The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Leave a Whisper on July 13, 2022, 08:45:23 AM
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With the new one in swing, (though whether it's in full swing or not remains to be seen,) I'd like to see how you folks rank your favorite to least. Reasons are welcome.
Favorite to Least:
G1-Beautiful, diverse, sturdy, nostalgic. One of my favorite childhood toylines. Some problems, but for the most part nothing devastating. Love them forever.
G3-Beautiful, diverse, but with more problems popping up the older they get. Got me back into the brand, love them always.
Mishmash -I'd love them more if not for the low eyes. Wish the DnD ones had been sold separately like the rest. The retro Twilight and main six are cute. Woulda been all over G5 if they used those instead. Lovely silky hair.
G5-This one is in the middle. The faces I think, will always still bother me but they look a little better in person. Not charmed by the attempt to phase out good quality hair, but otoh I will have lotsa fun customizing the moulded hair ponies. Some very pretty colors. Looooove the wings! Hopefully Hasbro breaks free of its sucky core cast obsession. Lazy jerks.
G2-I remember seeing them for the first time on the internet. They were the ugly articulated neck ones and the removable tail ones. I had a visible jolt of shock and dismay. Not a good first impression. Found some that I like. Cute in person. Lacking species diversity. Don't have enough to form a proper opinion. Have one, would like to have more.
G4-Upon first seeing these I had an instinctive hatred. I tried to give it a chance, but between the low quality, ugly bulbous chihuahua heads, and all the awfulness that attached itself to taint the brand I'll never truly love them. Sometimes think about selling most of them off. I like some of them. Hopefully the taint will go away in a couple of gens.
Equestria Girls-Don't like. Don't have any. I got into MLP to collect horses, not dolls.
G3.5/NBC-Instinctive dislike. Small character pool, ugly moulds. Boring stop-gap. I've never owned one and never will.
PL-The absolute bottom of the outhouse. Jawless freaks, round human heads, wildly disproportionate bodies. Wide, strung-out, staring eyes. This went out with a whimper and was blessedly short-lived.
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for me, it'd go like...
1. G3
yeah yeah, maybe im biased since i grew up with G3 (and thats a part of why its at the top) but i think G3 had a lot of substance- from the toys/toy quality, to the playsets, films, & marketing that was done for it. the quality of the toys is great- they're sturdy, have some really nice factory paint and cutie mark designs, silky and resilient hair (for most of them) and some really fun themes and gimmicks (i.e glittery faces/symbols, SLHs, divine shines (ill get back to these), hoof hearts, etc. the design choices were pretty thought out imo- G3 is very detailed, yet simple and nice to look at. still horse-like but keeping a largely cartoony style. the playsets are super fun and i honestly think G3 has the best playsets out of any gen. (G4's seem to have too many bits & bobs and G1's are, admittedly a bit lackluster. i don't know anything about G2's or G5s) lots of variety, even if not as much as G1. the films are adorable, well animated and have that early 2000s charm. some simple storylines that young kids can follow along with but also that adults who grew up with it can appreciate. the games, even if i've only played the flash games & Best Friends Ball are still charming to this day. definitely early CGI and flash animation but i like that style. the merchandise that came from this generation is honestly never-ending and is a big part of my collection. very fun to collect and find more information about. i adore pretty much everything about it
none of this means G3 is safe from setbacks though- starting with the films. the ponies personalities are all, at their core "friendly & silly". more of the main ponies do have some different qualities- minty is clumsy, loves socks. rainbow dash says "darling" and is a fashionista. pinkie pie is similar to minty. rarity is rebellious, curious. you get the deal. honestly its hard to think of any traits for them in general- even though its all very simple. some of these traits could very easily be traded between any two ponies and not make much difference. it's not something i can't look over though- just gets more obvious as you get older. :lookround:
next, the varying quality of some ponies throughout G3. usually, they don't have much going for them as far as problems go. except for some select ponies. the divine shines "absorb" their glitter as they age and is honestly sad. they're much more prone to this than G1's with glitter seem to be and i wish i knew how this happened. plasticizer leakage is common especially with ponies that've stayed in their original boxes for so long- usually it can be helped if you give the pony a good wipe down/scrub but it can still leak out, and in turn make the pony 'hard'. not a big problem for me, but i like the squishiness some of them have. last thing i can think of is the varying hair quality- ESPECIALLY for the dollar store ponies. it sucks, disintegrates & turns to dust after time, or if you even just touch it. it makes it difficult to brush their hair because you fear it'll all come out into clumps. thats basically what happens. autumn crisp, misty blue, peachie keen are a select few i have and i do dread the day i'll have to get them rehaired. i plan to get most of the family dollar ponies (sunrise, strawberry sunset, rhythmn n rhyme, green apple are all next) because i like their designs but it just sucks they all have an unavoidable problem like that. some of the non-discount ponies have this problem too. versions of petal blossom, jazz matazz, etc. also 'fading pink' is used a lot in this gen. :(
and then core 7. i don't think i need to go much into that. good from a marketing standpoint i suppose but loses a lot of charm and variety and this trend continues onto G4 and G5... they REALLY double down on it later on. the poses in core 7 start to become all too similar. not a lot of emphasis on other ponies or any big plot lines in the films. quality is about the same but you can still tell its a downgrade :( sweetie belle and starsong don't really add much to the lineup, either. i suppose it could have been worse but i like the merchandise/designs from the pre-core 7 better. i will say all of these things are, honestly minor and things i can look over bc of just how much i love the gen otherwise. so many good memories & nostalgia and despite all the problems with the toys they're more or less all fixable
2. G1
not sure what i can say about G1. i didn't grow up with it, not even close, but i really love all the variety in ponies in this generation. all the international versions of ponies are so fascinating to me and the themes/designs are all quite creative. awesome symbols (G1 and G3 have the best) and gimmicks. i really like the perfume puffs, twinkle eyes, so softs, twice as fancies. just classic & lots of lovable ponies in this generation. i like the idea of the pony friends line- and seaponies, flutter ponies, winger ponies are all really cool and it makes me wish G3 had more than just pegasi, unicorns & earth ponies.
