What kills of a generation?

[Gingerbread]

I was laid in bed last night thinking. Not the best thing for me to do lol but I was wondering, why do generations die out?

G1 had to have been the most successful gen in that it lasted for so long. The wide variety in characters and the quality were just amazing.

G2 was a bit of a step to far away from the G1 ponies - I remember seeing my first g2 in shops and being disgusted at the skinny little things! I love them now but it took me a while.

G3 were very beautiful. But the Core 7 was a total fail.

G3.5 were just a bit freakish.

G4, well who knows. They look more like ponies than G3.5s but they still don't look much like G1s or G3s.

How long will the G4 fad last? And what will G5 look like?

Discuss

[tulagirl]

I think toy companies feel there needs to be a change which I hear so many parents complaining about..that their kids don't want the toys to change.  So thats a strange one. I think FIM will last as long as the show lasts.  Once the cartoon gets booted...I would expect that the enjoyment of the line will also fade.  This is my opinion only.  I can't imagine when that will be, but also the line could fade due to economy, prices or lack of interest in merchandise.  Since they have a huge adult fan base I don't see this happening right away.  In talking with the little kids though, they don't care for the new look of the ponies and are not asking for them anymore.  Thats not every child, just the ones I know personally.  So I figure the little kids that will grow into G4 will love the line more than the kids that grew up with the G3 line. Just from my own observation with the kids I know.  So to me, what kills a line is several things, the show going downhill, interest fading when something new is introduced to the market, changes in economy and merchandise buying trends and the company's wacko idea that we need something really new and different...as well as material availability to make the current products..or lawsuits related to problems with the toys.  As well as changes in toys in general..competition to make a toy that really grabs kids attention and is highly desired by most children.  If a toy line begins to just fall into a pattern of predictability then often it is discontinued for fear of profit losses.
One problem I see with G4 that could be a future issue is quality of product.  Typically when a line of toys can't be made correctly early on and buyers see serious problems continue with a line...they don't spend their money and eventually the line fails.  This really hasn't happened yet and frankly I am surprised. The quality of these toys is way below standard compared to previous lines.  I would think people would really quit buying as I know I did.  I can't see spending money on things that look awful on a shelf...so there are so many things that can kill a line..lack of fan base..so much.

[StarDragon]

I am sooo excited for G5. I get really excited for each new generation, even though I love the ones we still have. I think G1 was very successful, but I think Hasbro felt it was time for a change since the G1 children were growing up and getting older, and the "fad" of the 80's was changing into the 90's. Even near the end of G1, the artwork was changing and the focus was more about hair, lipstick and beauty (SHS ponies, MLP Tales and the pre-teen dilemmas or whatnot).

G2... well, wasn't marketed very well in the US so it didn't last long here.

I think G3 was another success, but it lasted too long for all that it offered, and when Hasbro brought in Core 7, it may have worked for a short time until that ran out of steam as well. So they refreshed the idea and reintroduced it into G4 as a stable theme, and reinforced it with the show, which was a good idea. (even though there's the lack of diverse pony toys comparatively. -pouts-)

I'm not in the marketing business, but I think that FiM is a good way to keep G4 stable for a while. Since it's a show, some kids will grow out of it, but then new kids will want to watch it, and if Hasbro doesn't get too complex by adding constant new characters and things to keep track of (in otherwords, doing the same thing that G1 did and have fairly the same ponies but also introducing new ponies and adventures/problems to solve each episode to keep things interesting), then it should last as long as G3 I would think. ^_^

[aellos]

I have to agree...FIM is keeping G4 stable. I think if they keep up with this 1 and 1/2 pose thing, they'll sink fast. I like the designs of the new ones, but they're becoming boring. All of the other generations had various poses, and made more character. DX

[hyenacub]

I agree about needing more variety and more character for the G4s.  That' my biggest beef.  Not just...the same ponies with slightly different features, or gimmicky wings.  But different types...rainbow ponies, glitter ponies, etc..  Different characters and poses.

G2s looked like lizard ponies.    They are growing on me, though.  C:

G3s...I think they ran into the same problem of putting out the same characters, but different versions...instead of new characters.  For the most part, G1s  didin't have several different versions of the same pony.  The only ones I can think of are the pearlized baby ponies...and maybe some so-softs?

If the tre nd comtinues, G5s will look like aliens. 

[LadyMoondancer]

Sometimes lack of toy sales, sometimes internal politics.

With G1, I think it was a combination of increasingly desperate gimmicks (the kissing lipstick ponies?  REALLY??) and competition from new toylines.

G2s just never caught on in the US.  They apparently did quite well in Europe, though, having run right through to the start of G3.  The design of G2 was thanks to Hasbro buying out Kenner and letting them (previous Kenner employees) design the toys. (Also the case for Transformers Beast Wars.)  The Kenner employees purposely gave the ponies a unique style compared to previous ones, as a way to assert their independence.  (This is what I gathered from the blog of an ex-Kenner employee many years ago, at least.  They were not very happy about getting bought out by Hasbro.)

G3, I would guess, was a marketing decision by Hasbro in the US that got applied across the board, thus ending G2 in Europe.   It seems to have been an attempt to return MLP to its roots, as G3 ponies really look very much like G1 ponies.

I am almost positive that G3.5 ponies were a move spurred on by a new marketing director.

And I KNOW G4 came about because of a new marketing director, as I saw an interview with her on EQD that confirmed this.   Apparently she (the marketing director) was the one who chose to contact Lauren Faust after having seen her (Faust's) concept drawings.  THANK YOU, CURRENT MLP MARKETING DIRECTOR!!

