The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Aquatic Neon on April 21, 2016, 09:13:15 AM
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Funko we need our ponies back! Please sign this petition if you would like for Funko to release the Queen Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon Vinyl figures, and continue making more MLP characters in the future. Or if you would like to support the collectors out there! Save what was going to be and what could be! http://www.change.org/p/6383783 Thanks for the picture donations! Be sure to use the #savethefunkoponies as well!
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I have been a bit out of the loop. Did they really discontinue them?
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Bah. Queen Chrysalis was the only one I wanted. X_X
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I signed!
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Not officially but apparently they never officially say when a line is canceled. However it has been too long without any new ones announced so it is the only conclusion that can be drawn outside of a SDCC surprise.
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Yeah, Funko doesn't seem to officially announce when a line ends, but signs are pointing to this one being over. Especially since we just found out that Celestia and Luna have already been vaulted (meaning they only got one run and won't be produced again), and it's been a very long time (comparatively) since the release of Maud and Cheese Sandwich.
I think this so silly, though. Funko could've seen major sales with NMM and Chrysalis.
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Good idea- but lets focus on Hot Topic and Barnes n Noble and anywhere else that Funko products are sold!
It doesn't matter if we tell Funko a billion times we love and want various products- if the retailers are not willing to buy- they won't make them. They don't do direct sales- their customers are retailers...
So lets pester places like Barnes n Nobles and Hot Topic and wherever else these things are sold to order Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon from Funko-
I do worry though that the production cost was too high- why else would they have discontinued Luna and Celestia so early? THey are already on the Funko discontinued list, and most of the other newer ponies are not- so I see that as a bad sign for similarly complicated figures like NM and CHrys
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They were gonna make Zecora, Starlight Glimmer, King Sombra and Sunset Shimmer? D8 I can't believe they didn't... And I agree with Galactica about production cost.
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I have been a bit out of the loop. Did they really discontinue them?
Yes heard from at least two very reliable sources, one who works for Funko and works on the ponies. It's really sad Galactica you made a good point I should add Barnes and TRU and maybe even Target to list!
Post Merge: April 21, 2016, 11:24:24 AM
They were gonna make Zecora, Starlight Glimmer, King Sombra and Sunset Shimmer? D8 I can't believe they didn't... And I agree with Galactica about production cost.
Possibly ones I thought would be hot sellers unfortunately Maud Pie and Cheese weren't the best choices and the Cmc should not have been released all together it was too easy and quick to get them all.. The sales probably struggled and that's probably part of why this is happening.
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I signed.
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I appreciate all the signatures everyone means a lot you don't have to use your real name if you don't want to you can simply put a pony or something :)
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o_0 This is surprising! I've always seen the Funko MLP sales to be crazy. Especially with the chase figures. Is there a chance they are just going to focus on the minis from now on? It seems like the production costs on those might be lower.
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o_0 This is surprising! I've always seen the Funko MLP sales to be crazy. Especially with the chase figures. Is there a chance they are just going to focus on the minis from now on? It seems like the production costs on those might be lower.
Minis are done as well as far as I know. :( in hoping they would at least release NMM and QC at SDCC... We can only hope... Another thing that may have happened is Hasbro decided to cut ties and didn't want to compete with Funko with their new GOH line..
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If it was because of sales reasons, I am not too surprised. I know the last two waves were basically shelf-sitting at my HT stores, especially the MaudCheese wave. I am almost certain that a few stores near me still have the recent funko mini figures. Plus, there is the whole MLP craze basically dying down, at far as HT's "keep what is popular in the stores" thing goes.
That said, they should have at least released NMM and Chrysalis. :( I think the line would have been more successfull if they were released first before MaudCheese. Part of me thinks they'll get a SDCC release.
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Really? They aren't sitting on the shelves here! My local Hot Topic doesn't have any of the large figures any more, they sold out a while ago. As for the mini boxes, I see them in my local TRU, Walmart (occasionally), Target, Hot Topic and Books-a-Million. They sell out frequently and get new boxes in pretty regularly. That's why I'm so surprised!
Sad that the line is retired, whatever the reason.
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o_0 This is surprising! I've always seen the Funko MLP sales to be crazy. Especially with the chase figures. Is there a chance they are just going to focus on the minis from now on? It seems like the production costs on those might be lower.
Minis are done as well as far as I know. :( in hoping they would at least release NMM and QC at SDCC... We can only hope... Another thing that may have happened is Hasbro decided to cut ties and didn't want to compete with Funko with their new GOH line..
I highly doubt the new GoH line has anything to do with this. The pony vinyls were still licensed by Hasbro, and they'd be making money regardless. I'm thinking it's more that the last few releases of vinyl ponies weren't big sellers, and the production costs greatly outweighed the money that was actually being made from sales.
