DHX hit with major data breach (beware of spoilers)

[Taffeta]

When I see people here hating on bronies, I feel like I'm missing something. I don't see bronies hating on collectors, and I've never had bronies hate on me when I talk about things I liked in older gens. I wrote a fanfic with G1 ponies in it, and had a friend write one with G3 ponies inspired by it, and both got 95%+ upvotes on fimfiction. Besides, doesn't the popularity result in more for us to collect?

Then you've lived a fortunate and sheltered online life with MLP and I sincerely hope it continues for you. Although you have to realise the distinction. It's not bronies as such that people are critical of, but a particularly vocal and unpleasant branch of bronies that spend extensive amounts of their time being hostile to us and to each other, to older generations and to the world in a cloud of self-satisfied entitlement that MLP cannot survive without them to boost it. This said, that's not all people who identify as bronies. Just the term has come to be synonymous with that behaviour, because the outside world also generally see the unpleasant. Unfortunately, that has had implications for all of us as pony collectors, in that now the world went from seeing MLP as some girl's toy to seeing it as something unsavoury (and we all get lumped into that label). It's also deeply offensive to many older collectors that we're expected to look at MLP now anachronistically - with G4 being the central object and the rest being incidental. G1 created MLP and G2 and G3 took it in unique and new directions. G4 is just another generation. It's fine, it's welcome, but it's not better or worse than what came before. If you have truly never seen the hostility, you're really lucky. And if you think the comments here are hostile, you ought to see some of the stuff on the other side of the equation.

Going back to the G4.5/G5 idea. I am pretty sure that I said that a long time back, that it's not really G5. I stand by that. If we start calling a rebooted animation with the same characters G5, we're going to have to start talking about the MLP Tales series as G2, which obviously makes no sense at all. So I would like to hope that we stick to out own methods of defining the series, and don't get pushed into defining it on animation. G2 proper didn't have any animation, so essentially we'd be writing them out of existence if we start going down that path.

@Nightmaremuffin, you seem to be classifying by TV show, talking about MLP & Friends (I think you mean MLP Tales) and G1 as though they are different, and they aren't. The G terms came from our community, they weren't defined by the G4 fandom in relation to MLP and FIM. Generation 1 is all the ponies from 1982-1995 inclusive of all TV series produced in that time period and all countries in which those ponies were sold.
Generation 2 is all the ponies sold between 1997 and approximately 2002-3 across all countries. They lived in Friendship Gardens, they were I think produced under licence from Kenner, and are distinctively a different generation. The term G2 was applied to them probably around the time G3 came out in 2003, which is a long time before FIM. Before that they were termed 'new ponies'.
G3 covers all the ponies from 2003 although I don't really know where the shift happened to 3.5 because I never followed those particularly. And G4 covers all ponies associated with FIM in the newest pony style.
Since G3.5 kept the same characters but remodelled them and recontextualised them, thus far this is a reboot continuation of G4 and should be G4.5.
Of course, if Hasbro intend to ditch some or all of the mane 6, that would change things considerably. But it's the change of the core of the toy line that dictates the change in generation. If we start doing it on the cartoon, we start excluding G2 from existence completely, and that just wouldn't be right.

Going on to the stuff dragonflitter published, I was interested to see that they still consider the original basis point to be old MLP. Although the historian objects to the 'nineteenth century americana' association of the carousel, which is an eighteenth century European concept...

[Dragonflitter]

Since we already have G4.5 with the current new toy molds, maybe the reboot toys should be called G4.75!

No, but maybe, when we learn the name of the new show, we should just call them MLP:FiM and MLP:New Name. The same way we call the G1 shows "MLP & Friends" and "MLP Tales".

[Al-1701]

Oh God, don't give the unicorns split hooves and puffball on a stick tails, DON'T!  I know it's the classical representation of the legendary creature, but it has always looked stupid on a pony.  It makes them look alien to the earth ponies and pegasi who do not have these extra differences.

[KarentheUnicorn]

As much as most of us long time collectors dislike the whole concept of 6 ponies to rule them all, i do have a hard time seeing hasbro and the cartoon abandoning that right up front. Theyve invested way to much into the recognizable characters at this point to totally be bold and really change it.

As a toy collector its boring, but for a company its cheap and safe.

And if they are considering this change im thinking they want to try to inovate the toy line but they dont want to get to far away from what has been sucessful.

