I think the downfall of "collectibles" was in the 1990's when companies started calling things collectible in order to drive profits. All those trading cards, stickers and comics are virtually worthless now. And now one even contemplates "the market" before they start a new collection! Used to be that people collected things because they LOVED them, not because it comes with graded, MIB figures that can be sold at 124% of their market value.This is a very good point, Squirmy.
The problem with G4 is repetition of character and reliance on the animation. And that's probably a reliance made worse by the advent of people obsessed with the animation and not at all interested in the toys.
but mail order seems to be obsolete nowadays,
Even though the Mane Six get so many toys that they seem disposable to us, they are still valued by kids. I guess it isn't so crazy if you think about how successful Barbie has been, when she is literally always the same doll, just in a new outfit.
Speaking of mail order, I've been wondering lately if they could revive that concept in an online format. Probably not this generation, but I could see them doing something like having a website where you could enter codes found in the box the pony came in and once you had enough codes you could have a pony mailed to you for the price of shipping. It's probably not very likely, but I think it could happen.
but mail order seems to be obsolete nowadays,
Yeah, off the top of my head I can't think of any toylines that still do mail order.
Mail Order would drive me crazy because I am a selective collector and would never buy a whole set just to get an additional one. I think what's hot nowadays are blind bags and chase figures.
@Al - try being a collector not in the US. Your voice and opinion counts for literally nothing :/ no matter how hard you try.That's both the wrong assumption and rather rude.
Not really a fan of reintroducing the Mail Order as it tends to be limited geographically. I'm not a fan of exclusives in later generations after the nightmare of collecting G3 with so many Target exclusive ponies.
An online loyalty club on a global scale would be okay though. I guess?
I just bought Spitfire separately. In the Fashion style size and the brushable size, one at ponycon and one from ebay. I haven't ever yet bought a big pack of ponies if I only want one of them...I don't really know how well that practice works in general?
I really like Spitfire. But if I hadn't been able to get her separately, I would've probably gone without.
(Also, that set isn't out here yet. Our TRU are a little behind xD)
but mail order seems to be obsolete nowadays,
Yeah, off the top of my head I can't think of any toylines that still do mail order.
I do know that the G1 and even the G3 mail order ponies took six to eight weeks to arrive. (Which makes me wonder . . . did companies not actually make the ponies until orders came in?) Today people flip out if an eBay order or Amazon item hasn't been sent within two DAYS.
Even though the Mane Six get so many toys that they seem disposable to us, they are still valued by kids. I guess it isn't so crazy if you think about how successful Barbie has been, when she is literally always the same doll, just in a new outfit.
The problem with G4 is repetition of character and reliance on the animation. And that's probably a reliance made worse by the advent of people obsessed with the animation and not at all interested in the toys.
This is actually one of my biggest gripes with G4.. Enough to where I'm looking forward to G5 with hopes of starting off on a somewhat-clean slate.
But I do see the points about mail-orders.. Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned and stuffy, and miss "the good ol' days" when MLP had charm :lol:
The problem with G4 is repetition of character and reliance on the animation. And that's probably a reliance made worse by the advent of people obsessed with the animation and not at all interested in the toys.
This is actually one of my biggest gripes with G4.. Enough to where I'm looking forward to G5 with hopes of starting off on a somewhat-clean slate.
But I do see the points about mail-orders.. Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned and stuffy, and miss "the good ol' days" when MLP had charm :lol:
Our hopes are for naught. They're bringing back the Bore Six in G5.
But they're changing half their breeds and apparently Applejack won't be related to farming at all. So it's all completely new and different.
I think we have two or three active threads about talking/complaining about a bunch of G5 leaked concept designs, do we really have to bring this issue into this topic, too?
@Uni. Awesome recollection. Rewarding the richest kid with money seems a bit off mind you.
Also reminded me that Hasbro UK used to be more communicative that way too. My friend's dragon got caught in a lawnmower and they sent her a replacement...I also know Mum and Dad got my Lemon Drop from Hasbro to go with my second hand stable in 1990. Of course she was the Chinese one.
I also had a lot of correspondence with them in 95.
I wonder if this change is a symptom of the digital age and the loss of the personal touch.
We don't know whether kids now are fine with 50 of the same pony. They kind of don't have an alternative. If they like mlp they are stuck with mane 6.
I remember that contest too and I entered it as well... but my "paltry" 50 or so ponies were not impressive enough for me to win, haha. :D
I'm not sure how I heard about it... it might have been through the TV after school, because I remember one of my friends was over the day that the picture was taken, and we were preparing my ponies all afternoon for their "photo shoot" by cleaning them and doing their hair. We always had the TV on in the background while we were playing together, and there were always loads of pony commercials. Or it's possible I read about it in a comic book or magazine. I'm 90% certain it was some random thing and it was never officially announced in a pamphlet or anything like that. Because Hasbro.
I do know it was approximately October of 1988 when I entered the contest, because I have still have a copy of my contest entry picture. The back of the picture is dated 1988, and it has my Halloween drawings all over my closet doors in the background (I loved to do different drawings for the holidays! :D ), so it must have been around Halloween time or thereabouts.
Don't know if the link to the picture will work as I'm rescanning and saving on facebook, but here is the newspaper clipping I saved from 1989.
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I did have a couple of mail orders (Lucky and my Birthflower, February) but they were ordered at my old address about 2 years prior, so I don't know. I certainly wasn't a heavy hitter with the mail orders, although looking back I wish I had been. Oh wait, that's not true! I just remembered, I had another friend (a different one from the one who helped me clean the ponies) who majorly coveted my Lucky. I remember he was available for a few years in different pamphlets, and my mom let me order him for her for her birthday. And that was after we moved, so maybe that was it? I was only 9 years old at the time, so I don't remember all that well.