i've never watched the films- but from some clips ive seen i can tell some ponies had a bit more personality and edge than in G3. i appreciate that. animation wasn't as great then though, and some of the characters (like megan, non-pony characters) seemed a bit ugly to me, but its to be expected from a new franchise. i can't speak on the films much besides this.
the figures, however- although the designs and gimmicks were amazing- have so many setbacks its egregious. thankfully, no big problems with hair like in G3- but pony discoloration/regrind, pony "cancer", "smooze", tail rust is so rampant it seems it really draws a lot out of them. the vinyl isn't as sturdy as in G3, either. lots of instances where the pony is basically smooshed or the vinyl is too thin. the poor so-softs have a lot of their flocking rubbed off or dirtied. BBE's even get rust in their eyes which is really odd to me.
overall, G1 is charming for sure- not as bright and fun as G3 was, but still up there in terms of quality. G1 is extremely beloved for a reason ^.^
(G3.5 right in the middle)
3. G4
4. G2
5. G5
(gonna update this post w reasons in a bit)
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G1 is the top spot for me too!!! Such a diverse range of Ponies, including Sea Ponies, Butterfly-based Ponies, bigger Ponies, smaller Ponies, &most ages & both genders (with one pose in particular being great for trans/ enby too). Pretty much no issues
G3 come next. Also a huge range, with Ponyvilles, Breezies, & I LOVE the themes!!! My main issues are: excessive pink, lack of Boys, BORE 7 at the end, symbols on one side only, some are known to hair-rot without warning, no Sea Ponies, too many variants of the same Pony (I don't need 20 Sky Wisheses)
G2 come next. Not a bad range overall, including Boys & Babies, & some quality playsets & accessories!!! My main issues are: no Sea Ponies, many mechanics on them look ugly, too many variants of the same Pony (I don't need 20 Ivys)
Next come G3.5. My BIGGEST issue is BORE 7. The Chibi-esque moulds of the older ones are a bit OTT, but I'm in love with the Newborn Cuties!!! If they'd branched out of BORE 7 & given us, say, some Soft Newborns in Newborn Cutie, I'd have been so pleased!!! Most of my Custom Newborn Cuties are based on Soft Newborns. Boys would have been good, but again BORE 7. Nice accessories for them though
Next up are G5. G5??? Yep. They're new, so giving them a chance. The Ponies are small, but decent. They come with cute accessories, & we have a couple of playsets which seem good. Main issues so far: too few brushables, BORE 5 ad nauseum
G4.0 next. Earlier G4 lacked variety in pose (only 3-4 I think at most), but had some interesting characters aside from the Mane Six, or BORE 6. My main issue is neither of these though: it's the playsets. Why do G4 Playsets only serve as backgrounds half the time, instead of more 3d, actual sets you can put the Ponies IN??? Even the bigger ones are nowhere near the ones in the show, with cardboard walls & so on. Some are even cardboard boxes with glossy print on them. And though we do have Boys again, they're few in number. Plus G4.0 started the trend of smaller Ponies, about the size of G1 Baby Ponies. Other issue is how there are more mini Ponies, including Blind Bags, than actual Pony figures
G4.25, both Reboot & GOH, are next. Reboot add more poses, & a weirder shape of head, as well as a few extra character aside from BORE 6. GOH have moulded hair, but got articulation right. These Ponies can move, without being G2-mechanical ugly. They have a few awesome playsets too. Though a bit on the small side, I LOVE the pirate ship!!! It's hard to get my Celaeno & Boyle figures to fit it. Both also add Sea Ponies, Hippogriffs, & non-Pony characters to the mix. As well as Celeano & Boyle, I have a Discord, Land & Sea Skystar, Haven Bay, Capper, a changeling, & Silverstream. Now about that weird head shape...
Pony Life are third to bottom. Take the worst of G3.5 adults, take the worst of G4.25, & the worst of G4.0, & here's G4.5 in a nutshell. The cheapest looking accessories if any, the WORST-looking figures (Everybody says G5 look less Pony but they're more Pony than Pony Life). They look like LPS on drugs & a starvation diet gone wrong. I only want two, because one is unique & the other is one I collect variants of.