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In my area, I think the last wave I saw that really sold was the CelestiaLuna or ShiningCadance (whichever one came out last). I know the CMCs kinda sat around for a while, and definitely the MaudCheese wave sat around longer than that. I know one of my Walmarts still has some of the big funko ponies that came out from those earlier waves.
In a way, I think the figures having a Chase variant kinda worked against them, at least later on. Along with that "six month wait". :(
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Shared link all over the FB mlp groups .
wow is sad to see a line end like this, I was sure we will be getting NMM and QC since we saw their Protos and we got their Minis as well.
;)
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LOL you stole my name :P hehehe
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Eh, my wallet, limited space, and my pony-aversed boyfriend are actually happy that Funko stopped the ponies.
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Is that for the full-sized Funkos or does that include the minis as well?
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I wish they would have at least finished releasing the mane six as pops, I want an Applejack pop!
I will sign the petition but I know locally they have just been sitting on the shelf unfortunately I don't think we ever got Celestia and Luna in the store (ordered online) but we still have regular and blue flu Discord, the cutie mark crusaders and Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich just at Hot Topic. I found Octavia both regular and chase versions at Barnes and Nobles on clearance for $4 each this past weekend, I know TRU has had Spitfire and Bonbon sitting for years unsold here.
Maybe they will at least do them as SDCC exclusives? Or maybe try chatting up Amazon as they previously sold some Funko pony exclusives.
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I hope the minis are alright too...those are my favorite, and I still have many I want to buy. :( I have not been able to find many, have yet to check the book stores though.
At my HT, there are plenty of larger figures. I...am not a fan of pops. I only find a few pony ones cute. >_<
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This is such a bummer!
They were really getting into having exciting characters too...it's the worst time for this announcement. I guess I just don't understand Funko, like people have said before on this thread.
Why did they choose certain characters to make first?
Why not go for the ones that would be really hot sellers?
Like, MAUD...really? Before Nightmare Moon? Before Chrysalis or even Sunset Shimmer?
Not that Maud is bad!
She's not! She's not my favorite character, but her design is nice enough. The HT figure looks fine, and I'll eventually try to get her. However, it doesn't make any sense to favor her over Nightmare Moon or Luna who is in a lot more episodes and who has a lot more fans both kid and adult. Same thing with Dr. Whooves. I know Whooves was a superminor background character so that release was totally brony-driven (only way to explain why he got out before Big Mac) but who exactly was clamoring for more Maud merch right now/in the past/when her ep aired? It's like they were paying 100% of attention to the fans at the start (@W$%# pony, Whooves, Pinkie, Lyra) and then totally stopped, becoming clueless somehow.
If their designs were faltering, why not a poll for who would you buy?
Maud or Sunset?
Cheese or Nightmare Moon?
Sweetiebelle or Chrysalis?
Applebloom or Sombra?
Scootaloo or Zecora?
(And show art of how they wanted it to look for both, so you wouldn't misrepresent...)
I also hated the sculpts on their Cutie Mark Crusaders. Insectiod little things that didn't look enough like the characters from the show to make me consider getting them. Ever. (Like that DAP Scootaloo where she has a baby head and an adult body and looks like one of Discord's failed experiments because cheap$$) Cheese I thought was funny & cool to see him in the show and all, but the character design to me just isn't that collectible/want him staring from my shelf.
I hope this petition and action works!
It's a good idea, and I would LOVE to see Zecora, NMM, rerelease Celestia/Luna (I wanted them most of all and never got) Chrysalis, and Sunset Shimmer. There are so many exciting characters yet to choose.
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If it was because of sales reasons, I am not too surprised. I know the last two waves were basically shelf-sitting at my HT stores, especially the MaudCheese wave.
Same. The HT nearest me has totally gotten rid of all the ponies except some stray Mauds that are shelf-warming. It's all Funko Pops now.
Really? They aren't sitting on the shelves here! My local Hot Topic doesn't have any of the large figures any more, they sold out a while ago. As for the mini boxes, I see them in my local TRU, Walmart (occasionally), Target, Hot Topic and Books-a-Million. They sell out frequently and get new boxes in pretty regularly. That's why I'm so surprised!
Sad that the line is retired, whatever the reason.
I guess it really depends on the region. The Maud and Cheese wave here didn't seem popular. At least Maud really wasn't. I haven't seen a Cheese around in a long time. When I go into HT and Barnes and Noble now, it's always Maud, Twilight, Trixie, and Big Mac that are around. They just aren't selling here for some reason. :huh:
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I'm skeptical about the effectiveness of petitions, but I signed. I certainly wish you well with your efforts! I see you're promoting it on Twitter (?) with the hashtag? That's definitely a good start! Are you promoting it on other popular sites as well, such as Facebook and Tumblr? There are lots of Pony fans there.