They're not exactly going bold...theyre changing it just enough to potentially pull in new fans while still keeping it close enough to FIM to keep the masses relatively happy.

I don't get it. For well over 30 years, Hasbro has always, ALWAYS switched up the ponies. MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1, g2 had a different cast, g3 had a different cast, and g4 has a semi-different cast. To outright keep the same characters that g4 had IS new for them, and I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

please enlighten me on exactly what you mean when you say g2? Because g2 didnt have a cartoon. it is a very common mistake for those new to my little pony to refer to my little pony tales cartoon as g2 however...tales is part of g1. The generational tag for my little pony did not start until the toyline changed in 1997.

[Mana Minori]

As much as most of us long time collectors dislike the whole concept of 6 ponies to rule them all, i do have a hard time seeing hasbro and the cartoon abandoning that right up front. Theyve invested way to much into the recognizable characters at this point to totally be bold and really change it.

As a toy collector its boring, but for a company its cheap and safe.

And if they are considering this change im thinking they want to try to inovate the toy line but they dont want to get to far away from what has been sucessful.

They're not exactly going bold...theyre changing it just enough to potentially pull in new fans while still keeping it close enough to FIM to keep the masses relatively happy.

I don't get it. For well over 30 years, Hasbro has always, ALWAYS switched up the ponies. MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1, g2 had a different cast, g3 had a different cast, and g4 has a semi-different cast. To outright keep the same characters that g4 had IS new for them, and I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

please enlighten me on exactly what you mean when you say g2? Because g2 didnt have a cartoon. it is a very common mistake for those new to my little pony to refer to my little pony tales cartoon as g2 however...tales is part of g1. The generational tag for my little pony did not start until the toyline changed in 1997.

@Taffeta
I'm 31 and certainly not new to Mlp gens. I apologize if I wasn't clear in my last post.  Beig so deeply immersed in g4's fandom now, at times, admittedly effects my thought process. I am well aware that generations follow the toylines, and I know g2 didn't have a cartoon to it. In fact, I am saddened by this to this day (and the lack of one for Takara ponies, which I also adore). But I digress.
My point was we got an interchangable cast and line of charas in the toyline more frequently,  it seems to me, in past gens than in g4, where its the same 6 characters with new gimmicks just about every month, and no one else (mayble the other Princesses on a semi rarer instance), but that's it. Ponies like Big Macintosh, Photo Finish, Soaren, etc. Are few and far between. The main 6 ponies get 98% of the releases and clog the toy aisle with their variants.

This didn't seem to be the case as much in previous gens, which provided more option in characters.

[KarentheUnicorn]

As much as most of us long time collectors dislike the whole concept of 6 ponies to rule them all, i do have a hard time seeing hasbro and the cartoon abandoning that right up front. Theyve invested way to much into the recognizable characters at this point to totally be bold and really change it.

As a toy collector its boring, but for a company its cheap and safe.

And if they are considering this change im thinking they want to try to inovate the toy line but they dont want to get to far away from what has been sucessful.

They're not exactly going bold...theyre changing it just enough to potentially pull in new fans while still keeping it close enough to FIM to keep the masses relatively happy.

I don't get it. For well over 30 years, Hasbro has always, ALWAYS switched up the ponies. MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1, g2 had a different cast, g3 had a different cast, and g4 has a semi-different cast. To outright keep the same characters that g4 had IS new for them, and I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

please enlighten me on exactly what you mean when you say g2? Because g2 didnt have a cartoon. it is a very common mistake for those new to my little pony to refer to my little pony tales cartoon as g2 however...tales is part of g1. The generational tag for my little pony did not start until the toyline changed in 1997.

@Taffeta
I'm 31 and certainly not new to Mlp gens. I apologize if I wasn't clear in my last post.  Beig so deeply immersed in g4's fandom now, at times, admittedly effects my thought process. I am well aware that generations follow the toylines, and I know g2 didn't have a cartoon to it. In fact, I am saddened by this to this day (and the lack of one for Takara ponies, which I also adore). But I digress.
My point was we got an interchangable cast of charas in the toyline more frequently,  it seems to me, in past gens than in g4, where its the same 6 characters with new gimmicks just about every month, and no one else (mayble the other Princesses on a semi rarer instance), but that's it. Ponies like Big Macintosh, Photo Finish, Soaren, etc. Are few and far between. The main 6 ponies get 98% of the releases and clog the toy aisle with their variants.