[Malicieuse]

I think it's just a manner of time. Redesigns are needed in order to keep things fresh. Kids/times change and all that. And with G3/G4 there was also a switch in the target age group.
At this point i'm really curious how G4 will evolve and how many more seasons of the show will still be made.

[shabbychicdee]

What kills of a generation? .....a decade
G1              = 80s
G2              = 90s
G3 & 3.5     = 00s
G4              = 10s

there will be a long wait to the next one. i hope there will be G5, i really hope they dont fade out
i think the recession has something to do with the cheapness of the new Gen. who know what the future will bring when the recesion will end

[kittybethy]

I think it's a little of both decades and style.

 
We shall see what the future holds!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I imagine it has something to do with the target market and how they develop... 

You have a large quantity of 2-5 y/o's playing with these toys, but that is only a short window in which to amass a herd.  Children quickly move onto the next toy - and starting school, they are going to want to have electronic toys and phones.  It wasn't like when we were kids in the 80's and played with them throughout elementary school and if we were lucky, technology entered our lives in middle/high school.   

So if the average child has a number of gift-giving occasions, and a few impulse purchases, how long does it take before they get bored with 1) keeping up with ponies 2) looking for new ponies 3) wanting another toy to satisfy the "retail therapy"?  Often siblings are born close together, so the toys are passed down or shared in a family, but there is a reasonable amount one can expect these toys to "last". 

It's also really true about the FiM show influencing the popularity of the toys, and we may see a year or two of G4 after the show ends, but I do believe Hasbro will archive the brand for a time and we will have a G5.  My Little Pony is seriously too much of a long-term moneymaker to give up permanently.  They'll just have a different design!   

Realistically, we could have 4 years of FiM if it does amazingly well in all of its markets... anyone have any idea on that?  Don't know if Hasbro has released any kind of specifics regarding the MLP brand's performance this year.  So maybe a 5, 6 year run of these little ponies? 

I wonder how many will end up in thrift stores is all...  :/

[Firehooves]

I'd sy it's usually when ethier the toys sales dip, or there is a change in the higher ups. In all honesty, in about 3-4 years, well probably see G4 end, and the next generation begin. (ethier that, or a revamp of G4 into wht will probably be labled G4.5

[Gingerbread]

Thankyou everyone, some very interesting opinions I love hearing everybodys views - anyone else like to add theirs?

[babystarz]

For both G1 and G2, it was all about sales figures. In both cases, the ponies had a strong showing for the first few years both in the U.S. and abroad (although the G2's were never as successful in the U.S. as the G1'd were), then took a nosedive in popularity in the U.S. so they were produced for a few extra years in Europe after U.S. production shut down. Then I guess things fizzled out in Europe too, or Hasbro realized that a new toy line would bring in more money worldwide. It didn't make much sense for them to have Euro-only lines simply because those lines weren't successful in the U.S. any more. From a production standpoint, it's cheaper to have the same lines everywhere and mass produce them.

For the G3's I really think it was just a re-branding decision. Hasbro had faith in the "core 7" idea but realized the execution on that hadn't worked out so well because the concept came up midway through the G3 line. With people used to a large variety of ponies, having a "core 7" to re-buy all the time just didn't work out. So they decided to re-brand with a new generation that was cheaper to produce (smaller size, cheaper materials) and this time start out with the new version of the "core 7" aka the "mane 6" and tie them in to the cartoon from the getgo so that those 6 ponies would be immensely popular with kids And now they're putting them all in playsets to make those kids's parents buy doubles

That's my take anyway! I speak from knowledge on the first 2 gens, the second 2 are more speculation but they make a lot of sense to me.

[Betelgeuse]

Decades and the moment when Hasbro thinks they'll make more money with something new. If they think children are bored by the generation they'll change it. it's really sad if one considers the line may die completely. I cannot imagine there being no more My Little Pony. I'd probably cry.

as for G5 I had a dream a couple weeks ago that I was the Lauren Faust of G5 which came out around 2020. The ponies were designed a bit like G1s and G2s and the story was set on "Equuleus Planet". Humans and ponies from earth could travel to Equestria with a rainbow. Ponyland was an entire continent. The Mane 6 and the princesses were there as well as Spike, Firefly and Lofty. Surprise may have been there too because Pinkie was playing leapfrog with a pegasus.

[Margos]

I've been thinking about this, too.
Honestly, I think G4 is probably going to last for quite a while with the newly-expanded fanbase.  The thing that will probably end up killing it is the fact that variety is the spice of life.  From what I've seen so far, Hasbro isn't as willing to diversify this generation.  Now, sometimes they release new ponies or do unexpected things... but it isn't happening as often as I'd like, and when it does, it's usually Target or TRU exclusive.  And that's kind of a problem.  I'm a bit disappointed with the G4 toyline myself, even though I do love their designs and the characters.  I just wish they had as many wonderful, unusual characters as G1 did.
Now, if you ask me, G5 is going to be a "return to basics" when it comes around, but I also think Hasbro will want to continue pumping the demographic attracted by FiM.  See, G1 had a certain look; G2 deviated.  G3 looked more like G1; G3.5 and G4 moved farther away.  It's all action-reaction stuff.  So, I think G5 will have 1) larger ponies with more G1-esque proportions and 2) more unusual, non-pony, "cool"-type characters (other mythical creatures, things that look "tough" or "cool" etc.