G3 "Retro" ponies on Target website

[Leave a Whisper]

I really don't like how they're trying to pull the older gens into their silly Mane 6 hype >n< It's like they think people aren't capable of enjoying anything MLP related when it doesn't pertain to those characters. Which really couldn't be further from the truth because I think that many people agree they'd rather have variety over 13790482 versions of the same pony (*looks mournfully at my shelf of surplus Pinkie Pies that somehow multiply without my permission whenever I get a pony lot*). The lack of variety is one of the things that made me lose interest and take that five-year hiatus from ponies, and one of the reasons I stopped buying G4s from stores. G1 (and to an extent, G3) was the perfect example of how to have iconic characters while still retaining the variety of ponies to keep them from being boring.

I'm with everyone on the G2s as well. As one of the generations I barely missed in stores but still grew up with (sorta; PC game and all), it annoys me to see them completely ignored like this. I would most definitely buy repros if they sold them in stores!

On the positive side, I would totally get that Applejack though because I adore the pose for her! G3 Applejack is also a personal fave of mine <3

Same here. They've completely lost it.

[cottoncandycafe]

Hey Hasbro, can we have some new ponies please? ...Please? G5? Spare G5, Hasbro?

[EnaRocketQueen]

I understand needing to have core characters in a cartoon series that runs for nine seasons, because it would be confusing to viewers if each episode focused on a different character out of hundreds (because I'm sure there were hundreds of different designs in G3), but I don't see why the toyline has to reflect this. I think they made a  mistake in keeping them so closely tied. I've always seen the MLP cartoons and toylines as very seperate which is why "show accuracy" never bothered me.

Another thing I don't get about this is why they're trying to tie a retro G3 line into the G4 mane six. I mean, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity don't even look the same. They're different ponies with the same name

[banditpony]

I understand needing to have core characters in a cartoon series that runs for nine seasons, because it would be confusing to viewers if each episode focused on a different character out of hundreds (because I'm sure there were hundreds of different designs in G3), but I don't see why the toyline has to reflect this. I think they made a  mistake in keeping them so closely tied. I've always seen the MLP cartoons and toylines as very seperate which is why "show accuracy" never bothered me.

IMO, they wanted to try something new-- it was the third attempt of having a "core" cast. It went on long enough that something had to be working for them... and the fact they dropped random new characters so early on makes me wonder if that they weren't selling?

I wonder if they didn't plan on the show being as big of a hit as it was, and if that was what drove away the other ponies. But in the end they made a boat load off of the main cast, and the toys stuck around to make sure everyone who was new got a toy.

[Lilja]

IMO, they wanted to try something new-- it was the third attempt of having a "core" cast. It went on long enough that something had to be working for them... and the fact they dropped random new characters so early on makes me wonder if that they weren't selling?

I also found it interesting that there was such a large amount of toy-only characters in the beginning of G4, only for Hasbro to drop that very quickly and mainly focus on Mane Six for the rest of the generation's run.

Maybe because G3 core seven wasn't a big success, Hasbro in part attributed this to the limited amount of characters, and tried a different strategy for G4. (Also, good point that Hasbro at this time didn't have any idea of how successful the show would become) Of course as we saw, the limited amount of characters wasn't the problem. It's just that kids didn't connect to the G3 characters as strongly as they did for the G4 ones. It remains to be seen though, if this current strategy will keep working for Hasbro, or if they'll need to reinvent MLP again in some way to keep the brand alive.

[banditpony]

It remains to be seen though, if this current strategy will keep working for Hasbro, or if they'll need to reinvent MLP again in some way to keep the brand alive.

Yup.
I can picture it both ways...

If they re-invented the FiM characters, I feel like a bigger gap is needed to gain some interest.

[Carrehz]

I guess I can see why main 6 succeeded where core 7 failed... Core 7 was a late-line decision, whereas G4 always had the main 6. It's easier to succeed if it's like that all along, rather than completely overhauling the line near the end of its run, you know? Plus G4 had the TV show to back it up... G3 had cartoons, of course, but they were all direct-to-video stuff, right? so harder to just run across by coincidence and be like "oh, this is a cool show!". I don't like the main 6 but I can see why people are invested in them as characters, if that makes sense.

