In order which generation feels most like my little pony to you?

[TarkanDragon]

G2
Not too sure but I get the feel like it's G1 except no special creatures or even humans. The ponies have lived in a modern world environment. I'm still wasn't sure that G2 toys were different than the ones in the show. Wish that maybe it would have humans, dragons, any mystical creature, etc. to be in the show.

Confused. G2 didn't have a show? Do you mean MLPTales? That's still G1 G2 only had a PC game and a bunch of comics.

Ah yes that. Although not sure about the comics since I have not got around to see them.

[TheClassCalico]

G1: The first generation and the one with the longest lifespan. It is full of fantasy and resemble horses.

G3: Similar to G1 in many ways, both in style and fantasy. However, it still feels less like THE My Little Pony.

G2: Perhaps it's because G2 had very limited media, but it doesn't come to mind quite as much as the latter two when I think 'My Little Pony'. It's still a wonderful generation, though. I adore the gems in their eyes especially.

G3.5: Maybe it's because they had a short life, maybe it's because they didn't really look horsey anymore, or perhaps it was the shift towards the same characters being repeated (which technically started late into G3's life but was for the entire duration of this generation), but it doesn't feel quite the same, but is still closer than the later generations. This actually felt like a transition between G3 and G4 in more ways than just the order.

G4: At this point, it felt like there was a shift into something very different, with less variety and quality in the toys and the feeling that there was much more emphasis on the show as opposed to the toys. The show is excellent, but the generation still feels different, almost as though it split into a separate franchise.

G5 - The same as G4, but the very modern setting and humanoid appearance of the ponies' faces just doesn't strike me as very My Little Pony.

G4.5: These are cats!

Kidding aside, the main issue is that much like G5, it's very modern but unlike G5, is extremely comedic in tone. The toys also don't at all look like horses and have the same repetition issue that generations since G3.5 have had.


Bonus, My Little Pony Tales: I didn't include it as part of the list as it is not a generation in itself, nor is it a sub-generation (although, I've heard it referred to as G1.5 by some). If it was included, I'd place it between G4 and G5. It's very modern, very much like G5 and G4.5, and is lacking in fantasy elements. They however do resemble horses and being G1, also look like G1s in particular which gives them some points.

[Beth3346]

1. G1: since that's what i grew up with.
2. G3: since they're closest to the originals
3. G4: they're cute and they came out not long after I started collecting. they don't look much like ponies to me. more like deer.
4. G2: they're adorable but such a departure from the originals. i love them they're just less "MLP"
5. G5: I haven't seen these in person but they look more like deer to me. they're kind of a combo of G2 and G4 IMO

[BlackCurtains]

Wait, I though G4.5 was the reboot poses? It's Pony Life? I though Pony Life was its own weird thing.

[TheClassCalico]

Wait, I though G4.5 was the reboot poses? It's Pony Life? I though Pony Life was its own weird thing.

Yep! Pony Life is G4.5. I believe that the reboot ponies were temporarily referred to as G4.5 until Pony Life rolled around, but I may be mistaken about that.

[Carrehz]

Yeah, Hasbro dubbed Pony Life "G4.5" themselves, so that's official. We never really did come to a consensus on what to call the reboot/Movie ponies :/ Some called them G4.5, and still do... it's a mess.

[BlackCurtains]

Huh. Okay. Well, I don't mind the Pony Life figures. I never saw the cartoon. I really like the reboot poses though.

[MJNSEIFER]

Pony Life certainly makes more sense as G4.5 than whatever was (briefly?) dubbed as it before, IMO for the following reasons;

1. Completely new model of toys  - the stuff released around the movie still looked like G4, and were still released in that era (I highly doubt they were meant to be a new toyline, since they were still in G4 canon.)

2. Different canon - the cartoon is a whole new show, with different ponies, with the same names as the G4 cast. I know that the same generation is allowed to have more than one cartoon, but it makes sense as a new generation, like G3 versus G3.5 - so it's only part of G4 if you personally believe that point five generations are part of what they're... point five-ing from.

I honestly never got why the movie-surrounding toys were thought to be G4.5, nothing happened as far as I can see to suggest that (no new show, no revamp of characters... yet Pony Life did both of those things.)

Bonus, My Little Pony Tales: I didn't include it as part of the list as it is not a generation in itself, nor is it a sub-generation (although, I've heard it referred to as G1.5 by some). If it was included, I'd place it between G4 and G5. It's very modern, very much like G5 and G4.5, and is lacking in fantasy elements. They however do resemble horses and being G1, also look like G1s in particular which gives them some points.

It's G1, but I understand separating it to some extent if you're talking about the shows specifically, but... yeah, it's G1, not G1.5, G1 - it's just that G1 had two completely separate cartoons, which can confuse some fans (kind of understandable, as this is the only time My Little Pony has done this (G5 has two cartoons, but it's the same cast - Tales did a whole new thing)

[Koudoawaia]

While the cartoons admittedly aren't my favorite compared to others, G1 feels the most like My Little Pony to me as far as their designs in their cartoons and the toys and just everything about them.

[PinkieLopBun]

I don’t know how I’d rank them all, but G3 and G3.5 would be at the top. They were what was around when I was growing up and they were my only exposure to the franchise for years. I’m still more likely to think of them than other generations when I hear about MLP. Only other thing I know is that G1 wouldn’t be far behind.

