Unpopular Pony Opinions

[invaderhorizongreen]

I am not a fan of the gen 5 toys at all, I saw in one person tiny and I could see the seams. 

[TimeDance]

I hate the G3 brushes. They're so chunky and awkward and not really good for getting out any knots. I always go to my G1 combs if I need to brush some hair.

[Leave a Whisper]

I use my Grand Champion brushes. They work way better then 1/3/4 ones. What were the g2 ones like?

[Taffeta]

I admit to using Sindy brushes for my ponies' hair for a long time. I am guilty as charged. We used to get them in bags with pony accessories at the carboot sale so I have quite a lot. Though the long handled bng combs are also very useful. Though I broke one of them combing one pony's hair once. Big tangles. Whoops.

...I agree with the above statement about G5 toys. I showed Dad as well when we went to look at computers, since the toy store is really near the PC store...and he was kind of...meh about them as well.

They just don't stand out.

[Midnight Dream]

Unpopular opinion now, maybe? But I don't really like ponies having bridles and saddles.

They're just pointless, really. Related, I was thinking of like a... theory? Lack of a better term? For G1's progress:

Spoiler

Horse phase -> Fantasy phase -> Domestic/Modern Phase

"Horse phase" obviously being the bridles and saddles, but also Megan's inclusion. The stable is also very horsey, but what makes it even MORE horsey are the trough accessories! Early MLP feels like "horses, but what if it was purple?" rather than how we know it today. "Fantasy phase" is the mainstream view of MLP. No need to explain further. Magical little ponies with magical little powers living in castles and going on adventures. "Domestic/Modern Phase" is obviously Tales, but also the shift of the brand entirely. From "magical ponies in castles" to "prom queen ponies" and "house furniture playset and pregnant mom pony". G1 is the most baby-heavy of all the gens, but instead of just "babies" there's an emphasis on "families" like, obviously, the Family sets (Sweet Celebrations, etc) in late-G1. A quick glance at MLW (which I know isn't the authority on MLP history, but it's good enough with something like this), early G1 looks like it's mostly adult ponies with some babies. But by year 7-8, it's halved, with a LOT of baby releases... like half adult ponies, half babies. Of course when I mean family I mean "mom, dad, baby", not "random orphaned baby" and "adult pony with her cloned baby self".

I know G1's progress was just a matter of them refreshing the brand to make it more appealing to its demographic, but it sort of repeats itself with the other gens:

G2: Simple Phase -> Fantasy Phase -> Domestic Phase
G2 started off with basic playsets and themes, went onto the royalty thing, then finished off with a mansion mom and baby playset. The focus on babies as time went on I think also contributes to the "domesticity" of the gen, since if you have babies, you probably will want to roleplay "family" stories. Cooking, school, and gardening playsets as well.

G3: Simple Phase -> Fantasy Phase -> Domestic/Baby Phase
G3 started off with very simple stories that didn't do much, but A Very Minty Christmas and The Runaway Rainbow gave the ponies more exciting adventures to go on halfway through the gen. Finish off the "Fantasy Phase" with Twinkle Wish Adventure. These ponies are going on adventures across the land and not just planning parties in Ponyville like the Free Media movies. As for "Domesticity", we have the Ponyville playsets-- ponies living in a town, a society, rather than a magical world. Ultimately, the gen wraps up altogether with Newborn Cuties.

Gens seem to have a focus on babies at the end of their run...? Is this a "last ditch effort" to make money? "OK we gotta bring out the big guns, give them babies. Little girls love babies."

G4: Simple Phase -> Fantasy Phase -> Domestic Phase
"Simple Phase" being the "slice of life" early episodes of FiM, "Fantasy Phase" being the more... "geek franchise" later seasons, and "Domestic Phase" being Pony Life. "Modern Phase" also fits Pony Life, just as Tales was G1's "Modern Phase". Although they came before PL, you could throw in a brief "baby phase" with the... 2 sets of baby Mane 6 merch we got...? (The 6-pack minifigures and the Pinkie/Twilight dolls)

G5 has just begun but I wonder if we'll see a similar pattern. Maybe Hasbro can shake things up and give us babies right away.

