The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Motion-Paradox on May 12, 2016, 02:59:36 PM
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Exactly as it says in the title: I've noticed that, while every generation has fans, some seem to be preferred more than others and I was wondering why. This is mostly to do with the toyline and I've included my theories why and explained my own preferences, mostly I'm just curious about what drives the patterns I've noticed
G1 I understand because it was the very first generation which a lot of the long time collectors have nostalgic fondness for, and even if you were born after it ended it still has some appeal. Even for those who don't like it, you can at least recognise it as the reason why the generation(s) you do like exists.
G2 I was surprised to find that so many people disliked it, I knew it wasn't very big in North America but I always presumed that it was because there was less to promote it and it didn't have a show, not that people actively disliked it. I know one of the big complaints is how different they look and that they were comparatively long & thin/didn't look like Ponies, though I always thought they looked more like Horses than Ponies.
G3 Is one I really wonder about, I know the animation was quite unpopular and somewhat polarising since most people seem to either love it or hate it. The toys on the other hand seem to be really popular among collectors and I confess I don't really understand why; they look the most like the first generation, but there are still noticable differences which don't quite do it for me, and this was the first generation to have the cutie mark on only one side. On the other hand this seems to be the first generation where adult collectors were really recognised by Hasbro and had merchandise made with older fans in mind.
G4 Is definitely one of the most successful and has a large fan base in it's own right, outside of the multi-generational fan base. It's also popular enough among long-time collectors, but then I've lately noticed that there's a faction of people who like older generations but not the current one and think the heads/faces look strange.
The G1.5/Pony Tales is well liked enough, but mostly glossed over and nobody really likes G3.5, especially newborn cuties
So from what I can tell among collectors the more popular generations are the ones where they look more pony-ish, the only skinnier pony toys (G2, Sweetheart Sisters, etc) that aren't comparatively unpopular are the Flutter Ponies, and brushable hair seems to preferred over molded (this one I'm a bit curious about since brushable hair does have more style options, but molded hair tends to be more show-accurate and I'm part of the minority that saw brushable hair as a more of a liability than an asset since it wouldn't stay in place). Also Sea Ponies seem more popular than Flutter Ponies & "Wingers"
As for my own preferences I think the reason behind them is partially that generation I owned as a child was G2 and I occasionally played with my babysitter's old G1 ponies when I stayed at her house so I had exposure to both,which caused me to be more comfortable with more stylised Pony toys than somebody who started with G1 and didn't see G2 until they were starting to move away from those sort of toys. There's also the fact that when G2 came out what drew me to them was that they were My Little Pony, not that they were Ponies if that makes sense; I know one part of what makes the toy line work is that most girls go through (and in some cases never leave) a phase where they're obsessed with horses and Ponies are both a horse toy and a doll, but I wasn't in that phase when G2 started.
However I was familiar with My Little Pony; I knew it was a thing and had heard a bit about it from people who actually existed during the 80s, one of my toys had a T.V. set where the sticker screen was likely meant to reference it, I even had vague recollections of watching what turned out to be Escape From Katrina, but I wasn't able to find videos of it until I was about 8 years old so it also had a certain amount of mystique for me as some other 80s shows did. So perhaps that's why I'm more tolerant of Ponies that are less Pony-like
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G2s look different because they were not really created by the same team at Hasbro :)
They were actually created and developed by Kenner, Kenner was bought by Hasbro ,so these ponies came out under MLP Hasbro brand, but they had Kenner brand as well on their back cards :)
G2s are my Favorites :) G1s are my least Favorites .
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G2s look different because they were not really created by the same team at Hasbro :)
They were actually created and developed by Kenner, Kenner was bought by Hasbro ,so these ponies came out under MLP Hasbro brand, but they had Kenner brand as well on their back cards :)
G2s are my Favorites :) G1s are my least Favorites .
Oh, I had no idea they were made by Kenner as I had never even seen G2s in stores. That's interesting info.
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In regards to the brushable hair, up till this current generation being "show accurate" wasn't even a thing that crossed most people's minds. Granted G4 has a wider range of distinct hair styles than previous generations. But with even that aside, the cartoons were incidental to the My Little Pony brand. It really was all about the toys.
And having comb-able hair makes it more like a "real" pony. Think of it along the same lines as the difference between an action figure and just a figure. The hair adds additional playability.
And this is my personal opinion but I like my ponies to be more like magical fantasy ponies than just anthro characters who just happen to be ponies. If that makes sense. That is why I never liked Tales because the ponies in that show behaved just like human beings down to having tv, phones and even occasionally walking on their back legs.
I do like and watch FiM but even it skirts too close to the line for me sometimes. I don't like it when they are too cartoony or when they bend their legs in ways that wouldn't be possible for a real horse or time is spent in places like Manehatten which is too urban for my taste.
I guess it comes down to the difference between those like me who are fans of MLP because it's a line of fantasy horses and those who are fans of FiM primarily. I've generally gotten the impression that being ponies was incidental to their enjoyment of the show. Like if FiM was about cats or dogs or bunny rabbits then they would still enjoy it because for them it is more about the characters, the writing, and the animation.
That's not the case for me. I enjoy FiM because it is MLP and not the other way around.
In regards to g2, I think it was a case of too far, too fast. It was the first gen after g1 and they just looked so different. To be honest, I just don't find their faces to be very expressive. And I'm not a huge fan of sweetheart sisters, either.
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Gen 1 is awesome! No pony gen can ever hope to compare to such a lush fantasy world and amazing diversity in the toyline.
I remember going online and discovering G2 and found the drastic design change very jarring. (This was when G3s were just starting to make appearances) So for a long time, I didn't look at them and was loving and buying G3s because they looked like my childhood toys.
I found out through Arena members that some of them are very pretty, but their bodies, lack of species diversity and the fact that some have joints and pull out tails have kept me from adding any to my herd. Plus the ones that I want haven't popped up on ebay yet or are more then I'm willing to pay.
I don't like SHS much because I find their color schemes and symbols boring. The Sundazzle set is the only one I'd own. I never had Flutters growing up.
I transitioned into Tales easily and looked forward to watching it whenever it came on. I grew out of it, but still have a soft spot.
G3.5 and G4 jarred me too. I hate chibi style toys and any G4 fan who praises one, while spitting on the other, has a lotta nerve since, design-wise, G4s are closest to 3.5s. Large round heads, huge eyeballs, nearly non existent muzzles, stylized hair, skinny bodies and bell bottom legs. What does that sound like? Hmm lemme think...oh! G4 ponies!
I'm hoping G5 will return to bigger, more ponylike proportions.
Brushable hair was my substitute for dolls as I ignored Barbies and CPKs, but give me an MLP, or a Grand Champion? Yeah! The day Hasbro forsakes brushable ponies in favor of blindbags is the day they lose me as a customer. That'd be like abandoning the transforming aspects of Transformers completely for fixed figures. On the other hand it does get to be a pain having to brush a ton of brushables several times a month, but it won't stop me from buying more. :lol:
Show accuracy: There is one pony I've always wished looked like her show counterpart, Whizzer, she'd look gorgeous with the red streak in her hair. I sometimes contemplate taking out her tail and adding a red streak.
G3 is one I've finally started watching, its not as bad or bland as people say, some of the songs are catchy and for kids who love anything really girly-girl its fine. I personally think so far that its a bit too sacharine for my taste. Seems a bit more like Tales. But its a cute show, I just prefer a leetle bit more action in my girls shows as I've grown up with the likes of She-Ra, Care Bears, Sailor Moon and MLP n Friends.
Plus the toys are awesome Yes it does have a lot of color schemes besides purple, pink and white. Autumn Crisp, Waterfire, Wishawhirl, Port a bella, Kiwi Tart. They're a gorgeous gen!
Newborn Cuties would insult the intelligence of a rock, especially considering there were far more quality shows out there for that specific age group like Sesame Street and Blues Clues.
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G1 will always have nostalgia working for it. I never cared for Tales much like Sunset - ponies that acted like people broke the believability for me. Ponyland was a magical, fantastical place full of dangers and wonders around every corner, not a middle-school playground. Just a note, Tales isn't really 1.5 since we go by toys and not shows - it's part and parcel with G1, even though it varied so much in story direction.
G2's were too big a departure from the original style to catch on here, I suspect. They remind me more of deer than equines, and they lacked the endearing appeal of G1 - tiny eyes, overall weird proportions.
G3's worked because they didn't stray so far from the G1 style. Sure the ears are a bit different (and more horse-like) but overall an average person probably wouldn't be able to tell a G1 from a G3 without some experience. The large variety of toys and sets (though sadly not colors - white/pink/purple dominated like crazy) and that helped too. Until we got to the corebore seven...