Hi, im 45 and forgive me but its probably that ive never seen a collector refer to ponies as cast so its why your post seems mostly cartoon centered, plus the red flag of refering to mlptales as g2. So one might naturally assume as you say that the poster is deeply immersed in g4....one cant assume age has anything to do with knowlege of brand history,etc.

[Mana Minori]

As much as most of us long time collectors dislike the whole concept of 6 ponies to rule them all, i do have a hard time seeing hasbro and the cartoon abandoning that right up front. Theyve invested way to much into the recognizable characters at this point to totally be bold and really change it.

As a toy collector its boring, but for a company its cheap and safe.

And if they are considering this change im thinking they want to try to inovate the toy line but they dont want to get to far away from what has been sucessful.

They're not exactly going bold...theyre changing it just enough to potentially pull in new fans while still keeping it close enough to FIM to keep the masses relatively happy.

I don't get it. For well over 30 years, Hasbro has always, ALWAYS switched up the ponies. MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1, g2 had a different cast, g3 had a different cast, and g4 has a semi-different cast. To outright keep the same characters that g4 had IS new for them, and I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

please enlighten me on exactly what you mean when you say g2? Because g2 didnt have a cartoon. it is a very common mistake for those new to my little pony to refer to my little pony tales cartoon as g2 however...tales is part of g1. The generational tag for my little pony did not start until the toyline changed in 1997.

@Taffeta
I'm 31 and certainly not new to Mlp gens. I apologize if I wasn't clear in my last post.  Beig so deeply immersed in g4's fandom now, at times, admittedly effects my thought process. I am well aware that generations follow the toylines, and I know g2 didn't have a cartoon to it. In fact, I am saddened by this to this day (and the lack of one for Takara ponies, which I also adore). But I digress.
My point was we got an interchangable cast of charas in the toyline more frequently,  it seems to me, in past gens than in g4, where its the same 6 characters with new gimmicks just about every month, and no one else (mayble the other Princesses on a semi rarer instance), but that's it. Ponies like Big Macintosh, Photo Finish, Soaren, etc. Are few and far between. The main 6 ponies get 98% of the releases and clog the toy aisle with their variants.

Hi, im 45 and forgive me but its probably that ive never seen a collector refer to ponies as cast so its why your post seems mostly cartoon centered, plus the red flag of refering to mlptales as g2. So one might naturally assume as you say that the poster is deeply immersed in g4....one cant assume age has anything to do with knowlege of brand history,etc.

again, apologies.  Very wrong wordchoice there. Again, being around the folks of the newer gen  when that's the fresher content you're getting by way of merch effects the thought process, in my case, and I may have had one thought in my head, but it didn't come out how I had typed it at the time of that post. As is often the case it seems. I never considered tales as g2, I assure you. (In fact, digging up some of my older posts on mlpforums  in their past gen boards would inform you of that)

[Taffeta]

As much as most of us long time collectors dislike the whole concept of 6 ponies to rule them all, i do have a hard time seeing hasbro and the cartoon abandoning that right up front. Theyve invested way to much into the recognizable characters at this point to totally be bold and really change it.

As a toy collector its boring, but for a company its cheap and safe.

And if they are considering this change im thinking they want to try to inovate the toy line but they dont want to get to far away from what has been sucessful.

They're not exactly going bold...theyre changing it just enough to potentially pull in new fans while still keeping it close enough to FIM to keep the masses relatively happy.

I don't get it. For well over 30 years, Hasbro has always, ALWAYS switched up the ponies. MLP N' Friends had a different cast than g1, g2 had a different cast, g3 had a different cast, and g4 has a semi-different cast. To outright keep the same characters that g4 had IS new for them, and I can't see how thisis going to help their merch sales, when they've already done every gimmick under the sun for the mane6 of g4. switching some horns and wings around on the same characters, I can't see making a difference. No kid is going to want millions of copies of the same characters, with different gimmicks and parts.

please enlighten me on exactly what you mean when you say g2? Because g2 didnt have a cartoon. it is a very common mistake for those new to my little pony to refer to my little pony tales cartoon as g2 however...tales is part of g1. The generational tag for my little pony did not start until the toyline changed in 1997.