As for saddles... I think they can be done well on a pony. I like how G4 handled saddles, as a fashion thing. A little band on the back with a frilly skirt. I like simple clothes on ponies, not a button-up blouse, pants, and tennis shoes. Anything more *saddley* is pointless as there are no humans, and bridles are ESPECIALLY weird. At least with a saddle you could have a pet ride on your back or something... what's a cat going to do with a bridle?

I know I'm kinda late to this, but I really liked this analysis and I wanted to add my own take on this.

I think we can explain the the first phase of each generation as them starting it with something that can easily attract a new audience without confusing or alienating it, so they just start with the most basic things - ponies being ponies. That why we get horse themed things like saddles and bridles, and simplistic playsets and storylines.

At second phase they have already attracted the audience and built up more ideas about how ponies and the world that they inhabit function, now they can get more creative with it, that why we get more fantasy themed content.

As the years pass the original audience is growing up and many of them starts to lose interest in MLP. Third phase is an attempt to keep the audience interest and/or to attract a new one, that why they start to go for things that little girls might like (babies, families, cooking, gardening etc.) or contemporary trends in other toylines or media in general.

In conclusion it looks something like this: Basic phase -> Creative phase -> Modern/Domestic phase.
I think this can also (more or less) be applied to other franchises not just MLP.


About G5, I tried to like it, but I just can't. I think that the toys look awful, I can't stand those weird flat face and skinny stretched out bodies. They look like fakies to me.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I like G3.5 toys better than G5 toys.

[BlackCurtains]

Aw, I like the G5 toys. I like them better than G4. I think their proportions are better. Plus, the main character is orange and there's a main boy pony. I've yet to see the movie or any cartoons, so this is just based on the toys I've gotten.

[Queen Sophie]

I really do not like g4 toys, (with the exception of alicorn poses) the main ones seem way too simple and have almost no poses and their hair isn’t fun to work with but I do have some anyway for the heck of it or I got it as a gift

[MJNSEIFER]

Knowing me, I've probably mentioned this, but I love the term "cutie marks" - I just have so much nostalgia for that term, and it just sounds adorable to me, and I just like the name.

I respect that G1 and G2 ponies have "symbols" and I try to remember to call them that, but I like how G3 onwards used the term cutie marks, as to me it sounds fun, without being embarrassing to say, in my opinion (if that even matters) - it's just cute, and MLP should be cute, in my opinion.

Sorry if I've mentioned this before on here, as I know I talk about the cutie mark thing a lot.  It does mean a lot to me, but I respect that people grew up with G1 and G2 having the term "symbol", but my overall point is I love the term cutie mark, and some people here don't seem to, so it is an unpopular opinion... maybe?

[BlackCurtains]

I think it's a weird thing to be ...is offended the right word? by someone calling something they grew up with different from what you grew up with. I say symbol, because that's what they were called in my gen. I don't mind cutie mark, I just don't use it unless I'm talking about G4 (I still say symbol for G3).

Now if someone is calling them "brands" or "rump stamp" or something weird like that, well honestly I'd just laugh

[Taffeta]

When I was a kid I called them rump marks because that was what Hasbro called them, but I've come to call them symbols since being a collector online, because it's more neutral and makes more sense to me.

Both rump mark/design and cutie mark are official Hasbro terms, even if they are both a bit questionable.

My personal hatred - and it is hate - of cutie mark is not really the term itself. I mean, there are a lot of silly pony terms out there. But the association between the G4 version of cutie mark and the irrepressable urge of a section of G4 fans to impose their 'lore' on older generations without any respect or regard for how those older gens worked.

I didn't bother about cutie mark at all in G3, even though I thought it a silly name. I literally only started hating it because of the way that section of G4 fans tried to redefine everything pony through FIM lenses without bothering to understand what came before was different, or accepting it for what it was.

