Hasbro's Most Baffling MLP Decisions

[LadyMoondancer]

Part of it isn't Hasbro, but a societal shift where kids get out of toys faster and instead do online stuff.  I was setting up at a toy show and this little girl who was 8 or 9 (a kid of one of the other vendors) looked at my booth and said "You have cool stuff!"  Then she said, "I'm not buying anything at the toy show, though. I'm saving up all my money for Roblox."

Roblox do have play value, my understanding is they're kind of like online Legos? So, yeah, that's still imaginative play.  But still . . . dang . . .

But yeah, investing money into quality toys is a better long term strategy, since the kids playing with toys will someday grow up and you want them to be nostalgic about your company in general and the toy in particular.  G4's increasingly crappy hair was soooo frustrating to me.  G5 is a mixed bag, the 6" figures (like the Target exclusive set) have incredible hair but some of the smaller brushables have bad hair.  Personally I don't mind the molded hair, but I do prefer that a pony either have all molded hair or all brushable.

A baffling (but welcome) Hasbro decision was dropping the Mane Six for G5.  They didn't even go with the low-hanging fruit of "The new ponies are the children of the Mane Six," instead it's this grim dystopian future where the Mane Six failed and are all presumably dead.  It's sooo funny and probably my favorite way they could possibly have kept a connection to G4.  Anyway, the surprising part is that they would sideline the Mane Six since Hasbro has been trying to establish a core cast of widely recognizable ponies for SO long (since MLP Tales) and had finally achieved it.  Through cultural osmosis, even people who weren't into ponies knew names like "Fluttershy" and "Twilight Sparkle".  The early leaked concept art for G5 showed exactly what I expected:  the same six ponies, rebooted in a new universe with some minor cosmetic changes.  But then Hasbro punted them to the side in favor of a new cast. 

I can only speculate that Hasbro wanted to leave the whole "brony" thing behind them and thought the best way to do this was to pivot away from the G4 cast.  And it worked, most bronies seem to hate (or at least be annoyed by) G5.  This makes me even more enthusiastic about the new generation, lol.

[cowboyopossum]

Spoiler

Part of it isn't Hasbro, but a societal shift where kids get out of toys faster and instead do online stuff.  I was setting up at a toy show and this little girl who was 8 or 9 (a kid of one of the other vendors) looked at my booth and said "You have cool stuff!"  Then she said, "I'm not buying anything at the toy show, though. I'm saving up all my money for Roblox."

Roblox do have play value, my understanding is they're kind of like online Legos? So, yeah, that's still imaginative play.  But still . . . dang . . .

But yeah, investing money into quality toys is a better long term strategy, since the kids playing with toys will someday grow up and you want them to be nostalgic about your company in general and the toy in particular.  G4's increasingly crappy hair was soooo frustrating to me.  G5 is a mixed bag, the 6" figures (like the Target exclusive set) have incredible hair but some of the smaller brushables have bad hair.  Personally I don't mind the molded hair, but I do prefer that a pony either have all molded hair or all brushable.

A baffling (but welcome) Hasbro decision was dropping the Mane Six for G5.  They didn't even go with the low-hanging fruit of "The new ponies are the children of the Mane Six," instead it's this grim dystopian future where the Mane Six failed and are all presumably dead.  It's sooo funny and probably my favorite way they could possibly have kept a connection to G4.  Anyway, the surprising part is that they would sideline the Mane Six since Hasbro has been trying to establish a core cast of widely recognizable ponies for SO long (since MLP Tales) and had finally achieved it.  Through cultural osmosis, even people who weren't into ponies knew names like "Fluttershy" and "Twilight Sparkle".  The early leaked concept art for G5 showed exactly what I expected:  the same six ponies, rebooted in a new universe with some minor cosmetic changes.  But then Hasbro punted them to the side in favor of a new cast. 