@Taffeta
I'm 31 and certainly not new to Mlp gens. I apologize if I wasn't clear in my last post.  Beig so deeply immersed in g4's fandom now, at times, admittedly effects my thought process. I am well aware that generations follow the toylines, and I know g2 didn't have a cartoon to it. In fact, I am saddened by this to this day (and the lack of one for Takara ponies, which I also adore). But I digress.
My point was we got an interchangable cast and line of charas in the toyline more frequently,  it seems to me, in past gens than in g4, where its the same 6 characters with new gimmicks just about every month, and no one else (mayble the other Princesses on a semi rarer instance), but that's it. Ponies like Big Macintosh, Photo Finish, Soaren, etc. Are few and far between. The main 6 ponies get 98% of the releases and clog the toy aisle with their variants.

This didn't seem to be the case as much in previous gens, which provided more option in characters.

Erm, why was that aimed at me when you quoted absolutely nothing that I said in that post at all? I'm not Unicorn you know We're not even from the same country O.O.

All I did say earlier was that I think you meant MLP Tales rather than N Friends as the different series, but that collectors don't generalise by animation and if we did, we'd lose the real G2 completely, as it only had a toy line. FIM fans call MLP Tales G2, but pony collectors don't. If we started to do that, it would be a problem. I didn't say you didn't understand generational terms, I just outlined what they are and why they exist. I happen to agree that previous generations always switch things up. For me any reboot of FIM is not G5. I think Dragonflitter's suggestion is probably the best - it'll be the new equivalent of FIM rather than G5, just as MLP Tales are G1 ponies, but a separate series to the older stuff.

Still confused but going back to my thesis now...

Not sure where in that I called you a new person.

[Mana Minori]

Hoping not to derail the thread too much. On topic, regarding the gen 5 leaks, I wonder what body type the new gen molds will have. If they go with the lion tails for the unicorns that would be a nice change of pace, though I can see the kiddies breaking them off easily, due to their tought and more hands on play. Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future generations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

[KarentheUnicorn]

Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future genefations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

While it is true that 'collectors' want shinny new ponies, It is also a known entity that a collector will hold on to a favorite pony from childhood, even if said pony is ratty and overloved.

My Clipper's head became discolored and I was determined to get a new one. I found one at one of the collector Fair or either I found a new one on ebay (I forget which at this point). When I put the new clipper on the shelf and had the intent of removing the old one, but I couldn't do it.

Original Clipper has somehow managed to stay on the shelf anyway. I think it's the whole context of I am his original owner, he came directly from hasbro (as he is a mail order pony). He came to me, he's special, like most of my other G1's.

Being a collector isn't always about just having more stuff - it's something you can touch that connects you to who you are.

So, kids might tear up they're toys, or ponies may become damaged in the new line...but as a collector I'm not truly offended or bothered by that as much as some people might think.

[Jorgito93]

Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future genefations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

While it is true that 'collectors' want shinny new ponies, It is also a known entity that a collector will hold on to a favorite pony from childhood, even if said pony is ratty and overloved.

My Clipper's head became discolored and I was determined to get a new one. I found one at one of the collector Fair or either I found a new one on ebay (I forget which at this point). When I put the new clipper on the shelf and had the intent of removing the old one, but I couldn't do it.

Original Clipper has somehow managed to stay on the shelf anyway. I think it's the whole context of I am his original owner, he came directly from hasbro (as he is a mail order pony). He came to me, he's special, like most of my other G1's.

Being a collector isn't always about just having more stuff - it's something you can touch that connects you to who you are.

So, kids might tear up they're toys, or ponies may become damaged in the new line...but as a collector I'm not truly offended or bothered by that as much as some people might think.

And it's not like it has never happened, like with the flutter ponies

[KarentheUnicorn]

Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future genefations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

While it is true that 'collectors' want shinny new ponies, It is also a known entity that a collector will hold on to a favorite pony from childhood, even if said pony is ratty and overloved.

My Clipper's head became discolored and I was determined to get a new one. I found one at one of the collector Fair or either I found a new one on ebay (I forget which at this point). When I put the new clipper on the shelf and had the intent of removing the old one, but I couldn't do it.

Original Clipper has somehow managed to stay on the shelf anyway. I think it's the whole context of I am his original owner, he came directly from hasbro (as he is a mail order pony). He came to me, he's special, like most of my other G1's.

Being a collector isn't always about just having more stuff - it's something you can touch that connects you to who you are.

So, kids might tear up they're toys, or ponies may become damaged in the new line...but as a collector I'm not truly offended or bothered by that as much as some people might think.