G4's, much like G3'5, bore me in their sameness/non-pony-ness. No pose variety, poor quality, squished noses, deer ears. The dark side of the fandom was the biggest nail in the coffin - won't ever rate highly in my estimation. Too tainted.
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G1s were my childhood ponies. Like many others here I loved MLP from the get go because they were ponies that had adventures and still ate grass and the like not because of any of the more human like elements they were given in Tales (although I did like the characters in Tales the 'walking on two legs' style it often had really peeved little me).
G2s I liked fine but I thought of them as deer pony friends more than actual MLP. I was really sad when the line ended right after it started in the US or I would have collected more.
G3s had the look of G1 more but for some reason it never gave me the same warm feeling as the faces and style of G1 did and I stopped collecting them after a couple years.
I enjoy G4s and their chibi deer look but the more human element moments and Looney Tunes gags in the cartoon often pull me out of the show. Still I think I will someday own it on DVD... If I'm being very honest if Hasbro had kept the main 6 as their first rebooted G1 characters idea with Twilight, Posey, Surprise etc I would probably be an even bigger fan driven 50% on nostalgia alone :)
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I collect all the generations, and I've been into ponies since pretty much when they first came out. I've also been in the adult pony collector community for about 20 years now, so I've actually gotten to see the rise and fall of three generations(four if you count 3.5) as an adult collector. There are some generations I like better than others, but there are unique positives for each generation. I also was an adult collector as 3 of the 4 generations was announced, hit the market, was discussed, had its moment, and then declined. I was into G1s for pretty much their 10 year run, though I had started to outgrow them(temporarily...) as that line came to an end. I think collecting as an adult is not the same as buying them as a child, but I did get to see the rise and fall of all 4 generations. Each one has something wonderful about it!
I generally consider whatever cartoon that accompanies each generation as a glorified half hour toy commercial, so whatever's going on with that has no impact on the toys for me.
Apologies for the length:p 30 years of ponies is a lot to cover!
G1:
This is the most varied and unique of all the generations. It had 10 years to do its thing, and they tried everything. It had regular ponies, unicorns, pegasus ponies, sea ponies, baby ponies, boy ponies, flutter ponies, "adult" ponies(Dream Beauties), and teenage ponies. It had a great variety of gimmicks from flutter ponies to wind up dancing ponies. It had all sorts of playsets. It was the only line that had separate outfits available to play dress up with your ponies. The accessories for this generation were some of the best and most creative.
They also experimented with this line a lot, and not just gimmicks. It had an entire line of mini ponies, and some big ones too. It had the best mail order program of all the generations. And as many of us found out when we became adult collectors, it was the most localized of all the generations with unique ponies being made for local markets around the world.
It also had the best quality control of all the generations. There were some "Hasbro cheaped out" issues we discovered later like regrind, but on the whole these ponies held up really well.
G2:
Oh, I was in the community when this one hit. I saw the whole thing, and there was *a lot* of hate for the G2s when they first came out. Most of the hate was directed at the design. The whole "chubby" pony thing was pretty much standard in people's minds, and people didn't like the skinny look since it was so different from what they were expecting. It was compared to Barbie's "thin is pretty" thing a lot. It didn't help that the line in the USA wasn't very interesting, and the ponies were smaller than the G1s, but cost more due to the accessories.
I didn't like the line to begin with, but the babies won me over:p It's too bad the USA didn't get them, because that's what did it for me. After I was hooked, I started to look around at the rest of the line, and I discovered a lot of good stuff.
G2s are all about the accessories for me. While the first few releases(the ones the USA got) were strange and lackluster, the stuff in Europe was amazing. The babies with their little outfits were adorable. They got the neat playsets like the castle, the boat, and - a personal favorite - the wedding carriage. They tried a lot of unique ideas like ponies that talked, ponies that "performed" magic tricks, and ponies that made music when you brushed their hair.
The ponies themselves were also really interesting. They didn't have as many different species, but they had the most amazing range of colors! Combinations you'd just never see in any other line were all over G2s. They still had their pinks and their purples, but G2s were anything but pastel. A lot of the later ponies had strong, bold colors you just never see in MLP. And once you got used to the slightly odd body and head design, they're actually quite nice looking molds. As a collector with limited space, I'm always happy with smaller ponies too. The quality of these was pretty good as well. There are a few manufacturing flaws, but on the whole these ponies held up pretty well.
G3:
G3 was just fun to collect(for a while - they did release a lot, and it got a bit tiring after a few years). Once things got started, they did not slow down. And without prototypes and whatnot showing up on ebay all the time before things got shipped to stores, there were a lot of surprises. I happened to live near a TRU that just happened to be the first one in the world to get a lot of stuff, and I'd check it every day. I found a significant amount of previously unknown ponies, and the rush home to take pictures and post them up was always fun!
The ponies themselves had a lot of variety too! And there were some *beautiful* ponies in this line. The seasonal ponies were some of my favorites, and added in a lot of extra pony collecting fun around the holidays. I wish they hadn't stopped that! The accessories and playsets for this line were a lot of fun too. I can't tell you how much I loved those scooters! Some of the playsets were very well designed too. The bigger of the two castles(forgot the exact name) was a real treat for me. When fully opened, it was a massive playset, but they made it so that it could be fully collapsed for storage, or partially collapsed so it had a smaller footprint, but could be used as a tall display shelf. They also had a great collection of accessory sets with various themes - each coming with a unique pony. And they had a lot of ponywear sets. Good stuff too, with real fabric. Well, for a while at least:p
As a collector, G3 certainly kept me on my toes. There were a lot of store exclusives with this line. Some people complained about it, and it could get overwhelming really fast if you didn't keep up, but I liked having something to track down. I had actually just moved to the city I'm currently living in when G3s first came out, and I learned to get around this place because I was forced to go all over the place to find ponies at different stores. And the rewards for all that effort were pretty sweet! TRU brought back the birthflower ponies, and added birthstone ponies into the mix. Target had its holiday ponies and "impulse buy" babies, plus some random unique sets too! Even KayBee and Kmart had their own special ponies, so did Family Dollar and Walmart. Most of the time none of this was announced before hand. It was entirely possible to walk into a store expecting not to buy anything, and walk out with something so brand spanking new that nobody's ever seen it before.
The ponies themselves were designed well. They went back to the sort of "chubby" body of the G1s, but updated for the time. I wasn't a fan of the single symbol, but I was a fan of Hasbro keeping the single pony price at about $5 like it was in the 80s. I bought A LOT of ponies, and it added up. Sadly, the cost cutting showed on this line, and manufacturing defects were common straight out of the box. Still, I thought it was a fun line with a good mix of ponies, accessories, and playsets. It had a lot of variety when it came to individual ponies, though it didn't have a lot of creativity with the species and body molds. They did have a very good line of mini ponies with their Ponyville line. It was really nice to see that, and some of the playsets from that line were *amazing*. Some great accessories too!
The only real stain on an otherwise great line was that this line introduced the "Core 7" concept, which of course morphed into the "Mane 6" garbage.
G4:
I'd have to say this is my least favorite line, and that's due to one thing: Mane 6. If they got rid of that and started releasing even a moderate quantity of new characters, I'd be happy as a clam with G4s.
Even with that, this is still a good line. I love small. I always have, and I always will. And it's not just about space issues, but that is a factor with a collection as big as mine. G4s are the perfect size for me. And they took the "little" from the MLP name seriously when they started with the blind bag stuff. It was like Ponyville and Petites were reborn, and they've been doing it right with those. Some of the best items out now are blind bag sized playsets and ponies.
But they also went bigger for people who wanted a bit more from their ponies. The Fashion Sized ponies brought back real ponywear for a while(not a fan of plastic clothes), and add in some variety to the line. I also liked how they had unicorns and pegasus from the start instead of waiting a while to bring them out. G4 seems to have the least varied ponies but the most varied lines. They've got the blind bag line, the Fashion sized line, the regular(I refuse to call them "brushables") line, the POP pony line, and the new action figure style line looks interesting. There's also a lot of merchandise for adult collectors with this line, which is a nice change of pace since we've been ignored so much up to now.
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G1 was my childhood pony. It had big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, boys, and girls. They looked like ponies or horses with big loving eyes. The cartoon was always secondary for my enjoyment of them as me and my friends had all of our own storylines.
G2 looked too deer-like. It went too far too fast for me at the same time I was beginning to 'outgrow' them. Plus, they're all the same. No diversity of body sizes. No poses that cried out 'male'. No or few other species than earth pony.