G4.75 are second to bottom. What are G4.75??? They're the moulded hair, fully articulated characters you dress in clothes to look like almost the worst cross between Ponies & dolls you can get. I've seen them & might get ONE out of morbid curiosity, but aside from that, just nope
At last place are Equestria Girls. The main reason for buying Ponies is to avoid toxic teenage doll culture. You know, dolls whose sole purpose is to teach girls they'll only be successful if they look like X unachievable unrealistic figure. Well if Barbie's permanently dieting & going under the knife, EQGs are like PL in human form, with MLP colours. On drugs & a starvation diet gone wrong, & so freakishly coloured you'd need toxic chemicals to get their looks. Sorry if I want6 my dolls to be dolls & my Ponies to be Ponies, but that's how I am. never the twain should have met. EQG was ok as a cartoon series, but as toys??? BIG FAT NOPE!!!
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At stjarne, tail rust isn't a generational quality problem, as much as it is a kids-played-with-toys-in-water issue. And tbf, none of us knew that they had metal washers. My daughter's Tangerine Sunset has tail rust, and it's worse because I couldn't get the darn head off to clean her up. That G3 glue is really something! G3 did bring back mermaid ponies and introduced breezies.
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G1
G3
G2
G5
G4
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Oooh, let's see...
First off, I really like pretty much all of the gens, so far the only gen I don't own a single pony from is G3.5 (well technically - the only G5s I have are Phidal and Egmont figures - so I don't actually own any Hasbro G5 toys). But if I had to rank 'em...
G1: I just love G1... not all of the gimmicks are for me, but otherwise, man it just has it all. TAFs! Those wonderful big ol' boy ponies with their gorgeous feathering! (I know most other gens have boys too, but G1 definitely had the best feathered hooves. :p So nice and detailed without being so realistic it looks out of place.) Great variety of colours and pony breeds! Babies!! etc etc. I love the cartoon too, sure it's silly and shows its age a lot, but I still enjoy the heck out of it. :p Honestly not much I don't like about G1... can't really think of any dealbreakers I have for this gen, anyway.
Oh and I love the Pony Friends. I wish more gens would do that. G4 came close with the hippogriffs, but they never fully committed.
G2 + G3 + G3 Ponyville: I think these two are about equal for me... I seriously adore G2 ponies, they're so gorgeous... plus I count Ivy as my first pony. The absolute best!! I love their dainty figures (I love SHS and the G4 princesses too) and creative symbols. The wacky names near the end of the gen (I suspect, the result of the European branch of Hasbro being put in charge of names) are great too.
G3 symbols are also very creative at times! What other gen's given us stuff like Pepperberry. :P Great variety of poses too - I have to dock G2 a point for that. G2's sadly lacking in the pose department. It's not as big an issue for me as G4's lack of poses, for some reason? I guess since G2s are otherwise more detailed than G4s, or maybe because I haven't got as many G2s as G4s (yet!!) I just don't notice it as much? I dunno.
G3s also tend to be nice and easy to get a hold of, reasonably priced for the most part too, which is always a bonus :p G2s are a bit harder for me to find, which is why I don't have as many of them as I'd like. Especially the baby ponies - a shame since I ADORE G2 babies!! Well, I love all pony babies - but G2 babies are so darling. I love G1's "clone" babies but I do also really love how G2s made the babies clearly related to the mothers, without making them exact copies.
Also really appreciate how G2 just tossed in the odd boy pony here and there, that's something I wish more gens would do. Here's where I've gotta dock G3 a star - no boys! At all! >( Now that's one thing G4 DID improve on... sort of. (Eh, I'll take lower-quality boys over no boys at all.)
The department that BOTH gens fall down in is that they did tend to focus on Earthies over all else. G2 doesn't even have any actual pegasi! Although I do like their winged unicorns with the big butterfly wings - reminds me of PonyIsland's Wishing Ponies and I always loved Wishies - would love to see them make a comeback (but with proper molded-on wings instead of them just being clip-ons! :p). But yeah, waaaaay too many Earths. G3 improved on this a bit but there's still barely any Unicorns/Pegasi in that gen. I also sorely miss baby ponies in G3, the ones that do exist are darling, I just wish there were more - again, especially the unicorn/pegasi (there aren't ANY G3 unicorn babies and I'm here to ask: why). Relatedly, G3 was where they dropped the mum/baby sets and I'm STILL waiting for those to make a return - I'm a sucker for family sets. Even if they want to move away from parent-child sets... give us more sibling packs, please, PLEASE!! I'm still shocked G4 never gave us a (brushable) "Apple Family pack"!!! You don't know how much I wanted a set with Pinkie's sisters!!! -___-
Can't really comment on the... er, animated media? for these two. Never played the G2 game (I do want to though - it looks right up my alley - reminds me of Petz and I LOVE those games) and the only G3 cartoon I've seen is A Very Minty Christmas, which was cute but it's the sort of thing where I need to be in the right mood for it. It's a bit too sugary for my usual taste. I liked it but it's not something I could watch anytime, unlike G1, if that makes sense.
