I think we need to define what you mean by "popular" meaning "easily recognizable" versus "popular" meaning popular for collectors. 

Yeah I mean easily recognizable to non-collectors (and collectors too, but not only collectors will be viewing this art piece so I'm trying to get ponies that anyone would have at least seen before). Thank you for asking for that clarification. It's an important one! ^_^

I've been a huge collector of MLP's ever since childhood, I have over 200. Although I think FiM is great too, I'm not as much into the show as I am into the G4 toys. I dunno if that makes me a 'brony' or not lol. Is a brony a regular fan, or a super fan? Haha I'm not sure, myself.

I thought originally that brony referred to the male demographic that are fans of the show. In fact, I was constantly looking for the female version of the word brony so I could call myself that! lol. (I have since heard it's 'pegasisters' however I don't see it used much in the cartoon or toy collecting communities.)

Well, I recently went to a video game convention in Washington DC and chose to wear my Rainbow Dash T-shirt one day and I was completely surprised by the amount of total strangers (mostly guys, some girls) who would walk up to me and refer to me as a brony! I was like "Uh thanks but I'm a girl...?" Haha. One guy even asked me for a bro-hoof. I felt very hip. *chuckle*

Anyway, now I know it's a gender-neutral term, though I was quite confused at the time.

I don't think when people think of the most popular G1's, they are thinking of the ones that inspired the FiM cast , though.

I found them in Sanford, Maine, but not in Biddeford or Portland. (Not that any of you know those places, I'm sure I'm the only Pony collector in Maine. ) Those are the three Walmarts within 30 min. drive of my home.

Checked Target but didn't see any, only the Princess Pony fakie bags.

That's a great point! Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. ^^

Hey hey there everyone! I posted this in the MLP Arena Facebook group already, but I know some people don't have Facebook so I'm posting it here as well.

Some of you may or may not remember me, I think the last time I posted on the Arena was in 2009. >.>;; Hello again to all the new and old pony fans! *waves a hoof to everyone*
 
 I'm  currently working on an important art project and it's going to feature 6  G1 MLP's as the focus of the piece. It's important to me that these  6 characters be recognized right away, so I spent a lot of time  debating what are the most popular (and therefore most easily recognized) G1's. I decided quickly on Firefly. I think we can all agree that she was probably the most popular G1 thanks to her appearance in the first animated special and several toy incarnations. I then decided on Gusty, I think she was pretty popular as a toy for her color scheme and on the cartoon for her spunky personality. But the rest of them have  me stumped...
 
 Then I remembered my old stomping grounds the MLPArena and MLPTP so I came back to get the opinions of everyone else!
 
 I  would very much appreciate it if people could fill out the following and post their answers. I'll use this to decide which characters are featured on my art project.
 
 1.) These must be G1's, no exceptions
 2.)  It would balance the art project more if I could have 2 pegs, 2 unis,  and 2 earthies, but that's not set in stone so it's okay to suggest  others that don't fit that criteria (I think Rosedust the flutter was  pretty popular maybe?)
 3.) It's not a must that the characters be  from the movie/specials/cartoon, but I think the animated features  really made the toys come alive for people so I'm more leaning toward  G1's that were in the animated features at this time. But maybe some  people think some later toys, like Rapunzel, are more popular?
 
 Post the following and give your opinions where the question marks are please:
 
 I think the Most Popular G1's are...
 1.) Firefly
 2.) Gusty
 3.) ? ? ? ?
 4.) ? ? ? ?
 5.) ? ? ? ?
 6.) ? ? ? ?
 Additional comments:
 
 
 (Thank you for your time doing this poll!! )