would be nice to have a variety of body shapes for the ponies. Like I always envisioned Pinkie to be a little chubby but she has the same body shape as everyone else.

[Taffeta]

I also spent a good number of hours at that other site reading the thread these leaks came out in. Regarding the whole "Rarity = British" thing, I believe that was DHX summarizing the voice for current, FIM Rarity, not the new one in this future iteration. Which, honestly, may be even worse, because it's a Transatlantic accent, not British. You'd think they would know how to describe it correctly, but I guess it just happens to be as simple as refined = British?

That makes it even worse. It's like even the people making the show can't tell the difference *rolls eyes*. Although there isn't such a thing as a British accent anyway. A few scouse and brummie ponies would upset the applecart a bit. Or maybe a geordie or two. That would definitely shake it up. I think Rainbow Dash would make a good geordie

Not a fan of the stereotypes of British stuff in US media. But I guess that probably goes both ways.

[Al-1701]

I've found this staff is more and more uniformed as they attempt to "push the envelope" with the artfulness of a brick through glass.  I don't know why they're putting the new generation in their hands instead of shopping around for others who might have better ideas.  Yeah, they made Friendship is Magic, but this isn't Friendship is Magic and they might not be the best choice to take you into the future.

[Miniature Sheep]

I also spent a good number of hours at that other site reading the thread these leaks came out in. Regarding the whole "Rarity = British" thing, I believe that was DHX summarizing the voice for current, FIM Rarity, not the new one in this future iteration. Which, honestly, may be even worse, because it's a Transatlantic accent, not British. You'd think they would know how to describe it correctly, but I guess it just happens to be as simple as refined = British?

That makes it even worse. It's like even the people making the show can't tell the difference *rolls eyes*. Although there isn't such a thing as a British accent anyway. A few scouse and brummie ponies would upset the applecart a bit. Or maybe a geordie or two. That would definitely shake it up. I think Rainbow Dash would make a good geordie

Not a fan of the stereotypes of British stuff in US media. But I guess that probably goes both ways.

I would definitely be up for scouse, geordie and brummie ponies! (There really should be more brummie characters in cartoons overall, I absolutely love that accent!)

[Taffeta]

I also spent a good number of hours at that other site reading the thread these leaks came out in. Regarding the whole "Rarity = British" thing, I believe that was DHX summarizing the voice for current, FIM Rarity, not the new one in this future iteration. Which, honestly, may be even worse, because it's a Transatlantic accent, not British. You'd think they would know how to describe it correctly, but I guess it just happens to be as simple as refined = British?

That makes it even worse. It's like even the people making the show can't tell the difference *rolls eyes*. Although there isn't such a thing as a British accent anyway. A few scouse and brummie ponies would upset the applecart a bit. Or maybe a geordie or two. That would definitely shake it up. I think Rainbow Dash would make a good geordie

Not a fan of the stereotypes of British stuff in US media. But I guess that probably goes both ways.

I would definitely be up for scouse, geordie and brummie ponies! (There really should be more brummie characters in cartoons overall, I absolutely love that accent!)

I;m technically a brummie, though I left Brum when I was about 4 and so I don't have the accent. My Dad (from Smethwick) can do amazing Brummie and Black Country dialect accents though, and I'd love to see a pony talk like that. Makes me think of the Back to Reality Red Dwarf scene when the guy calls them all twonks. I'd really love to see that in MLP, just for kicks.

Unfortunately my experience of US shows doing regional British accents is Jem where something horrible and mutant happens in the voices of Craig's British bandmates. One of which is supposedly from Birmingham, but is possibly from Mars. So I guess it won't happen any time soon...British accent seems to = posh and villainous or working class Dick van Dyke mutations :/