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Messages - Taffeta

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1
The Dollhouse / Re: Jem and the Holograms from The Loyal Subjects
« on: February 14, 2025, 09:55:33 AM »
Afaik Asda is no longer owned by Walmart in the UK. I believe it was sold a few years ago.

Personally I'm not that bothered if they don't come to the UK. I already got rid of all of my Jem/Jerrica dolls except the Mexican and Spanish variants, and I can live without adding another one. There are still some IT JATH dolls I would love to add if I had money and they were available, but that's another matter.

When people represent Jem and such these days they usually stop at the original characters and leave out Raya and Jetta anyway.

If they were to make Synergy and were to do a good job of it, then I might care. Otherwise, not too fussed.

2
Pony Corral / Re: Pony websites?
« on: February 14, 2025, 09:50:27 AM »
I 100% miss the forums and even to a degree the newsgroups and mailing lists because people still had actual discussions. THese days you can post a question on a social media group, you'll get 25% of people giving the wrong answer, 25% of people asking what pony it is, and the rest just asking what the pony is worth or posting their own pictures of the pony rather than answering the question.

So many old myths are back in circulation as well. It's as if all the knowledge and research of the last 20 years didn't happen. I legit have seen the "white hair Posey" myth a couple of times in the last year. I had not seen this for over a decade before this. I have no idea who revived it or why, but I've noticed people on social media mostly don't ask questions or verify information, they just absorb it as fact, even when, unfortunately, it's often not.

I have no real love for Dream Valley given the treatment of international ponypeople, but I do remember HQT and Dream Castle chat and how the DV chat took over when the DC chat disappeared.

If anything, in the past there was a community where there were sometimes scammers but mostly just people doing fun pony things without flapping about value.

3
Pony Corral / Re: My Little Goblins: Failed G4 Mane 6 Reboot (With Pic)
« on: February 04, 2025, 02:40:37 PM »
G1 is full of canonical crazies as well, so I think there's also plenty to talk about.

Because most of my reply to you on this is likely to be around G1, I'm going to take it to PM - I feel like that would be sidetracking the thread too much, but since you asked about WW and stuff...;)


4
Pony Corral / Re: Who's your fave? G3 2005-07 Valentines Ponies
« on: February 04, 2025, 07:35:41 AM »
As a Feb baby I always despised Valentine's Day as a kid, because it turned all the shops pink and I hated pink when I was little xD.

I don't have strong feelings on any of these, though. It's that same recycled colour scheme throughout. I genuinely don't know which is which without checking and those heart blisters are not easy to store. I also have a feeling these, like all the seasonal G3, were US store exclusives, so getting hold of them in the UK was a nightmare. I have some grievances -.-.

I like some of the accessories though. The ruffle is cute.

5
Pony Corral / Re: Who's your fave? G3 2003 Winter Ponies!
« on: February 04, 2025, 07:34:08 AM »
Snowflake, though I've never owned her. My sister and I split most of the sets between us, and so Snowflake belongs to her :)

6
Pony Corral / Re: My Little Goblins: Failed G4 Mane 6 Reboot (With Pic)
« on: February 03, 2025, 03:56:03 PM »
Prepare for a long reply! I have had a rubbish day at work and need a pony distraction (though if anyone else gets too irked by this debate, let us know and we can always take it to PM).

First and foremost, the G2 school is an annoyance xD. Both the building and the pony are just reusing old pony stuff, so I kind of like to pretend it's not a thing, like, not at all, not just in context of this discussion. Although it is a different shade of pink, so I guess there's that. xD. But then I also feel like because it exists in G2's release line, with a G2 pony, it's not really the same schoolhouse. This one I guess is subjective, though.

Going back to the real G1 school, however, although it's mostly associated with Tales online I think because of the animation, it was actually not produced for them. It was produced for the 1991 release with the Schooltime and Playschool ponies, and the accessories are basically designed for those characters (Playtime's skipping rope, a xylophone for Musictime, books with sums and such for the babies, etc). I am certain it was meant to come with Lady Lessons, but for some reason she got scrapped before she hit production. (Again, another diversion we don't need to go on now). And it was heavily featured in the comics during 1991 for this reason.

The Tropical Isle setting is an interesting one. In both the US card (I googled) and my childhood card for Sail Away, there's mention of a tropical island, but it's not called the Tropical Isle. In fact, Sail Away's story is a bit existential...lol
Spoiler
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
. I don't have the other backcards so haven't looked up their stories.
 
