Hasbro's Most Baffling MLP Decisions

[Taffeta]

On the rights thing, I'm actually amused by it.

If they had bothered to come up with an original concept for G5 then it really wouldn't be an issue.
And yes, I know that one is on Hasbro. But if Hasbro hadn't allowed so much of G4 to be sucked into an animation rather than taking control of it through the toyline...and here we are.

[Carrehz]

I'd be really surprised if the rights thing was actually true tbh. That tends to be a common fandom excuse... I'd like to see more of a source than just "I heard this from...".

[Leave a Whisper]

Considering how often they continue to shove Twilight Sparkle into the G5 line, I'm not quite convinced.

[Taffeta]

I think it unlikely Hasbro doesn't have the rights to the names of the M6, since they can still produce her toys. But I can believe that the rights to show only content, created for the animation and not for toy production...those may well rest with the tv  channel who owns the rights to FIM.

[MJNSEIFER]

instead [G5 is] this grim dystopian future where the Mane Six failed and are all presumably dead.

This is kind of off topic, but I keep seeing this view point, and I just don't relate to it, no offense. This isn't the vibe I get with G5 at all...

What I get from G5 is that the Mane Six were successful, and that friendship is still, and will always be, "magic", because of how easily things were put right - pretty much the worst of it was the A New Generation movie, and even that showed hints that the magic of friendship wasn't gone, it just needed to be rediscovered, and the fact that it still existed to be rediscovered shows that the Mane Six were successful, which is what I personally feel that G5 is trying to say - it's like saying that a marriage is bad just because you argue at times, but that's not how it works; loving someone doesn't mean never fighting with them, it means that you always make up when you do. That's ultimately a simplified version of how I look at G5 following G4, Equestria just had a bad patch, albeit one that lasted (in my headcanon at least) a few centuries, but a bad patch that could be solved, and pretty easily from the look of it (and yes, I get that's because they had to make it MLP as soon as they could.)

Also, as much as I love the Mane Six, I don't get the problem with them being dead in G5, as it's basically centuries in the future - of course they're dead, but they're still alive in their own time, so it's not like G4 ended with them dying (which in itself, also shows that if anypony did fail, it wasn't the Mane Six, as this all happened after their time, most likely.)

And in any case (though this seems to be something that a lot of bronies seem to miss), My Little Pony has multiple canons in each generation anyway, right? So if one wants to, they can view G5 as being a sequel to its "own" G4 rather than "our" G4 (and what "our" G4 is, is different to everyone, at the end of the day, or it should be because that is one of the beauties of My Little Pony) I mean, G5 already feels like it's own generation, with its own rules - it's just saying it's taking place after one of the previous generations as part of its storyline, but as everything else is going its own way, and the idea of how things work has again changed for this generation, it may very well be a sequel to the G5 version of events of what happened to the Mane Six, rather than G4 itself.

But at the end of the day, the overall vibe I get from G5 is that the Mane Six succeeded. 

EDIT: And to be fair... G5 may not be that hated by bronies, I mean, those who hate it exist, but I've seen a lot of people (who are at least likely to be bronies) just getting on with it, and enjoying G5 - in some cases, it's probably just the kind of bronies who only like G4 to an excessive degree, and the haters being louder than the fans again (like with the bronies who hated the previous generations Vs. the ones that did.) I dunno, it's probably more balanced than it seems, at least. I also don't think that Hasbro are trying to discourage bronies (or at least G4 fans) either, as G5 seems pretty respectful and nostalgic towards it (and G1 for that matter) while still being its own thing.

And yeah (getting back on topic) I doubt that anything happened to the rights with the G4 ponies, the same as I no longer think anything happened to the rights with the G1 ponies - they just want to focus on the newer ponies (or the ponies they want to focus on.)

[Taffeta]

I think G4 is the one generation where it is hard to claim there are separate canons.

I mean, of course individual fans can have their own ideas, I don't mean that. But I just remember how at the height of G4, whenever you went near a brony space, you would see people insisting that certain things had to be seen a certain way or the person wasn't a fan (or even a human being, apparently).

Toys were expected to have show-accurate hair. 100% that never happened in MLP before.

So G5 is a successor to the canon those bronies drummed into the asphalt. G4 did not promote individual canons and nor did the most vocal elements of the fandom. The fact there are bronies like you, MJSNEIFER, who see things differently, is great - but we're still talking about a fandom, the vast majority of which struggled with the existence of prior generations (even if they did not actively mock them).

