DHX hit with major data breach (beware of spoilers)

[Carrehz]

Hmmm, lots of info here, not sure how to feel about it. Well, I'll reserve judgement until we see the final info, I guess.. have to keep in mind that all this is internal info we're not meant to see, so who knows what they'll end up using, lol. I'm still somewhat sceptical about whether or not these are legit, but eeehhh I'll just assume they are for the moment. For argument's sake, haha.

That being said.. None of the new art styles really do it for me; out of the "main" leak posted I guess the second art style is my favourite (don't get the glittery hooves on Twilight and AJ, though o.O). The fifth Fluttershy is pretty cute, too.

I think it's interesting how most of these have them with visible hooves (some with feathering). That seems to be a specific theme with these redesigns, I wonder where that came from.

Love the AJs with face markings, cute!

Most of these designs look waaay too busy to me, though XP especially all the flowery Fluttershys, or the one where she's covered in butterflies. There's too much going on! Heh, maybe that's just me, though. Although I can't imagine all those extraneous details would be easy to animate...

Spoiler

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In this one it looks like they were throwing around some different style ideas. I adore the 1st row, but unfortunately it sounds like they plan to go with either style 9 or 10, which I personally think look the worst. At least they have snouts again?

Ohh, now this one's interesting. #4 is my favourite (art style wise; design-wise I still think she looks too cluttered :p Less is more!) but it doesn't look like they'll go with that, gahhh...

Not sure how to feel about the more traditional unicorn tails.. they look pretty but I do wonder how the heck they'd pull that off for the toys :o Plus at this point it just seems weird to mess with the basic designs of the unicorns (if that makes sense.. none of the other gens have had the unicorns looking *that* different to the other species, is what I mean).

I really wish they weren't keeping the same characters This is MLP, not Transformers.. traditionally, we haven't had a "core" set of characters... I can't say it surprises me, though; Hasbro seem to have been trying to push the franchise in this direction for years now, ever since G2. (Heck, you could even argue "ever since late G1", considering Tales) I'm disappointed but I admit that I did sort of see this coming, unfortunately.

Nightmare Muffin - I think this is the part of your post that's causing confusion:

MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1

I'm guessing you meant "Tales had a different cast than MLP and Friends"? I admit I had to read it a few times before realizing what you meant, heh.

[Taffeta]

Nightmare Muffin - I think this is the part of your post that's causing confusion:

MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1

I'm guessing you meant "Tales had a different cast than MLP and Friends"? I admit I had to read it a few times before realizing what you meant, heh.

Yep, that was the bit I was drawing attention to as well. Though I'm still confused by the response it generated. I mean, we all get stuff confused from time to time.

[Leave a Whisper]

I've been following the leaks for a while now but haven't really said much about them so far. I'm hoping a lot will change before the settle on any designs, but honestly with the new wave of leaks it looks like they're pretty set on a few aspects of it.
Mostly, I'm really disappointed we aren't getting new characters. Like, at all. Changing the species of half the cast and not much else doesn't really count as a whole new generation imo. It's hardly even a reboot, the concept art really makes it look like they have pretty similar personalities to the ones they have now. I get why Hasbro want's a recognizable cast of characters, but with most of these "redesigns" what was the point of even touching the current ones? They're hardly different, I think this is more confusing to fans and kids alike than say, G3 and G4 Rainbow Dash. Even though they have similar colors, they're totally different characters.
As far as the new leak goes, I'm really fond of the art style in the second row of the most recent leaked image as well as the 3rd and 4th rows. I adore the new Applejack designs and furry feet across all of them! I found some interesting images that appear to be part of the leak on a less reputable pony site, but based on what we've seen so far they appear to match the current trends and I think they're probably legitimate. They bring up some more interesting concepts if they are real!

Spoiler

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In this one it looks like they were throwing around some different style ideas. I adore the 1st row, but unfortunately it sounds like they plan to go with either style 9 or 10, which I personally think look the worst. At least they have snouts again?
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I'm not a fan of the art style in this one, but it raises an interesting idea. Will magic no longer be limited to just unicorns? It looks like the earth ponies may have like, "magical girl" markings that allow them to use magic as well? I would love to see magic being used by all types of ponies honestly.
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There's nothing too new in this one. I just really adore the style this one is in and kind of wish the reboot could go with a less cutesy look and more more traditional, elegant, magical horse look!

1, 2, 4 and 7 are so beautiful! I'd be thrilled if MLP looked like that. Almost has a simplified Serendipity look. If you remember those books. 4 and 7 looks closest to G1 and G3!

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I put together an Imgur album of all the new leaked designs (plus info for season 9, new movie, series, etc):

https://imgur.com/a/O4SAk

This leak certainly has a lot more leaked design content than the previous one did! Hopefully I got everything. But there's a ton more beyond the one image that has been posted here.

[Taffeta]

I missed this, but earth and pegasus ponies have always had magic in the UK. It's the US that insists on being species-ist. It makes total sense for the earthlings to have powers. I mean, they do in EQG, right?

I think #4 looks a bit G3ish too, actually.

But I genuinely will take any or all of these poses if they ditch the mane six forever Except maybe Applejack. I don't think I could stand Pinkie Pie continuing. We're already awash with too many Pinkies in the world. She's taking over...