Don't have much to say about Ponyville but they're adorable, I love them. Wasn't a big fan of the later, more anthro figures, but the ones that are just tiny ponies are A+++ and I want them all. THIS is how to do tiny molded-mane ponies - as a side-line that's a COMPANION to the main brushable line, not as a REPLACEMENT for it. By the end of G4, the blind bags were often better and showed more creativity than the brushables... don't like that.
And G3 loses another star for the Core Seven - well, maybe let's just say half a star, since I think the years of unique and creative designs before C7 sort of make up for C7 really. At least Core Seven didn't happen until the line was halfway through the door anyway, you know? But it was a sign of things to come, unfortunately....
BTW, I'm not a huge accessory junkie (I love the ones I get, but I don't often specifically seek them out) but G2 has some of the cutest damn accessories. I'm still not over Trixiebelle's adorable jester hat.
G4 + Equestria Girls (first version): Two more that I'd rank equally. This gen took me a loooong while to get into. But eventually I was hooked. :p As you can tell from my sig.
I do like how small and compact G4s are. Mine all fit onto one table easily (or, almost all of them do - I have some of them displayed separately - but I could probably get all of them on there if I tried), which is always nice for a collector of collections like me - space is at a premium. Plus it's just cute. The anime-esque faces took a while to grow on me, but they are sweet... I particularly love the almond(?)-shaped unicorn eyes. They're my favourites.
Unfortunately, the one place where G4 falls down HARD is the total lack of unique characters, the lack of creativity!!! At first it wasn't too bad, they'd usually give you 2-3 new chars in addition to the Main 6... I don't mind the idea of having a "core" set of characters, I guess... sure is easier for writing a cartoon around... the problem is when they TAKE OVER the line. And by god did that happen with G4, and it's definitely to its detriment. I really don't understand why it happened either, since even if Hasbro couldn't be bothered to come up with new designs, or, I dunno - maybe they thought people only cared about the cartoon characters - HOW many characters did the cartoon have?!? I never cared about the cartoon, but I can't TELL you how many times I've seen a screenshot of a FiM pony and thought "Wow, she's cute, I want a toy of her!". I'm STILL waiting for that Fleur de Lis brushable, Hasbro!! And Babs!!
Plus the gimmicks in this gen were just awful. Most of them were cheap and stupid. I might not like all of G1-G3's gimmicks, but at least they feel like they were trying something cool and fresh. G4's "gimmicks" were just like... oh look it's the same but now it has a ribbon in its hair.. that's cool, right? -______-
QC was also pretty bad at times in this gen. I've never seen THIS happen on any of the other gens:
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It doesn't photograph well, but I've got a Bon Bon with a weird, almost caved-in part of her head, too. All toys are gonna have the odd QC error, that's just life, but 99% of problems with the first three gens only pop up after they've been around for a while. I.e. plasticizer leak, hair fading, G3 hair rot, the transparent G3s melting, etc. I've never seen a G1-G3 with a QC error THIS bad fresh off the card - but I've seen it happen quite a bit with G4s - moreso than you'd expect. Don't even get me started on the ones that were sold with head/body mismatch. (Poor, poor Feathermay.)
And again, the lack of boy ponies, despite boy characters existing right from the get-go (I still can't believe it took until the REBOOT to get a brushable Big Mac). And I don't know what annoys me more, the lack of poses or the lack of BREEDS!! Again, this is another point where I have no idea why they didn't take some cues from the cartoon. I'd have loved some bat pony toys, those are really cute! I like the Changelings too - at least the first design, not the ugly puke-coloured bugdeer things - but all we got for those was Chrysalis and, eventually, the little GoH figure. Love that dude, but I'd have loved it more if they had some friends. :p I also wish the unicorn horns had been a biiiit longer. Not a huge dealbreaker for me, but just another inch or two would've been nice. But oh GOD the lack of poses drives me insane. Thing is that the basic G4 standing pose is cute and all but it gets old fast. That's a huge low point for the gen IMO.
Also barely any baby ponies, so lose another star for that. Though the ones they DID make are very very cute. (But I wish there had been some family packs. :p)
Love blind bags but I'm sad that eventually, more creativity and unique designs went into them over the brushable line. (Also I'd like to punt whichever "genius" decided to split the waves in two over here - meaning many of the second-half waves were difficult-to-impossible to get a hold of - and don't even get me started on that STUPID endless Halloween series that shelfwarmed here for years...) Also I'm still sad the last few waves were basically impossible to find over here, but that's not really the gen's fault. x) Another rant for another thread, perhaps. But I do like how many boy ponies were made for the blind bag line (I'm counting the non-blind packed figures as "blind bags" too btw, like the FiM Collection stuff, just easier to call them all by the same name), I just wish that had spilled over into the main brushable line.
Love the princess ponies. It's great to see "proper" (not just clip-on wings) winged unicorns finally making it into the line. Not a fan of the whole "only princesses can be WUs" thing or the "alicorn" moniker (alicorns are unicorn horns, dammit!!) but, again, that's another rant for another time. :silly:
I like the EQG dolls!! Well at least the first version - I'll get to those horrible reboots in a minute. It took them a good while to grow on me, but when they did, they did. :p I love them so much. The CMC dolls are especially adorable - some of my favourite collection pieces. (again I have the complaint that they were the only younger characters made, though! The molds are so precious, why didn't they use them again!! But I digress.) Yeah, the quality definitely could've been upped in some places (never liked those coloured legs they did in lieu of socks/stockings/etc, or the plastic clothes), but overall I loved this line and I still miss it.