G3 won me over slowly. My mom was actually the catalyst for me starting back into collecting and she bought me my first G3. They did have plenty of poses and colors. Their bodies remind me of the G1s I love dearly. I liked how they had some species differences. I'm disappointed that there were no boys or differently sized ponies. Even in the cartoon.
G3.5 was overly anime-ish. Not just the super enlarged heads with cutesy ears. They have hoof-stumps that are teardrop shaped and looked one shallow breath away from being serial killers.
G4 walks that design back just far enough for me and the fact that I have a daughter to share the show with makes this an enjoyable generation for me. They're still deer-like but there is a diversity (on the show) of bodies, species, and sexes that I needed. It could be better but considering the path it took it could be much worse.
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G1: I grew up with it. I love the diversity of characters and species.
G2: To me, they look awkward and cheap.
G3: At first I didn't like it, but it grew on me immensely. I especially love the great variety of holiday themed ponies. I do wish there were more unicorns and pegasi.
G4: I don't like the whole chibi look at all. It just makes the ponies look deformed and childish (yeah a weird adjective for a kids' toy).
If there is a G5: I'd like to see a return to a style more like G1 or G3. But it should take a cue from G4 in having more males.
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Goddessof Peep pretty much nailed most of my thoughts to a T. Here are just a few tiny additions:
G1: Before ponies came out, there were Breyers. Breakable, unplayable Breyers. Sureeeeee.... the occasional plastic horse came up in the stores- flocked or crystal clear, hard, breakable plastic. But then ponies happened. They had the colors- size, hair and most importantly- character. The toys didn't need the cartoon to sell them. They were charismatic and magical, with stories that told about their personalities and abilities. From a pony who ate everyone else's flowers to a pony that made it rain- it was something unique. The cartoon just simply brought them "MORE to life".
That characterization was lacking in G2. They came into the stores quietly. They looked different. I liked them all the same, but without commercials or cartoons, their itty bitty snapshots of character on their backcards did very little to help them. There was no life and no personality in the line here in the US and it died. When I went to France in 2000, I was enchanted with the babies. They had a magazine too- with t-shirts and videos, diaries and merchandise. Character is important, and there were two things that went wrong in G2- the tiny, squinty eyes and the rounded noses.
G3 returned to a look closer to G1. Loveeed the holiday ponies! The downfall there was too much strangeness in the line. Ponies with their names written all over their bodies... too many characters without characterization. The show was cute, but aimed at too young of an audience. Most non-farm girls that are heavy into horses are 7+. That's when many parents start riding lessons or horse camps. The cartoons were cute, but aimed at 4-5 year olds. The g3.5 one was aimed much lower...
I like 3.5 as a toyline, but the toys themselves would have been better suited and marketed for Playschool, pre-kindergarten level.
Humans hate being talked down to at any age. G4 brought back real interactions and palatable, complex storylines. Toy-wise, they remembered the eyes, and the ears are large because the ears help convey emotions as they would on a real animal. They look different, but they also look believable. They stagnated on the mane 6 too long, as they did with 3.5, and the Pony-mania stuff had too much weirdness again, but the rest of the line was still varied. The water cuties are kind of neat, but they still have a very long way to go to improve interest. It needs more male characters- 6 years in and still no brushable Big McIntosh. I like the pony character nods to G1, but wish they'd stop trying to bring back G1 villains that are so far removed from their original selves. The danger to this toy line is really in the marketers still being too caught up in gender bias and political correctness. If they cannot get over the "girls won't want to buy boy-ponies" idea, they will shut own the little-girl-princess themes of "happily-ever-after" and continue to take out a huge portion of potential sales. > Still waiting for brushable Big Mac and Flash Sentry, Rainbow Swoop, Wonderbolt team...
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I grew up during the G1 era and had a lot of ponies. G1 one is still my favorite today. I would watch MLP and Tales on Disney sometimes. I even had some petite ponies and one Dream Beauty. I also had the Baby Bonnet School of Dance and the nursery. I did go through a time when I thought I would never really be in to ponies again and gave two of my ponies away and threw away a Starshine that I thought couldn't be saved and my nursery because it was broken. I wish I would have kept the nursery. G1 also had the best variety of ponies
G2's: I never saw these in stores so they're probably my least favorite generation due to how different they look.
G3's: It took a long time for me to appreciate G3s because they were so different than G1s but eventually they become my second favorite generation. I passed up exclusive ponies many times though before I started liking them. The G3 line went downhill with the Core 7 very much like G4's mane 6.
G3.5 The ponies were sort of cute but kind of strange looking also.
G4: second least favorite generation although I do pick a G4 sometimes that appeals to me.
Ponyfan
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G1: I did have G1 ponies as a kid but i was a bit too young to remember seeing them in stores or anything like that. (I was about 2 years old)
They are my favorite gen simply because nothing can beat it when it comes to both quality and variation.
G2: This was the first gen i got clear memories of and it actually did quite well in my country. There was a kind of points/bar code program that gave out free ponies if you got enough of said points. I remember getting Hip Holly in that way and being so very happy as i had never even seen her in stores. There was also a computer game that i played and a CD with music and stories that i would listen to. So i don't agree with them having no personality. I always thought they were the most elegant looking generation and i adore that they all have eye gems.
The fact i got fond memories of them makes me love them even more.
G3: It was an awesome gen and i would like to tell my younger self that i was actually getting spoiled back than. I know how back than i (and other people) would complain how too many ponies had flowers for a symbol and it seems really silly now...I think G3 ponies had a great design and a ton of variation. (Though there should have been more unicorns) Back than i wasn't too bothered by all the USA exclusives because there was always something new to find in stores over here too. It never felt like i ran out of ponies to collect. I could just go to a store and pick a new one up if i would have liked to. That is something i really miss these days.
The animations...it was aimed at a young target audience but it never bothered me as much as it seemed to did other people. Than again, the animations were not my main concern. (Also, G3 Spike is actually my favorite.)
G4: Well, i can't deny it is very popular. Maybe a bit too popular as i could have gone without some of the things the new fanbase brought along. The show is entertaining and the toys are cute but...boring. Too much the same stuff and too many of the same characters.
Another problem for me is that the toyline doesn't seem to do that well over here. We get none of the exclusives and waves get skipped because the old stock just isn't selling. This is happening a lot with the single brushables. Things like the EQG dolls have stopped appearing and others never show up at all. We never got any of those big blind bag sets or the EQG mini figures.
Because of that i hardly still check toystores and i haven't bought as many ponies as i did in the G3 era. I do like G4 but it doesn't seem to working as well as previous gens in my country.
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g1- the original and best i remember them in woolworths and had 150 in my childhood herd (still have them )i only lost 1 tiddely winks in asda i liked the cartoon but the animation was a bit dodgy sometimes. and apart from the colour look more like ponies than the other gens
g2- looked like the ripoffs that used to be in pound stretcher ! didn't like these at all ! i only have 1
g3- they were ok i liked the artist ponies and the ponyzillas but apart from that i only buy them to custom
g3.5- :crazy: thats all i have to say about them !
g4- they are ok i have the mane 6 but they don't seem to have a very good quality control i seem to see lots of flaws .also some of the vynals and 1plush i like the cartoon and just wish the g1 cartoon was as good a quality !
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I have the same memories as Goddessofpeep and Sugarberry of the fallout when G2 hit. I think part of the reason it was such a hostile time was because the core age of the collecting community then was mostly much younger, plus it was the first My Little Pony new experiment following G1, and a lot of people were resistant to it. The Pony Dream poem I have somewhere still on my site was inspired by the stuff that happened back then, between Shadows and other factions. It was nasty. I'm really glad ponyland came through it; I'm even more glad G2 has its own loyal collectors, fans and advocates. All the generations to me have their value among different sections of the community, so all of them ought to be shared and celebrated here, even if we don't all like all of them. My issue with the anti-G2 people back in 1997-9 is the same as my issue with the anti-anything-before-G4 brony faction. Basically, if you don't like it, don't collect it, and leave it for the people who do to enjoy ;)
So going back to the original breakdown.
I also dislike this 1.5 thing that's appeared recently. It smack of something imposed on older generation MLP by the experiences of G3 and the influence of the cartoon from G4 and that's anachronistic to me as a historian. I don't have any issue with generations, but I do have issue with cross-contamination of terminology. For example, the word 'cutie mark' applied to pony symbols in G1 makes me spit feathers. It's a G3 and G4 term, let's keep it where it belongs.
I'm a G1 collector, though I have some of all generations. I bought a lot of new G2 when they came out, here and on trips to France. Some of these are still in packages and I keep randomly digging them up in the attic. I graduated with a G3 Rainbow Dash, because she looked like she was inspired by a G1 rainbow pony, and my first pony was Rainbow pony Windy as a child. I subsequently graduated with G4 Rainbow Dash for my Masters - same rationale.