I also had a mail order Star Dancer but I don't think I got her until after the contest was over.
I think Hasbro is now more concerned with the megaworld that is Intellectual Property, rather than creating new toylines that will please and charm consumers with their aesthetic appeal and useful features.Even in that business model, the charm of at least aesthetic appeal is vital. Intellectual properties are only as valuable as the public has interest in them.
All they have to do is solidify characters they are going to produce official designs for, and negotiate licenses with third-party manufacturers! Once that license kit is produced, well now we can have Pinkie Pie toothbrushes and trash cans and party favors and apparel, a video game, a TV show, whatever they need to "plug and play" the Intellectual Property. Now there is no need to offer 10 choices of pony designs because they don't need to in order to push the product into consumer hands, plus creating variations is expensive!
@Uni. Awesome recollection. Rewarding the richest kid with money seems a bit off mind you.
Also reminded me that Hasbro UK used to be more communicative that way too. My friend's dragon got caught in a lawnmower and they sent her a replacement...I also know Mum and Dad got my Lemon Drop from Hasbro to go with my second hand stable in 1990. Of course she was the Chinese one.
I also had a lot of correspondence with them in 95.
I wonder if this change is a symptom of the digital age and the loss of the personal touch.
We don't know whether kids now are fine with 50 of the same pony. They kind of don't have an alternative. If they like mlp they are stuck with mane 6.
I don't remember exactly how many I had, I think it was around 200something maybe...meh. The thing is, here parents seemed to be collecting for her, whereas I was older, would have been 11 when I started and in 1989, I would have been around 17 years old. I did get a lot of gifted ponies don't get me wrong, but it was really the only thing I asked for as a teenager. For graduation in 1990...I fricking asked for 25 ponies I didn't have, not a car...ponies :p I also worked to get cash as a teen to buy ponies, sold other toys at yard sales to buy more ponies. So meh, I didn't have my parents randomly decide to collect for me, it was all on me.
But, in some ways Hasbro did seem to 'imply' collecting the ponies, as much as being a toy. So I sort of think they saw it as a toy but knew with things like the horseshoe points/mail order program that there were people who were actually invested in getting each and every one of them. It also seems like a reason they'd bring ponies back for mail order...have an old scan of something that shows they're bringing ponies back with a mindset of HAY you might have missed these ponies, here is your chance to buy them and this was back in 1986 mind you.
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Also note they were actually calling them 'collector ponies' back in 1986....
Yeah, I haven't seen any mention of it in any of the pamphlets I have either... I don't have my original childhood ones anymore, but I do have a big stack of them I've saved from eBay lots over the years and nada. So maybe you're right, and it was tied to the mail order program somehow. I wish I had a clearer memory of where I actually heard about the contest, but I was still just a kid so I guess it's not too surprising that I don't remember anymore.
Maybe I can try to ask my mom and see if she remembers anything else. She took the pictures of me with the ponies and she probably helped me fill out the entry form too.
Here's my picture of me and my ponies, by the way. I also have a Halloween pumpkin bucket next to me, so it must have been pretty close to Halloween.
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@Uni. Awesome recollection. Rewarding the richest kid with money seems a bit off mind you.
Also reminded me that Hasbro UK used to be more communicative that way too. My friend's dragon got caught in a lawnmower and they sent her a replacement...I also know Mum and Dad got my Lemon Drop from Hasbro to go with my second hand stable in 1990. Of course she was the Chinese one.
I also had a lot of correspondence with them in 95.
I wonder if this change is a symptom of the digital age and the loss of the personal touch.
We don't know whether kids now are fine with 50 of the same pony. They kind of don't have an alternative. If they like mlp they are stuck with mane 6.
I don't remember exactly how many I had, I think it was around 200something maybe...meh. The thing is, here parents seemed to be collecting for her, whereas I was older, would have been 11 when I started and in 1989, I would have been around 17 years old. I did get a lot of gifted ponies don't get me wrong, but it was really the only thing I asked for as a teenager. For graduation in 1990...I fricking asked for 25 ponies I didn't have, not a car...ponies :p I also worked to get cash as a teen to buy ponies, sold other toys at yard sales to buy more ponies. So meh, I didn't have my parents randomly decide to collect for me, it was all on me.
But, in some ways Hasbro did seem to 'imply' collecting the ponies, as much as being a toy. So I sort of think they saw it as a toy but knew with things like the horseshoe points/mail order program that there were people who were actually invested in getting each and every one of them. It also seems like a reason they'd bring ponies back for mail order...have an old scan of something that shows they're bringing ponies back with a mindset of HAY you might have missed these ponies, here is your chance to buy them and this was back in 1986 mind you.
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Also note they were actually calling them 'collector ponies' back in 1986....
Won't be available to you again...until January 2018 ;)
Won't be available to you again...until January 2018 ;)
LOL! I still enjoy that hasbro wrote: Love from, my little pony
like awwww...the ponies love me.
Which one of the ponies wrote this letter?
Making me think of that screen grab of Gusty with the opposable thumb hooves from Revolt of PE now...Maybe the pennas taught them some shapeshifting tricks. Being able to make a temporary hand is useful for dusting and writing letters to little kids.
(On a side note does anyone else remember collecting Esso tokens to send off for items? We got 4 ponies that way.)