TOY SHOW: Hasbro introduces MLP Guardians of Harmony

[LadyMoondancer]

LOL, it's not "a line for guys."  Little boys are a negligible part of their demographic.  The only reason Hasbro says "girls and boys" when talking about the audience is so they don't come across as being like "Ew, can you imagine a BOY being into this?  Boys should only play with footballs and Transformers."

[Delphian]

lol PQ you're laughing at us about being consumerists when we all slavishly collect toys here? Come on, that's just disingenuous.

When I was a girl, my brother and I shared all our toys. I loved He-Man, TMNT, Transformers, and anything dinosaur-related to play with. We had TMNT riding into battle on ponies all the time. This line so isn't just for boys or bronies specifically. This is for families that share their toys. I'm sure lots of people with siblings did the same thing my family did!

[ponyqueen]

lol PQ you're laughing at us about being consumerists when we all slavishly collect toys here? Come on, that's just disingenuous.

lol I know...sorry if my comment sounded kinda pointy fingers cynical/hypocritical, but I was being sincere. I do applaud Hasbro (or any company) for innovation and business success. I capitalism! I want Hasbro to succeed in any marketing venture of course, because ponies! 

[Delphian]

lol PQ you're laughing at us about being consumerists when we all slavishly collect toys here? Come on, that's just disingenuous.

lol I know...sorry if my comment sounded kinda pointy fingers cynical/hypocritical, but I was being sincere. I do applaud Hasbro (or any company) for innovation and business success. I capitalism! I want Hasbro to succeed in any marketing venture of course, because ponies! 

Yeah, it came off more than a little mean-spirited. I mean, this thread is basically a Yay/Boo on if we're planning on buying more toys or not so it just seemed like a weird comment to me. Glad you didn't mean it that way! I'm all for Hasbro's capitalism too if it means a chance at more brushables getting released down the line.

I think we just need to keep in mind that Hasbro branching out and trying different things like this is what's keeping them afloat. I was never a fan of EQ, but they're their own line and their success is not destroying the ponies I love.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

I think we just need to keep in mind that Hasbro branching out and trying different things like this is what's keeping them afloat. I was never a fan of EQ, but they're their own line and their success is not destroying the ponies I love.

I wish more people felt his way. This comment is the most logical thing I've seen since this thread popped up. Claiming that one line of toys is essentially bringing about the end of another line -that has nothing to do with it- is silly.

[Malicieuse]

I think we just need to keep in mind that Hasbro branching out and trying different things like this is what's keeping them afloat. I was never a fan of EQ, but they're their own line and their success is not destroying the ponies I love.

I wish more people felt his way. This comment is the most logical thing I've seen since this thread popped up. Claiming that one line of toys is essentially bringing about the end of another line -that has nothing to do with it- is silly.

Did anyone even say that? Complaining about the lack of effort in other parts of the toyline is not the same as claiming that the line will end.

[Wardah]

Something that also REALLY bothers me about these: Why do they look so angry? It's so painfully obvious that they're trying really hard to make these look 'edgy' and as 'non-threatening to dudes' as possible, which is both hilarious and sad to me.
Even the action figures I own and most of the others that I have seen don't have "GrRR iM HaRdCoRe!!!" expressions like these do. I'm looking at a few of my own Transformers figures right now, all of which came with weapons like guns and swords and stuff and even they look calm and cheerful in comparison to these ponies.

That too. Someone mentioned a comparison to She-Ra, but those toys didn't have such aggressive expressions I don't think. I'm certainly not opposed to more aggressive fighting-type figures for girls, maybe not even for MLP, but since there's already a large fanbase trying to ignore/erase any traces of it being feminine or for girls, this feels like pushing the boundaries for the wrong reasons.

I'm not gonna talk about those static princess renders because I think they might just be to show which characters they plan to do. But the only good guy with an angry face is Twily. And tbh while I love the concept it does bug me that the hero has such a mean expression. I don't even see boy oriented brands doing that except maybe TMNT. Tho maybe it's mentioned to be a silly grin and they kinda just missed the mark.

I really don't think it has anything to do with bronies since they are actually less a thing then they were in the past. Feminist voices have been strongly critical of toy companies lately. Hasbro wants to seem progressive by making action-y toys for girls. In the end these will probably still be in the pink MLP aisle.