But it's only the G1 I grew up with. To me, though, the G1 show is irrelevant (which is why I reject this G1.5 nonsense). The ponies from the MLP Tales are not "MLP Tales ponies", they are Seven Characters, they were released by Hasbro in the UK and Europe as toys using the old moulds (some dating back to 1984), using the old style of basic body tone and basic hair tone, and even with the card style having the name on a white banner under the rainbow, commonly seen on cards in around 1986). There is absolutely nothing about the Seven Characters that makes them a different generation to what came before. The G3.5 change form. Almost all of the ponies sold in the European release years between 1992 and 1994/5 use significantly old pony moulds, and those that are new are based on the same style as the older G1 moulds. Especially the Baby Sapphire mould, which definitely is based off Baby Unicorn (1984).
So yeah. That actually annoyed me, seeing them split up like that. G1 is not defined by its TV output. G4 is. That's the difference, and people have begun looking at G1 through G4 influenced eyes, which again is an annoying anachronism.
In G1, there were tons of ponies who never appeared in TV shows, so technically you'd have to have G1.1 G 1.2 G1.3 to cover all those sets included or not included in different animation. The fact is the animation for G1, while cute and, in my opinion, better than FIM, covers a short amount of time and is largely unimportant to the ponies themselves.
Here in the UK we had the comics, and they covered way more ponies, characters, releases than the animation. They also covered the Seven Characters. To me the canon of ponies in G1 comes from the comics, the backcards, and my own childhood memories. It has nothing to do with the cartoon at all.
So while I respect the other generations, and I have some of all of them, I don't have a connection to them in the same way. I think G1 isn't a choice between character and toy; but growing up here, the relationship between character and toy was defined very differently and not dependent on animation. I think that is true for G1 as a whole. If you consider the great possibility that MLP Tales' animation was created for a European audience, not an American one (and there is compelling evidence to suggest that in the cartoon, with the inclusion of football, the UK name for the Glowing Magic ponies, and other stuff), then you are also looking at a cartoon designed to sell toys, not existing for its own purpose. In which case, it's another G1 animation used as toy product marketing. And we should not see it in any other light.
In terms of G2, I think they are cute, if rather deer-like. They are the most unique expression of My Little Pony yet. I think what damaged the G2 line was just as much the repetition with Ivy, Sunsparkle/Dance, Light Heart etc. There are some really pretty later G2 ponies, but they didn't make it to the US release, and unfortunately MLP viewpoints/popularity is always going to be driven by the US market, as Hasbro is a US company and I imagine the US still makes up the biggest portion of the pony buying market. Here in the UK we had more than the US, but not as much as in Europe. Most of the more obscure ones, like Hip Holly, we got in Paris on various trips there during my A Level years. Some of them I still don't know the English names for.
In terms of G3, people were really happy when this came out. It seemed more of a return to G1 type ponies. The trouble with G3 for me is that they started very well, and there are some really stunning ideas in there, but there were too many exclusives that Europe didn't get. I gave up with G3 because I hated Hasbro's insular approach to this line. There were about 2x as many ponies coming out in the US as in Europe and we no longer had anything of our own to trade back across the sea. The other issue I had with G3 was the prevalence of pink. And, as time has proven, the materials used are not necessarily so long-lasting. That does concern me a little as regards G4, too.
I only remember watching one or two G3 animations. Was never really that caught up in it.
In terms of G4 - they're fine. They're cute and small and I like picking them up as souvenirs. I find the show encapsulates all of the things Lauren Faust said was bad about G1 animation (although none of those things were ever in G1 animation at all). Parties. Fashion. I dunno, I just find the whole thing too superficial. Rarity in the cave with the gems is still hilarious, though. I just couldn't get into the show at all. I also really hate the elements of the online community that have made G4 a nasty thing - but those people are not here, and I am not going to dwell on them or taint other fans with those brushes.
I like that Hasbro is finally bringing more characters for G4, but there is not enough variety in style, species, pose or any of those things. It's a cheap and easy production line, but when you consider all the experimentation that Hasbro did for G1, it's not even close. I sadly concluded the other day that, if I had been a kid now, I would've never got into MLP at all. I'd have been all about Monster High - because it has a uniqueness and an effort to create character detail with the toys (diaries, etc). There is nothing of this nature in G4 MLP. It's reliant on kids liking and watching the show, and I don't like it, so I guess I wouldn't buy into it.
I do like the Equestria Girls, but I think that's partly because Rainbow Rocks emulates elements of Jem...
Oh yes, finally.
No brushable hair = no Taffeta buying ponies. Ponies should have proper manes and tails. Not interested in any that do not.
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I collect G1 because that's what I had as a kid, they are familiar and bring back happy memories. Also, I feel that over time many ponies are in dire need of restoration and I enjoy bringing them back from years of neglect.
G2 are odd, but cute. I have 4 that I didn't mean to get, but I won't let them go. I won't purposely hunt for them but will grab them if the opportunity arises.
G3s, I have a ton! I got them all at flea markets, thrift shops or yard sales etc. I think they are so pretty. I wish the cutie mark was on both sides as mentioned. I had a booth at the flea market one weekend to sell things and almost took them. I looked at them in the box and couldn't part with them. I store them under the bed and don't display them.
G3.5, Hate the ponies but think the babies are cute. Go figure. They look so misshapen, like someone exposed them to intense heat.
G4. Nope. With the exception of the Funko vinyls, no. They are tiny, their faces are too animated, they seem cheaply made. I think they are marketed to both girls and boys so they aren't as "pretty" and fun to groom and dress up etc. They all look alike. I pick them up when I find them and sell them in a bin at the flea market. They are so mass produced...this Mane 6...... How many Pinkie Pies can you really have?
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I only collect G1s and it purely a nostalgia thing for me. I think if I'd have had G2s or G3s as a child I'd be collecting them.
But I agree with Taffeta about the brushable tails. That was a big attraction for me as I could spend hours plaiting them.
The G1s just seemed so magical to me and I had a very vivid imagination- my ponies were definitely my friends as a child!
I read the comics religiously and was in the My Little Pony Club which I loved- there was that element of somehow feeling involved.
I think all these little things added up to create a really fantastic range. The playsets were also so classic- the Grooming Parlour, Dream Castle, The Show Stable, Lullaby Nursery. It was a perfect little world for me!
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G1 had the most care put into it, and I think kids sensed it. The quality of the hair, the quality of the plastic (yeah it started having issues years later, but it feels "just right" compared to hard brittle fakies or fakies with super thin squishy plastic), the backcard stories, the gorgeous watercolor art on the backcards . . . Even the fact that there were multiple brush molds and ribbon colors. Like, they could have put a pink ribbon in with every pony because "girls love pink" and they could have made just one style of brush. The fact that they went the extra mile just adds something.
One thing that G1 did better than any other generation was how they organized and promoted their sets. They had small, well-defined sets of ponies and they advertised them in a way that kids would find easy to remember and keep track of: on the backcards and in the brochures.
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The small text under the picture of Peachy? That's a checklist of every pony in the brochure. It's brilliant. I collect backcards, and those frequently have checks or X's drawn on them too, to show which ponies a kid had.
Some of the other generations have had sets, like G3's Jewel ponies and G4's ribbon ponies, but they just don't seem as organized and well-defined as G1's sets. G1 was really good at establishing:
1. These are the six ponies in the set.
2. Memorize their names.
3. You want them all. Not one of them. Not three of them. ALL of them.
I think this is one of the reasons G1 is so popular with collectors, (aside from the variety and quality). It's satisfying to complete set, and since there are usually just six ponies in a set, it's easy to do.
With G4, to be honest the toys are disappointing to me and I don't think they would "make it" if it weren't for the TV show. They're cute, but they're not great and some of them have cheap hair--a big mistake on Hasbro's part, IMO. What really gets me is the lack of poses for the brushables. It's like Hasbro is terrified of making more molds. But they have no problem producing new blind bag molds (which look great)? It's like if G1 had never made anything but the collector pose.
My other complaint about G4 is that the playsets are terrible. (Exception: Canterlot Castle looks great.) I don't know if they should even be called playsets, they tend to just be a backdrop. It's a crying shame, because the small size of G4s means they could make more elaborate, multi-level playsets than ever before. They could go crazy. They could make a pony roller coaster, a pony haunted house, pony bumper cards, a pony spa, a non-blind bag playset of Twilight's library (I can't BELIEVE they never produced that!!), and instead they're like "Well, here's Applejack's barn. Just the front of it, though. With no details molded on the back." And then they don't even paint half the molded details. It just looks terribly lazy.