 In the comic, their island was called the Tropical Isle specifically:
Spoiler
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
. There were often stories about Mainsail, Tug etc sailing there to trade or visit. I think Sweet Suds may have gone once in a bathtub but I may have misremembered that...
Spoiler
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Nope, I didn't. :)

Not to sidetrack but there's long been an unsubstantiated theory that the MLP Tales series was made and aired in the US but designed as advertisement and promotion in Europe where the ponies were to be sold. Things like football (soccer) instead of a more american game, use of the UK term Glowing Magic (or near enough) rather than Glow & Show, and the inclusion of the UK school playset (which had already been out here for 2 years by this point) among other things. The mention of the Tropical Isle may have also been in that line but again, can't be proven. I think Tales also uses Ponyland as a setting but I may be wrong about this because I might be confusing animation with the comic version of the Tales world.

In any case, the animation (G1 pre-tales) tends to talk more about Dream Valley although Ponyland is still the overall 'country' the ponies live in. Dream Valley is never mentioned in the UK comics afaik, there are a ton of other places mentioned though - places that don't exist in the animation, like Memory Lane, or the Weird Wood, etc etc etc.

Does that make the comics and the animation different generations? No, of course not. They are all in Ponyland - just different parts of Ponyland.

Just like G5, despite having its own individual locations, are still in Equestria.

So G5 just don't meet the completely new setting criteria enough (for me) to consider them a full new generation. But Hasbro have spoken and so we do.

(I hoped you enjoyed the random comic sidetrack btw. As an adult, I find the comic hilariously random)

Right. Now, despite you quoting my comment on it so many times I'm sure it's going to haunt me in my sleep tonight  :biggrin: I'm going to just talk a moment about animation and characters.

Most all of the characters in MLP&Friends and other G1 animation pre-tales bear no resemblance to the backcard stories nor the way they are depicted in the comics. The comics and backcards are more consistent. The UK comics use the characterisation for many of the So Soft ponies to characterise the Movie Star characters - because the Movie Star ponies don't have their own backcard stories. So you have this nuts situation where Magic Star in the comic is based far more on the US So Soft Pony backcard than is the animated version in the US produced My Little Pony Movie et al.

((The only animated character I prefer to the comic/backcard version is Wind Whistler. But WW has two UK depictions and so I'd rather leave her alone because it's a lot more paragraphs and not on topic :).)

On the subject of characters and repeats, that's always going to be a thing, honestly. Especially in kids shows. I mean, you can argue that some of Rarity's traits go back through Rainbow Dash G3 to Heart Throb - but it's still a bit spurious (and again, entirely animation, which, as you know, I don't consider that important to this overall =D) Those characteristics also don't exist in Heart Throb's comic iteration.

I just mean that with G5 they've been a bit more obvious about it. Maybe if I'm fair, it begins with the Tales ponies, who were undoubtedly the original 'mane cast' ponies, but never had a long enough release period to really become repetitive. We do see that mane cast option in G2 but it's not animated and so much less in your face. G3 did it subtly until 3.5 jumped in, and made it very unsubtle. Then G4 and subsequently G5 have focused the entire line around this core cast of characters. So here is where you really notice the similarities...

I don't think Izzy is Pinkie Pie (I actually like Izzy better, LOL) and I don't think Zipp is Dash. Actually, I think both of them came over better in the G5 movie than the G4 characters do, they're less annoying. So some of those traits have been toned down in G5 and they're not clones. But it's more noticeable given the other similar themes, like Equestria and cutie marks and all that garbage.

(side note, I am at war with the entire concept of cutie marks since people started using the term for G1 ponies. But I digress).

In any case, the terminology for generations was defined based on toy line and setting and cast, not on the animation depictions. I think another reason for this was how complex canon is in G1 especially, with a lot of contradictions (as mentioned above). And at the time we came up with them (or LM did, to be specific), we really just needed a way to divide generations after G3 became a thing.

G4 changed how MLP works, and G5 has gone with it. Another reason, perhaps, to tie them together. But it is harder to work out how to subdivide G4 let alone how to classify G5. Like I said, Hasbro have spoken, so G5 is and will always be officially G5. It just shows how the line has changed, I suppose.

By magic structure, by the way, the stupids of unicorn magic being this way and earth not having magic and pegasus ponies being this way and yes, I know MLP & Friends and the earlier specials basically stripped the magic from pegasus and earth ponies in a disgusting way, so there is a precedent for that, but not to the same extent.

