The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Shenanigans on June 07, 2012, 11:06:48 PM
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I was looking at the up and coming thread and there are so many reissues of the mane 6. I really wish instead of coming out with a new Twight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash that they would come out with new and different ponies each time. I guess it's because of the show, but we didn't see Firefly or Gusty produced over and over with every new wave. I'm just a bit scared that it will turn into a core 6 thing like the G3.5 line and become boring with the same characters. It killed my interest in ponies for a long time :(
Sorry if this has been talked about before. I was just trying to make out my want list and having to skip over the mane 6 over and over. Love them all, but don't want an army of them :yikes:
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I know what you mean! Variety is the spice of pony collecting (or something like that lol). I think we already have a "core 6" thing going, as we have from the beginning of G4, though I personally am pretty sure we don't need to worry about them whittling down to ONLY those 6. I mean, look at all the random ponies we have already, plus what we know is coming, plus all the different blind bag characters - many of which were first brushables. I guess we'll just need a little more patience than we needed with G3! =P
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I completely agree - the continual release of the original 6 is frustrating! The joy of all the pre Bore 7 line was the number of different characters.
The problem is although the marketing theory of using a cartoon/comic to promote a toy line has been about since deregulation in the 80s, it has evolved dramatically in the last 30 years and taken a new slant in the last 4 or 5 years. You can see in most toy lines [including established favourites like Barbie and new favourites like Monster High] that by keeping a focus on core characters who need to "always be available in stores" and simply adding the odd additional character on this is the way toys are now marketed.
It means the manufacturer has a "safe" core which retailers understand and know people will be looking for. Part of it as well is how fast kids out grow or become fed up with toy lines - yes some children are wonderfully careful with their toys but many may want MLP this year and Barbie next by which time there is a fresh audience who want ponies but wont have wanted or been able to have them previously therefore keeping the core cartoon characters on shelf makes the most sense.
Annoying? Yes...But the way its going to continue? Probably...
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I already accepted G4 is pretty much "core 6 + some extra ponies". As long as those "extra ponies" keep being released it will be ok. Though i'm bothered by how they put no effort what so ever in those re-releases. The G3/G3.5 core ponies at least had different cutie marks.
And poses..we really need more poses.
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I both agree and disagree. I am no fan of seeing the same ponies again and again. However, with every repeat there are also new. So much so, I'm having trouble keeping up. I don't think there is any concern to be had about new toys. Along with all the standard new ponies coming up, we have the collectors editions coming out this year, which includes things like Zecora.
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Also keep in mind that each and every time an episode of FiM airs, some new kid is seeing the show for the first time. And when they see the show and fall in love with it, they want toys. It's no good for Hasbro if the main characters of their show are only in stores a part of the year. The kids need to be able to find their favorite character after they see the show, and that means keeping the Mane 6 on shelves as much as possible.
I will admit I miss the diversity of the G3's, but I'm glad we're getting SOME new G4 characters at least. I was a very broke college student 2003-2006 most of the time thanks to the G3's! lol.
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I just wish the other character toys were actually minor charcters/background ponies in the show, behind the mane six. And that they would get some development, instead of all these non-toy characters just popping up as gust/supporting characters.
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Also keep in mind that each and every time an episode of FiM airs, some new kid is seeing the show for the first time. And when they see the show and fall in love with it, they want toys. It's no good for Hasbro if the main characters of their show are only in stores a part of the year. The kids need to be able to find their favorite character after they see the show, and that means keeping the Mane 6 on shelves as much as possible.
That is a really good point! I hadn't thought of that before. Having the same 6 re-released over and over again can be a bit annoying for collectors, but I bet the kids really enjoy being able to find their favourite character whenever they go to a toy store. It seems like this last wave (or current wave) has been lacking in the "additional characters" department, but this next wave really seems like it's going to make up for it in a big way! I mean, we're going to get Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, Heartstrings, Cherry Berry, etc etc etc. Even Granny Smith and Gilda blind bags! So even though I completely understand the frustration of the same 6 being re-released constantly, I really think Hasbro's really trying to keep both us and kids happy. :)
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This is something that has been bothering me for ages too D: Actually when I first heard of the G4s being released, I was hoping for a change from the late G3s and G3.5's Core 7. It bored me to death and it really annoyed me to see the same ponies over and over every time I hit the stores. I always felt the whole point of My Little Pony was to have a whole range of colourful ponies in every colour, not the same fillies with different clothes. What's the point in that? Sorry if it offends anyone who enjoy the line, but I feel that they might as well just sell separate clothing and accessories sets from the ponies if they are just going to issue the same ponies over and over. I feel that that would probably lessen the likelihood of people losing interest in MLP (for e.g, people like me!)