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I do not collect the Funko ponies, but I signed anyway because I enjoy seeing them. ^_^
If their designs were faltering, why not a poll for who would you buy?
Maud or Sunset?
Cheese or Nightmare Moon?
Sweetiebelle or Chrysalis?
Applebloom or Sombra?
Scootaloo or Zecora?
(And show art of how they wanted it to look for both, so you wouldn't misrepresent...)
Awesome idea.
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I think the pony craze among adults is slowing down from the heyday, and Hot Topic cycles through their pop culture bits quite often. I'm not surprised that Funko started to see dropping sales and decided to discontinue the line, particularly given the fact that their main retailer decided not to carry them anymore.
I'm sorry to see them go though! I really loved the mystery minis :(
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Wow, I hope they continue making them. I was thinking of getting Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon, the prototypes look stunning.
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I signed it. I think we can share this petition on our MLPMerch social media pages. :)
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I still think they might release some Minis when the movie comes out.
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Do we have any proof of the discontinuation?
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Do we have any proof of the discontinuation?
If you mean in the form of Funko officially saying something, then no. We're probably never going to get an official word from them. They never announce when they discontinue lines, it just sorta happens. They've done this before with other products: released prototypes, but no actual product. The proof is that it's been several months since the last two ponies were released, Hot Topic saying that they won't be picking up the ponies anymore, and Luna and Celestia, two popular characters, being vaulted on the official Funko site after having only one run. Not to mention the baffling decision to give us Maud and Cheese Sandwich, when the prototypes for those two and Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were popping up at the same time. The last two waves of ponies have been shelf warmers for the most part, and earlier waves of ponies are still sitting around at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, etc. At this point, it's basically just connecting dots...unless they surprise us and make NMM and Chrysalis SDCC exclusives this summer.
It's been mentioned a few times now, but production costs vs. actual money being made is likely the issue.
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Oh wow, I had no idea they were doing that poorly. I haven't seen Funkos around where I shop, apart from in some gaming shop (and from what I saw, they only had early releases like Pinkie Pie). Still, it seems like a shame that the line would be discontinued. I agree with you guys that Maud and Cheese were probably not great choices for figures. I like both of those characters in the show, but I don't find either of their designs particularly appealing and wouldn't really want to buy merch of them :\
NMM and Chrysalis, on the other hand... Those would probably be the only two I'd rather have over a brushable version! Since their manes really don't work in normal hair. The prototypes looked gorgeous as well. It would really be sad if they never got released ><
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Do we have any proof of the discontinuation?
Like Renia said they don't really announce when they end a line, but we have confirmation from a couple very reliable sources including a Funko designer who worked on the ponies she's said "last I heard those were being cancelled"
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Aw, that's a shame, I signed it even though I am doubtful about the ability of petitions to do anything. (Localize Ace Attorney Investigations 2, never forget...) Hopefully we will see at least a few more!
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No, Funko does not officially announce the discontinuation of a line...I was very very into one of their lines, but there was a year and a half hiatus...We kept on getting strung along with promises like "just waiting to get the paint approved!" peppered in between months of silence, and then there was just silence. Finally now after more than a year, one of the designers answered the question of whether the line had any hope of coming back: "Not at this point, sorry". I wish they put us out of our misery quick with an official word, lol!
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So ... they made Cheese Sandwich and Maud before Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon??? :P I thought 'villains are popular' was sort of a well known fact in almost every fandom around! And they didn't get made before a one-off character, ouch!
Sorry to hear they're shutting down production, but I will be honest - there were so many of them released, so frequently, that I stopped trying to keep up around the time Octavia came out. :/ I never even got Rarity, my favorite pony! (Didn't help that she was released so late, too!) I wish they had gone a bit slower, perhaps, but I guess you gotta strike while the iron is hot with fads. :(
I also wanted to add... I never liked how Funko did their chase stuff. :P Maybe I'm a fuddy-duddy, but I like being able to know what I'm getting, and not have to blow hundreds of dollars on a case of blind boxes in the hopes of getting the chase figure I need!
But I do hope your petition succeeds!! Or we at least get an SDCC exclusive or something!
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An important french brony news website just talked about the petition :
https://www.leponeyblanc.fr/urgent-sauvons-les-funko-my-little-pony/
(i don't know if i have the rights to post this link... tell me if i haven't and i'll remove it)
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That's fantastic the numbers are growing rapidly! We are over 350 now! Keep it up everyone!! Mlp mercy has also posted on their site which is fantastic! I'm going to try and get EQD tonight! That would sure help boost even faster!! Fans check that daily!
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If you can get /that/ site to put it up, you'll get your 2k signatures easily!
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If you get enough signatures that should at least convince them that a limited run would be worth it.
I'm kinda more disappointed about the Hikari. Those actually sold well so I dunno why we never got more than Rainbow Dash.
