Bringing back My Little Kitty out of necessity?

[Mana Minori]

It seems to me like as g4 drags on, the more the ponies sgart looking like anything BUT ponies, but rather, felines- especially with the new "Cutie Mark Crew" line of toys out.

Spoiler

These are cute but...
Are they having a contest of how much they can make something NOT PONY looking?
How little can something even resemble a pony while they still try to associate MLP?

These are cutie-markless kitty cats?

Perfectly flat faces? Kitty cat ears? These are perfectly Persians.

With Cadence I agree that it would've been better earlier when G4 was stronger/they hadn't mane-6'd it half to death. If they're reasonably priced, they'll likely do well. Not blind-bagging but for the 'mystery figure' is a scheme that works and doesn't make folks rage. These seem like the MH Minis to me but stylistically a worse choice. At least the MH minis looked like human tiny dollies, where as these don't look like tiny ponies. They are cute, and I might look for the Celestia one or something, but I consider them "ponies but done as kittycats" like how some people will do "It's bluebelle but she's a llama now cute!" There's nothing wrong with it, it just isn't a pony.

It also doesn't help that the fanbase has been drawing the ponies as cats for a long time beforehand.
https://youtu.be/ZZu7LQM1mkQ
So should it be time for hasbro to reboot the g1 year 9 branch and bring the "My Little Kitty/Puppy/Bunny"  line and hope it floats, while making our horses look more horse-like again?

[Taffeta]

Genuinely interesting question actually.

In terms of the My Little Puppy/Kitty lines...they didn't come to the UK so I've never seen any in person I don't think ( we also didn't get pony friends or the pretty pal set) so that suggests there wasn't such a wide market for them back then (unless Europe and other places had them, I actually don't know, except the Pretty Pals in Germany). But in the CURRENT climate, with all the focus on cat memes and cat videos and so on online, the 'kitty' image is quite potent and also its association with 'cute'. Hello Kitty is also still really popular. I do think a part of the idea behind the Cute Mark Crew things is to cash in on the success of small cute toys like Shopkins and so on - which might be part of it - but I don't know. Is it a sign that (particularly kittified) toys are in demand and thus is there a market now?

Actually, we had Kitty in my Pocket and Puppy in my Pocket, Pony in my Pocket toys when I was a kid I remember and I assume they were global so there might have been a market for the My Little Puppy/Kitty here, they just didn't bother. And I have this feeling that they maybe had a rerelease not so long ago? And then there's LPS which is always really strong in it's appeal as well.

The only question I'd ask is are there already too many items on the market to compete?

Hasbro already got past the problems of a successful Jem animated series in the 1980s and the cult status of the show but the relative failure of the toy line to last beyond a few years by inserting the concepts of Jem's appeal (bright colours, music, etc) into the Equestria Girls and tying them to a more successful franchise that they had ultimate control over. It might be that they're doing the same thing here, trying to cash in on the brand name while exploring different types of appeal...but if that's the case, I guess there IS an argument for re-exploring either My Little Kitty/Puppy or pony friends as a concept.

Let's not forget animals in general are also quite popular - the pets for the MH dolls had their own mini line and the Enchantimals seem to be quite successful. But G4 hasn't really gone in for the pets/pals thing since early on if I remember right, with a couple of exceptions (ie Spike). Maybe it's something they could explore...

I don't have a problem with how the original G4 look because they're cute, even if they're not very equine. But the newer more animated designs...I am not sure what they look like, except escapees from the Powerpuff Girl franchise . I don't really want Dream Beauty type ponies coming back, because they're easily broken, difficult to store and they also now would look too much like they were trying to ape Barbie horses. For a whole line that wouldn't work, though I wouldn't mind a reboot DB set of maybe 8 or 10 ponies just for kicks. But if the ponies get any more anime-style than they already are they'll end up completely unrecogniseable. So yeah. Some determination of species would be helpful.

I actually think it would be interesting to reintroduce the Pony Friends concept into a new G5 line. Not just with dubious characters like Zecora who create controversy, but on a wider scale. Not to take over the whole line, but just to remind everyone that these are ponies, but here are some other random creatures that might live in Ponyland. The strength of the old canon in the comic was on the ponies living in a world populated by a gazillion other peoples, species, races and whatever. The animation of G1 was also a bit like that, ponies living in conjunction with other types of creature, including humanoid ones but not limited to that. I think it would be nice to explore that a bit more and in doing so return the ponies to something clearly pony.

(But let's not forget that the teeny tiny ponies look quite like kittens so it was already happening in g1).