[Taffeta]

Tales is G1.  It's not a sub-category or a generation. It's just part of G1. I think it's always been singled out because of the show vs not being sold in the US, making it kind of mysterious over there - but here it was just another range of ponies alongside existing ranges of ponies.

There's so much overlap. I think the kitchen is still on the Tales insert? It was certainly still on sale. Glowing Magic and Rockin' Beat ponies crossover into the Tales series, as does the Schoolhouse - these are all earlier G1 concepts/releasesd. The tales set also use standard poses - it would make more sense to call G1.5 on My little kitty/puppy etc, or petite ponies or dream beauties, which were all conceptionally different. And, if we wanted to base it on TV shows, we'd have to create a sub-category for the middle range ponies from 1988-1991 - who did not have animation at all.

The last year of releases in the US -  the anniversary year - are also way more eclectic in theme, pose and design than anything in 1993 or 1994. There's also two years of toy releases around the Tales ponies, even though most of them are not in the Tales animation. The only ponies from 1993-4 that appear in the animation are the seven characters themselves and garbled iterations of the family friends/babies sets (Sunbright, Berrytown, Meadowsweet). The Rockin' Beats make more appearances, I think, than those family ponies do (they may appear in 1 episode each?) There are of course roller melody, hairdo starlight and in 1994, nurse sweetheart - but it's hard to look at a set like the best friends babies, which is very basic baby pony and very basic pet and think, 'oh yes. That's a whole new generation!'. Especially as I *think* those moulds (the pets) had been used prior.

Bronies invented the idea of Tales being G2 some-time post 2011. Their logic was 100% because of the animation series. I think they maybe did it to explain to themselves why G3 was being called G3, because the real G2 didn't have an animated series. Tales looks different, thus they jumped to the conclusion that must be G2. Bronies have plenty of mad G1 theories, though like believing G1 was all about Majesty, because the Uk comic featured her, and because they could relate it directly to Celestia in G4. I don't think there's a need to accommodate their misconceptions.

In fact, the G-terms didn't exist at all around MLP till G3 happened. In 1997, when G2 came out, they were the 'new ponies', and G1 the 'old ponies'. I also corresponded with Hasbro Uk in 1995. They sent me a bunch of information about G1 in the UK, including a list - and the Tales ponies are simply included in with all the other releases. In fact, the Tales ponies aren't even called that, not officially. They're the Seven Characters. An attempt at a core group - definitely. But a new generation? No.


In terms of the original question, obviously G1 is what I grew up with, so is always the most MLP to me. But I also agree that most generations offer something 'pony' that makes them identifiable, even if they're not the ones that most appeal to me.

[MJNSEIFER]

As a brony, yes... I admit I likely screwed up with Tales... we all did. The silly thing is, I already knew that there was no G2 cartoon, because I'd already heard there wasn't one, but then by pure chance I stumbled up My Little Pony Tales, and for a moment, I probably did think "Wait... is this G2?" because I don't think I fully got how things worked...

I soon got it though, I got that the generations are based on the toylines, so I got it, and I do find myself correcting others that Tales is G1; not G2, not G1.5, G1.

I will say, it isn't always bronies, even though we are the worst offenders - I'm sure I remember arguing with someone who had grown up with Tales, and they thought it was G2, but I could be remembering it wrong (and could have said this before)... either way, the world can at least rest easy that at least one brony (me) got the message that Tales is G1.

[CherryTreats]

1. G1 because it was the start of it all and what I first knew of as MLP. It had ponies that looked the most like ponies (I love horses). It had a huge, fun variety of ponies and it lasted the longest. The ponies seem high quality. I have ponies decades old that still look perfect. The backcard art was the best and they had such great accessories and playsets, mail orders, etc. Plus, I absolutely loved the episodes, the movie and all the pony songs.

2. G3 because the ponies also looked the most like ponies and there was such a large number of ponies (though not as much variety like in G1--I'd have loved to see Big Brother G3 ponies). I don't think the episodes and movies of G3 were as good, but I did like them. I remember watching two G3 movies in theaters and was surprised any got to be in theaters. I loved the G3s so much and collected a ton of them, but I'm disappointed in the quality of the toys--I feel like the G3s plastic is deteriorating a lot faster than G1s.

2. G4 because of the amazing show and movies and the memorable ponies. I especially love Maud Pie and Fluttershy. I wasn't a fan of the toys at first, but once I watched the show, I liked the toys too and I collected a couple dozen or so.

2. G2 - they did not really look like horses anymore so I wasn't as fond of them and unfortunately, they had no show, though I enjoyed the PC game with them. I did like them and collected them. Even though I am not as fond of the toys, they do evoke happy memories and my favorite is Eve.

3. G5 - I love the movie, but the toys just don't seem as much like MLP that much to me. I bought a set of them, but am probably going to get rid of them, except for maybe Sunny and Izzy, as I like them the most in the movie.

4. G4.5 - are these the ones that look cat like? Those don't really seem like MLP to me. I did buy Potion Nova for some reason. G3.5 don't seem much like MLP to me either though and I never bought any of those.

[Leave a Whisper]

G3 Big Brothers would have been adorable!

[Ponybookworm]

G3 Big Brothers would have been adorable!

The lack of G3 boys is the reason my fave bait Pony is a clone pose earth G3 of five of the Core 7. I take one of them, add Apoxie Sculpt hoof feathers, dye or paint if needed, reroot, add new symbol, redo eyes (single-colour irises), & boom!!! G3 Boy Pony!!!