Well enough of that digression. But I guess the reason that they keep re-issuing the same ponies over again is that they want to follow the show closely, knowing how popular it is. But still, I really hope that they'll be producing more ponies in different colours. How I miss those days!
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I already accepted G4 is pretty much "core 6 + some extra ponies". As long as those "extra ponies" keep being released it will be ok. Though i'm bothered by how they put no effort what so ever in those re-releases. The G3/G3.5 core ponies at least had different cutie marks.
And poses..we really need more poses.
Everything you said. :nod: You might get different accessories with re-releases, but otherwise there's really nothing new.
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I think the thing that bothers me the most about it is when I want to get a set for the accessories, but I don't need a third Fluttershy.
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I'm bored by the core 6 as well. I liked the colors of ponies in previous gens, it felt much more like collecting. Now I only buy the single pack ponies that are different in each wave since I've already got the wave 6.
Gen 4 is cute, the way it is designed (and the show is nice too). But I'm already looking forward to a new gen that sports more variety and colors in their toyline.
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I TOTALLY agree. I understand the marketing idea behind it and it makes sense to me and I know a lot of bronies might be upset if the mane six weren't so common. But I already have all the mane cast, and so far with the exception of Plumsweet and a few others (Ploomette comes to mind primarily because I love peafowl), the expanded universe ponies have been pretty... dull :(
That said, I'm SO SO SO looking forward to Lyra and Trixie and all the collector's edition ponies!!!!!!!!! Not even because of the show! I LOVE Lyra's color scheme, and Scratch's glasses and that yellow pony that I can't actually remember the name of?!! Omg I'm so excited!
What REALLY bugs me though... is we only have two G4 poses, and one of them is reserved for playsets for the most part ;___; One of my favorite parts of G1 is how lively and unique each pony is, but with G4 they just... stand there... the raised hoof pose is slightly better, but I would LOVE to see more poses like G1 had. There were even sitting ponies!!!
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What REALLY bugs me though... is we only have two G4 poses, and one of them is reserved for playsets for the most part ;___; One of my favorite parts of G1 is how lively and unique each pony is, but with G4 they just... stand there... the raised hoof pose is slightly better, but I would LOVE to see more poses like G1 had. There were even sitting ponies!!!
This! I wouldn't mind so many of the G4 Mane 6 if they were in different poses. I would love to see rearing/ playful poses!
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Actually the G1s had some staple ponies. Blossom and Cotton Candy were sold as FF and then CC, and they eventally mde it to the Mail Order list with the Collector's Set, and eventually rehashed with other ponies. Just that Hasbro didn't throw them out in the same consistency as what they do with the Core 6 now. I am not complaining since they still put out new characters and the G3 releases were WAYYYYYY too much and too quick. I kind of like having Rarity in regular supply since she makes such a great bait for so many G1-G4 customs, and her going into rarity will simply be UNFABULOUS!
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I must admit it was bothering me aswell, and it has been bothering me ever since the end of the G3 era. The fact that they kept releasing the same pony over and over and over when I wanted new ponies for my collection became extremely frustrating. I was wondering if they had run out of imagination or what the problem might be :P
But after reading some replies here I can really see your point and why they do it with the core 6 for the G4's. It makes perfect sense that they want the core 6 to be available all the time to people (kids and collectors alike) that haven't picked them up earlier for one reason or another. It is a good thing to do in my opinion.
However it would make my life so much easier (and my poor wallet) if they just re-released the core 6 with the same stuff aswell. Because as it is now, every time there's a new Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy I want to get them just because there is a small varity in what comes with them etc. :P Alltho that might become boring, but nevertheless cheaper XD
I think they have a fair amount of other ponies aswell, other than the core 6, but as someone mentioned I wish they would release more of the other ponies that are in the show.