I'm neutral on Guardians of Harmony. Honestly don't care much about it either way, I can take it or leave it. It's just kinda "there" for me.
Oh and I don't like the cartoon. Well, some of the songs are good. (Cider! Cider! Cider! Cider! - but I like the song that's parodying in the first place, so I'm biased) And they did come up with some great designs that I WISH we'd gotten more toys out of. But I've tried some eps and they either make me go "eh, okay I guess, wouldn't watch it again though" or "why the heck did I waste 30 mins on this [string of expletives]". I won't mention the fandom!
Also I just don't care for the animation. The walk cycles always looked weird and uncanny to me. (Lion Guard had the same problem - I guess I just don't like Flash walk cycles? I dunno. I can think of other entirely computer animated cartoons that have good walk cycles... maybe the combo of Flash + quadrupedal walk cycles is where it all falls apart. I dunno.)
Mishmash/Retro: Love the concept of these. The G4-to-G1 brushables are just darling, even if I don't think they're exactly "G1 style", and again, ugh the distribution on these sucked. But I really wish they'd make more of those.
The molded-mane figures I have mixed feelings on. I like the general idea, but many of the crossovers did nothing for me. And the eye placement is just horrible. But I do like the concept and such, they just need a little work.
G4 reboot (Movie): Did we ever come up with a definitive moniker for these? At this point I'm just going with "Reboot".
The balloon heads on these took me a good bit to get used to. But I did like that we got some more characters - like Big Mac, at LAST!!! If only they weren't determined to give all of the brushable boys those horrible mohawks. Horses should have long, flowing manes! But at least it's a step-up from the !~£@$%#^* troll hair that poor Shining Armour had. I also like the poses for these a little more than the G4 poses, they feel at least a little more dynamic. But I do wish the heads were smaller.
The character variety here was odd; mostly even worse than G4 BUT we did get some very cool characters, like Soarin' who has a great mold, even if they did make the stupid decision to slather him with screenshots (why?!?!?). The ball-jointed(?) wings they gave him are one of my all-time favourite pony features though. Very, VERY cool. No baby ponies, though. :(
G4.5 (Pony Life): I can't bring myself to be *too* harsh on this, since to me it's pretty clear this was always intended to just be a quick stopgap line intended to keep MLP on the shelves while they worked on G5. And it does that job pretty well, I think. Could be worse. Their crazy, manic faces grew on me eventually.. right now I only own a handful of G4s. Both versions of Trixie, the orange Angel Bunny blind bag (someone here pointed out he'd make an excellent Almiraj for the D&D ponies and I HAD to get him), Lyra blind bag, and the Unicorn Party Celebration set (lucky TK Maxx find, couldn't resist it, wouldn't have gone out of my way to buy it online though). Now you can probably tell from my sig that I love Trixie, and Lyra's another favourite of mine. So if G4.5 had just been only Main 6, I doubt I'd have picked any of them up. I don't intend on getting any more G4.5s. But I do like the ones I've got.
Their tiny little bodies drive me nuts though. :p Their legs are pretty awkward-looking too. And often they do look completely manic - like I said, it's grown on me, but it works better for some characters than others. x) I DO like the feathered hooves though, and I've still gotta rate these slightly higher than G3.5 because a) I don't own any G3.5s, I do own some G4.5s, clearly I like one at least a LITTLE more than the other and b) G4.5 at least has more character variety than G3.5. Not MUCH more, but still enough for me to want to point it out.
Distribution of these was crap though - I only ever saw one wave of the brushables in shops (don't get me started on how much of a nightmare it was to find the wave 1 version of Trixie online X_X), and just one wave of the blind bags - naturally, the wave I had zero interest in. :p
G3.5: Core seven.... snooze. And the molds just don't do it for me - I think they're a bit better than G4.5, but they just don't interest me. Don't at all care for the Ponyvilles from this merch. Can't stand Newborn Cuties either - entirely too human/baby-dollish for me - this'll probably sound funny since I just said that I love EQG, but I like my ponies to be ponies. :p I don't mind anthro pony dolls if you go all the way and make them fully anthropomorphic characters, but I don't often like it when they go in-between. It's funny since normally I don't mind, but somehow I've just never liked how MLP does these almost-anthro-but-not-quite ponies.
I will say that I DO like how they made each character a different height, that's a very cool detail. Probably unfeasible to do in a line with more than seven characters, but I do think that's nice. And the mummy ponies do appeal to me enough that I'll probably end up with them eventually. (I like the idea of them more than the toys themselves, I think. Always a sucker for family sets. And their basic designs are cute - now if someone would make G3 customs for them, then I'd be totally done-for. :p)
Never watched any G3.5 cartoons so can't comment on them. What I've heard about them doesn't exactly make me WANT to watch them, though. x)
G5: This one's just kinda "there" for me right now. None of the toys appeal to me at all but I don't violently hate them or anything, either. It's not even really that I'm neutral, I just don't care about them at all... I just... I see them and I'm like "yeah, alright then" they're just THERE. I might have a couple of (again, non-Hasbro) figures from this gen... but I'm still putting them (almost) at the bottom of the list since I actually have Opinions on G4.5 and G3.5. So far I guess I'm just still waiting for this one to dazzle me, or disappoint me? Or do ANYTHING to make me really sit up and pay attention, even negative attention. Cause right now I can't work up the interest either way.
