Pony retail prices vs. quality?

[SunbeamV]

I've been thinking recently and wanted to share some observations I've made about pony quality vs their retail price throughout the generations! The prices are in Canadian dollars (ponies here when I was a child were $7 retail!), but I think the intention will still get across different currencies.

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G1s seem to have held out quite well and are generally quite restoreable, but are definitely aging and deteriorating after 30+ years. They also seem to have generation specific problems (I've personally never seen smooze on g2 ponies and onward?).

G2s are noticeably smaller but still fit into the realm of "affordable toy" (under $10) with their adjusted retail value. I notice far less age related deterioration issues with G2s, such as discolouration, stickiness, cancer spots, etc. The biggest quality complaint about G2s seems to just be the eye crystals falling out!

G3s are generally compared to G1 in terms of variety and overall quality when new, but are experiencing aging issues on par with G1s after only a decade, such as age spots, regrind, and brittleness.

3.5s may be widely regarded as ugly and having a poor selection, but they're made incredibly solidly and have a metric ton of decent quality hair rooted in them, and are pretty difficult to damage in any meaningful way. (I swear, these things don't stain up or frizz. Everything slides right off them, even the super nasty used baby toy ones from thrift shops I've come by have cleaned up to practically mint!)

G4 quality is... extremely disappointing. They're coming out of their packages with horrible head/body mismatches and frizzy, dry hair. They're brittle to the point of heads breaking off. The styling size ponies also have body issues but to a lesser extent, likely because their size allows for better consistency in production, but they still cost more than their closest size match (G1) did, retail value.

Conclusion?
I think G2s and 3.5s were the fairest prices for their quality, and Hasbro is majorly ripping us off these days.

[Leave a Whisper]

Maybe its because G1s are softer plastic?

Are G2s harder plastic or the same stuff? I sometimes notice pictures of some of them with holes or dark spots in their nose. What's that?

G3s I'm not having any troubles with my girls, but that's a shame.

G4s I haven't noticed head body mismatch, or brittleness, but my daughter's Sugar Grape has pink kinda bleeding into her body a little and there's a couple with eye and eyelash wonk.

[SunbeamV]

Are G2s harder plastic or the same stuff? I sometimes notice pictures of some of them with holes or dark spots in their nose. What's that?

It's hard to tell because G2s are much smaller so you can't squeeze and squish them like the bigger gens. I do want to say they're harder plastic though?

Some G2s have magnets in their noses to activate playsets or accessories, so the dark spots and holes are probably from that?

[Wardah]

I feel this isn't 100% accurate since Hasbro is a US company and there are also exchange fluctuations that affect Canadian prices. Like sometimes the Canadian Dollar has been worth more than a US Dollar and sometimes less.

[LadyMoondancer]

I think G1s get smooze (which is really ingrained dirt) because their plastic is a bit more porous.  One of the first thing I noticed about G3s was how smooth their bodies are.  It might also be the reason G1s get cancer?

G2s quite often have discolored bodies.  However it's not always apparent because they may discolor evenly.  It's most obvious on G2s with "action movements", like a moving leg or head.

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^ Originally Magic Motion Ivys had a body color that matched their moving leg, but now a lot of them look like this.  (The leg is made of a different kind of plastic, which is why it didn't change.)

Hip Holly is unique in that she can get "slime" (stickiness from plastic deterioration).