I can only speculate that Hasbro wanted to leave the whole "brony" thing behind them and thought the best way to do this was to pivot away from the G4 cast.  And it worked, most bronies seem to hate (or at least be annoyed by) G5.  This makes me even more enthusiastic about the new generation, lol.

its so strange to me that kids are so tech savvy now, i played my fair share of animal jam but i loved playing with my ponies growing up. i could never imagine being bored with a toy an hour or so after getting it, i loved the feeling of new things. i think it boils down to kids not appreciating the things they have in a digital age. i see things from my childhood being refered to as "vintage" (its really not) and it makes me feel so sad.

[TheClassCalico]

Other than what has already been mentioned here, Sea Ponies.

I like Sea Ponies, but a vinyl bath toy with a metal weight inside? That's just asking for mould and rust. Their manes are also going to get all nasty in that bath water.

To be fair, bath toys made out of materials that are prone to moulding are not new; mould accumulating in or on the outside of bath toys (especially the former) is actually pretty common. Nevertheless, it's very unfortunate.

[Leave a Whisper]

I don't understand Hasbro’s baffling hatred for anything that resembles a horse. It's my little pony, not my little human, or my little hydrocephalused chihuahua. The G5s are a little better in this regard in comparison to G4 but not by much. Horses are beautiful creatures. Why do they insist on bracycephalic balloon heads? Of course that unfortunate design choice was in the brand dating all the way back to G1 with the fancy mermaid babies and teeny tinies, then it went onto G2 babies and ponyvilles.

Also, what possessed them to remove the jaws in pony life?

It's irritating that most other companies who make toy horses make them more beautiful every decade, but hasbro makes them more ugly, deformed, and awkward every generation.

[Ponyfan]

I've seen a few girls around 9 or 10 stop playing with toys completely and get in to "grown up stuff" (for lack of a better word) like makeup and jewelry.   I think I was around 12 when I stopped playing with ponies.

Other than what has already been mentioned here, Sea Ponies.

I like Sea Ponies, but a vinyl bath toy with a metal weight inside? That's just asking for mould and rust. Their manes are also going to get all nasty in that bath water.

To be fair, bath toys made out of materials that are prone to moulding are not new; mould accumulating in or on the outside of bath toys (especially the former) is actually pretty common. Neverthless, it's very unfortunate.

I lost all of my sea ponies except Baby Celebrate to mold.  My mom wouldn't let me put Baby Celebrate in the tub.


Ponyfan

[Taffeta]

I only had sunshower and ripple as a kid, but Sunshower had to be treated for mould. Ripple somehow survived. I did have Sunshower longer, though. Maybe that's why. They both did come swimming with me in the bath and at least once when my friend's mother (rich family O.O) took us to their country club for the day (o.O)...we had them in the water then as well (my friend had Backstroke).

I was quite careful about putting them to drain dry, but still.

Fortunately Sunshower recovered from her mould battle and is still with me now.

[SunbeamV]

And that's just looking at it from a personal viewpoint. We NEED things to last, be collected & collectable, be able to be passed down to the next generation, to be easily fixable, for the simple reason the longer a toy is being loved, the more we get out of it AND the less likely it ends up being trashed. And the LAST thing the environment needs is stuff being trashed!!!

this reminds me of the similar argument for clothes tbh. like, natural materials are great and renewable, but a lot of them just don't last very well, so it's about finding a balance with synthetic fibres which, yes, they're overglorified plastic, but you only have to create the emissions of making them once, and they very well may last several decades/generations. i think it's the same for toys. plastic isn't as terrible and evil as people say if they're being made to last (ie look how well g2s are still doing!), but they're just not anymore 

[cowboyopossum]

And that's just looking at it from a personal viewpoint. We NEED things to last, be collected & collectable, be able to be passed down to the next generation, to be easily fixable, for the simple reason the longer a toy is being loved, the more we get out of it AND the less likely it ends up being trashed. And the LAST thing the environment needs is stuff being trashed!!!