(Distribution of them's been pretty bad, but I'll give them a pass for now cause of the pandemic and all.)
Again, haven't seen any G5 cartoons. Can't STAND that godawful 2D art style though, oh god!! So ugly!!! And the "Elsa faces" on the CGI art style are pretty damn distracting. But I suppose these are more rants I have about the current cartoon industry in general rather than anything specifically MLP-related.
G4 EQG reboot: Ugly, barf, take them away, ugh, what were they THINKING
...it doesn't help that their faces are a dead ringer for an old ex-friend of mine. x) Not sure which one was more of a dealbreaker for me - that, or them just being weirdly coloured humans rather than anthro ponies. But these are by far my least favourites!!!
OKAY I talked for way too long, whoops. x) Did I miss anything?
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I'm going to be short and sweet for once :)
G1 - Childhood MLP, nostalgia beats everything else. Also, the original. No other ponies could exist without G1, yet still capable of shifting off shelves. This will always be the ultimate gen for me. There is a big gulf between it and the others in my affections.
G3 - I love the variety of G3, which is why it comes next. Not a fan of 3.5, but don't really count them as a separate generation. Not a fan of core 7 either. But a lot of good before that.
G2 - I became fonder over the years though I never hated them. They are unique in the pony line and the later ones are quite beautiful. Berry Bright is still the best G2.
G4 - I like the toys. I don't like the movie or reboot style of toys, though. Pony Life is horrible. All of it. Sorry fans. I really dislike FIM, and I despise the G4-centric fandom for all they have inflicted on genuine, honest pony fans (including some of their own) over nine years. I also hate the repetition. But I would like G4 more if it hadn't ruined MLP for real fans for probably the rest of time. There's no recovering from G4. Unfortunately.
I like EQG and I include them in G4 because they are part of G4. I like Sunset Shimmer. She added a dynamic to the M6 that the FIM series lacked. But even though I like EQG, the plots all followed the same theme and the popularity issue being so pushed out there did bother me (see Friendship Games). G4 got a lot of messages wrong. BUT I like EQG and I like the original dolls.
G5 - G5 comes last because I've done this based on toys. And I just feel nothing when I see G5 toys so far. It's not a like or a dislike. It's just nothing. I have some ponies from every gen that I am attached to, but I don't own anything from G5. I think it's a nonevent. I hope the kids like it.
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Wow, you all gave great reasons and a lot of them are for me as well.
G1 - What I grew up with even if ponies weren't a huge part. They are nostalgic for me and I love the variety.
G3 - Would probably be in the number one spot if not for growing up with G1. I think G3 is the best overall generation. They look the most like horses, they are the perfect size, there are so many with different poses, colors, symbols. The babies could be better, but really that's the only thing that might be a negative toward G3. I really love them, but I get a pang of guilt when I say that because it feels like I'm betraying G1 :lol:
G2 - Have the cutest babies and some of the most beautiful ponies like Copper Glow, Silver Swirl, Golden Light. The accessories are top notch too (sadly I have none). I think the color combos on a lot of G2 are unusual but they work so well (there are green ponies!). It didn't take me long to warm up to them when I discovered them.
G4 - I'm going to put 4 before 5 because 5 is still so new, and there are only a handful of characters. I still haven't seen the movie, but it looked cute. G4 has the show to go with it, and the show was great. I only watched up to season two, but I've seen later episodes here and there are I always like them, Pinkie never fails to make me laugh. As far as the toys go... I hated them at first, but I guess they've grown on me. I actually really like the reboot poses, they're dynamic and fun. I'm still not a general fan of the "big head, weird eyes" trend, but for G4 I guess it works okay. They also have a lot of characters with interesting colors, symbols and names. Plus, boys!
G4 human figures - The ones from Japan. I think they're super neat and really want Applejack, Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash. The original ones... I don't care for the ones with pony colored skin, except for Pinkie, it works for her.
G5 - I like the toys okay. The muzzle could be better but it's been so long since MLP looked anything like a horse that it doesn't bother me much. I love the hooves. The wings are also nice. That's a big thing where G1 fails. What are those chunky, blocky wings? No. I'm optimistic about G5 and I love that Sunny is orange, of course. Hitch also seems like a fun character. I really need to watch that movie...