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I think the pony phase is over, They just announced that Funko will be producing Sailor Moon figures.
which is unfortunate cause I was waiting for NMM and Chrysalis to complete the ones I wanted D:
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I think the pony phase is over, They just announced that Funko will be producing Sailor Moon figures.
which is unfortunate cause I was waiting for NMM and Chrysalis to complete the ones I wanted D:
You mean the Sailor Moon POP! figures that are already in stores, or something else?
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I signed. I really love the Funko minis and want to see more of those. I wasn't at all interested in the regular sized Maud/Cheese Sandwich releases but I was really looking forward to getting Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon in that size. :/
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What matters to Funko is sales, not a petition that a bunch of people signed because from a business standpoint that means nothing. Just because people sign something that doesn't mean they will spend money on it. I'm sure there were people who wanted so badly for Funko to make Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich, but when Funko did that they did not drop a dime on either of them. The past few releases for these have been proven to be a bust because no one wanted Cheese or Maud just like no one wanted CMC. Instead of selling out super quickly they just ended up becoming shelf warmers and when that happens to a product that ends up costing the company money.
In short your petition shouldn't be to retailers or Funko themselves, but to the consumers. If you can convince them to spend the money on this line again then, and only then, will you get Funko's attention.
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I signed....man I was really looking forward to nightmare moon...darn -_-
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What matters to Funko is sales, not a petition that a bunch of people signed because from a business standpoint that means nothing. Just because people sign something that doesn't mean they will spend money on it. I'm sure there were people who wanted so badly for Funko to make Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich, but when Funko did that they did not drop a dime on either of them. The past few releases for these have been proven to be a bust because no one wanted Cheese or Maud just like no one wanted CMC. Instead of selling out super quickly they just ended up becoming shelf warmers and when that happens to a product that ends up costing the company money.
In short your petition shouldn't be to retailers or Funko themselves, but to the consumers. If you can convince them to spend the money on this line again then, and only then, will you get Funko's attention.
The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.
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The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.
I am guessing they went with MaudCheese due to thinking the brony crowd would buy them, especially with how popular Maud became in a short amount of time.
I didn't even think Cheese Sandwich was all that popular to start, even though I do like the character himself.
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The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.
I am guessing they went with MaudCheese due to thinking the brony crowd would buy them, especially with how popular Maud became in a short amount of time.
I didn't even think Cheese Sandwich was all that popular to start, even though I do like the character himself.
They should have done what I Love Fine did with the chibis and had a poll. Because honestly this decision to run Cheese and Maud first has made them lose money.
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Just another sign of how MLP is finally starting to drift from pop culture... *dances* Perhaps G5 will be around the corner!
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Just another sign of how MLP is finally starting to drift from pop culture... *dances* Perhaps G5 will be around the corner!
With the movie coming out next year and lots of new toys yet to be released (not to mention that Hasbro's recent financial statement said the ponies are still doing well), I doubt it. Whether you like it or not, the ponies are still popular even if the brony crowd thins out...
But yeah, I still think the major issues here are production costs and choice of characters to release first. Seeing as Funko is releasing those weird pony MyMojis soon, they clearly still have the license and are just moving in a different direction with it.
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Just another sign of how MLP is finally starting to drift from pop culture...
Thank goodness!
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Just another sign of how MLP is finally starting to drift from pop culture... *dances* Perhaps G5 will be around the corner!
With the movie coming out next year and lots of new toys yet to be released (not to mention that Hasbro's recent financial statement said the ponies are still doing well), I doubt it. Whether you like it or not, the ponies are still popular even if the brony crowd thins out...
But yeah, I still think the major issues here are production costs and choice of characters to release first. Seeing as Funko is releasing those weird pony MyMojis soon, they clearly still have the license and are just moving in a different direction with it.
There's a difference between leaving the pop culture scene and becoming irrelevant.
I think what we're seeing is the end of the experiment of Hasbro essentially exporting their work to third party companies. Companies like Funko were making actual pony figurines which should be Hasbro's job. Now, it seems they are shifting back to the more classical role of making more peripheral merchandise. Hopefully, not able to just pass the buck to other companies, Hasbro will concentrate more on make their own stuff both better and with more variety.
The failure of Maud and Cheese Sandwich also suggests fad chasing has finally proven unprofitable. These characters come in, generate a lot of noise, and fade away. Really, neither Maud or Cheese Sandwich are all that nice to look at. The real appeal was the former sounds like Raven and the latter is voiced by Weird Al.
We also have to remember, Hasbro has the inertia was a small planet. They are very slow to answering to one of their "brilliant plans" going wrong. G4 is still successful enough to keep going. However, this hopefully means the influence of bronies is on the wane, and the brand will refocus on being a brand for children (and the adults who are children at heart).
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Just another sign of how MLP is finally starting to drift from pop culture... *dances* Perhaps G5 will be around the corner!