By contrast, look at the amount of detail (all painted) and use of space on Twinkle Twirl's Dance Studio (G3). G3 had some great playsets.
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G1 also seemed to strike the right balance between realism and cartoonish charm. The ponies are recognizable as ponies, but with proportions to make them cuter. They also came in not only a variety of colors but a variety of saturations. You had pastel ponies like Wind Whistler and vibrant ponies like Shady, and they were both some the same set. You also had those backcard stories and so many books that featured so many different characters. They also had the little details like blush on the cheeks. There was definitely a lot of care and thought that went into G1.
G2 was an experiment by Kenner with results others are more able to explain than I am.
G3 tried to emulate G1 in many respects. They have a similar overall design, variety of characters, and printed media for many of them.
G4 seems to be where the creativity has stopped for the toys. Despite My Little Pony once again becoming a major force for Hasbro, they don't invest in it that much. Yeah, no new molds for brushables and most of the playsets are pathetic. Also is Faust the only one who can create pony characters anymore? Everything is Mane 6 with the rest of the world nothing more than ballast and one-shot characters (which would be okay for the show if it was just the show but it's also the comic and other printed media). Are we to honestly believe a land as large as Equestria has no other characters worth following?
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The quality of the hair, the quality of the plastic (yeah it started having issues years later, but it feels "just right" compared to hard brittle fakies or fakies with super thin squishy plastic), the backcard stories, the gorgeous watercolor art on the backcards . . . Even the fact that there were multiple brush molds and ribbon colors. Like, they could have put a pink ribbon in with every pony because "girls love pink" and they could have made just one style of brush. The fact that they went the extra mile just adds something.
One thing that G1 did better than any other generation was how they organized and promoted their sets. They had small, well-defined sets of ponies and they advertised them in a way that kids would find easy to remember and keep track of: on the backcards and in the brochures.
These are excellent points. I was thinking about the brushes earlier- the fact that you could have a bird, or a flower, or a star. To a child all these little things can add a little bit more magic. I love that you've said about the beautiful artwork too, because nobody makes such lovely packaging for toys anymore (as far as I can think).
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G1...I think nostalgia reigns supreme for me on these, a lot of fond memories I have as a kid was acquiring new ones, having both dream castles, looking through stores (child world, kiddie city back in the day...) with absolute awe and wonder at all the cool things they have. I remember even well into the early '90s, kiddie city had this clearance isle that had TONS of overstock of pony playsets and some ponies, too. I just like the look, I like how they pose, and I like how they make me smile when I look at them...and how they stand the test of time, even with some of the 'issues' they have, for the most part they're fixable, and people have done some ASTOUNDING things with ones that appear beyond hope.
G2...I confess that, much as I wanted to like these when they first came out, hitting KB hardest...I didn't like them, at all initially. It took a bit of time before I began to appreciate them. Their quality is pretty good, not quite on par with G1 but now yet reaching the lower standard of the last decade or so. The only thing i dislike about this line now...everything that came after it was discontinued in the US is so flippin' hard to get, and expensive.
G3 I was excited for these, when they first started releasing them on ebay I was thrilled that they looked closer to the original G1's. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed with the playsets, didn't like the first castle...just seemed so plain. The quality of the hair was really my only issue with these, it frizzes the second you take some of them out of the package, and just doesn't display well...But fortunately not all of them were like that, least ones I've gotten. The line had it's heyday for the first few years and just sort of...fizzled out, the death of it was near with the 'core 7', and I was pretty much done by then. I remember them fondly and there's still enough variety to be collecting for awhile!
G3.5...I don't acknowledge that these exist.
G4...pretty much just paste anything anyone else has already said about what they dislike about it, and that's me. I don't want to get too overly negative about it so I just won't say anything. :hmm: I just don't get why these are popular at all.
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Im glad someone mentioned the type of plastic used in these ponies. Although I missed g1s and grew up more in the G3 era, like Lady Moondancer said those G1 ponies just felt right; They were the perfect size and pleasingly squishy. As an adult collector, I can appreciate the fabulous colors and variety of G3s, but that hard plastic just doesn't do it (Was a very tactile child).
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I collect them all. It's a close tie for g1 and g3 for which ponies I like best. G1 has the best size and I like that they're soft. G3 has those slh and so many color combos. I like styling both. G4 has some that are ok. Just so little variety and so small. G2 I'm very new to and really don't know them well enough for an opinion.
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G1 - nostalgia for me, but for a lot of people it's also that G1 was the FIRST. There were no stale or re-used ideas. Even re-issues got a significant new feature (turned into So Softs, or TAF Sundance, or the pearly MO babies), and no sets combined features. SS ponies were the only SS ponies. TE's were the only TE's. There were no SS TE TAF hybrids. Each set remained unique and special for its own gimmick. And they didn't reuse the same characters over and over for each set each time. Even the SS-upgraded ponies only got released those two times, and those particular ponies seem to be the ones that sold the best to begin with before they were SS-ed (like, how many normal Poseys and Licketys are kicking around in people's doubles bins, right?).
G2 - G2 was the generation that came out after I started collecting, and was the first generation I could collect right from the store. With G1's I wanted them of course, but I didn't "collect" them until after they stopped being produced. But G2's were different. I could hunt them in stores. I remember being so overjoyed to see MLP in stores again that I remember everything about the first time I saw them, in a Target in Garden City, KS, the day after xmas in 1998. How I got one of each because my aunt was there are said she'd buy several of them for my upcoming birthday and my mother bought me the rest. How Ivy was the first one I saw, and remains my favorite G2 to this day. I adored their little faces and tiny accessories. It really did feel, later, like Hasbro/Kenner was cheaping out on them, but at the time I loved their simple color schemes and fun names, and the art for them was adorable. They were really a reflection of toys of the time, where everything was willowy and bright.
G3 - came out right as I finished high school and while I loved them for looking like G1 and for being ponies in general, I came to rather dislike them because they, too, seemed cheap after a while. Same brush, symbol on one side, no ribbon, same charm design in every package, same box for everyone, and for a while nothing new came out. And then later the exclusives started to appear in stores we didn't have here, which made them hard to get, and the sets weren't as clearly defined as the G1's. And then they started to flood the place, with ponies on every product you can imagine, and collecting them became hard to afford. I had to start prioritizing, which I'd never had to do before. Eventually I had to stop buying and start selling, and they never really interested me after that. But with that said there are some gorgeous G3's that I am happy to own.
G4 - I don't actively collect but I have select pieces I enjoy. No real comment because I don't feel as connected to this gen as I have to the older ones. I'm no longer a target audience; as a child, as an adult collector, or as a girl in general.
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G1 - As others have said, nostalgia plays a factor for me. I wasn't big on ponies on the 80s, though I had a few. However, there's an aesthetic quality to 80s toys in general that I love. Ponies; Care Bears; Rainbow Brite... The originals all share a certain vintage vibe that I appreciate.
Specifically, for g1s, I do think the size and variety helps. They're a good weight. They display well; you can actually see them on display. There are a variety of ponies to choose from. You have everything from earth ponies to sea ponies to ponies that talk. The gimmicks usually worked and stood up to the test of time (with the exception of flutter wings :) ). The quality is impressive for a kid's toy; it seemed like Hasbro cared... At least for awhile (I have questions about year 10.).
G2: They aren't my thing. I think the size is a problem, mainly because it's hard to see detail in something so small. But Hasbro got something right here. The winged ponies are beautiful. The color combos are interesting. The babies were adorable. I appreciate that the company was exploring new ideas and still releasing dozens of new ponies. Not in the US, but at least they were popular elsewhere.
G3: I collected them for awhile. The size here was better; you could see detail. Lots of different sets and characters for awhile. Lots of exclusives and holiday ponies. That made pony hunting fun. I really liked the holiday ponies and the birthflowers. I liked the Pegasus ponies, too. I think the problem here was the sudden focus on Core 7. I understand that having such a diversified selection meant that they aren't selling. But shrinking down to just 7 ponies really hurt sales. Which led to...
G3.5 and more core 7. I think they focused on the wrong age group here. It's fine to sell to the preschool set, as long as you don't sell to *just* them.
G4: I collected them for awhile, too. I think they got in a rut for awhile, which they're finally pulling out of. The variety that they are starting to release now is good, but their distribution is off. The size of the brushables is not my favorite. Again, I don't think you can see detail with something that small (I should add I do collect Sylvanians, but ponies are different.). The playsets could use some work, but I like the idea of the small ones they've been releasing.
