The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: angela22 on February 24, 2012, 08:46:06 PM
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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... :lookround:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 XD I got the opening of gen4 packaging down now, but I just kept cutting myself on gen3 packaging up until the very end lol XD
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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.
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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.
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Hey, I think I may try that out! I'll take before and after if I do and post it here.... :cool:
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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 :/
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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:
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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 :)
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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Yeah! I noticed that too, but I don't give two hoots and holler about it anyway as long as I have it, lol.
I mean I have a Twilight Sparkle that is literary two-tone! The head color doesn't match the body color.......Anyway its not really Hasbro's fault , because you got to keep this in mind who's making the toys, and its no one in the U.S.....Yeah! The Chinese! There doing crappy work on our products and it makes the company look bad!
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I must have been too young when I got my G1s because I really do not remember opening them (I even have video from a birthday party where I got one, but I don't actually remember opening one).
That being said, I find G4s to be really annoying to open. I hate ripping into boxes and arguing with them over my toys. I got the Canterlot Ball set for Christmas from my sister's BF (he's a total nice guy ^^), and it took me like three HOURS to get all six ponies and Spike out. And Rarity still had tape around her middle for several hours after until I could find a sharp object that I thought wouldn't damage her to cut it off. :(
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i agree, the packaging is a pain! i especially hate the plastic bit wrapped around the front leg, its so hard to get off without scissors, and with scissors its hard for me to cut it off without making and sort of gash or dent in the leg!
their hair is bad too! so far i got 3 ponies from wave 4 and a fashion style fluttershy with dry, stiff, frizzy hair! some ponies even have dirt, marks, or smudged paint in the packaging! if g4 had better quality i'd like the toys so much more!
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Actually the plastic has cellotape on it - pick at it, peel it off and take the plastic off with no pain, there may be a litttle scratch if you slip but on display its barely noticable!
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I really haven't had much trouble at all with opening my G4s....Some wild hair on a few but that was generally easy to fix
Biggest problem I've had is with the ponies in Rarity's Carousel Boutique. They were stuck really hard into a plastic base that had a really good hold on their legs
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I have had them with good hair so far but wow the misprinted eyes drive me crazy >_< even if it is only slight!
I really like the g4 and enjoy the small size because I like pocket-size toys. I like the different 'attitude' and personality the different eyes give them. But they have not been very imaginative with poses and colours, what a shame. Hopefully thing will improve, we already have babies and a boy pony on the way! I'd like to see tranparent glitter ponies and less pink. (I like pink, but every pony seems to have a least a pink streak...)
Yeah! I noticed that too, but I don't give two hoots and holler about it anyway as long as I have it, lol.
I mean I have a Twilight Sparkle that is literary two-tone! The head color doesn't match the body color.......Anyway its not really Hasbro's fault , because you got to keep this in mind who's making the toys, and its no one in the U.S.....Yeah! The Chinese! There doing crappy work on our products and it makes the company look bad!
But ...it is Hasbro's fault :lol: , there is high demand for the toys, they need to produce toys very quickly (and cheaply) at the cost of quality. I don't want to start an argument but why don't Hasbro pay some US workers the same wage to make their product; among many reasons minimum wage laws - I think it is unfair to blame the country for the problem. Hasbro specifies the way they want *their* factory run, it is just based in China. Hasbro is satisfied with the quality of the ponies because they are *continuing* to make so many ponies with factory flaws... (I'll stop ><)
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I decided to keep my G4s mib to avoid these issues. :P
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Tinsel aside- I like the hair- but I agree, there's so much more, and softer stuff on the previous gens. Especially G3.
Though the fashion style ponies have WONDERFUL hair (after you condition and trim...)
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I'm an old hand at opening packages because I also collect other toys. If you've ever tried to get into toys now adays it's a hassle more than it's fun.
