First Look at G5 Toys

[sunshinedim]

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

I wonder if Hasbro will have the balls to make one of the ponies LGBT? Probably not... but we'll see.

[serena-hime]

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

If they wanted to go that route, it would have been 100% smarter to keep 2D animation and use G1 as a closer reference than G4 imo- not just saying that because I'd love to see something more similar to G1 in aesthetics, but the G1 style in general is more in line with shows like Steven Universe, SPOP and Adventure time than G4- especially because all of those shows heavily reference 80's and 90's aesthetics and have a similar color palette.

G5's art style really reminds me of Brony fanart styles, and I don't think it's accidental honestly.  I really love G4, it reignited my passion for MLP when I was younger, but I really wanted to see something closer to G1 lol.

I wonder if Hasbro will have the balls to make one of the ponies LGBT? Probably not... but we'll see.

This would be so cool to see! I know there's some LGBT subtext in the FIM finale, but it would be very nice to see an explicitly LGBT character throughout the show instead of keeping it as subtle as possible to avoid backlash.

[Wardah]

Nice to see Hasbro didn't learn their lesson the first 3 times.

What lesson? Despite it not being popular with the old school collecting community, the fact that G4 went on for so many years kinda proves that a core cast works, at least with the target audience, who is likely only getting less than 6 ponies anyways.

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

If they wanted to go that route, it would have been 100% smarter to keep 2D animation and use G1 as a closer reference than G4 imo- not just saying that because I'd love to see something more similar to G1 in aesthetics, but the G1 style in general is more in line with shows like Steven Universe, SPOP and Adventure time than G4- especially because all of those shows heavily reference 80's and 90's aesthetics and have a similar color palette.

G5's art style really reminds me of Brony fanart styles, and I don't think it's accidental honestly.  I really love G4, it reignited my passion for MLP when I was younger, but I really wanted to see something closer to G1 lol.

I meant more along the lines of story content than animation style. The reason SU was popular had a lot more to do with content than animation style and lots of fans actually felt the animation was the weakest part of SU.

[SunPony]

Nice to see Hasbro didn't learn their lesson the first 3 times.

What lesson? Despite it not being popular with the old school collecting community, the fact that G4 went on for so many years kinda proves that a core cast works, at least with the target audience, who is likely only getting less than 6 ponies anyways.

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

If they wanted to go that route, it would have been 100% smarter to keep 2D animation and use G1 as a closer reference than G4 imo- not just saying that because I'd love to see something more similar to G1 in aesthetics, but the G1 style in general is more in line with shows like Steven Universe, SPOP and Adventure time than G4- especially because all of those shows heavily reference 80's and 90's aesthetics and have a similar color palette.

G5's art style really reminds me of Brony fanart styles, and I don't think it's accidental honestly.  I really love G4, it reignited my passion for MLP when I was younger, but I really wanted to see something closer to G1 lol.

I meant more along the lines of story content than animation style. The reason SU was popular had a lot more to do with content than animation style and lots of fans actually felt the animation was the weakest part of SU.

I never watched Steven Universe specifically because of the animation style   I felt like I was missing out because it got so many positive comments, but I just couldn't enjoy looking at those faces.  There are several other shows I just won't watch because of the art style.  From what we've seen I won't have that issue with G5 MLP... But I understand if others do.  I think each iteration of MLP other than the one we experienced first has potential to have a kind of uncanny valley effect on us.

[dragglereeka]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I love how the ponies look fuzzy! It reminds me of the character models in Animal Crossing:New Horizons. Not a fan of the toys so far, however they could look really cute in plushie form!
I also love the spirals on Izzy's horn !! It reminds me of custom unicorns I've seen with sculpted swirly horns.

[ridi]

Wow uh... Pipp's eye color changing from brown to green hurts me on a deeply personal level. And of course the only brown eyed character is the token boy. Who decided brown eyes = boy and blue eyes= girl anyway?! 

[Ponybookworm]

Wow uh... Pipp's eye color changing from brown to green hurts me on a deeply personal level. And of course the only brown eyed character is the token boy. Who decided brown eyes = boy and blue eyes= girl anyway?! 

No idea but they don't know enough girls... Source: have brown eyes

[MOTOSTOKES]

I'm guessing they changes her eye color from red to green to make her seem more inviting or something, but I really wish they didn't be a use her palette from the bedsheet leak was so pretty!

[Leave a Whisper]

Nice to see Hasbro didn't learn their lesson the first 3 times.

What lesson? Despite it not being popular with the old school collecting community, the fact that G4 went on for so many years kinda proves that a core cast works, at least with the target audience, who is likely only getting less than 6 ponies anyways.

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

If they wanted to go that route, it would have been 100% smarter to keep 2D animation and use G1 as a closer reference than G4 imo- not just saying that because I'd love to see something more similar to G1 in aesthetics, but the G1 style in general is more in line with shows like Steven Universe, SPOP and Adventure time than G4- especially because all of those shows heavily reference 80's and 90's aesthetics and have a similar color palette.

G5's art style really reminds me of Brony fanart styles, and I don't think it's accidental honestly.  I really love G4, it reignited my passion for MLP when I was younger, but I really wanted to see something closer to G1 lol.