I don't have a problem with G5, I just don't care about it. The ponies, toys, show are all bland to me. But by the same token I think G5 needed that blandness, to neutralise the toxicity from the previous iteration.

[Rika_of_Thunder]

this was the prototype for magic motion moonshadow

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this is what we got instead

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i fully do not know what kind of person would have looked at the second one and said "oh yeah that looks better"

[Leave a Whisper]

this was the prototype for magic motion moonshadow

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this is what we got instead

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i fully do not know what kind of person would have looked at the second one and said "oh yeah that looks better"

I don't know what kind of person thought either of those looked good?  It's a shame because she'd be so pretty otherwise.

[MJNSEIFER]

I think G4 is the one generation where it is hard to claim there are separate canons.

I mean, of course individual fans can have their own ideas, I don't mean that. But I just remember how at the height of G4, whenever you went near a brony space, you would see people insisting that certain things had to be seen a certain way or the person wasn't a fan (or even a human being, apparently).

Toys were expected to have show-accurate hair. 100% that never happened in MLP before.

So G5 is a successor to the canon those bronies drummed into the asphalt. G4 did not promote individual canons and nor did the most vocal elements of the fandom. The fact there are bronies like you, MJSNEIFER, who see things differently, is great - but we're still talking about a fandom, the vast majority of which struggled with the existence of prior generations (even if they did not actively mock them).

I don't have a problem with G5, I just don't care about it. The ponies, toys, show are all bland to me. But by the same token I think G5 needed that blandness, to neutralise the toxicity from the previous iteration.

Agree on those kind of bronies not getting it, but G4 itself was promoted into separate canons, like all generations - the toys, cartoons, comics, books, etc. were all their own canon, which bronies tended to miss (hence them referring to the comics as "non-canon" which is incorrect, they were just their own canon.) There is also stuff that contradicts G4's cartoon canon in G5, so it is likely part of it's own canon (somethingly, at least one thing about G5's canon actually aligns with my G4 headcanon... and it's one of the headcanons that bronies probably wouldn't agree with!)

I know what you mean about those kind of bronies though - I've seen them, and I thought they were silly even back then. They still exist today (and the same applies to those who view anything that isn't "cartoon-canon" as "non-canon") but I at least like to assume that it's getting better. I definitely know that it exists, and never got it, even back then (and I even admit that there are some established "brony headcanons" that I use, but only because I personally like them)

But yeah, what you're talking about is/was definitely a thing. Unfortunately. I think you're right and it connects to the fact that some bronies didn't acknowledge the previous generations, and thus didn't get how MLP worked and the like (and some didn't even get how fanon works, for some reason...) Thank you for being okay with the fact that I view things differently.

I personally don't find the G5 ponies bland, I get so much inspiration from the personally, same as I do with all generations, but I respect that you do. Basically for me, all generations are what bronies view G4 as, if that makes sense, but of course, that's just my own personal opinion.

[Ponybookworm]

this was the prototype for magic motion moonshadow

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this is what we got instead

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i fully do not know what kind of person would have looked at the second one and said "oh yeah that looks better"

The proto looks much better!!! And would have well improved Dizzy Lizzie too

[Leave a Whisper]

Yeah but they still have those ridiculous tails.

[TheClassCalico]

this was the prototype for magic motion moonshadow

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this is what we got instead

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i fully do not know what kind of person would have looked at the second one and said "oh yeah that looks better"

Personally, I prefer the final result. It being made of an entirely different material just doesn't appeal to me so much, even if the end result does look a little strange. With that said, I wouldn't have minded the original being created as a separate toy, independent from the "main" brushables.

I think G4 is the one generation where it is hard to claim there are separate canons.

I mean, of course individual fans can have their own ideas, I don't mean that. But I just remember how at the height of G4, whenever you went near a brony space, you would see people insisting that certain things had to be seen a certain way or the person wasn't a fan (or even a human being, apparently).

Toys were expected to have show-accurate hair. 100% that never happened in MLP before.

So G5 is a successor to the canon those bronies drummed into the asphalt. G4 did not promote individual canons and nor did the most vocal elements of the fandom. The fact there are bronies like you, MJSNEIFER, who see things differently, is great - but we're still talking about a fandom, the vast majority of which struggled with the existence of prior generations (even if they did not actively mock them).

I don't have a problem with G5, I just don't care about it. The ponies, toys, show are all bland to me. But by the same token I think G5 needed that blandness, to neutralise the toxicity from the previous iteration.