I'm not as fond of the aesthetic nowadays, but I get that it's me. :)
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I really like G1 and G3 because there is so much variety in the ponies. G1 will always have piece of my heart, because I played with them as a child. G4 is my favorite because of the show and because it got me into the collecting community. I love customizing them to look more like show characters, because in general I just fall in love with fictional characters with personality. G2 though, I have never seen before coming into the community. They are fun in their own way, but their noses just seem strange to me. Since I have no connection to them, and since I have never bonded to them through the media that G1, G3, and G4 have had, I don't particularly care for them.
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G1: I think it is a really nice line and there was clearly a lot of effort put into it, so it's no big surprise this is many people's favorite generation. I would say that I personally find them a touch overrated. They tended towards pastel colors a bit too much for my taste (of course there are some extremely vibrant ones like Speedy too!), at times they got much too gimmicky, and I find the size a bit too large. Minor complaints in the long run but they are there. I tend to really like the molds from this generation though, I like the delicate curves and the slightly angular legs. The quality control was very good at this point too, not too much to complain about considering their age!
G2: I only have 1 Happy Meal toy from this generation honestly! I do think they are fun though, and would like to have some more. Definitely they got a lot of flack because of the sheer amount of change compared to G1. I think the odd distribution of this line frequently gets in the way of drawing in new collectors.
G3: My personal favorite! I remember hating them when I was a little kid ironically. I like the often intense and striking color combinations that frequent this generation and these fit perfectly in my hand. I really like the little details in the eyes too. I understand the complaints about quality control, although I hope that it is largely restricted to a few cases in particular, like the bodies of Divine Shine ponies and certain hair colors deteriorating. I find that their quality in general is comparable to G1, just a little worse.
G4: I got into MLP through this generation although it is not really a favorite of mine anymore. I don't mind the designs but the quality control is usually really poor. It's such a shame, as I find their miniature size very fun!
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so I'm not all that experienced or anything, but in my opinion, g1 is the best, followed by gs 2 and 3 (I like them both equally!) I'm too young to have experienced gs 1 and 2, and all my childhood ponies were g3, but anyway here are my opinions pretty much purely based on aesthetics.
G1: There's just something so magical about g1s! maybe it's because i love retro things, but i agree with other people who have posted talking about the care and detail that went into g1s!! They're just so magical, there's so much variety and the toys are just adorable. You don't really see that kind of style of toy anymore, you know? Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, because things go in and out of style and times change, but it seems right now that the focus in toys is making everything chibi, sleek, and cute (which I like, but there's hardly any variety in terms of style/aesthetics now!) Don't g1s just seem so elegant and gentle in contrast? anyway, i love them :)
G2: I don't know much about g2 because no one seems to talk about them, but i think they're cute enough! they still kinda have that elegant feel, and while I certainly don't think they're as cute as g1s (the're much more horse-like than pony-like), they're nice enough and i have a few of them on my wishlist.
G3: actually pretty similar to g1 i think!! however, i don't like them quite as much just because they're lacking that retro aspect/feel hehehe. very cute, kind of a more sleek, shiny feel compared to g1s, but they're definitely some quality toys!!
G3.5: i dont think anyone likes these to be honest?? they've always just seemed... so strange to me. they feel weirdly lumpy you know?? and disproportionate, even though they're supposed to be that way, they just seem too disproportionate, idk. (especially their heads, they seem so out of place on that body)
G4: the show is pretty okay, but it's kind of hard to get into the mainstream g4 fandom without being really creeped out really quickly, you know?? but since I'm just talking about the toys here, and I don't really like this gen toy-wise. mainly because i like when there's a wide variety of different characters, like what's been done in all previous gens. with this gen i feel like they're pretty much releasing the 6 same figures over and over just with (sometimes minor) variations. sure, occasionally they'll release like one background character or something, but it really just isn't the same.,,, i also wish they would release any actual alternate poses! (and if you REALLY want me to nitpick, i think their eyes are a bit too low on their head! it bothers me!!) anyway, i have a few g4s that i got as gifts and they're okay, but they're really just not my favorite.
those are just my opinions though!!
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Aesthetically I love all Gens, even 3.5 has its own charm. But as someone who grew up loving the original LPS line (I didn't have a childhood pony line as I was too late for G1 and when G2 came out it wasn't even on my radar because by then I was obsessed with the vidya games) one thing I like the most about G1 is they had so many creative gimmicks. So Softs, Perfume Puffs, Twinkle Eyes, Glow and Shows, the list goes on and on. No other Gen seems to have that kind of variety, even G3.
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G1 wasn't the generation I grew up with, but it is my favorite and what I prefer. It has different poses, sets, types, and all the characters were unique and rarely released more than once. They're something very special about them that you just don't see in toys today. Even the show was pretty cute (but I prefer the Tales series myself) and Rescue at Midnight Castle is my favorite piece of pony media. So many playsets and accessories and such beautiful artwork! I just think G1 trumps everything.
G2 I like because it veered off in such a different direction. It had a lot of interesting sets, some characters were reused but not to the extent of how they are now, but I know it's not preferred because it's so different. I kinda like the the more thin look of the ponies. The 90's had a lot of weird toy reboots, mlp included. But I don't dislike them at all, I find them to be charming!
G3 was my childhood generation so it's my source for nostalgia. It brought back G1's uniqueness with tons of different ponies and sets and poses. Also, the playsets!!! They're so great, I love a good playset. The specials weren't amazing in terms of quality but I always found them to be pretty adorable. This line was really wonderful until core 7 happened. I do like a few of the core 7 ponies but ughhhh the reuse of the same seven ponies is so bland.
G3.5 is just not my thing. I think they;re weird looking, if not a little creepy as well. I don't like the babydoll aesthetic that the line had going on. The specials were for a much younger audience and just eh. In my opinion the mommy ponies are the only good things to come out of this generation. The ponyville figures are also kind of cute.
G4 has it's goods and bads. The show is wonderful up to a point (late season 4 is where it got bad for me) and the toys are cute except for the constant use of the same 6 characters over and over. I know some side characters get reused too but it's still better than the mane 6 again. I love any non-mane 6 character that they make though, there's not a single one I don't like (except maybe discord). There's a lack of poses which is a real shame, the playsets aren't that great, and god do I hate when they changed the plastic and hair quality. I have more of them than any other gen but that's just because they're so easily available and multiple companies produce different toys. I'm not too picky about brushable or molded hair but I understand why others are. I think the other types of merchandise and plushies are a really great part of G4. Same with the books and especially the comics.
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Love the responses so far. Gives a really good insight on what details people look out for. Keep it up.
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First of, I must say that this thread is really interesting! I usually get really bored by reading looong threads with big respones but it is really interesting to know everyones opinion, because there had been a great amount of good points made! :)
I only started collecting ponies for real in 2015, BUT I've known MLP through my childhood.
G1 - Toywise, I didn't have much contact with the G1 ponies, as I am born in 1996 and I honestly don't know how popular they were where I live (The island where I live is kind of secluded and especially pre-internet era we were always kinda late on the trends).
I've only had about 5 G1 ponies and they all arrived as I started collecting, in different lots.
I really like G1 as they are the ''original'' MLP and seem to have had the greatest diversity among them, all kinds of sizes, ages and species, tons of awesome acessories and great color and gender diversity, and even exclusive releases. I also love how expressive and charming they are. At the same time, this kind of puts me off from collecting them, because it is abit overwhelming.
The G1 cartoons however, I did grow up watching and I think that did spark my interest for MLP. I recieved my first VHS when I was 4, and begged my parents to find me more of them because I loved it so much xD
However I found the Tales very strange, having gone from ponies living in a magical fantasy land to ponies living in a big town, attending school and playing football...
G2 - I had 2 G2 ponies growing up, and I loved them. Even though they look nothing like the other Gens, I think they have their charming elegance. However I will say that they are definitely among the least diverse ponies and pose-wise and expressionwise they're kinda dull. I like them, but they're definitely not my favorite. On the other hand, I have great memories of G2 ponies in the nostalgic sense. My older friend had more of them than I did and a really cute playset that we always used to play with our ponies on. Mentioning the playsets - I definitely appreciate the detail of G2 playsets. Very dainty and cute, yet very colorful.
G3 - They're definitely the pony Gen that I had the most contact with, and my favorite. I had several of them growing up, and me and another friend always used to take our ponies to eachothers houses and play all day long. I remember playing in her garden and throwing a pony up in the air (She was ''flying'') and somehow getting her stuck in my friends Walnut tree ^^ I am very fond of the G3, and I do like that they look alot more like the original G1, and they are the only Gen that I collect. I do pick up other gens if I find them, but G3 is my main goal. I've not had problems with their quality so far, but maybe I am just lucky. What I find very boring about G3 is that there isnt as much diversity in them either, like sure there are baby ponies, unicorns and pegasus and earth ponies... but it would have been great with something more, like more sizes (like G1 male ponies were bigger) and more species. Colorwise I do like them, even if there is alot of pink and purple, there is alot of other colors too.
