Rebranding Brushables Spotted? (Royal Family in Packaging! Page 14)

[LadyMoondancer]

I want to clobber Hasbro and their toy designers over the head with a Breyer and shout:

This is what a horse looks like!

 

I'm seriously hoping these are knock offs. Otherwise I'm completely finished with MLP.

To be fair, MLP has never been about producing "realistic" horses.  Like, the babies always have "puppy" proportions with short legs, whereas real foals have looong legs almost as tall as their mom.  It would be distressing to see a real foal with legs like the Newborn Twins or the Teeny Tiny ponies.

Getting back to the toys, I too noticed the tails were higher up on the rump on some of them than on the current G4s, which I'm VERY happy about.  The placement is so awkward on the current G4s.

[Leave a Whisper]

I want to clobber Hasbro and their toy designers over the head with a Breyer and shout:

This is what a horse looks like!

 

I'm seriously hoping these are knock offs. Otherwise I'm completely finished with MLP.

To be fair, MLP has never been about producing "realistic" horses.  Like, the babies always have "puppy" proportions with short legs, whereas real foals have looong legs almost as tall as their mom.  It would be distressing to see a real foal with legs like the Newborn Twins or the Teeny Tiny ponies.

Getting back to the toys, I too noticed the tails were higher up on the rump on some of them than on the current G4s, which I'm VERY happy about.  The placement is so awkward on the current G4s.

True, but 1,2 and 3 looked far more horse-like. You can tell it's a horse at least.

[Skeen]

I like them!  But, if they'e going to go to the trouble of redesigning the line, you'd think they'd at least use the right eye shapes. 

[preciousstar]

i can't decide how i feel about them, mostly because of their noodly limbs
Lyra's pose is cute, but her eyes look kind of strange.

[Shy Violet]

I'm surprised I actually like these. I have to agree though on the unicorn eyes being off.

[CuddlyParrot]

Cute, they kinda look more like pokemon characters now

[Sunset]

I just find it odd, though, that they would do whole new molds *just* for the movie when they haven't had a problem with the regular line as it is even though the show was so popular.  I mean I can understand if they are overhauling the whole line.  But I can't understand doing so just for the movie and then going back to the regular line.

My personal opinion is that these will replace the current line if they do well.  Maybe they have been looking at the popularity of the mini figures and trying to see what they can translate to the brushables.  I.e. More poses and more expressiveness.

perhaps its not a fair comparison, but hasbro does that with transformers, which I also collect. They have different movie toys for each movie but they've also had generations running for years anyway, and each new show gets new toys. what with last gen's sideways into g3.5, and guardians of harmony dropping, it looks to ME like theyre mimicking a business style thats working well on that side of things; with multiple lines for one brand running simultaneously, IE, regular brushables + GoH + movie line + Equestria Girls (tho, not for much longer, i suspect. i hope the minis stay tho).

oh yeah, since we're talking about it i figured i'd post the picture from tara strong's instragram with the odd twilight standee with especially suspect ears

Yes, but each of those lines have their own niche.  Mini figures are tiny non-brushables.  GoH are the non-brushable action figures.  Fashion styles are significantly larger.

But these new ponies occupy the same spot as the regular brushables.  They are the same size and have brushable hair.  And then on top of that, they are all the same characters.  At least in g1 when you had ponies who had a different design it was because they were a different type of pony.  Sweet heart sisters were "teenage" ponies and each was her own character.  You didn't have a regular version of Firefly and then a SHS version of Firefly.

And what I find the biggest argument for me against a movie-only release is that there have been plenty of vocal fans complaining how the toys weren't accurate enough to the show for years.  And yet Hasbro hasn't changed the basic  design for 6 years because presumably they didn't see it as a significant enough factor in their sales.  They are masters at reusing the same moulds over and over.

So if it didn't matter before that the toys weren't super accurate then why would it matter now?  If they have decided that it *does* matter now, then yeah, redesign the whole line.  If it doesn't matter then why design multiple completely new moulds just for the movie?  It would save them lots more money to just continue with the current designs.

[princessluna11706]

I'm not sure how I feel about these yet.  They sort of remind me of McDonalds ponies with weird heads.

[Dragonflitter]

I'm not sure how I feel about these yet.  They sort of remind me of McDonalds ponies with weird heads.

Hasbro has been doing this a lot! The light-up princesses that are out right now look exactly like the light-up Happy Meal ponies from 2013. Now that's progress, Hasbro!

[Mermaid]

How many years was G3 around before the rebranding? Hasbro always said they like to keep things refreshed.

[Wardah]

Movie tie ins would have a bigger budget that could be used to create new molds. I personally don't think this is a permanent change because if it was it wouldn't just be the regular standard size brushables that need to change. The fashion styles and styling ponies would also need to change. Also they don't quite look like they do in the show. They look more like they do in the movie art.

[Pinkie21]

Oh gosh I love these!  I'm dying to get a Lyra Heartstrings and make a Mimic out of her LOL.  I hope we'll get to see the rest of the Mane 6.  Rainbow Dash, in particular.  I can't wait to see what they do with her!

[gabumon]

it's true about having a bigger budget with movie figures.  for example when Hasbro an Cartoon Network worked on Transformers Animated the toys they produced for that show were Considerably better:  More individual parts (see high assembly cost), stylized and sophisticated. They exactly matched the cartoon style.  Not to mention they specifically hired a well known designer to make it happen.   

I could see this happen again with MLP.  even if they develop it in house.

[bladed]

i saw a picture of these from the front on tumblr.... they look so silly from the front (or rainbow dash at least) i might just buy one for the laughs

[sd_dreamcrystal]

i saw a picture of these from the front on tumblr.... they look so silly from the front (or rainbow dash at least) i might just buy one for the laughs

Wait, you saw one of Rainbow Dash?