this reminds me of the similar argument for clothes tbh. like, natural materials are great and renewable, but a lot of them just don't last very well, so it's about finding a balance with synthetic fibres which, yes, they're overglorified plastic, but you only have to create the emissions of making them once, and they very well may last several decades/generations. i think it's the same for toys. plastic isn't as terrible and evil as people say if they're being made to last (ie look how well g2s are still doing!), but they're just not anymore 

very well said!! i hate it when people fear monger over social media about plastic use and global warming. one persons actions arent going to kill the planet, its the overly rich ceos using their private jets to skip a 45 minute drive that hurts the earth more than one person buying something made of plastic. i really like that hasbro is trying to be more eco friendly but it is really making the toys seem so trashy, when the kids in the store can touch them freely and get them dirty still in package. for me it makes it much less desireable to collect nibs when theyre not protected in the box.

anyway, im done with my existential tangents lol

[LadyMoondancer]

this reminds me of the similar argument for clothes tbh. like, natural materials are great and renewable, but a lot of them just don't last very well, so it's about finding a balance with synthetic fibres which, yes, they're overglorified plastic, but you only have to create the emissions of making them once, and they very well may last several decades/generations. i think it's the same for toys. plastic isn't as terrible and evil as people say if they're being made to last (ie look how well g2s are still doing!), but they're just not anymore 

Yeah, but with clothes there's also the question of fashion.  Most people are not going to wear bell bottoms from the 70s, the wide-shouldered women's power suits of the 80s, or the godawful fashions of the early 2000s in the modern day regardless of how well the clothing are made in a technical sense.  Make them of natural fibers and let them decay, I don't want to look at them lol.

[Leave a Whisper]

this reminds me of the similar argument for clothes tbh. like, natural materials are great and renewable, but a lot of them just don't last very well, so it's about finding a balance with synthetic fibres which, yes, they're overglorified plastic, but you only have to create the emissions of making them once, and they very well may last several decades/generations. i think it's the same for toys. plastic isn't as terrible and evil as people say if they're being made to last (ie look how well g2s are still doing!), but they're just not anymore 

Yeah, but with clothes there's also the question of fashion.  Most people are not going to wear bell bottoms from the 70s, the wide-shouldered women's power suits of the 80s, or the godawful fashions of the early 2000s in the modern day regardless of how well the clothing are made in a technical sense.  Make them of natural fibers and let them decay, I don't want to look at them lol.

Begone foul demon pants of the Bottoms of Bell!
 Back to the attic from whence thou came!

[SunbeamV]

Yeah, but with clothes there's also the question of fashion.  Most people are not going to wear bell bottoms from the 70s, the wide-shouldered women's power suits of the 80s, or the godawful fashions of the early 2000s in the modern day regardless of how well the clothing are made in a technical sense.  Make them of natural fibers and let them decay, I don't want to look at them lol.

i am! i'm going to wear bell bottoms and 80s shoulder pads. i love that stuff. if they lasted this long give them to me 

[Leave a Whisper]

Yeah, but with clothes there's also the question of fashion.  Most people are not going to wear bell bottoms from the 70s, the wide-shouldered women's power suits of the 80s, or the godawful fashions of the early 2000s in the modern day regardless of how well the clothing are made in a technical sense.  Make them of natural fibers and let them decay, I don't want to look at them lol.

i am! i'm going to wear bell bottoms and 80s shoulder pads. i love that stuff. if they lasted this long give them to me 

 

[Shadowperla]

A baffling (but welcome) Hasbro decision was dropping the Mane Six for G5.  They didn't even go with the low-hanging fruit of "The new ponies are the children of the Mane Six," instead it's this grim dystopian future where the Mane Six failed and are all presumably dead.  It's sooo funny and probably my favorite way they could possibly have kept a connection to G4.  Anyway, the surprising part is that they would sideline the Mane Six since Hasbro has been trying to establish a core cast of widely recognizable ponies for SO long (since MLP Tales) and had finally achieved it.  Through cultural osmosis, even people who weren't into ponies knew names like "Fluttershy" and "Twilight Sparkle".  The early leaked concept art for G5 showed exactly what I expected:  the same six ponies, rebooted in a new universe with some minor cosmetic changes.  But then Hasbro punted them to the side in favor of a new cast. 