Agree on those kind of bronies not getting it, but G4 itself was promoted into separate canons, like all generations - the toys, cartoons, comics, books, etc. were all their own canon, which bronies tended to miss (hence them referring to the comics as "non-canon" which is incorrect, they were just their own canon.) There is also stuff that contradicts G4's cartoon canon in G5, so it is likely part of it's own canon (somethingly, at least one thing about G5's canon actually aligns with my G4 headcanon... and it's one of the headcanons that bronies probably wouldn't agree with!)

I know what you mean about those kind of bronies though - I've seen them, and I thought they were silly even back then. They still exist today (and the same applies to those who view anything that isn't "cartoon-canon" as "non-canon") but I at least like to assume that it's getting better. I definitely know that it exists, and never got it, even back then (and I even admit that there are some established "brony headcanons" that I use, but only because I personally like them)

But yeah, what you're talking about is/was definitely a thing. Unfortunately. I think you're right and it connects to the fact that some bronies didn't acknowledge the previous generations, and thus didn't get how MLP worked and the like (and some didn't even get how fanon works, for some reason...) Thank you for being okay with the fact that I view things differently.

*SNIP*

Bronies were/are often prone to thinking of the show as *THE* product, and everything else a promotion of it, it seems. Therefore, anything that, in some form, contradicts it is inaccurate or non-canon, rather than simply being another version. To be fair, the show was pushed more than previous generations in the marketing (remember it being directly advertised on the packaging of the earlier releases? At least in the US; I don't recall whether it was a thing over here in the UK.) It is also true that the canon show designs came first. Even so, I'm not sure if there was a strict main canon exactly, and I do think that it is best to simply separate it into multiple canons rather than treating only one as correct, unless you are specifically talking about one canon and are expressing that the others don't apply in this specific context.

Being a show fandom, it makes sense that the focus is, well, on the show from their perspective, even if the show isn't everything when it comes to even just G4.

[LadyMoondancer]

Hasbro didn't lose the rights to G4 ponies or animation, lol.  First, Hasbro would never allow that.  Second, Hasbro made at least two other shows featuring the G4 characters: Pony Life and that CGI variety hour show with Pinkie Pie.

Hasbro never lost the rights to the G1 ponies' likenesses either.  IMO the reason the ponies in Lauren Faust's original pitch (Firefly, G1 Twilight, Surprise, Posey etc) were changed were as follows:

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were THE most marketed, merchandised ponies from G3 so Hasbro wanted them to continue into G4.  It doesn't matter that they have different personalities than G3;  what matters is during G3 kids were buying more balloons and shirts of RD and Pinkie Pie than of Sparkleworks, Minty, or Sunny Daze.

Fluttershy and Rarity the Unicorn(tm) were both trademarked names from G3.  You'll notice G3 tended to have more elaborate and sort of weird names compared to G1.  Like a lot more "Tink-a-Tink-a-Too" and lot fewer "Bubbles".  IMO part of the reason for this is it's easier to defend the trademark on a name like Tink-a-Tink-a-Too.  If a competitor uses that you KNOW they are copying you and you can take them to court.  This is also why the toys of Mrs. Cake are "Mrs. Dazzle Cake", lol. And why Rarity's full trademark is "Rarity the Unicorn". (This was also the trademark of G3 Rarity.)

G1 Twilight and Firefly are pink and The Pink Slot was already taken up by Pinkie Pie.  With a small main cast, you want each one to have a different signature color, like the Power Rangers, TMNT, the Rescue Bots, etc.  Not for nothing did the TMNT cartoon change the headbands of the turtles, which were ALL red in their initial comics.

Applejack was the lone survivor, long live Applejack.

I like the G5 ponies.  IMO they have a lot more nuance to their personalities than previous gens, including G4.  Not that lack of nuance is necessarily a problem for cartoon characters, like Donald Duck doesn't have any nuance either and I love him, but I do find it a refreshing change.  G5 reminds me of Transformers Prime, in that something about the way they're written makes me believe they had histories and lives and emotions before we were introduced to them, which is not something I feel about a lot of cartoons.  (Though TFP does it better than G5 MLP.)

Oh, incidentally I wasn't complaining about the G4 ponies being dead, I actually find it knee-slapping funny.  It's just so unusual for a girls property.  Like imagine if during the 1986 MLP movie Megan had said "Hey where are Firefly and Bow Tie?" and Wind Whistler had said "Time moves differently here, let me take you to their GRAVESTONES."  (Honestly . . . I wouldn't hate it. I'm peeved that they just yeeted Firefly etc into the void.)