[tulagirl]

I am actually not sure My Little Kitty would be as wonderful as say Little Pretty and unfortunately they were a mattel product.  I think redoing that line would fair better than just another tiny animal since we have so many tiny animals in the toy market today.  There are pets galore everywhere.  It is certainly okay and understandable that many collectors may be tired of G4 concepts and are waiting with hope of a new and exciting generation to collect.  While not all collectors feel this way, several do. I am one of those. I am just waiting and hoping I will love what comes next.  If it is like G4, I will watch others enjoy collecting and I will stick to my every growing G1 herd lol.  No matter what they decide to make there will always be people who can't like it.  It is just the way things go.  I have not really looked at the ponies and thought of them as cats.  To me they do not look like ponies or cats.

[LadyMoondancer]

They made a set of ponies as human dolls, so I'm sure they would do sublines of cats, dogs, and whatever else they can think of, if they thought they'd sell, ha ha.

I actually never liked Little Pretties, their hair is usually really dingy looking even when it's clean.  That said, it's pretty funny that one of them has the same name as Mattel's She-Ra villain (Catra).

[Leave a Whisper]

That's what they've got Littlest Pet Shop for. I don't care much for them personally.

[Dreamer]

I just wish pug-sized snouts weren't trendy anymore.

To clarify, I'm not asking MLP to be have actual horse/pony measurements. I'm just asking it to be proportioned. G4, with its perfectly round heads, humongous eyes and teeny tiny snout looks not like a pony, not like a kitty, but like a toolbar emoji and I can't stand looking at them for more than 5 secs  The Cutie Mark Crew line solves the giant eyes problem but....

[Taffeta]

I just wish pug-sized snouts weren't trendy anymore.

I wish dogs weren't trendy any more. The encroaching number of dogs into every space imaginable is really getting to me, to be honest. Buses, trains, even cinemas now in some places. Maybe encouraging dog-related anything is a bad idea if I ever want to see the end of a life where apparently people who have issues with dogs have less status than dogs. When youve seen dogs sitting on bus seats and people standing, you know there's a problem.

[tulagirl]

That's what they've got Littlest Pet Shop for. I don't care much for them personally.

Awwwww sigh Tulagirl loves these ROFLOL

As far as the dull hair on Little Pretties that was common with some 80's dolls I have noticed that it didn't stay shiny.  Moon Dreamers are like that too.  I would imagine if they remade these hopefully the hair would improve, but I am probably living in a an alternate universe of reality to expect that I guess.

[Leave a Whisper]

That's what they've got Littlest Pet Shop for. I don't care much for them personally.

Awwwww sigh Tulagirl loves these ROFLOL

As far as the dull hair on Little Pretties that was common with some 80's dolls I have noticed that it didn't stay shiny.  Moon Dreamers are like that too.  I would imagine if they remade these hopefully the hair would improve, but I am probably living in a an alternate universe of reality to expect that I guess.

For me, brushable animals that aren't supposed to  have manes are just weird. I prefer Puppy/Kitty in My Pocket, Schleich and Safari Ltd.

I can't stand the big-headed, bug-eyed proportions on everything. And given that there are lotsa brightly colored animals, some of them with hair, these would possibly get lost in the shuffle.

I do want to get a Moondreamer someday and some of their animal friends.

[Taffeta]

*raises hand* I have no idea what a Little Pretty is..??

[LadyMoondancer]

Basically Mattel's attempt to compete with My Little Pony, but using cats and dogs.

http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/littlepretty.php

I feel like it's weirder to have a symbol on a dog or cat than a pony, not sure why . . .


Edit:  Wow, check out the fillies on the "Unproduced" page, it's like G1 and G2 had a lovechild.

[Taffeta]

Oh those. I never knew that was their name. Learned something!! Thank you.

Yeah. I find them creepy. And no kidding about the fillies...

[Leave a Whisper]

Basically Mattel's attempt to compete with My Little Pony, but using cats and dogs.

http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/littlepretty.php

I feel like it's weirder to have a symbol on a dog or cat than a pony, not sure why . . .


Edit:  Wow, check out the fillies on the "Unproduced" page, it's like G1 and G2 had a lovechild.

Ye Gods! Its the missing link!

[Wardah]

Wow, check out the fillies on the "Unproduced" page, it's like G1 and G2 had a lovechild.

Why do they look vaguely familiar to me. Like I have seen those molds used for some fakie line somewhere.

[Zapper]

Cats are no longer cool, Hasbro needs to go with the times. Should be 'My Little Sloth'