I can only speculate that Hasbro wanted to leave the whole "brony" thing behind them and thought the best way to do this was to pivot away from the G4 cast.  And it worked, most bronies seem to hate (or at least be annoyed by) G5.  This makes me even more enthusiastic about the new generation, lol.

They lost rights
https://nitter.cz/TorpyPony/status/1716027649414304013

Most people are not going to wear bell bottoms from the 70s

Excuse me, I will

[brightberry]

I remember kids getting bored with their toys -even in the 80s.  Once I visited a little boy who had entire toy chest just for his transformers but, he said he didn't play with them.  He was more interested in the TV he had in his room.  He just had... too many toys.  Another girl left her ponies outside all of the time.  They were trampled and forgotten.  She said she didn't care about them.  I felt so awful for them.  Poor Sunbeam.   I saw this sort of thing a lot growing up. I just remember thinking how much of a waste that was.  Especially as I adored the few toys I had... even my sister's barbie.  We played too rough with them sometimes but we still loved them.

I think maybe most kids would be happy with one or two toys.  More than that and it's about impressing classmates or family doesn't know what to give them.   Now, collector children and adults... that's a different story. 

A baffling (but welcome) Hasbro decision was dropping the Mane Six for G5.  They didn't even go with the low-hanging fruit of "The new ponies are the children of the Mane Six," instead it's this grim dystopian future where the Mane Six failed and are all presumably dead.  It's sooo funny and probably my favorite way they could possibly have kept a connection to G4.  Anyway, the surprising part is that they would sideline the Mane Six since Hasbro has been trying to establish a core cast of widely recognizable ponies for SO long (since MLP Tales) and had finally achieved it.  Through cultural osmosis, even people who weren't into ponies knew names like "Fluttershy" and "Twilight Sparkle".  The early leaked concept art for G5 showed exactly what I expected:  the same six ponies, rebooted in a new universe with some minor cosmetic changes.  But then Hasbro punted them to the side in favor of a new cast. 

I can only speculate that Hasbro wanted to leave the whole "brony" thing behind them and thought the best way to do this was to pivot away from the G4 cast.  And it worked, most bronies seem to hate (or at least be annoyed by) G5.  This makes me even more enthusiastic about the new generation, lol.

They lost rights
https://nitter.cz/TorpyPony/status/1716027649414304013

That's shocking.

[BlackCurtains]

I really don't think children today are anymore focused on electronics as kids in the 80s and 90s. I think it's been pretty even the last few decades. I mean, I grew up rich and had any toy I wanted. We also had computers that I played games on and consoles. We also had lots of movies at home. A pool in the backyard. I had a bike and other outdoor toys. I spent time with all of them. I also spent time with my friends playing imaginary games like house and gameshow.

I think kids today seem like they are on their phones all the time because we only see them in public places usually. I know the kids in my neighborhood spend time outdoors playing with friends and sometimes it involves toys. When the big Magic Mixies was the huge toy that year, one kid had gotten one for Christmas and played with it outside. I got so tired of hearing that little jingle that played each time she interacted with it. Someone might say that a toy like that doesn't spark creative play or something, but I had Teddy Ruxpin and loved him and got plenty of imagination out of the stories. Same with read along books on tape and Tiger Electronics.

Parents play a bigger role. They're responsible for teaching their kids to take care of and appreciate their things. Both my parents grew up poor so with me they really hammered in that if I didn't take care of my things, they'd be taken away or if I broke something it wouldn't be replaced. They also taught me to be grateful for the gifts I got from extended family even if it was something I didn't like (sooooooooo many Barbie dolls).

I also think it depends a lot on the kid. I was always content by myself. Heck, give me a tub of Playdoh and leave me to my own and I'd have a great time. Some kids need more stimulation. I believe that not everyone is born with an imagination too, so those kids would probably be on their phones more.

Uh, I started with a point. I've lost it now.

Basically, I don't think "the kids" have changed too much. Toy manufactures have. Parents have. The world has.