And it's not like it has never happened, like with the flutter ponies

Interesting tidbit on my own Flutterponies: My first flutter was Honeysuckle, and she has both same side wings (forget which side if it's right or left) But she came that way in box. I got her back in the day so I didn't keep her in box, she was my first so duh I opened all my G1's so I just didn't pay much attention to her difference...

All my flutters were bought from store, so I have a unique situation where my flutters for years have sat on shelf and were never broken as tends to be the case with what happened to flutters in children's hands.

However 2 years ago forgetmenot fell off the shelf and broke her wings. I've been intent to get a FMN new in box, but still keep my original, cause ya know, same thing with Clipper - I'd find it hard to part with my originals regardless of condition.

The bright side of Flutter ponies is there are collectors out there who make pretty darn good replicas to replace the broken wings.

And I've seen some pretty fancy original wings as well so the good thing about flutters is they're totally customizable if you're creative at making wings, without having to do damage to the original pony.

And at the last fair I went to I thought it was cool that we got concept art for a Flutterhouse. I'd love to know the ideas hasbro threw around that ended up on the cutting room floor that never got made

[tailrustedtealeaf]

The faucet of leaks just won't stop flowing!
Heres more designs to chew up,

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Personally, I love the idea of Pinkie being a pegasus!

[Taffeta]

You were unlucky, Uni. My Pink Dreams fell 7 feet from shelf to floor and her wings didn't break. Or maybe I was lucky. Hrm. Either way, sad ending :'(

On the subject of wrecked ponies, I think a point has been missed here (but maybe this is a minority view or it's one that people don't think about?)

G1 wasn't a collectable. As Uni said, none of us bought ponies with that idea in mind. That's why G1 is what it is now. All subsequent ponies have been influenced (whether negatively or positively) by the fact that a group of individuals (whoever they were at the time) wanted to collect them, not just have them as toys. And as the G1 collectors got older, we see it more and more. I think the reality for any future collector of MLP of any generation past G1 is that there will always be collector-grade material to amass, whether MIP or loose. There's a greater awareness of this practice in toys in general, maybe thanks to the internet? Who really knows. Sites like ebay have made possible sales that weren't possible in the past.

I actually like that G1 was a proper toy to begin with, not a collectable. So I don't really mind if later gen toys are bought, played with, wrecked and sold on. That's how you really create a collectable - through the nostalgia reaching out to someone who sees it and goes, ah, I remember that, I had one the day we went on a picnic to x place or the day my friend came to play or at my x birthday party. And that feeling makes them want to go out and buy one for themselves.

I like G4 toys ok, I like G2 and G3 as well. I am fond of some of them because they are special, like my G3 Rainbow Dash graduated with me and my sister gave me Fluttsi. But the overall line in general will probably never again be seen entirely as a toy, and even Hasbro don't think of it as one in the same way now, because they are aware of and choose to pander to adult fans (whether in animation or in G1 retro merchandising licences).

The children of G1 changed MLP forever. I don't know if it was good or bad that we did, but we can't change it, so we can only go on. All we can know for sure is that there will always be more options in the future for collecting a toy line than there are necessarily for G1 collectors who start late in life

@Tailrustedleaf, some of those concepts are ironically like the idea of G2 which at the time of release was so unpopular!

I think Hasbro are missing the fundamental point,though. New poses and moulds are all fine, but they already did that with the recent changes. Time for new characters, else they'll just have shelf sitting all over again. There's a literal army of pearly Twilights at my local toy store.

[Mana Minori]

Could make things difficult for pony collectors in future genefations, to salvage in decent condition. Possibly.

While it is true that 'collectors' want shinny new ponies, It is also a known entity that a collector will hold on to a favorite pony from childhood, even if said pony is ratty and overloved.

My Clipper's head became discolored and I was determined to get a new one. I found one at one of the collector Fair or either I found a new one on ebay (I forget which at this point). When I put the new clipper on the shelf and had the intent of removing the old one, but I couldn't do it.

Original Clipper has somehow managed to stay on the shelf anyway. I think it's the whole context of I am his original owner, he came directly from hasbro (as he is a mail order pony). He came to me, he's special, like most of my other G1's.

Being a collector isn't always about just having more stuff - it's something you can touch that connects you to who you are.

So, kids might tear up they're toys, or ponies may become damaged in the new line...but as a collector I'm not truly offended or bothered by that as much as some people might think.

And it's not like it has never happened, like with the flutter ponies

oh, I am well aware of that.