I'm a comic kid, though. I have seen all of the animated G1 episodes more than once, but as a kid I mostly disregarded them where they disagreed with the comics or used names I wasn't familiar with.  And unlike the animated G1 series, the comics covered almost every pony sold in the UK between 1985 and 1994, and even a few that weren't sold here. There's a continuity to the canon and the way the world is built that isn't really present in the G1 animation. The Tropical Isle, for example, can't ever appear in the pre-tales animation because there is none after 1987. We can only use the comic here, because it's basically all there is. (Disclaimer that of course there are ponies sold outside the UK which were NOT included in the comic, but I can't do much about them :( There are still more ponies featured in the comic than in the G1 animation, even taking that on board.)

Thank you for coming to my worn out, incoherent and nonsensical pony ted talk. Have another cookie :)


7
Pony Corral / Re: My Little Goblins: Failed G4 Mane 6 Reboot (With Pic)
« on: February 02, 2025, 02:49:18 AM »
Cola, have some cookies for writing a long post :) I respect your perspective although I still mostly disagree.

The criteria for being a completely new generation was always as follows:
New setting
New cast
New style of toy product.

Animation plays no part in determining generation - in large part because when we first talked about these terms, we were including G2, which has a setting and a canon but no animated series.

So G1 had Ponyland/Dream Valley, an entirely original cast (obviously), and the original style of toy. Though there are variations, as the original line, we've never split, say, petites or Dream Beauties into 1.5. They are the only lines that could be denoted that way, but we just never did, so everything is just G1.

Tales exists within Ponyland. The settings used in the narratives overlap to what came before, for example, the Schoolhouse playset and the Tropical Isle are both mainstays of narrative from pre Tales. The ponies were sold in the same mould styles as the other G1 ponies and although the characters were new, so were all the other G1 ponies going back to 1982, so this isn't really an argument in their case.

This is easier I think for those of us who grew up with Tales ponies in stores to digest, though. North America got screwed over in that department. But Tales ponies (7 Characters, to give them their proper name) were on sale alongside other pony sets not featured in the comic/animation, and older sets. And the comic here included Tales stories alongside regular stories. Plus ponies like Bridal Beauty, and the Rockin' Beats, etc, were integrated into the Tales narrative as well. These were ponies sold normally in stores even in North America during the last year of the line.  Tales is thus G1. Not 1.5, not 2, but 1. It's not distinct enough to be subcategorised.

G2 had Friendship Gardens, a new cast and a different style of toy. There was no direct link to G1 in style or narrative, although a couple of G1 names appeared and it's possible to speculate whether certain G1 colour schemes were used on G2 ponies. So G2 was a new generation. Again, I think this is easier to understand in Europe or the UK, where there were comics for G2 and there's a bit more range in the cast and the canon.

G3 had Ponyville, a new cast, and a different style of toy. Again, there are several recycled G1 names in G3, but that's not enough to make it 'the same'. The setting is different, so there are no connecting world events, nor do the ponies function or exist in the same way as they did in either G1 or G2. So G3 was a new generation.

G3.5 came about as a sub-generation because it met half of the criteria for a new generation, but not the whole lot. It was a reworked version of the same setting as G3, the toys were in a different style and the characters, while familiar, were altered (especially Toola Roola's colour scheme). So it became 3.5.

G4 had Equestria, a new cast, and a different style of toy. Yes, there was some overlap in design from G1 and G3, and some recycled names, but none of those matched the originals enough to be considered 'the same'. Using old G1 and G3 concepts in the animation also doesn't really count, because they're existing in a different world, with different values, different conventions, etc. So G4 was a separate generation.

We can argue pony life, etc, are 4.5, and I agree, that would be a viable suggestion. But the problem is that G4 has a bunch of potential candidates to be a sub-generation. We could call them 4:I, 4:II and so on, I suppose. The first one being the movie reboot (4:I), then Pony Life (4:II) and finally, G5 (4:III).

The thing is, G5 is much more like G3.5 here, in that it met half the criteria for a new generation, but not the other half. It's not a new setting, the concepts and magical structure underpinning it are the same. Cutie mark nonsense still exists. Sunny is capable of growing wings at random, which is a uniquely G4 thing. G5 is set in Equestria, so not original. But the style of the toys are different, and the cast is arguably new, if based on some older stereotypes. So G5 is not quite its own generation.