Tho if they are doing stuff inspired by comics where are my Jem dolls? Surely if Barbie can have diverse bodies Jem could too.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

Did anyone even say that? Complaining about the lack of effort in other parts of the toyline is not the same as claiming that the line will end.

I'm not digging through 9 pages to find exact quotes, but I definitely saw people complaining that there "probably won't be any new brushables" based solely off of this one teaser we got...and the Toy Fair hasn't even started yet. One comment that does stick out in my mind was something like "Looks like Hasbro is getting rid of brushables altogether." Seems a bit dramatic, if you ask me.

edit: Page 3 has the comment I was talking about. Just so you don't think I'm making this up for the sake of an argument.

I agree that brushables are obviously not getting the attention that they used to get, but who are we to say that they're going to get rid of them completely? If brushables aren't selling well for one reason or another and these other lines are, it makes total sense to focus on what's making money. Yes, I think it's their fault for not giving us enough new characters in brushable form to begin with (at least not like how they did during the first year of FiM), but there must be something they know that we don't to make them not want to expand on the brushables.

[Dragonflitter]

If you look at the amount of brushables that came out when the MLP: FiM line first ran, and then look at it now, competing with the blind bags and the small molded toys and the EG dolls, it IS obvious that the brushables are getting less attention than before. This Guardians of Harmony is just another factor that proves Hasbro is moving away from brushables to expand the line with various other types of toys. Specifically they are moving away from the nylon hair and more doing molded hair now (even the EG line has a bunch of molded hair vinyls now). People are not just making up stuff to argue about it, they're basing their opinions on what has been going on in the toy line for YEARS.

That being said, I had no idea this toy line was specifically to be paired with a new comic book series coming out soon. The comics are definitely different than the show. (But to answer someone's question from a few pages back, no, Chrysalis does not have a dagger she uses in the comic, or anything like that.)

I too wonder if this line will show up in toy stores at all, or just specialty shops. (If they had said /that/ in the article that was released, I think everyone's reactions would be a lot different! Right now we're just stuck speculating.)

[Wardah]

If you look at the amount of brushables that came out when the MLP: FiM line first ran, and then look at it now, competing with the blind bags and the small molded toys and the EG dolls, it IS obvious that the brushables are getting less attention than before. This Guardians of Harmony is just another factor that proves Hasbro is moving away from brushables to expand the line with various other types of toys. Specifically they are moving away from the nylon hair and more doing molded hair now (even the EG line has a bunch of molded hair vinyls now). People are not just making up stuff to argue about it, they're basing their opinions on what has been going on in the toy line for YEARS.

That being said, I had no idea this toy line was specifically to be paired with a new comic book series coming out soon. The comics are definitely different than the show. (But to answer someone's question from a few pages back, no, Chrysalis does not have a dagger she uses in the comic, or anything like that.)

I too wonder if this line will show up in toy stores at all, or just specialty shops. (If they had said /that/ in the article that was released, I think everyone's reactions would be a lot different! Right now we're just stuck speculating.)

I think these are still going to appear in toy aisles but I suspect they are a replacement for the FIM Collection. Those haven't been doing all that well because there really isn't much that can be done with them. The brushables you can at least brush their hair and these new ones can pose.

[Sunset]

People are not just making up stuff to argue about it, they're basing their opinions on what has been going on in the toy line for YEARS.

This.

True we haven't seen the toy fair yet.  But based on last year's selection, I doubt that we will see more than 2 new single brushables for the year.  And I'm betting they will be the two that some people here keep reminding us that have yet to come out. There might be some new characters for the TRU set but that will be it.  The rest will be the mane 6 and the princesses.  Again.  And some of those items may not show up at all.  Remember pop Big Mac?   Or that may not show up in the US like Holly Dash.  Or they may only be available online like Coco Pommel or  Octavia eg/pony.

Compare that to any average year during G3 (before core 7) or g1 when there would be no less than 15-20 new unique characters per year.

 MLP is a pie.  Brushables use to be the entire pie. Every time Hasbro introduces a new line of toys, that takes up another slice of pie.   And even if the pie is bigger now than in the past,  if you only have 1/5 of the pie that is still less than the whole pie when it was smaller.

That's why there is concern every time Habro cuts up the pie into more directions.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

See, I get that, but I'm also a firm believer that things can change drastically over the years. Although we, as collectors, may like brushables, that doesn't mean that the main target audience enjoys them as much as we do. Complaining about Hasbro supposedly "catering" to one demographic (usually the bronies get blamed for this) but not giving us brushables because we want them just seems hypocritical, imo.