With the movie coming out next year and lots of new toys yet to be released (not to mention that Hasbro's recent financial statement said the ponies are still doing well), I doubt it. Whether you like it or not, the ponies are still popular even if the brony crowd thins out...
But yeah, I still think the major issues here are production costs and choice of characters to release first. Seeing as Funko is releasing those weird pony MyMojis soon, they clearly still have the license and are just moving in a different direction with it.
There's a difference between leaving the pop culture scene and becoming irrelevant.
I think what we're seeing is the end of the experiment of Hasbro essentially exporting their work to third party companies. Companies like Funko were making actual pony figurines which should be Hasbro's job. Now, it seems they are shifting back to the more classical role of making more peripheral merchandise. Hopefully, not able to just pass the buck to other companies, Hasbro will concentrate more on make their own stuff both better and with more variety.
The failure of Maud and Cheese Sandwich also suggests fad chasing has finally proven unprofitable. These characters come in, generate a lot of noise, and fade away. Really, neither Maud or Cheese Sandwich are all that nice to look at. The real appeal was the former sounds like Raven and the latter is voiced by Weird Al.
We also have to remember, Hasbro has the inertia was a small planet. They are very slow to answering to one of their "brilliant plans" going wrong. G4 is still successful enough to keep going. However, this hopefully means the influence of bronies is on the wane, and the brand will refocus on being a brand for children (and the adults who are children at heart).
Tbh it seems Funko is shifting a little bit of their focus to a more Claires than Hot Topic audience. They have noticed the Mystery Minis are turning out to be popular with tween youtubers. (Could it be that girls aren't outgrowing the cartoon as much?) That's why they are also bringing out the Mojis. Tweens supposedly love emojis. That's also why we will probably see more Mystery Minis for the movie.
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I don't get the "craze" with Emojis. They're the Smiley Face with a little more detail.
And if tweens are staying with this cartoon, I wonder if that is why we've seen more new characters in the main line. Try to get them to go out and buy ponies again.
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Ah okay. Yeah, I agree that seeing the end of the brony influence on ponies will be nice. I still think that's the only reason we got Maud and Cheese Sandwich in the first place. I really can't think of any other reason why we got them before the obvious big sellers.
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I do admit that I am glad the MLP brony craze is dying down, if in part because some of the 'brony' merchandise was obnoxious/"loud". Especially the shirts. ^^'
And this is coming from someone that LOVES graphic tees.
I don't get the "craze" with Emojis. They're the Smiley Face with a little more detail.
And if tweens are staying with this cartoon, I wonder if that is why we've seen more new characters in the main line. Try to get them to go out and buy ponies again.
I don't get the Emoji craze, either. Especially when it comes to the "poop" one.
Maybe Hasbro is finally realizing they should maybe release other characters besides the mane 6 and princesses all of the time. I do hope distribution gets better - they did good for Starlight Glimmer(? - name escapes me at the moment), but its a shame Holly Dash basically got skipped in the States.
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What matters to Funko is sales, not a petition that a bunch of people signed because from a business standpoint that means nothing. Just because people sign something that doesn't mean they will spend money on it. I'm sure there were people who wanted so badly for Funko to make Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich, but when Funko did that they did not drop a dime on either of them. The past few releases for these have been proven to be a bust because no one wanted Cheese or Maud just like no one wanted CMC. Instead of selling out super quickly they just ended up becoming shelf warmers and when that happens to a product that ends up costing the company money.
In short your petition shouldn't be to retailers or Funko themselves, but to the consumers. If you can convince them to spend the money on this line again then, and only then, will you get Funko's attention.
The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.
Did I ever once say people weren't buying because they don't like Funkos? No. You sort of missed my point altogether.
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It's unfortunate that they discontinued. I was so looking forward to Nightmare Moon :( But I can understand why. A couple of people have mentioned that Hot Topic has stopped carrying them. While I'm sure part of it is moving onto the next big pop culture phenomenon, I feel like part of it also has to do with some people purchasing 24 of each character in hopes to get the glitter chase, then returning the rest. That is a huge lose for Hot Topic and Funko. They see a huge spike in sales, and then have to return a portion of it. For every person who bought 24, got their glitter, then returned the remaining 23, that is roughly $460. Couple that with characters who aren't that popular (seriously, I agree with you all who have brought up Maud and Cheese before NMM and Chrysalis?), declining interest, and a switch to a new pop culture series. I'm sad that they are gone, they are really wonderful figures when their quality control is good. And I do hope that petition works. I'd love to see Nightmare Moon!