This is based on the terms as they were original defined by collectors in 2003, when we realised we couldn't have old ponies, new old ponies, and new new ponies as descriptors. Because these terms were determined long before G4 existed, and before animation was really important, the animated series for each generation has zero relevance.

Hasbro decided that their new release was G5. They took the term and used it themselves and it's hard to argue with the manufacturer. So we call G5 G5 because Hasbro decided it was G5. The fact that it has never met the criteria for a new generation, however, is probably its downfall. People are either wanting G4 to stay around forever or they're sick of friendship brainwashing, nonsense about symbols, silly non-words and so on. Either way, it doesn't help G5 to be tied to G4. It's making nobody happy, and Hasbro would have done better to be completely fresh.

The next gen, if one happens, will be G6 because Hasbro have determined this now. But under the criteria we originally defined for new generations back in 2003, G5 has never been G5.

8
Off Topic / Re: The Trivial Complaints Thread ... #3
« on: February 02, 2025, 02:07:54 AM »
Ponyfan, I would just tell the author - most decent writers will not bite your head off about minor things like that. And we've all done it - I remember confusing a couple of character names and details in a story I wrote ages ago and was super grateful someone had pointed it out to me :)

My trivial complaint isn't that trivial and I'm not sure I want to get into it in any detail yet - just a stressful time at work.

9
Pony Corral / Re: My Little Goblins: Failed G4 Mane 6 Reboot (With Pic)
« on: January 30, 2025, 02:36:20 PM »
I am here for wordy replies. I miss people writing walls of text about things they care about :(

I think with G5 I still have no real hate or love opinion of it. It's just there, I don't care if it ends or if it doesn't. But the main reason why I feel that way is that I don't feel MLP has moved on. And honestly, having been here since almost the beginning of MLP (by here I mean on the planet, obviously not the Arena, LOL, that was a bit later!), the things that characterised MLP reboots were the completely new concepts, worlds, styles and characters. This includes G4 but does not include G5, which exists in Equestria.

When it was first launched I said that to me it wasn't really G5 because it didn't meet the complete reboot rules and I still feel like that. It's G5 because Hasbro said so, but the G terms were applied by the collecting community, not Hasbro, and G5 has never met the criteria to be a completely new generation. It is almost like MLP Tales in G1. It is part of G4 but in a later/adjusted world with slightly different themes. We see in MLP Tales the odd flashback - ponies like Glowing Magic ponies, the schoolhouse, Rockin' Beats, but also the story of eg Squire and the hint of a time with dragons and magic and such like - which is essentially the world of old MLP, even if there are no named characters to fit it from back then.

Nobody intelligent considers Tales to be anything but G1.

G5 is slightly different in that the pony toys are made differently from the G4 toys. But then G1 was also full of different types of toys and so was G3 towards the end. So really the argument for G5 being its own generation isn't really clear-cut.

It's not in its own world. It doesn't have its own original concept. It uses terminology from G4. I would call it a G4 version of Tales if not for the adjusted toys, but at best to me it's still G4.5.

Hasbro have made it G5 so we'll call it G5, but realistically, it never has been.

The pictures above would also not have been, because, like G5, the concept has not changed.


10
Pony Corral / Re: G1 Comics
« on: January 30, 2025, 02:22:08 PM »
Ponybookworm, do you know how many MLP&Friends comics there are in total? I am never sure what number it goes up to, unlike the MLP Comics.

I have twelve of the MLP comic issues missing but most are from after 200 because our stupid newsagent didn't get them in even when we had a subscription and they're so hard to find. I'm about the same with MLP&Friends now but I don't know what the last issue is so I'm not sure how many I'm missing :) According to my list the highest # issue I have is 49.

I am so jealous of the PE poster magazine. I have been trying to get hold of that since I was a kid. For some reason whenever it comes up I just miss out on it :/

I loved the tales stories as a kid, but yes, as an adult, I prefer the slightly bizarre and magical old style fantasy stories :) I am still working on my site revamp but am trying to incorporate comic stuff into each pony's page where I can.


11
Pony Corral / Re: So Who are the NEW 2025 Basic Fun Workout 80s Ponies?
« on: January 27, 2025, 09:29:22 AM »
£12.99 is the standard retail price for most of the Basic Fun ponies in the UK, so that's just normal pricing :) I'm not sure of the exact conversion but our currency is so weak at the moment it's probably less than $15 USD.