I think Hasbro will start moving to shorter generations, like Transformers (where most gens last no more than three years), but script them out more than with G1 through G4.  Watching G5, it's interesting how purposeful it is.  Like Misty's plotline is baked into the entire season, from reluctant villain to heelturn to main cast member.  The writers don't always hit the right balance with the episodes,  some of them are not that interesting because the non-Misty portions are kind of space-fillers, but the overall concept is interesting and imo the episodes pick up in quality as soon as Misty is added to the main cast.

Anyway, back to baffling decisions . . . The Glow 'n Show ponies only had four ponies in the set and TWO of them are orange.  Same for the Baby Sparkle ponies set.  If they were bigger sets I would find this less weird. 

There are no G1 Petite pony unicorns.  Why?  They could have molded the horn to be flush with the hair sculpt, doesn't seem that hard.

There aren't any G3 baby unicorns either.  Again, why?  Rarity is literally a baby unicorn in G3 but her toy is an adult.

[Harmonie]

I really don't think children today are anymore focused on electronics as kids in the 80s and 90s. I think it's been pretty even the last few decades. I mean, I grew up rich and had any toy I wanted. We also had computers that I played games on and consoles. We also had lots of movies at home. A pool in the backyard. I had a bike and other outdoor toys. I spent time with all of them. I also spent time with my friends playing imaginary games like house and gameshow.

I think kids today seem like they are on their phones all the time because we only see them in public places usually. I know the kids in my neighborhood spend time outdoors playing with friends and sometimes it involves toys. When the big Magic Mixies was the huge toy that year, one kid had gotten one for Christmas and played with it outside. I got so tired of hearing that little jingle that played each time she interacted with it. Someone might say that a toy like that doesn't spark creative play or something, but I had Teddy Ruxpin and loved him and got plenty of imagination out of the stories. Same with read along books on tape and Tiger Electronics.

Parents play a bigger role. They're responsible for teaching their kids to take care of and appreciate their things. Both my parents grew up poor so with me they really hammered in that if I didn't take care of my things, they'd be taken away or if I broke something it wouldn't be replaced. They also taught me to be grateful for the gifts I got from extended family even if it was something I didn't like (sooooooooo many Barbie dolls).

I also think it depends a lot on the kid. I was always content by myself. Heck, give me a tub of Playdoh and leave me to my own and I'd have a great time. Some kids need more stimulation. I believe that not everyone is born with an imagination too, so those kids would probably be on their phones more.

Uh, I started with a point. I've lost it now.

Basically, I don't think "the kids" have changed too much. Toy manufactures have. Parents have. The world has.

I understand you. I see kids playing outside a lot where I live. It's clearly something that kids still do, very much against the stereotype that older people like to put on them.

With that said, I'm a mid-range millennial. I kinda did go down the stereotypical path once technology increased. I played outside and played with toys a lot in the early to mid 90s, but by the end of the 90s I preferred indoor electronic activities like TV and video games (although I would still, on occassion play with a doll house - which BTW, Animal Crossing and The Sims came in and kinda filled that void for me... Incidentally as a 34 year old I still need that void filled xD - or draw. So it's not like even I never enjoyed these activities later on). Around that time I was also first granted access by my parents to the internet, and I became addicted fairly quickly. When high-speed internet got installed in our home in 2004, then I got really addicted. I'm NOT an outdoors person, AT ALL anymore.

I do want to note, that my path might be because of my neurodivergence - I am ADHD and and potentially mildly autistic. The ADHD has always made me crave stimulation.

So... I think we could say that this varies kid by kid. I just wish people would stop being so judgemental one way or another.

Anyway, sorry, this is getting way off on a tangent. I very much wish we could go back to the early to mid 2000s or before MLP. I miss the high quality toys with lots of variety. I'm just glad that we at least have Basic Fun.

I don't know that I can give a great answer of "mistakes" that Hasbro has made with MLP. Aside from maybe the pandering that they began showing to Bronies. =/

[Carrehz]

tbh I actually prefer the final ver of Moonshadow. The first one looks more... toy-ish? if that makes sense - she reminds me of those dunking birds lol. Neither version looks *fantastic* but the final ver does look a lot more natural to me.

re: the rights thing - keep in mind "they lost the rights!!11" is a stock fandom reaction that shows up.... basically any time something isn't used. by "fandom" I mean fandom in general, not MLP fandom specifically. If I had a penny for every time I'd seen someone claim that...

And I'm pretty sure Hasbro confirmed somewhere that the names like Tink-a-Tink-a-Too, Scootaloo, etc are easier to trademark, yeah.