I meant more along the lines of story content than animation style. The reason SU was popular had a lot more to do with content than animation style and lots of fans actually felt the animation was the weakest part of SU.

The fact that it kept killing their lines. The mane sux and yes the bore core are shelf sitters.  Kids are sick of it too. Don't pretend otherwise Wardah.

[otocolobus_manul]

Nice to see Hasbro didn't learn their lesson the first 3 times.

What lesson? Despite it not being popular with the old school collecting community, the fact that G4 went on for so many years kinda proves that a core cast works, at least with the target audience, who is likely only getting less than 6 ponies anyways.

I really like the character designs, especially Zipp, but I still hate how non-horselike they are and I can't help but feel it was a calculated effort to manufacture another Brony Phenomenon and you just can't manufacture something like that.

To me it almost seems like they want FIM level popularity but not the same demographic. It seems like this time they are aiming at the socially aware Steven Universe crowd. But while everyone says the animation reminds them of Disney it kinda reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug.

If they wanted to go that route, it would have been 100% smarter to keep 2D animation and use G1 as a closer reference than G4 imo- not just saying that because I'd love to see something more similar to G1 in aesthetics, but the G1 style in general is more in line with shows like Steven Universe, SPOP and Adventure time than G4- especially because all of those shows heavily reference 80's and 90's aesthetics and have a similar color palette.

G5's art style really reminds me of Brony fanart styles, and I don't think it's accidental honestly.  I really love G4, it reignited my passion for MLP when I was younger, but I really wanted to see something closer to G1 lol.

I meant more along the lines of story content than animation style. The reason SU was popular had a lot more to do with content than animation style and lots of fans actually felt the animation was the weakest part of SU.

The fact that it kept killing their lines. The mane sux and yes the bore core are shelf sitters.  Kids are sick of it too. Don't pretend otherwise Wardah.

Nah, Wardah’s right, I still see kids lose their minds over Pinkie Pie/Poppy the Troll/Elsa toys in stores (we sold Poppy merch in our queue line for a while at work, and kids would go absolutely ballistic over it). If I had a nickel for every time I walked down the toy aisle of Target and passed a child begging their parents for a toy before throwing a fit when their parent points out they have 5 toys of that character already, I’d be able to buy Hasbro, lol.

Us collectors are sick of the same few characters, parents seem to be sick of the same few characters, and older kids are probably sick of the same few characters, but little kids? Little kids just see a character they like and want to own it, even if they already have 3 of that character. We may not like it, but Hasbro knows how to win over their target demographic.

[Leave a Whisper]

And again, they shelf sit every store I've been.  I see kids picking up other ponies, not the mane suxx. Kids like variety in their toys. Hasbro is just too lazy to care and cater to MLP, but they show a wide range of variety in transformers.  Not to mention  their older iterations were financially successful with a collect- em -all mentality.  lf Hasbro can put such variety into transformers,  they can go back to doing so in MLP.

[Wardah]

Not saying it isn't a lazy strategy but it worked well enough that FIM lasted 10 seasons. They aren't going to keep a show going if the toy it's tied to isn't successful. Just look at what happened to Jem. Great show that was cut short because the toy line failed.

[LadyAmalthea]

I see it both ways a little bit. Yes, toddlers and young kids like repetition, but it's the adults buying them the toys and no parent wants to spend money on the same thing repeatedly. A few years ago my son was into Disney's Cars, and every time we were in a Target we'd have to look at their die-cast selection. Once in a while when he was allowed to get one, he'd want another version of Lightning McQueen. How a 2-year-old can differentiate between every nuance of design down to a slightly different decal on one than the other, I have no idea, but it was enough to make him think he needed that one in addition to the other 8 versions he owned rather than the new characters. But as an adult buying it for him, I, my husband, or his grandparents would refuse to buy him any more duplicates and if he wanted a new car, he would have to pick a different character together than Lightning McQueen, Jackson Storm or Cruz Ramirez because he had multiple versions of those ones. So I guess it just depends on who's doing the picking...the parents or the kids!

Older kids want more variety too, I think, at least I did. I remember when the SS ponies came out, my sister and I were annoyed that many of them were re-leases; we felt like we could cross Posey, Lickety Split and Gusty off our checklist because we already had those ones.

[otocolobus_manul]

Well said, LadyAmalthea!

[TwinkleSnow737]

  I remember I was an about 10 during the start of g4. I watched the show religiously, but I never asked for FiM toys. I remember it was because I thought only tv show characters had toys. But for Christmas I got a Ploomette and Rarity from the same set. I played with Ploomette so much more, and I would always ask for non-show characters. Eventually I stopped collecting ponies specifically because they started selling only show characters. 
   (I even gave away my early g4 collection. R.I.P.  my Silver Spoon and Twist-a-loo. I was dumb.  ) That's my little POV.
 
  I would also like to add that that the reason that the reason non-show characters undersold was probably in part because they weren't advertised properly. I watched a lot of kids networks, but I don't ever remember seeing non-show toy ads. I only remember things like the train set, wedding set, and princesses having commercials. I think they were only advertised through the in-box pamphlets. I hope g5 has better advertising. I wonder how they'll handle it, now that streaming and youtube are in the process of cannibalizing cable.