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It's unfortunate that they discontinued. I was so looking forward to Nightmare Moon :( But I can understand why. A couple of people have mentioned that Hot Topic has stopped carrying them. While I'm sure part of it is moving onto the next big pop culture phenomenon, I feel like part of it also has to do with some people purchasing 24 of each character in hopes to get the glitter chase, then returning the rest. That is a huge lose for Hot Topic and Funko. They see a huge spike in sales, and then have to return a portion of it. For every person who bought 24, got their glitter, then returned the remaining 23, that is roughly $460. Couple that with characters who aren't that popular (seriously, I agree with you all who have brought up Maud and Cheese before NMM and Chrysalis?), declining interest, and a switch to a new pop culture series. I'm sad that they are gone, they are really wonderful figures when their quality control is good. And I do hope that petition works. I'd love to see Nightmare Moon!
HT implemented "bulk policies" for anyone who purchased more than 4 of any items , they had a different process to go through , and HT could very and Did declined returns on the scenario you mentioned ,so no, that is not a reason,the reason is that they probably just did not want to pay the expense on ordering these plus the characters they chose to produce were not that popular as probably NMM and QC,so it could be also related to Funko license cost from Hasbro to continue with the production of them.
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What matters to Funko is sales, not a petition that a bunch of people signed because from a business standpoint that means nothing. Just because people sign something that doesn't mean they will spend money on it. I'm sure there were people who wanted so badly for Funko to make Maud Pie and Cheese Sandwich, but when Funko did that they did not drop a dime on either of them. The past few releases for these have been proven to be a bust because no one wanted Cheese or Maud just like no one wanted CMC. Instead of selling out super quickly they just ended up becoming shelf warmers and when that happens to a product that ends up costing the company money.
In short your petition shouldn't be to retailers or Funko themselves, but to the consumers. If you can convince them to spend the money on this line again then, and only then, will you get Funko's attention.
The last 2 waves were terrible choices to be honest. Lots of people don't care for Maud or Cheese but were really excited for NMM and Crys. People weren't buying them because they didn't like the characters they chose not because they don't like Funkos.
Did I ever once say people weren't buying because they don't like Funkos? No. You sort of missed my point altogether.
Funko didn't lose money on Cheese and Maud tho. If anyone lost money it was the retailers because they were stuck with the product. Unless a product is defective they can't return it to the manufacturer so their only option is to keep it shelf warming or clearance it out and lose money. After Cheese and Maud's poor performance the retailers didn't want to take a chance and order as many ponies. After all why order something if nobody is gonna want them. So without enough orders to justify manufacturing them Funko just cancelled them outright.
I do think the only good that might come out of this is if Funko sees enough interest in NMM and Crys they might make them for SDCC since that's pretty much the only time they sell directly to fans.
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I'm sad they dangle the prototypes of NMM and Chrysalis in front of us, and see this news. At least give us these, Funko! x( They were going to be so gorgeous.
Signed the petition, hope it helps :heart:
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I just noticed the Petition page currently says this:
2,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to release NNM, and QC.
5,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to save the whole line!
Do you have any evidence to support this, Aquatic Neon? :\ I feel that if you just chose these numbers arbitrarily and you don't have any indication that Funko actually cares about how many signatures you get, you're kinda spreading false information and fostering false hope.
Do you have any hard evidence that Funko would care at all if you got even a very high number of signatures? As several people pointed out in this thread, signatures don't equal sales. It's easy for someone to click a button on a website and say "Yes I would totally buy them!" But it's a different matter entirely to get people to actually spend that much money on collector's items. For example, I signed the petition but I wouldn't buy the full sized vinyls. I just collect the minis. I'm sure Funko will realize that signatures don't necessarily equal sales. It's entirely possible the company won't care about the petition at all. Unless you've heard otherwise? Did anyone at Funko actually tell you that if you get 2,000 signatures or 5,000 signatures it would change their mind about the cancellation of the line?
I just feel like it's unfair to tell people "Hey if we get 2k signatures we'll get these two figures you really want!" unless you have actual indication that they will release the figures.
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I just noticed the Petition page currently says this:
2,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to release NNM, and QC.
5,000 Signatures hopefully should be able to save the whole line!
Do you have any evidence to support this, Aquatic Neon? :\ I feel that if you just chose these numbers arbitrarily and you don't have any indication that Funko actually cares about how many signatures you get, you're kinda spreading false information and fostering false hope.
Do you have any hard evidence that Funko would care at all if you got even a very high number of signatures? As several people pointed out in this thread, signatures don't equal sales. It's easy for someone to click a button on a website and say "Yes I would totally buy them!" But it's a different matter entirely to get people to actually spend that much money on collector's items. For example, I signed the petition but I wouldn't buy the full sized vinyls. I just collect the minis. I'm sure Funko will realize that signatures don't necessarily equal sales. It's entirely possible the company won't care about the petition at all. Unless you've heard otherwise? Did anyone at Funko actually tell you that if you get 2,000 signatures or 5,000 signatures it would change their mind about the cancellation of the line?
