So last week, I bought a small lot of G1's off Ebay, and finally got around to cleaning them all up. One of them, Blossom, has something peculiar going on with her body, and I couldn't get them off with soap or a magic eraser.


As you can see from the pics, she has specks all over. They're mostly on her right side, but there are some everywhere on her body (not on the head, which is also slightly mismatched in color).  At first, I thought it might be pindot, but I haven't been able to find many good pictures of MLP pindot to compare. It looks less like spots of mold, and more like she has enlarged pores. They are very difficult to see unless looking directly up close. I opened her up and her inside is completely normal.  Is this what pindot does, or is something stranger happening, like the plastic disintegrating? And whatever it is, what can I do to fix this?

So I was thinking the other day about the G3 Core 7, and how I just don't understand why Hasbro made the decisions they did with this refresh. I somewhat understand that they wanted to have some characters become the face of the brand for merchandising purposes, but I don't know why they chose the ponies they did.

It could be argued that Hasbro wanted to tie the toyline and movies together more, but they could have used characters that had already been established such as Minty, Wysteria, Starcatcher, or Rarity. They instead decided to choose the oddest group of ponies and try and force kids to love them, while erasing the 300+ other ponies from existence. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were obvious shoe-ins, but they decided to change Dash's voice and personality, making her traits less unique and unfamiliar to those who saw her in the earlier movies. The only other character from earlier that went unchanged was Scootaloo, also a strange choice seeing as she never appeared in any cartoons and only had one toy release. Then for some reason, they took Cherry Blossom, but gave her the name of another pre-existing pony, who had a prominent role in previous cartoons, which I don't understand at all. I understand even less the decision to take Toola Roola, a pony whose name is a reference to an Irish song, tying in with her Celtic symbol, and slap the name on a completely different art-themed pony, where the name makes no sense. There was no reason they couldn't have made Toola 2 a completely original character. Starsong and Sweetie Belle are brand new to the Core 7 refresh, so I don't have much to say, except that they didn't even let Starsong be completely unique-her Cutie Mark is the same as Silver Glow!

Not to mention, it's just a weird selection of characters from a group standpoint. 3/7 ponies are pink, and all of them have pink somewhere on them. I get that pink sells, but it makes the limited number of characters look even more limited. They needed a green pony in there (hint hint).

Honestly, I don't even know why the Core 7 refresh was made in the first place. I don't think Hasbro understood why kids were so drawn to MLP, especially at a time when it wasn't as character and media driven as G4/5. Apparently around this time MLP sales were getting low, because kids became more interested in LPS instead. As an LPS kid around this time, who recently lost interest in MLP, I was into LPS because of the collectibility and huge number of pets you could get. So how does Hasbro try and boost MLP sales? By limiting the number of ponies you can get!

This era was a harbinger of sorts for what MLP would become for the next decade and a half. I understand having a focus group of characters, especially for a TV show-other toy lines have done this for decades. But just because there are main ponies doesn't mean that no other ponies can exist, or that nobody will buy them. G4 had loads of characters in the show that you'd think would be perfect toy material, but never existed-the reformed changelings, the Kirin, the student six, the Pillars of Equestria-If you didn't know better, you'd think the inclusion of all these characters was to push toys, but Hasbro was too busy selling Pinkie Pie with a new hat instead of Thorax or Autumn Blaze. The popularity of background ponies like Muffins and Lyra was because fans enjoyed being imaginative and giving these incidental characters in the MLP world their own personalities and stories. Fans of all ages have been making their own OC ponies and giving them their own personalities and stories. Not even the most die-hard fans are tied so hard to FIM canon that they will not accept any character that is not one of the Mane Six. Kids are no different than Bronies in that regard. Give them a random character like Dewdrop Dazzle or Snowcatcher, and they can imagine their role in the world of Equestria and their relationships with the Mane 6 and other characters. TV tie-ins and toy variety don't have to be mutually exclusive, and I don't know why this big toy company seemingly doesn't know that.


What are your thoughts on the Core 7 15 years later, and are there any other decisions made about MLP that make you go "Hmmm"?

Which pony poses with limited use do you wish more ponies were made in?

For G1 poses, I really like the sitting and rearing poses, because they're more dynamic and different than most pony poses. I understand their rare use because it limits play possibilities, but I think they're really cute, and would love a shelf full of different ponies all sitting adorably.

For G3, I really like the Valenshy pose, it's just very elegant and graceful, and would have loved to see more ponies in it. Also any of the unicorn and pegasus poses. The overabundance of earth ponies in comparison to the other species was G3's main flaw in my opinion.

I just noticed something that connects G2 and G3 recently.

The symbols of G2 Baby Fleur

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And G3 Darling Dahlia 

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are the exact same image, just colored differently!

You can definitely notice that the stenciled look of Dahlia's symbol is somewhat out of place when compared to the more detailed G3 symbols.

Darling Dahlia was released in 2005, long after G2 ended and G3 took its place. But perhaps because DD was a Sam's Club exclusive, Hasbro didn't feel like creating a new symbol for a pony with such a limited release, so they pulled out an obscure one from the G2 vault? All the other store exclusive G3's have original symbols though.

Are there any other cross-generational pony symbols used on two unrelated characters out there?

I recently went to a vintage toy store and picked up a bunch of G1 and G3 ponies. I was able to clean and style most of them, and they turned out great! However, I am having trouble with one of them, Cupcake, who is the first so soft pony in my collection.
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 She's in very nice condition for a white so soft, her flocking is still full and soft and only worn on the tip of one ear. She's a little dirty around the hooves, and she has a stain around on the back of her neck that looks easily removable.
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I'd like to fix her up and get her looking nice and clean, but I'm struggling  with how to best clean her in a way that won't damage her because she's in such good condition and don't want to accidentally ruin her on my first try cleaning a so soft. The trouble is, many people on the internet seem to have differing methods on how to best clean so softs. I've heard some people say to use conditioner to clean them, and others use dish soap. I've heard some people say to scrub them with a toothbrush, but others say to use your hands because the toothbrush would damage their flocking. I've heard that cold water is the best to clean them with because it won't loosen the glue, but I also heard that some people use warm water as well. Overall, I'm seeing a lot of contradicting opinions on how to clean so soft ponies, and want to make sure my first attempt goes smoothly. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Who's your favorite of the eight original G3 ponies (Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Minty, Wysteria, Sunny Daze, Sparkleworks, Kimono, Sweetberry)?

Wysteria's my personal favorite. Her color scheme is very soft and gentle, and fits her sweet and shy personality and green thumb well. Her cutie mark is also very beautiful and I love her green eyes!

A close second is Kimono. I love her pose and dark purples, they make her look very poised and elegant. Her Japanese theme is very cute and unique, and I love her personality in A Charming Birthday--I wish we got to see more of her in the other movies.

I seem to gravitate toward the purple ponies in these sets!

Who's your favorite G1 pony not sold in the US?

Mine is probably Daffodil/Narzisslein. Daffodils are some of my favorite flowers, and her color scheme is simple, but very lovely and gentle. Her pose and symbol really suit it.

I also love Ice Crystal, but he's certainly not as overlooked!

I personally like white ponies, because any hair colors can look great on them. The white unicorns with jewel-toned hair (Glory/Moondancer/Gusty) make up some of my favorite ponies.

What's your favorite color for ponies to come in?