Tools required: Exacto Knife and a good pair of wire cutters - go pro and get some tools people :)
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i only have 7 so far... and two came in a trade already depackaged, but yeah.. the packaging is annoying... not as bad as those evil G3 boxes! (i have scars from carrying them in grocery bags on my legs!)
I havent had problems with hair yet, but my poor Plumsweet has an extra hole right above her tail hole! It looks like there was an airbubble in the casting process, but it's sad... :< and slightly awkward!
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I guess I've got lucky, our g4s have great hair.
all except our Fashion Style Applejack who has AMaZING HAIR!! its sooooo soft... im afraid to touch it almost... it's like fresh silk... wow.
< /reverie>
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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:
I've come across a few with oily-like hair that does not wash off. I've tried every shampoo and dish soap I can find and my FS Twilight's hair remains oily and lifeless...And stringy.. :/
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Hmm I never thought to compare G4 hair to previous generations! Let me do that right now... *hops up and rubs some display pony hair*
Hmm, G1 Fizzy is pretty dry... Ooo G1 Confetti is nice and soft! *rubs G4 heads* Hmm. Feels about the same, to me!
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The hair isn't actually very different. It does have a bit of a different texture than original G1 hair, but at the same time, all the G1 ponies staring at me right now are almost as old as I am! The only difference I've found is the very light pink used on Fluttershy. It tends to be very hard and less silky than other colors... so it's prone to "frizzing" I guess.
But the bonus with the G4s is that althought they are a pain to open, the back cards are easily salvaged. Poor G1s and their ripped bubbles!
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Yes, I do like that some of the backcards make for good back drops for displaying ponies!
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Yeah! I noticed that too, but I don't give two hoots and holler about it anyway as long as I have it, lol.
I mean I have a Twilight Sparkle that is literary two-tone! The head color doesn't match the body color.......Anyway its not really Hasbro's fault , because you got to keep this in mind who's making the toys, and its no one in the U.S.....Yeah! The Chinese! There doing crappy work on our products and it makes the company look bad!
Maybe they are being produced in China, but then... why Hasbro isn't keeping an eye on the quality of their products, even if it's on the other side of the world?
That being said...
I think I'm the only one who hasn't even opened a G4 (yet... haven't being tempted into having one in my hands...), but G3s were also a pain to open and take out the plastic thing holding their manes...
And the paint is horrible! If not on the pony with eye/symbol rubs there's another detail that it's just not nice for a NEW toy just released from factory...
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I think I'm the only one who hasn't even opened a G4 (yet... haven't being tempted into having one in my hands...), but G3s were also a pain to open and take out the plastic thing holding their manes...
Yeah, this is true. I remember I actually cut myself on the plastic when I was ~10 because the plastic was so hard to open and sharp too >_<
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I haven't had any trouble opening G4 ponies, but I think I've been well-prepared by opening G3 ponies! Some of the packaging for those was absolutely ridiculous; I opened so many ponies with dented hooves from the plastic base. I always use a blade (Xacto knife, currently; used to use a box cutter but I prefer something more delicate.) to open pony packaging, rather than scissors. If you slice all the tape first the plastic separates with little effort.
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I didn't have any trouble with my pony hair UNTIL i bought Flitterheart :( her mane was suuuuper dry out of the box and feels so cheap >_< I'm tempted to buy another one and bait this one! I'm guessing it's a matter of luck :( even though that shouldn't even be happening.
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Most of my G4s have had lovely hair, only 'playful' Fluttershy has horrid, greasy, stringy hair (she's the darker pink version), but they have all needed a good brshing and finger styling and most have needed a little trim to get rid of random straggly bits.
I dislike the sewn-in strips in the hair but they aren't too hard to get out, likewise the sellotape is annoying but manageable. The worst so far has been the CMC set which I sliced my finger open on the jagged plastic tray. It's the first set I've seen with raffia (?) string though, I assume for recycling purposes.
The head/body colour mismatch and the slightly off printing of the eyes are (to me) much worse than the quality of the hair though. Much as I do love G4s the QC issues are really irritating.