I just feel like it's unfair to tell people "Hey if we get 2k signatures we'll get these two figures you really want!" unless you have actual indication that they will release the figures.
Uuhhhhh yeah. If you haven't made personal contact with a human being at Funko in response to this petition, it's misleading to say that there will be any kind of positive outcome. Any luck with contacting them?
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Yeah. And, as others have pointed out, it was probably retailers who refused to purchase orders of any new full-sized vinyls because they have the last wave still taking up space on their shelves. The petition would have to not just impress Funko but their retailers enough to think they'll get the sales to justify making NMM and Chrysalis.
Though, they could sell them at SDCC and the MLP Fair since that isn't through retailers. It might make a fitting last hoorah for the line.
The problem is Funko done goofed. They dared to chase the brony fad mentality one too many times and got burned. If the full-sized vinyls aren't being purchased by retailers, they're going to concentrate on the minis and these new MyMojis because they can move them.
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I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick, I can remove that if it sounds like it could lead to possible disappointment?
We are doing a good job keep it up eveyone, I'm still working on EQD but they want more proof which unfortunately Funko couldn't provide me. :/ Since they don't share that kind of info.
I also added Toysrus, Target, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Spencers and Kmart!
I just hope we at the very least would be able to get NMM and QC at SDCC this year, its possible!
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Though, they could sell them at SDCC and the MLP Fair since that isn't through retailers. It might make a fitting last hoorah for the line.
Having NMM and/or Crys as MLP Fair exclusives is actually a good idea. At least there is no chance if it being one of the Mane 6 in a costume like last year from Hasbro.
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I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick
They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us. Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.
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I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick
They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us. Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.
Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM
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I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick
They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us. Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.
Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM
That's not the same at all. Did the Clockwork Orange line have a petition and did Funko say for that that X amount of signatures would get them to renew the line? If it did I would like to see proof. I understand how hearing that gave you hope, but you can't make claims that getting X amount of signatures will get Funko to start working on the line again because unless they have personally told you that it's lying.
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I talked to a couple long time Funko collectors and a couple said thats what they thought would do the trick
They're taking as much of a shot in the dark as any of us. Unless Funko themselves come out and say "X signatures will make us consider it" we have no idea.
Right but I think they were refereing to other lines that were cancelled and returned that had similar things like this, apparently the clockwork orange pops that were going through lots of licensing disputes are finally being released after several years.. these kinda of things give me hope, fans were vocal about wanting them and its happening. Same can happen with QC and NMM
That's not the same at all. Did the Clockwork Orange line have a petition and did Funko say for that that X amount of signatures would get them to renew the line? If it did I would like to see proof. I understand how hearing that gave you hope, but you can't make claims that getting X amount of signatures will get Funko to start working on the line again because unless they have personally told you that it's lying.
I heard there was similar petitions, pages, and things. I never made claims of x amount will do anything I said, it may/should never said it will.
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I would die of happiness if they made Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon SDCC exclusives...
but- I fear that will not happen since the last SDCC pony exclusives took so long to sell out.
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At least Guardians of Harmony have an accurate looking Cheeselegs and NMM on the way. The only thing I'm truly sad about is that I doubt GiH will have glitter chases.
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Hello everypony,
I'm not sure if aquaticneon has posted this on here yet, but funko will no longer be making ponies. :cry: I'm just devasted. Aquatic neon made a petition I will post the link on here. Please sign the petition and #save the funko ponies
Www.change.org/p/6383783 (http://Www.change.org/p/6383783)
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Here is the five page thread you are looking for:
http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,378367.0.html
However, keep in mind that NOBODY at Funko has been made aware of this petition, nor have they communicated in any way that "x amount of signatures will change our mind". So the "goals" stated on the petition are a bit erroneous...
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Here is the five page thread you are looking for:
http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,378367.0.html
However, keep in mind that NOBODY at Funko has been made aware of this petition, nor have they communicated in any way that "x amount of signatures will change our mind". So the "goals" stated on the petition are a bit erroneous...
Looks okay to me- the petition says:
The goal currently is to hit 2,000 signatures, to show that we want these back! Every signature makes a difference please share across all social media, to help spread awareness, thank you so much we can do it! Brian we need your help! @OriginalFunko Special thanks to everyone who donated photos, some photos are my own. Be sure to use the hashtag #savethefunkoponies across social media to help spread the word.
Will it make any difference? Maybe about as much difference as any MoveOn petition...Couldn't hurt I suppose.
I think it would be more productive if each person contacted retailers and asked them to carry the Funkos.
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signed!
didn't realize they were stopping. i still haven't gotten a flash sentry! now that's probably a few years out at best, but still. its awesome waiting for these every year.