The Celestials were £16.99 but otherwise they've been £9.99 (collector ponies originally) or £12.99 (pretty much anything else).

I think it was mentioned above that the other box said Starshine :)

@DreamValleyMLP, yes, I think so.

12
Pony Corral / Re: G1 Comics
« on: January 26, 2025, 11:04:03 AM »
I always find the MLP & friends comics are harder to get than the regular releases. I curse my child self for having so few of them regularly ;) LOL ;)

I did have 30 as a kid, though. I think it's become a bit notorious because of the smooze...;) If only they'd had Ice Crystal on hand in the MLP Movie, they wouldn't have needed flutter ponies!!

Congrats :)


13
Off Topic / Re: What manga are you reading?
« on: January 26, 2025, 09:36:15 AM »
You probably know details I don't then, Ponyfan :) I only have a handful of the Act 1 manga and none of it from the very beginning. I don't think? Or do I? (stares at pile). I can't remember. My preoccupation was with the end of the series because so much wasn't animated or was cut into the OVAs.

I have been rewatching Daiya a bit lately, and will hopefully reread the end part since they're not getting on with the animation bit just yet. But I remember some other small bits that were cut out of the anime adaptation of Act II (there was some banter in the Hakuryuu game, plus the bits we've mentioned before and the whole of the Yakushi Ichidai game).

I am fairly confident the two things I most want to see in the new animated series - when it eventally appears - will not be removed. One definitely won't, as it's plot relevant, but the other...well, I think it's important, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed the animators do as well.

Spoiler
It's the moment where, in the (I think Inajitsu) game, Seki arranges for the band to play Tetsu's theme for Miyuki instead of his usual Neraiuchi). I think it will be more effective with the actual sound, rather than just on paper - this mark of how Miyuki has evolved into a true leader, fourth hitter and Captain rather than the one messing with the crowd's heads.

The other one is
Spoiler
The dialogue between Miyuki and Mei post match, which seems self-evident.

I bought a few volumes of Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suirei after finishing the second season not that long ago. I've not read much of it yet though. Season 2 of the Apothecary Diaries has begun airing, but I've lost the books I bought so can't read ahead xD.

I'm going to try and wait till the Yona manga ends before rewatching and then reading it all through. I want to see how all the threads go together when everything is in place.

14
Pony Corral / Re: My Little Goblins: Failed G4 Mane 6 Reboot (With Pic)
« on: January 26, 2025, 09:30:44 AM »
Let's be blunt about this. Hasbro didn't give us a complete reboot. G5 is just G4 in new clothing. The characters are gravitating off the cliche of G4's character roles, the plot is based in the same tired themes of friendship at all costs and this weird need to separate unicorns, pegasus and earth ponies into skill groups has just become more emphasised.

I know a few G4 fans who dislike G5 for playing fast and loose with the aftermath of G4's canon, and I can understand why because that's basically what G5 is - the dregs of G4's canon.

I haven't really an opinion on these, the pictures are cute but not at all recogniseable as MLP. The most triggering (if that's the word) thing for me on this is the names Applejack and Twilight on the graphic. First and foremost, lets return those names to the generation they were created for, and start something new. And secondly, if MLP must continue, it should do so with not a thread of connection to G4. No names, no setting, no concept. Nothing. Otherwise, it's as good as dead - stuck in the groundhog day of brony entitlement and zero originality.

No wonder the Basic Fun and G1 retro stuff is doing so well. Yes, it's not original, but at least it's not G4...

15
Pony Corral / Re: So Who are the NEW 2025 Basic Fun Workout 80s Ponies?
« on: January 26, 2025, 09:25:25 AM »
The most interesting thing about that Rockin' Robin image and data is that it's for the UK market, with a £ price tag. I mention this because the original ST collab was a Target exclusive in the States and we didn't get her over here to begin with. When we did, it was largely via Amazon, and so it felt like they'd clearanced her out over here. But this sounds like the UK is intentionally part of the market...which is reassuring I suppose?

I don't watch Stranger Things but I'm in the market for a brand new pony if one is being put out. I think I like the second pose option better, but I'll wait and see what she looks like in real life.

...Late 2025 could mean anything though. When I was living in London and could get to the toymaster stores that stocked these, later year stock appeared both in March (?!) and in August...but this may be more like October for Christmas? When does the ST series air/end?

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