In short, all the words I hate about G4, I hate because of G4 fans behaving like numpties. There are plenty of stupid words in G1 as well, after all. And even if it makes me wince, I'm only likely to comment on someone calling a G1 symbol a CM if they're also trying to force G4 lore on G1 at the same time.

Going back to symbol, because it's not an official term for any generation, I find it a useful neutral term across all generations. It really refers to the marking on the pony toy, rather than the wider story behind them imo.

[Leave a Whisper]

It's not that I'm offended by it, I just think cutie mark sounds overbearingly stupid. In the same way that belly badge for care bears sounds overbearingly stupid.

What I am offended by is people using that stupid term for ponies that came before G3. Because of their awful, condescending attitudes towards everything before G4 in general.

"You people who grew up with those stupid girly generations, don't know your butt from a hole in the ground. So you have to defer to my expertise." Which to them means that G1 and G2 ponies have cutie marks, Tales is G2, and that MLP only became adventurous during FiM.

 It's ret-conning and ret-conners are usually both ignorant and arrogant. I find them aggravating no matter what the subject is, because they stick their fingers in their ears and won't listen.

If they had not taken such a belligerent attitude I wouldn't be as twitchy about it, and could happily ignore it, as I did during the G3 era.

[stjarne]

It's not that I'm offended by it, I just think cutie mark sounds overbearingly stupid. In the same way that belly badge for care bears sounds overbearingly stupid.

What I am offended by is people using that stupid term for ponies that came before G3. Because of their awful, condescending attitudes towards everything before G4 in general. The I wasn't around back then so that makes me an expert. While you who grew up with it, don't know your butt from a hole in the ground. It's ret-conning and ret-conners are usually both ignorant and arrogant.

If they had not taken such a belligerent attitude I wouldn't be as twitchy about it, and could happily ignore it, as I did during the G3 era.

i always call it a 'cutie mark' no matter the gen, but not because i'm one of those people you described. i grew up with G3, which coined the term in the first place and so it was all i knew growing up. for me personally it just has a better ring than 'symbol' or 'mark' even though i realize that's all people called it back then

[Leave a Whisper]

It's not that I'm offended by it, I just think cutie mark sounds overbearingly stupid. In the same way that belly badge for care bears sounds overbearingly stupid.

What I am offended by is people using that stupid term for ponies that came before G3. Because of their awful, condescending attitudes towards everything before G4 in general. The I wasn't around back then so that makes me an expert. While you who grew up with it, don't know your butt from a hole in the ground. It's ret-conning and ret-conners are usually both ignorant and arrogant.

If they had not taken such a belligerent attitude I wouldn't be as twitchy about it, and could happily ignore it, as I did during the G3 era.

i always call it a 'cutie mark' no matter the gen, but not because i'm one of those people you described. i grew up with G3, which coined the term in the first place and so it was all i knew growing up. for me personally it just has a better ring than 'symbol' or 'mark' even though i realize that's all people called it back then

Considering that I did not say a word against G3 fans, then I would assume you know that you're automatically exempt from being lumped in from rabid, know-it-all bronies who don't know their butt from a hole in the ground.


For the record, I do a lot of editing when I think of something else to say, spot mistakes, or realize I haven't been clear enough in what I was trying to say initially. Because honestly, I royally suck  talking about heated debates and subjects that annoy me.

[Carrehz]

Yeah I'm not "offended" by the term, that's silly. I just think "cutie mark" is a stupid term, always did, even back in G3. Heck, I thought it was stupid BEFORE then - Animaniacs used it first! And I hated it then! And it just vaguely annoys me to see it around so much... But it only really annoys me when it comes hand-in-hand with the kind of "fans" who insist G2 is Tales, etc.

(I think "belly badge" is stupid too See, I get it, they want to have a special trademarkable term for these things, it's a marketing thing or whatever, but... surely they could have picked less-stupid-sounding monikers for them? )