[Topic merge to keep the discussion in one place ~ Mirn]
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I'm not saying anything against the petition, but I definitely sanction contacting the retailers. A few hundred people submitting online enquiries about funko ponies (name specific items) would at least make the retailers see that maybe there's a market for some, if not all of the characters.
I don't collect funko and I'm not even sure whether these had a UK release, but I think that whether the petition is or isn't successful, the retailers should be made aware of how you guys feel. Because they are a much bigger influence on manufacturing decisions.
Not saying it would definitely do anything, but I don't think it hurts to try.
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I think QC and NMM are still remote possibilities, because the molds have already been made. It really doesn't look too promising though. With stores not reordering, Funco might just cut its losses. Build-a-Bear is emptying out the ponies, now Hot Topic.
Honestly, they would do better focusing on the minis. Funco made some mistakes with the chase figures in the larger pony line. The Hot Topics near here were buried in 'returned merchandise'. People were ordering cases, taking out the chase figure and returning the rest to the local stores. Muffins, Lyra, Sweetie Drops... they sat in the local stores for months. TRU finally clearanced them at $5.00 just recently. When the retailers got burned with unsold product, they didn't order as much in following released. Because there isn't (as far as I'm aware so far) a way to cipher blind box mystery minis, and because of their more affordable price range for impulse buys as well as variety, they get sold very quickly in comparison. Right now, the stores around our area are loaded with hundreds of unsold, unmoving Funcos- not just pony characters. The buying trend for all vinyl figures seems to be slowing here in general.
Maybe............. *possibly* the petition could find its best chance of success if timed out with the upcoming Loyal Subjects pony release. If that line is successful, then perhaps Funco might reconsider with at least the mystery minis- because the loyal subjects are also vinyl and about the same size as Funco minis.
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When I was at one of my nearby Walmart yesterday, they actually had some of the Shining Armor/Princess Cadance funko ponies (and they werent there the last time I was at the store within the last week or so beforehand). At least about...six of them altogether? It was a surprise to me becasue I legit thought they had stopped buying/ordering them since they'd shelf-sit so much.
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When I was at one of my nearby Walmart yesterday, they actually had some of the Shining Armor/Princess Cadance funko ponies (and they werent there the last time I was at the store within the last week or so beforehand). At least about...six of them altogether? It was a surprise to me becasue I legit thought they had stopped buying/ordering them since they'd shelf-sit so much.
You're so lucky the only pony that walmarts get around here is Rainbow Dash and shes a shelf warmer thats all they have... its like well duh thats the reason its not selling! Besides she was the first release... also I should mention I would say only 1 in 4 walmarts actually carry funko ponies..
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I'm not saying anything against the petition, but I definitely sanction contacting the retailers. A few hundred people submitting online enquiries about funko ponies (name specific items) would at least make the retailers see that maybe there's a market for some, if not all of the characters.
I don't collect funko and I'm not even sure whether these had a UK release, but I think that whether the petition is or isn't successful, the retailers should be made aware of how you guys feel. Because they are a much bigger influence on manufacturing decisions.
Not saying it would definitely do anything, but I don't think it hurts to try.
Tbh I think the reason the petition might be useful is because they do sell exclusives at SDCC.
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In my opinion, what matters is that we put our efforts into getting funkos attention. Hopefully they'll see how many of us are willing to purchase their ponies. The signatures may or may not do anything, but it's worth a shot. #savethefunkoponies
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That's really disappointing. Of course I can't expect the line to go on forever, but these two unreleased figures were really unique. There's no decent QC figures on the market right now... and the NMM looks great too!
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Maybe Cheese Sandwich and Maud Pie colours and design were too dull to non-adult G4 collectors , and that's why the sales were poor, since this two ponies looked bland and boring for parents and small kids? :cry:
Maybe if they had released NMM and Chrysalis instead, they could have get better sells? :huh:
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I'm not saying anything against the petition, but I definitely sanction contacting the retailers. A few hundred people submitting online enquiries about funko ponies (name specific items) would at least make the retailers see that maybe there's a market for some, if not all of the characters.
I don't collect funko and I'm not even sure whether these had a UK release, but I think that whether the petition is or isn't successful, the retailers should be made aware of how you guys feel. Because they are a much bigger influence on manufacturing decisions.
Not saying it would definitely do anything, but I don't think it hurts to try.
Tbh I think the reason the petition might be useful is because they do sell exclusives at SDCC.
But it is way too late for this SDCC I'm afraid. It can take 6-9 months from the time of ordering to when shipments arrive of a product for a smallish company like Funko, so they would have had to have made the decision quite a while ago.
Still, if HT or some other retailer thinks that certain figures might sell well, they would order them from Funko. I think the best we can hope for.
I have noticed places like Hot Topic respond best to Twitter and Facebook posts- so I think maybe posting there for not just Hot Topic but for all of the retailers that carry pop culture products- that we want Funko Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis- could be helpful...