G4 compared to previous generations

[angela22]

OK, I know I'm probably buggin out tonight - but here's something else I wanted to ask about (I should have stopped after last post lol)

I bought my girls their very first (as well as my first) G4 FiM Ponies the other day. I bought the Target "Ball at Canterlot Castle" errr whatever its called. Anyway, I was looking forward to the shiny, silky-soft hair that I used to rub against my face when I was a little girl their age. But ... instead it was cheap, all over the place, dry, plasticky JUNK. (Sorry to all G4 fans who consider that blasphemous) Not to mention that their hair was all tacked down into this plastic strip which I had to literally RIP apart to get their hair free.

Definitely NOT the "Opening" Joy I remember from new ponies when I was little. Has anyone else noticed changes or differences in MLP quality between generations? Are the G4s that I got the same as other G4's, or maybe they were some Target knock-off of the real thing???

Let me know...

[Koudoawaia]

It drives me nuts how difficult it is to free manes and tails from their bindings in the packaging as well. I usually have to resort to scissors and hope I don't take any hair with the tape.

[okapishomapi]

I feel like the g3s were pretty bad to open too, though. I think what makes g4s worse than g2s is just the size difference.

But you know what? Ponies still have amazingly nice hair. I've bought myself 4 Monster High dolls and I have to immediately wash and condition their hair (right out of the box!) and even then it's not as nice at any generation of pony hair.

[Kitkumi]

I found a way that doesn't damage the hair. I have a thin letter opened that I just slide between the two pieces of plastic holding the mane. It breaks the "string" holding the mane. Remove letter opener, replace further down the plastic, repeat. I've found the hair pulls right out without any trouble.
 
I haven't noticed the hair being too rough though in the normal packs. The stuff with the tinsel in it I think is horrible, but the little bruashables I don't think is too bad. I may have just not come across a bad one yet though, lol.

[Aienhime]

Well to be honest, I don't mind gen4 hair much. It takes a bit of styling, but that's fine. It's just very thick and long compared to their body size; I feel like gen1 and 2 had thinner and shorter hair.

Also, I agree that gen3 was much more of a pain to open I got the opening of gen4 packaging down now, but I just kept cutting myself on gen3 packaging up until the very end lol

[DoctorMowinckel]

Yeah, G4 hair is ratty when it comes out of the box, but give it a dip in some hot water, condition it, rinse it out, let it dry, and their hair is pretty good.

[will2Bfree]

All of my G4 ponies have had wonderful hair, except for my FS Fluttershy. Her hair was so dry and frizzy I couldn't even get a wide-toothed comb through it, even after conditioning. The bottom half of it (both mane and tail) was actually in worse condition than my childhood fakie ponies', which I spent years playing fairly roughly with. I had to cut it which makes me very sad because her hair is actually one of the longest and nicest in the show. Now it's very short compared to all my others. I get ticked off all over again every time I see someone bragging how soft and fine their Fluttershy's long hair is. Crummy Hasbro quality.

[angela22]

Hey, I think I may try that out! I'll take before and after if I do and post it here.... 

[fingerpaints]

I do agree with the G4 line overall being pretty poorly made, there are heaps of flaws when they haven't even been removed from their box, symbol rubs, eye rubs ect. as well as head / body mismatch on just about every single pony, and although I have found most hair nice & smooth, it is messy out of the box and needs styling, I have washed, conditioned & tied down all mine to try to tame it a bit, looks much nicer once its dry again.

Quality control lacks however :/

[cobalte]

The plastic strip is irritating and actually makes the box hair problem worse, I agree. Though I haven't really come across any G4s with really oily and nasty hair. I have had a fair share of rather wild box hair though.

To be honest I think there's more problems with paintwork and molding than hair... apart from the few that have managed to get unicorns with hairy horns D:

[fingerpaints]

I learnt a trick with the plastic strips for those that they irritate - if you part it in the middle at one end, and try to pull it apart, and it doesn't come (you do need to put a bit of muscle into it) try at the opposite end and it should tear apart quiet easily at one of the ends. Always works for me

[BrightIdea]

Yeah the tinsel hair is kinda crazy and can be a huge mess.


Man, the packaging drives me nuts, too. I spent like a half an hour trying to get into my last pony set. I hate when the tape gets stuck to their tails.

[Sarah-Bee]

Attempting to free ponies from boxes is now a chore rather than a pleasure as you say! I love G4, they're definitely my second favourite after G1s but good grief those boxes and packaging = nightmare!

[cesprins]

they're harding now to open to prevent shoplifting.

Personally I can get the g4 hair to look nice out of box if I'm just careful with it.

[ZettaMomo]

The packaging is a pain in the butt, I will agree with that! But.. everypony I have gotten so far has had very soft hair. Usually when I take my ponies out of the package I wet it down, brush it out, and if needed straighten it on a low setting.

Factory defects have sadly been a problem among G4s. I am really hoping Hasbro starts fixing things up soon.