I never had anything to do with G3.5, So I won't say much about them other than that... their heads are huge. Also, they seem to be aimed at amuch younger audiance which is kinda... mehh.
G4 - When G4 came around, I was already so over my Pony-era I didn't even hear of them until years later. Toywise... well. To me they are quite boring and bland, especially all the non brushables... kinda gives it less of a ''toy'' feel to them.
The quality of them as toys seem kind of poor, atleast for those that I have seen ''eye to eye'', and the playsets are very ... plain. Like someone mentioned, as the ponies are so much smaller, one would think that they could go ham with the playsets... but that does not seem to have happened. The ponies mainly being quite small as toys also puts me of, collectionwise I dont feel like they'd do well displaying. And If I was a kid, I totally would have lost my ponies if they were that small.
G4 does not really appeal to me, even if there are some really pretty ones, and bigger ''styling'' ponies. I feel like my opinion might have been different if I had not seen so many weird sides to the FiM fandom. It just really puts me of from even wanting to watch FiM and see what it is all about - however I guess the popularity of FiM has brought something good - all the merch, which I am sure is very exiting if you are into the G4's.
It will be very interisting what Hasbro might come out with next, for the future Pony Gens... Hopefully something good ^^
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Maybe I can offer some help in the areas you have some questions. A little about me and where I'm coming from: I collected G1's as a child, from age 5 through my early teens, took a break and skipped G2's, then started collecting G1's and G3's when the G3's emerged. I've been actively collecting since, into the G4's (brushables, blindbags, playsets, Fair exclusives only). I watched MLP cartoons growing up, didn't care much for the G3 cartoons but watched them, and am watching Friendship Is Magic, although I don't consider myself a die-hard fan of the cartoon. It's fairly entertaining for a cartoon, but I don't identify myself with it like a lot of fans do.
G3 Is one I really wonder about, I know the animation was quite unpopular and somewhat polarising since most people seem to either love it or hate it. The toys on the other hand seem to be really popular among collectors and I confess I don't really understand why; they look the most like the first generation, but there are still noticable differences which don't quite do it for me, and this was the first generation to have the cutie mark on only one side. On the other hand this seems to be the first generation where adult collectors were really recognised by Hasbro and had merchandise made with older fans in mind.
I believe there are two reasons why the G3's were so popular in spite of the general dislike for the cartoon.
1) For many G1 collectors, especially those disappointed in the G2 design who never got into them, this was a welcome rebirth of the ponies we loved as kids. It was refreshing to see new ones on the shelves in stores again. They came out about the time that many collectors in my age group (then late teens - early 30's) were digging out their childhood ponies again and falling in love with them. I was one of these collectors, with a place of my own now to display ponies that had sat in boxes for over a decade. As adults, the G3 line brought back the excitement of seeing them in stores and the opportunity to buy however many we liked because (just as we dreamed we could back when we were kids). G3's were mostly about the toys, not the cartoon, which were still geared towards young children and were few and far between. You saw the cartoon because you collected the toy, not the other way around.
2) Most of the G3 generation offered a much higher diversity of ponies that the late G3's, G3.5 and G4 generations don't. Like the G1's and G2's, you could expect lots of unique ponies with each release, making collecting them a whole lot of fun and somewhat challenging. Variety was a huge appeal to this group of collectors -- a new and different pony to expand the herd. Very few repeat ponies were made until Hasbro decided to go with the "Core 7" idea near the end of the G3 line. Many collectors got tired of the multiple releases of the same character and stopped collecting. I believe this is why the G3 line died out, and the G3.5 line was not as successful (also, the look of the G3.5 wasn't as popular either). G4 toys also have this repeat character thing going on (Mane 6), however unlike previous generations, the success of the cartoon and the fandom behind it is strong enough to keep the toy line going. I don't believe the toys would be able to hold their own without that following. The variety factor, combined with the well-liked style of the pony, is keeping the G3 likeability alive, even though it doesn't have a successful cartoon to back it or the nostalgia factor for most collectors.
The G1.5/Pony Tales is well liked enough, but mostly glossed over and nobody really likes G3.5, especially newborn cuties
I think it's important to point out that most G1 collectors consider what you call "G1.5" part of the G1 generation. At least that's what I'm hearing from other G1 collectors who are confused by the "G1.5" distinction. The toys came out before the cartoon, so generally speaking among the long-time collectors that have been using the G# codes, generations are broken up by the stylizations of the toys, not the cartoon releases. This would explain why the Pony Tales toys were as well-liked as the original ponies. To those that collect them, they are part of the same first generation and there's no distinction because the toy style was using the same pony molds as the G1 ponies. I would love to know who coined the G1.5 name, and when. I'm guessing it had to be fairly recent.
The G3.5 toys had the same characters as the late G3 line, but the style of toy was so different, collectors felt like it a big enough change to give it its own generation name, but still keep it tied to G3 generation because it wasn't a big enough break.
...brushable hair seems to preferred over molded (this one I'm a bit curious about since brushable hair does have more style options, but molded hair tends to be more show-accurate and I'm part of the minority that saw brushable hair as a more of a liability than an asset since it wouldn't stay in place).
I think it's safe to say that those who prefer molded hair ponies are (for the most part) part of the newest generation of collectors and the FiM cartoon is a big part of their collecting experience. Other collectors, those that have been collecting long before the G4's arrived, tend to like brushable ponies for a couple of reasons: 1) the toys were more of a collecting focus than the cartoon, and 2) we learned to identify ponies as having that haired feature from the beginning and for years after.
Most of us long-time collectors grew up actually playing with ponies, and a big part of the playing was messing with their hair. It didn't matter they weren't show accurate, even though we watched the cartoon. It mattered that they were fun, and the hair really was fun to style in various ways with ribbons and barrettes and braids. All kinds of time was spent on this feature and it became an identifying part of My Little Pony toys. As adults, we got used to collecting ponies with this feature. Nearly 3 decades of collecting haired ponies! So when G4's started going towards molded hair, they didn't feel like the ponies we were used to collecting. They didn't "fit" within the collecting standards we were used to because they had lost that one important feature. They seemed more like sculptures or action figures, without the action.
Hope this helps you out with some questions you had. They are obviously my opinions, and there are exceptions to every statement. But these points are also gathered from and supported by many other collectors I've met, talked with and known over many years and so thought they might be useful ;)
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"Show accurate" didn't really mean anything until this latest generation when the characters all have unique manestyles. In the original cartoon, the ponies had two basic manestyles based on whether the toy had straight hair or curly hair. The ponies in the Tales cartoon had slight variations of manestyle, but not as significant as FiM.
In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
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In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
Not all FIM fans that produce fan content are "bronies".
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In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
Not all FIM fans that produce fan content are "bronies".
Okay, but I saw a bunch of "show accurate" tutorials even in the first second couple of years of FiM.
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In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
Not all FIM fans that produce fan content are "bronies".
Okay, but I saw a bunch of "show accurate" tutorials even in the first second couple of years of FiM.
I think it can only be a problem for rainbow dashs and twilight sparkles.From all those tutorials i saw when i was really into the brony fandom, those two were the only ones where they said to cut the hair.
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In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
Not all FIM fans that produce fan content are "bronies".
Okay, but I saw a bunch of "show accurate" tutorials even in the first second couple of years of FiM.
I think it can only be a problem for rainbow dashs and twilight sparkles.From all those tutorials i saw when i was really into the brony fandom, those two were the only ones where they said to cut the hair.
Eh, considering the shear number of mane 6 releases, I really don't think it's going to be a problem no matter how many of them get haircuts.
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shear number
I admit, I chuckled.
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In fact, I would not be all that surprised, when G4 transitions to a collectors item, collectors are going to find a lot of brushables made "show accurate" by bronies (I've seen so many tutorials for doing it I have to imagine it's an epidemic with the first releases especially).
Not all FIM fans that produce fan content are "bronies".
Okay, but I saw a bunch of "show accurate" tutorials even in the first second couple of years of FiM.
And I don't doubt that. I'm just saying not everyone who would want "show accurate" hair is a "brony". Like the G4 cartoon was the first one where the cartoon hair actually looked better than the toys. G1 factory hair was a beautiful thing while G4 box hair is just terribad. If it needs to be styled anyways might as well try to make it look like the characters.