Everything else? - I would lump the rest together here. I don't dislike any of them, even G3.5 or the cat-like G4.5 or whatever they are. I want all the Applejacks and I mean ALL the Applejacks, so I can't hate on anything. Besides, I mean, they're toys. I don't want to waste my negative energy on toys :lol:
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G1 comics, brushables, accessories and playsets
G3 love the colours and symbols of some of the ponies but not a fan of the accessories
G4 cartoons and brushables, some playsets like Pinkie's train. Controversially, I like the bas-relief playsets for display as well. I think the latest one I bought was Tempest Shadow
Fakies - there are fakies I like more after this point
G3.5 have nice hair
G4.5 The brushables with wierd pointy noses didn't appeal to me. I nearly bought some sea ponies like Haven Bay and Queen Novo but I have this overall issue with the articulated tail and display position. I liked Sandbar who I think was sold around the time. He is an odd size though. I think I also got a version of Apple Mac that i like around this time and the detailing on the Seaquestria Castle
G2 have nice colours, concepts and accessories but I haven't really warmed to them. It's something about the ears.
G5 I like the cartoons and the light humour but I haven't warmed to the brushables
EG I'm not really into dolls
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#1: G1 - So much variety, such lovely hair! The golden age.
#2: G3 - Lovely ponies, mostly very high quality. I love the pearly plastic a lot of them have. Love the magnet gimmick. Not perfect gen due to only having symbols on only one side and having very few unicorns and pegasi.
#3: G2, but with reservations. Their faces look unfinished. The rest of them looks fine. The most interesting ones are pretty inaccessible for me, being mostly sold in France. Again, few unicorns and no "real" (molded wing) pegasi.
#4: G5 - Here's the thing about brushable hair: I only want it if it's good quality. Having seen the quality of G4 hair, I don't regret Hasbro switching to molded hair for the main line. Also I find the poseable ponies genuinely fun to fiddle with. The hair on the 6" ponies is the best hair I've seen aside from G1 hair. I just want more characters, damn it.
#5: G4 - They made a pose that was akin to the G1 Collector pose--all four feet planted, staring blankly ahead--and they used it for YEARS. But wait They also had the incredible mold variation of . . . that same mold, but with one leg bent. Things did improve with the Movie line where they FINALLY created new molds, most of which I liked. And the baby sea ponies were great. But overall, I can't get over this top-selling brand having the same pose for like seven years. Other gripes: Their tails are placed too low. A horse's tail shouldn't come out of the center of their butt, that looks terrible. Poor quality hair on most toys. I did like the wings on the pegasi, though, and they were the FIRST gen since G1 to have a lot of pegasi and unicorn toys. Also the blind bag mini line was quite nice.
#6: G4.5 - The heads are just awful, I hate that weird lower jaw and I don't like their eyes. I have 4" Potion Nova and her plastic is unpleasant to the touch. Not because it's sticky or anything; she's dry as a bone, but the plastic itself has an unpleasant texture. (The Fashion Styling G4.5's don't have this issue.) AWFUL hair. The actual bodies aren't that bad, though. Just need a more horsey head.
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#7: G3.5 - You may be wondering why these are lower than the G4.5's. Didn't G3.5's have better hair? Didn't they have better-feeling plastic? Yes they did. But with G4.5s, they're just toys I don't like. I can roll my eyes or laugh at their weird heads. With G3.5s, I have a visceral negative reaction that comes from the gut. Their faces and their awful lumpy legs are unbearable to me.
#8: Newborn Cuties - These aren't even ponies. (But I still almost put them above G3.5s.)
#9: Equestria Girls - Hey, wouldn't it be cool if MLP was turned into a human fashion doll? NO.
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The fakie head on that pony Lady M! :lmao:
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G1s: beloved childhood memories that I will cherish forever well loved. They are so derverse too. I also love that earth ponies had "magic" too. :)
G3s : so many earth ponies, but lots of gradients and colors. I love the pegasus,babies,and unicorns they are my favorites.
G4s: brought diaversity baack but so much craziness in the line. I did like the playsets. Some of the gimmicks were cute like the water cuties.
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I am going to rank based on styles and the toys, rather than shows and other media associated with them.
G1 - I just have a massive soft spot for G1, many of the toys are lovely, I love the variety, the subtle blush, just about everything!
G3 - Nice quality, feels relatively similar to G1 with a ton of variety here, too. I also like the magnets that some G3s have and many of the gimmicks. I just prefer G1s style.
G2 - Gorgeous style, perhaps tying with G1 as my favourite style, the eye gem is a really nice touch and their bodies are very nice. I also like visible feathering and it's visible here, so that's a big plus! However, there's an unfortunate lack of variety in pony types and symbols, I feel. Reused symbols (albeit, usually on ponies from the same sets) and only unicorns and earth ponies. This generation kind of has "alicorns", but the wings are detachable.
G5 - Somewhat of a hybrid of G4 and G2 in style, I suppose. Again with visible feathering on all ponies, which is nice, and a generally more G2-esque body. I am not a huge fan of their heads compared to the rest of their body, though, but I don't dislike it really, either. So far, I've not been a fan of the fully moulded and half brushable ponies, personally. The big brushables are excellent, though! I'd prefer it if the "standard" small brushables had spread wings, or at least the wings were a little thicker, personally. The folded wings look a little odd to me. Additionally, so far, we are seeing a whole lot of the main cast and very little outside of them.