Do any of you know for sure that most little kids these days want ponies with hair that can be brushed? Or do they not care either way? Are they more into the jointed toys, or are they okay with toys that are in the same poses all the time? I'm sure these are questions that Hasbro has the answers to, no matter how much we speculate about what we think is best for them.

Yes, you can be upset that you aren't getting the toys that you want. Once again, I completely understand that since I like the brushables as well. But every time a thread pops up about a new G4 toy, complaining that "oh boy, another not brushable" isn't going to change things. It's almost like people want those of us who like these toys to feel bad, because they aren't brushables, and those aren't ponies, and we should want real ponies, not these silly things with hair that you can't even brush.

Also G4 isn't G1. Or G2 or G3. None of those gens are like the other, and they shouldn't be. What worked for those generations may not necessarily work in 2016. I personally think these will be a huge hit with little boys and little girls, as well as adults. I can't say for certain since they haven't been released yet, but I've been seeing pretty positive comments on these in other places and I have to say that that's pretty exciting. There were people even saying that they haven't cared much for the toys up until this point, which to me says that Hasbro is doing something right.

I'm definitely not putting down anyone who prefers brushables over molded hair. That's absolutely not what I'm doing here. I'm just saying that maybe, just maybe, the demand for brushables isn't as big as you think it ought to be.

The character selection is a different story entirely. I 100% agree that we need to see more characters get toys and not just the same ones. I would very much like for them to give us a variety of characters in brushable form, and then branch out from there. I really really like this new line of toys, but I hope that there will be more ponies and villains to buy other than the ones we were given a peek at. Getting a changeling is actually kinda nice, but let's get some of the other ponies that have popped up in the comics (although I'm not sure who all will take part in this new series).

[Al-1701]

I wonder if, in this new comic, Twilight will have that expression in every frame.

Rainbow Dash:  "Don't you ever smile?"
Twilight:  "This is me smiling."

It's no hypocritical for people to want brushables because a) they're the core of the brand (ponies with molded hair are like Transformers that can't turn by converted into vehicles) and b) we've been loyal to this brand for decades, but, because we don't grab national attention like bronies, Hasbro ignores us.

A line like this suggests Hasbro has fully embraced this tangent of making My Little Pony "cool."  Look at them beating up on changelings.  It would have been nice if they had made an anti-changeling force out of a new batch of ponies.  However, its these same characters yet again.  How about expanding the character selection instead of doing another gimmick?

[Rainbowrific Renia]

I will say this: blaming bronies is getting old. If these toys are made to coincide with the comics, then that has nothing to do with that particular group of fans. This is a line of toys for the fans of the comics and those fans aren't limited to just bronies. Yes, the comics are slightly more mature in tone than the show itself, but that doesn't mean it was meant for just bronies.

And, at the end of the day, Hasbro is still making money and that's probably all they really care about, being a business and all. I believe they actually saw an increase in sales for MLP last year? At least that what I read.

But I digress. I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

To stay on topic, I'll just say that I like the look of these toys and I have my fingers crossed that we see more from this line during the Toy Fair this weekend, specifically some different characters. I also hope that these see a wide release and don't get skipped in some places like past lines have. I think more than anything that the real problem is Hasbro's distribution... it's pretty terrible.

[mopthebunny]

I will say this: blaming bronies is getting old. If these toys are made to coincide with the comics, then that has nothing to do with that particular group of fans. This is a line of toys for the fans of the comics and those fans aren't limited to just bronies. Yes, the comics are slightly more mature in tone than the show itself, but that doesn't mean it was meant for just bronies.

And, at the end of the day, Hasbro is still making money and that's probably all they really care about, being a business and all. I believe they actually saw an increase in sales for MLP last year? At least that what I read.

But I digress. I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

To stay on topic, I'll just say that I like the look of these toys and I have my fingers crossed that we see more from this line during the Toy Fair this weekend, specifically some different characters. I also hope that these see a wide release and don't get skipped in some places like past lines have. I think more than anything that the real problem is Hasbro's distribution... it's pretty terrible.

You know, I was going to say this very same thing, but it seems you beat be to it

Anyway, REALLY looking foreward to these. Especially the Changeling and giant Spike

Anyone else hoping this line will bring more boy ponies? Looks hopeful to me