With all that beeing said I'm trying to keep in mind that this is a relatively new generation. When (and if) this generation has gone on for 10 years+ (as the first generation did) then I'm sure we will have seen LOADS of other ponies, poses etc. aswell as we did in the first generation. Just have to give them some time :)
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I have mixed feelings about it... I do sort of like that the mane 6 are always available, even if I personally don't need more than one. When I was a kid I wanted an Applejack so badly from watching the cartoon, but she was never in the stores (duh, because she hadn't been made for years, but I didn't know that when I was 6)
So that I get, and I do think there has been a nice variety of other releases... Except... I totally agree about the poses. I would love to see some more nice action poses.
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Thats a good point, in the G1 line they didn't repeat release ponies in different styles which accounts for the incredible variety in G1's. Personally, I'm not sure the G1 line can ever be bettered with regards to the sheer range and quality of ponies to collect. In todays world I'm sure a toy line that vast would be far too costly. I'm looking forward to more new ponies in the G4 line, so far in the UK we have the same old core G4 ponies as we did last year, having said that most of them are now gone out of stores too, distribution over here is not good at all. I understand the marketing concept of having the core ponies in the stores and I suppose its that age old 'repetition' marketing ploy to firmly reinforce those characters but give us a few more new ones too!
Still, looking forward to Lyra and Trixie and also the new wave fashion styles but have a feeling we won't get them for a while. Also why did they release another Luna and Celestia fashion style, they are so similar, minus the tinsel!
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I don't think hasbro will fall into the old only releasing 6/7 ponies without others. If you look back to when FiM was in the works, the recruited Faust to give the line a MAJOR make over. I think hasbro has learned from their mistakes.
I think they will continue to release the mane 6 with each new wave, but there will be others as well.
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I don't know about the whole cartoon theory. Do we really gotta have the same ponies over so kids will recognize them considering we had a cartoon in the 80's and we didn't get a whole set year after year of the exact same ponies.
Firefly got a movie edition, there have been various reissues such as certain ponies being released as sosoft when originally they were regular and we also got the mail order sets as was explained.
The thing is getting a mail order set didn't reduce the amount of ponies being sold in stores to only having a few 'new' ponies. It was the reverse as in more unique ponies being sold and less of the same. Getting 3 or 4 reissues in sosoft didn't really cut down on the variety of ponies I could still purchase in store back in the 80's. Now you might get 2 new unique ponies and 6 of almost the exact same thing.
There are very few instances where hasbro was releasing the same ponies during G1.
Maybe it does have something to do with the TV program, but it didn't stop me back in the 80's from buying ponies because when I first started collecting I had never saw a cartoon. It was the variety that attracts collectors.
I don't mind if they were doing something different with the 'core' ponies. Like the ones with the big butterfly wings. At least that way it looks like you have something different but unless you are building an army of the same exact pony over and over on purpose...hasbro forcing it on us by being lazy and uncreative just stinks in my opinion.
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This gets me too I mean yes we had re releases of ponies in the 80's but G4 has only been out what 1 ,2 years? and how many AJs do we have? The G4s do make great baits because of this so there is an up side!
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As much as I don't like the rereleases, it does make sense for Hasbro. They are certainly selling! The wedding ponies just arrived at TRU and a good chuck are gone already!
I do wish they'd stop bundling a mane 6 with a new pony though. Because I have an army of ALL OF THEM now. And I echo the wish for more poses and variety.
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Definitely echo the need for more poses. I remember how gotta-have I thought Bubbles and Seashell were, because they were sitting down... and Applejack and BowTie because of that shy pose... and then when I saw Posey in that sprightly trotting pose... then Truly and Magic Star rearing... well, you get the picture. :blush: All the variety of the G1s sort of unleashed the rabid collector in me. But so far, though I have a few and may pick up a few more (Zecora - wow!), I'm a little bit meh about most of the G4 toys because they just seem to be palette swaps of the Mane 6. Although the Shine Bright ones look like they have possibilities (thanks, Hathorcat, I hadn't seen much of what was on that list of yours!)...
Anyway, there's my two cents'. ^.^
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I get re-releasing the same characters, even without a new pose or new gimmick...I actually really dislike it when they release the same pony multiple times with slightly different variations each time.