I hadn't thought about the non-m6 thing before, but you're right, those did fizzle out really quickly.. see, this is what annoys me. If the toy-only characters weren't selling as well as the show characters, then why not make more toys based off the show characters?!?! Or put the toy-only chars IN THE SHOW?? For a show made to sell toys, Hasbro sure did go about things in a weird way this time :/ I mean I don't watch FiM, but when I first saw a pic of Lyra I fell in love immediately and thought "oooh, I want a toy of her!". Took several years for that to happen. And don't even get me started on how long it took for them to make a brushable of Big Mac

Speaking of the meh-six, Hasbro is now calling first G1's the 'mane six' as well >.<

WHAT! That doesn't even make sense! How can they be "main" if they were only released once or twice??? Argh!!! They're the collector ponies! They already HAVE a name! I mean I guess I could accept "the original six", I think some bronies call them that, but... argh!! They're not the freaking "mane" six!!!

[banditpony]

I guess I can see why main 6 succeeded where core 7 failed... Core 7 was a late-line decision, whereas G4 always had the main 6. It's easier to succeed if it's like that all along, rather than completely overhauling the line near the end of its run, you know? Plus G4 had the TV show to back it up...

It was PURELY the tv show that was driving point behind the success. (there was a flop inbetween g3 and g4 after all ^_- )

[Taffeta]

I understand needing to have core characters in a cartoon series that runs for nine seasons, because it would be confusing to viewers if each episode focused on a different character out of hundreds (because I'm sure there were hundreds of different designs in G3), but I don't see why the toyline has to reflect this. I think they made a  mistake in keeping them so closely tied. I've always seen the MLP cartoons and toylines as very seperate which is why "show accuracy" never bothered me.

IMO, they wanted to try something new-- it was the third attempt of having a "core" cast. It went on long enough that something had to be working for them... and the fact they dropped random new characters so early on makes me wonder if that they weren't selling?

Fourth, technically. MLP Tales, the repeat and refresh G1 core ponies like Ivy, etc, G3's core 7 and then G4.

But then on the other hand, if we're talking Hasbro in the US, they didn't orchestrate the Seven Characters (their official set name). Hasbro in Europe did. It's still unclear whether the Tales animation was produced for an American audience with the intent of a toyline in the US (given the fact they weren't part of the 10th anniversary line), or whether the show was done in the US for a foreign audience (bearing in mind the important role of football/soccer rather than a more American sport, and also the use of Glowing Magic(al) rather than Glow & Show as a set name.

G2 is also rather the same because it died so quickly in the US and became a much more European thing. So much of the rinse repeat characters there also were done by and for the European market.

In which case it would mean Hasbro in the US only had control of core cast for the end of G3/3.5 and for G4.

Also, on a slightly different note, Mattel and SheRa in the 1980s had a lot of different toys but the series mostly focused on the core group plus characters not made into toys like the annoying Mme Razz and Broom - characters like Mermista and Perfuma etc got one episode if they were lucky out of the whole run of episodes.  So this idea of focusing on the core cast in the show and then selling a wide range of toys was made to work in the eighties.

In a sense the FIM show was too successful and with the wrong audience to make a good toyline with diverse characters. When it became the lynchpin and gained a cult following outside the target audience, it changed the angle of approach on how to market from it. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing overall for MLP in the 21st century, but it's still what happened. If the show hadn't evolved to be so key, the m6 would probably have had fewer releases with a more diverse cast as Hasbro focused on nailing the toy angle, rather than the licensed merch angle.

[Dragonflitter]

Hey Hasbro, can we have some new ponies please? ...Please? G5? Spare G5, Hasbro?

Ugh, don't get your hopes up, we already know the G5 cartoon is going to have the same cast of six ponies as FiM, just with revamped character designs and storyline. I doubt they're going to change their marketing strategies where the toys are involved.

[banditpony]

Hey Hasbro, can we have some new ponies please? ...Please? G5? Spare G5, Hasbro?

Ugh, don't get your hopes up, we already know the G5 cartoon is going to have the same cast of six ponies as FiM, just with revamped character designs and storyline. I doubt they're going to change their marketing strategies where the toys are involved.

We only know rumors. Nothing official has been released. Things can change during the concept phase *shrug* and that's all we've seen.

[Dragonflitter]

Things can change in concept phrase, yeah, but I very much doubt they're going to make such a wild change as "we're keeping the same characters people have come to love from G4" to "we're going to make a whole new cast," as cool as that would be.

[Leave a Whisper]

Hey Hasbro, can we have some new ponies please? ...Please? G5? Spare G5, Hasbro?

Second, third and fourth this.

[banditpony]

Things can change in concept phrase, yeah, but I very much doubt they're going to make such a wild change as "we're keeping the same characters people have come to love from G4" to "we're going to make a whole new cast," as cool as that would be.

Eh, IMO, you never know. I've seen projects do 180s. Just takes one business person or buyer to be like, nope.

[Taffeta]

They need to feel the hate.