Cynical Taffeta has to wonder whether the reason so many things are being leaked is not accidental, and is actually to see what people's opinions are in discussions in communities. Unfortunately this community probably isn;t relevant in their big picture, as they stopped pandering to older pony collectors a long time ago.

[LadyMoondancer]

I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

Kids are only 'into' ponies for a few years.  (Even in the 80s, by the 4th grade most kids were growing out of toys like MLP and similar toys.)  That's why it works.  Because the kids clamoring for ponies in 2018 are different from the kids who were clamoring for MLPs in 2014.  Each year a certain percentage of kids decides they are 'too old' for MLP, but they are replaced by a new set of very young kids.  Kids who do not yet have Rainbow Dash and the rest of the ponies.

I get the frustration over this, but it absolutely works from a marketing perspective.  Look at Care Bears.  They occasionally make new characters, but the vast majority of their toys and merchandise feature the original 80s Care Bears.

[Taffeta]

I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

Kids are only 'into' ponies for a few years.  (Even in the 80s, by the 4th grade most kids were growing out of toys like MLP and similar toys.) 

And yet, in the 1980s, Hasbro changed up the ponies to appeal to each set of kids, rather than forcing them to relive the same ponies as their predecessors. Though I disagree, a lot of the kids I knew growing up had ponies from age 3 or 4 and still played with them at age 10 or thereabouts. I was an exception, I never really let go, but most of the kids I knew stopped when they went to secondary school, and not really before.
 
In any case, I think personally it's more about the respect for the franchise for me. I don't want those six to be the eternal future of MLP forevermore. I want each generation to be new for each generation, even if I personally find them ugly. I don't want them to recycle my childhood for another kid :/  but most particularly, these six are especially unappealing because the market has already been (as nightmaremuffin said) flooded by them over and over and they shelf-sit.

Kids now don't want to buy them. The ponies that have vanished in stores here are the ones that aren't mane 6. Hasbro need a new mane 6 because these six are tired and old. And kids are not stupid. They want new, they don't want recycled old.

[Strawberry Swirl]

The faucet of leaks just won't stop flowing!
Heres more designs to chew up,

Spoiler

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Personally, I love the idea of Pinkie being a pegasus!

Ooooh, I really like the RD designs in rows 2 and 4! Though if I had to pick a particular group, it'd probably be row 3.

Spoiler

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In this one it looks like they were throwing around some different style ideas. I adore the 1st row, but unfortunately it sounds like they plan to go with either style 9 or 10, which I personally think look the worst. At least they have snouts again?
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I'm not a fan of the art style in this one, but it raises an interesting idea. Will magic no longer be limited to just unicorns? It looks like the earth ponies may have like, "magical girl" markings that allow them to use magic as well? I would love to see magic being used by all types of ponies honestly.
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There's nothing too new in this one. I just really adore the style this one is in and kind of wish the reboot could go with a less cutesy look and more more traditional, elegant, magical horse look!

The first two designs are lovely, and the fourth. I'm such a sucker for realistic horse proportion on MLPs. I feel like I recognize the art style of the last image.

[Leave a Whisper]

Hoping not to derail the thread too much. On topic, regarding the gen 5 leaks, I wonder what body type the new gen molds will have. If they go with the lion tails for the unicorns that would be a nice change of pace, though I can see the kiddies breaking them off easily, due to their tought and more hands on play. Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future generations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

Good point. Several of my daughter's Pokemon like Miltank for example, is mising her tail because its, well, a cow tail. Besides, I want unicorns with brushable tails!

[LadyMoondancer]

I get it. I too prefer having a wide variety of ponies of all colors.

But if we're talking about 'CAN it work?' in marketing terms--it's worked for many many toylines over the decades and it can work for MLP.  Just because it's not what we'd prefer doesn't mean it's a bad economic decision.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I put together an Imgur album of all the new leaked designs (plus info for season 9, new movie, series, etc):

https://imgur.com/a/O4SAk

This leak certainly has a lot more leaked design content than the previous one did! Hopefully I got everything. But there's a ton more beyond the one image that has been posted here.

This is very handy!
I love Erika's style, and I'd love to have a more traditional unicorn tail. I'm not sure how they'll get that in the toys, though.
I'm still in love with Pinkie's pegasi designs. It's so neat to see all these designs thrown around!
Earth ponies using a symbol to do magic sounds interesting, I'd love to see more focus on the earthings as they seem to be tossed aside often.

[Dragonflitter]

Yes, if you look at one of the images in my last post you'll see Hasbro aims different lines at different demographics. The basic Mane 6 toys are aimed at young children, while the more detailed Guardians of Harmony sets are aimed at older children and collectors, and the Fan Series is aimed at adults. Hasbro is well aware that the older collectors want more variety and the young kids will buy many versions of Mane 6.

[bewilderness]

Spoiler

Twilight looks very very weird without a horn.  I don't think I could get used to her being an earth pony even if she still had magic.

[LadyMoondancer]

Spoiler

Yeah, just aesthetically I think Twilight's hair style looks better with a horn.

[Leave a Whisper]

The line art Rainbow Dash one reminds me of the Fantasia Pegasus. I really like that. The unicorn sitting with the rabbit has a Grayhoundish face. I think its really weird.