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Very true. And it's not just "bronies" who care about show accurateness in general. I've seen a Fizzy and a Whizzer who were rerooted to have "show accurate" hair (meaning reversing the order of Fizzy's hair stripes and giving Whizzer a red stripe). And I know some collectors prefer the NSS Buttons with star and button symbols because it matches her show appearance. (SS Buttons and the other NSS Buttons just have three big buttons as their symbols--no stars at all.)
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shear number
I admit, I chuckled.
We should all "cut" with the puns already. :P ;)
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They should definitely be snipped out of the thread. ;)
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Love, love, love this thread. Seeing everyone's opinions on the generations is wonderful, so I may as well throw my two cents in.
Some background--I was born in a weird place in pony time, where G1 had literally just ended the year prior and G2 was around long enough to make a little impression on tiny me but not much else. However, when G3 came out, I was already aware of the existence of G1 and more about G2 (thanks internet!) and at the tender age of 10 already considered myself a full-on collector. Ergo, my appreciation for the lines is going to be slightly different because of my weird situation--hope that makes some sense!
G1: Oh, G1, G1, G1. What can be said about this gen that hasn't been said already, and better, by loads of people in and outside this thread? The original generation, probably the most creative and innovative, definitely the most regional, and honestly I'd say it's objectively the best of all the generations so far looking solely at the toyline. While it's only my second favourite generation, G1 is definitely incredible to me. It laid the foundation for everything that came afterwards while being made with quality and care, and I have such a soft spot for these sweet squishy ponies. While I've seen people in this thread describe them as having a retro feel about them, I guarantee you that if Hasbro was to completely rerelease every G1 pony today kids would lap them up just as they did in the '80s and early '90s. It may not have been a generation I was around to see rise and fall, but I do have minor childhood experiences with them, and I've still got a very soft spot in my heart for them. And as for the cartoons--Rescue at Midnight Castle is my favourite MLP cartoon, period; I've not yet seen Escape from (C/K)atrina, and while I've watched the movie I've seen maybe one or two episodes from 'N Friends and none of Tales. However, I adore the sense of adventure from RaMC and the Movie, and even though a lot of people seem to have mixed feelings about Megan I love her too. G1 really did have the best of both worlds in a lot of ways, and I'm still learning new things about it years later. Long live G1 MLP!
G2: My favourite and childhood generation. I had exactly one G2 pony as a kid--the original Magic Motion Ivy, who I still own--and she was my absolute favourite toy. I also owned the Friendship Gardens game, which I played near-religiously, and where I think the most significant NA media giving characterization to the G2 ponies was. When I hear people talking about how G2 didn't have a lot of characterization, I usually agree, but Friendship Gardens really did give it that for me personally. Anyway, onto the toyline itself--I love G2's slender approach to ponies, which I actually think is pulled off better than any of the Sweetheart Sisters (sorry!). They always seem so sweet and yet so ethereal to me; all of them are little princesses or rebels in my eyes. I think the eye-gem gimmick is a really smart idea and I sort of wish it'd make a comeback at some point (I also really love TE ponies, so that's probably not a surprise lmao). I wish it'd stayed longer in North America, but what can you do about that now? Honestly, it's probably a combination of nostalgia and aesthetics that makes me love G2 so much. I've only got 3 but having more is at the top of my list.
G3: G3 was the first generation where I actively started to seek out MLP and knew damn well what I was getting. I'd been following the announcements online, and I still remember walking into Toys R Us and buying Kimono and Cotton Candy's Cafe right at the beginning of the line. G3 has always seemed to me like the line closest to a 'return to form' for the MLP brand, and while it was also the first line where quality control really became an issue, I also think G1 just barely beats it out in terms of what I'd consider my favourite. I have a lot of fond G3 memories, and getting to buy new ponies in store for the first time I could remember was really something special. I was still young enough to play with them, but old enough to take care of them, and most of my self-bought G3s are still in pretty dang good shape, though a lot of them have lost their natural curl over the years. The G3 playsets, again, are only barely beaten out by G1 sets for me; I still adore the castles and Twinkle Twirl's Dance Studio is one of my favourite playsets period (gotta love those tiny desserts)! G3 was also the first generation I was around to use mail order for; I actually managed to get all three of the ponies offered during the short cycle of the orders as well as a poster and the playset mat. Waiting for all of those to arrive is still one of my most exciting pony memories. I haven't seen much G3 media; only A Charming Birthday, Dancing in the Clouds, and A Very Minty Christmas. I thought they were cute at the time, but only Dancing in the Clouds really stuck with me. As for the Core 7, I remember being really upset when that started coming around, and I'm still pretty upset about it, which leads to...
G3.5: Not for me, I guess. I have some McDonald's ponies and the original winter Sweetie Belle, but I never actively sought them out and still have no intention of doing so. The media has never been watched by yours truly, and the aesthetics of this semi-generation just are not to my taste. It's the faces, man... those open mouths just weird me out...
G4: And now we come to the most current generation, which I only started getting into after the first season and a bit of the second had already aired. I think, when discussing G4, it's actually imperative to talk media first, toyline second; that seems to be Hasbro's approach, anyway, and while it's working out nicely for them I don't think it will forever. I do enjoy Friendship is Magic, though I've had to enjoy it in a vacuum recently due to the side of the fandom that thankfully isn't on this site and that I'd rather forget about. While the first few seasons (up to the end of S3) are definitely stronger, I don't think the shift to caring more about the adult fanbase has completely ruined the show like some people have been saying recently. I am uncomfortable with the shift, and I don't think it was necessary, but I do still enjoy the show in its good moments, and I would rather talk about those for the most part. As for the toyline... hoo boy. A return to Core 7 form in the worst way, imo. The quality control has gone way down, and while I'm seeing the hair at least start to improve again, the bodies have never been that great in my opinion. The lack of poses and of male characters other than Shining Armor in regular/'brushable' form is really upsetting when I look back at every other generation, too. From the show, G4 has so much to work with--but it concentrates on its main cast heavily, which is an extreme detriment in my opinion. I don't like the focus on non-'brushable' ponies, either; MLP was built around hair play, and I think that's been lost to cater to the crowd MLP was never really targeted at in the first place. G4, in my opinion, is sadly, the weakest generation after G3.5. They have so much to work with and such a big world, but since the departure of Faust from the show and the quality control taking a worse nosedive, I don't think G4 is doing itself any favours. I'm honestly hoping G5 comes soon, as while I'll still pick up any non-Mane 6 G4s as I know they're hard to come by, G4 is really tanking for me in the toy department, which is the main reason I like MLP in the first place.
So... G2, G1, G3, G4, G3.5. I don't think I've said anything particularly new, but these are my thoughts, and I'm stickin' to 'em! :silly:
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Hm, let's see...
G1: I'm a young one, so I wasn't yet alive when G1 existed in stores. I did find the Dream Valley website at age >10 however, and would literally spend hours admiring and memorising the G1s. They were like soe kind of vast, unreachable treasure to me, as they all looked so different and amazing. Even today I'm in such awe of them that I could never customise a G1 - and I kinda cringe slightly when I see others doing so. To me, they're these amazing treasures.
G2: It started the year I was born, but I was unaware they existed in my childhood and thus only discovered them (again) on Dream Valley and liked how many little acessories they came with. I thought they were so elegant and dainty when I saw owners photos of them, and was amazed by their colour palette and increasingly questionable naming schemes. To this day they are my favourite generation <3
G3: The generation I grew up with, my first pony was Star Catcher and I got her on my 5th or 6th birthday, from memory, quickly followed by Thistle Whistle, Blossomforth and Spring Fever. I spent all of my pocket money on them, and soon amassed a collection of 40-50ish I don't actively seek them out, but I still love them for the nostalgia value they have for me!
G3.5: I hated the lack of new characters and in general how odd they looked so I only own one who came in a lot....
G4: Again, I dislike the repeating characters and how un- dynamic the poses are. They're also too small and hard :(
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Even today I'm in such awe of them that I could never customise a G1 - and I kinda cringe slightly when I see others doing so. To me, they're these amazing treasures.
At least rest easy that most the time when one is customized it was in really really bad shape. After all these were children's toys and not all children treat their toys well. Think of it more like tuning trash into treasure.
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I feel like G4 is the first generation with a fanbase not rooted in original G1 love.
G3 ponies are coming into their own as collector's items, because the little girls who played with them are now in their late teens to mid-20s and probably have nostalgia for their childhood toys. They had a big following among collectors when they first came out just because they were cuter than G2s and everyone was excited about new ponies coming out.
IDK about G2s. I have never liked them. I have no childhood / sentimentality attached with them and don't think they're particularly cute - never got into them as a collector. I have a few I've picked up at thrift stores just because they're ponies.