However, I am bothered that they keep bundling new ponies with the rereleases. That's just obnoxious and I don't really see what purpose it serves to force people to buy the same thing over and over. To me, it seems like they would make more money by selling them individually since many people (like myself or parents who already bought one or more of the earlier releases) are going to pass up the entire set rather than spend the extra just to get one new one.
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I just want some more new ponies. I have customs in the works but they take time. I love the mane 6. But with people doing customs well, Rarity and the other white ponies have become, well, rare.
From the looks of the brochure in the other thread, there's more Mane 6 on the way....
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Coming back in on this thread - yes I actually completely agree with the bundling - I know its a commercial way to charge double for the same pony plus a "new character" so makes sense to HB but it is incredibly annoying I agree with that.
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I can understand them wanting the Main Six in stores at all times, since they're the stars of the show. But I'd be much happier if they would just sell them as singles. If you have Twilight-Sparkle-with-balloon and Twilight-Sparkle-with-scooter and Twilight-Sparkle-with-bridesmaid-dress . . . are parents really going to buy three different Twilight Sparkles anyway? Are KIDS going to want three different Twilight Sparkles? I loved ponies as a kid, but I never wanted more than one of a particular pony because, uh, once you had Parasol, you had Parasol.
With playsets especially, part of their mystique was that they came with an "exclusive" pony who was only available with that playset. It made Scoops, Majesty, Sprinkles, etc, even more desirable to me as a kid. (I'm actually really glad that the Wedding Castle, at least, come with Shining Armor and Cadence rather than any of the Main Six.)
I'm glad there are at least some non-Main-Six ponies being sold though. But as others have said . . . more poses, PLEASE!
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I'd just be happy if they'd release something new in the US
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I don't know about the whole cartoon theory. Do we really gotta have the same ponies over so kids will recognize them considering we had a cartoon in the 80's and we didn't get a whole set year after year of the exact same ponies.
Well, you have to consider the needs of the show, too. A weakness of the old cartoons is that in having to rotate in all new main characters every year, the kids who were really into it are going to go, "Huh? Who are all these ponies? When are my old favorites going to show up again?" and start to lose interest in the whole franchise. Even Generation 1's cartoon got to keep the cast of The Movie for both seasons of its TV series, and I noticed "A Charming Birthday" set up a "core eight", where you'd see most of those eight again in every feature after that.
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Yeah, most places I go to only have main 6. If I want a different pony I have to go to Toys R Us, except they didn't have any the last time I checked.
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I'm not a huge collector, I've only just started to dip my toes into it and am much more of a brony, but PLEASE can we get some poses? Is that so much to ask for? And background ponies, but Hasbro seems to be working on that aspect.
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Also keep in mind that each and every time an episode of FiM airs, some new kid is seeing the show for the first time. And when they see the show and fall in love with it, they want toys. It's no good for Hasbro if the main characters of their show are only in stores a part of the year. The kids need to be able to find their favorite character after they see the show, and that means keeping the Mane 6 on shelves as much as possible.
I will admit I miss the diversity of the G3's, but I'm glad we're getting SOME new G4 characters at least. I was a very broke college student 2003-2006 most of the time thanks to the G3's! lol.
I agree with you. Last night I was at Wall-Mart hunting for Monster High and some pony stuff. I ran into a couple in the pony section. Their daughter wanted the Pony School Pals set for her birthday. The couple had been searching for months for the set. At the moment they can't order anything online. Sadly, their daughter will not get the set for her birthday. :/ Parents need to have access to the mane six. I know some parents who buy one, or two ponies at a time. So it might take kids awhile to obtain the mane six.
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And at one point I thought I would never ever be able to buy a Rainbow Dash in stores again. How silly I was.
I can understand some of the re-releases they do, but don't understand others. In the wedding series for example, they have both bridesmaid ponies with a dress and accessories, but also the main 6 again with with a small wedding accessory. Why even bother with the main 6 with a tiny accessory? They could have released the whole main 6 as bridesmaids, and that I think is much more appealing because they at least come with dresses to make them different from previous releases. I am totally buying the bridesmaids :biggrin:
Thank goodness they are releasing Trixie, Lyra, Cherry Berry, and Sunny Rays, or else I would be a little worried.