G4 - I feel that G4 deviated a little too far from the "horsey" look for me to particularly care for the art style and the "main" toys are rather lacking in poses and variety in characters compared to generations prior. I don't care for Equestria Girls, I find the dolls look odd and I guess I am just not a fan of the concept of My Little Pony characters being turned into highschool students. I absolutely adore the Guardians of Harmony toys, however.
G4 reboot - Mostly fine, doesn't differ all that much from the earlier G4 style, but their heads are notably larger. Most noticably to me being the small alicorns. It just looks...odd. I will group the reboot Equestria Girls here, too. I actually prefer these, but I still don't care of them much.
G3.5 - Not a fan of the style. Similarly to G4, it doesn't feel horsey enough to me and overall, it's just not my cup of tea. The Newborn Cuties even less so. However, I really like the way that the mane is rooted on some.
G4.5 - Same as g3.5, but I dislike the style more and nothing interesting going on with the mane rooting.
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G1 - Cute! Sweet! Nostalgic! Perfect!
G3 - Captured G1 while still feeling unique - very cute and good if a bit saccharine at times.
G2 - Sort of an odd sculpt but lots of fun gimmicks and colors.
G4 - From a toy standpoint - a bit bland, later beset with wonk. Too many of the M6. From a media standpoint - rather cute in the first couple seasons, got a bit weird later.
G5 - Not doing anything for me currently. It's a toy, it's fine, but eh, I don't like 2020s toy design sensibility much (flat faces, big heads/tiny bodies, very simplified style).
G4.5 - Really oddly shaped toys, pretty poorly made.
G3.5 - Quite frankly hideous sculpting, though they did have really nice hair.
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G1: Because, Childhood. I wouldn’t be into ponies at all if not for this gen. So, it is also a big step up from all the other gens for me as well. This is what I collect. I don’t collect any other generation.
G3: This is in 2nd place for me, because I do have some g3s that I really like. Snowflake is my fav, but Seaspray is also up there. I actually also have Royal Bouquet 2. Not because of her design that much, but I found her at a flea market and she just had this spunky attitude (I imagine). She also has a little hair cut. Nothing major, but just enough for me to find her kinda special ;) And if I do find Breezie I will buy her!
G2: I never liked these as a kid. I was a little too old to play with them when they came out, but I remember I was looking forward to new MLPs. The disappointment when I saw them was huge. Now I like them though. They do have their own unique style.
G4: I like the toys. The size grew on me, and the brushables are cute. What I don’t appreciate is the repetition. I don’t like the show. I don’t like the personalities of the ponies. But the toys are fine. I have several because my nieces likes to play with them when they come over. I bought them at flea markets for this purpose. So they are not part of my collection.
G5: I don’t know anything about these toys. I know they are coming or out there, but I never seen anything from this line. Maybe they will become higher up, but right now I have no idea :lol:
All the other stuff: I have no idea. Not because I dislike, but because I don’t know. My main focus has always been g1, and I have just not been that interested in the other stuff. I can’t really keep up! :lookround:
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i'm going to rank purely based on the toy lines and omit mentions of the tie-in movies and shows. i'll also probably not delve into what i thought of the playsets, as i've never had very many of them.
g1: i always have a hard time deciding between g1 and g3 as my favorite generations, it literally flips every day. i gave g1 the top spot because of the amount of variety. sea ponies, big brothers, sweetheart sisters...every day i'm discovering a new g1 pony i had no idea existed! soft hair, squishy yet durable plastic, the biggest variety of unique symbols across all generations, and they hold up incredibly well considering their age. and they absolutely have the best gimmicks! i love twinkle eyes and perfume puffs. not to mention how cute they are.
g3: my other favorite, and the generation i grew up with. i just adore the poses, the symbols, the colors, the names. g3 pony hair (when it's not a discount pony) is my favorite across all generations, so soft and the perfect length. they're the perfect size for easy displaying, too. definitely my favorite style across all the generations, in terms of that fantasy-horse look that i adore. i literally can't stop collecting g3s, send help! the only thing i'd change is giving us more unicorns. also, more pose variety for baby ponies. why in the world did we never get a baby unicorn? and of course i wish this generation hadn't went out with a whimper with core 7. i actually remember kinda loving core 7 as a kid for a time - i bought that 25th anniversary set of them all and loved how their colors went together. but it overstayed its welcome.
g4: i gave g4 a spot over g2 for purely nostalgic reasons. i'm not a g4 collector, but i did excitedly purchase the very first mane 6 brushables when they first appeared on shelves around 2010/2011. i also grabbed the cutie mark crusaders, cheerilee, and possibly had minty, i can't remember. at the time, it /felt/ like there was a lot of pony variety to come. within the first year or two of production they were producing a few toy-exclusive g4 pony characters along with some supporting characters from the show. it was awesome to see these "background" ponies come to life when i was a kid. of course, the variety sorta stopped right there. i like their chibi look, and i think the pre-movie g4 ponies have this really cute look to them that borrows from the friendship is magic show while not being a literal copy-paste of the show's style directly to toy form. but they're definitely a bit too small and compact. also, what's with the luna toys? princess luna probably has my favorite pony design ever, but in almost all of her toys she's this purple color instead of black and blue. it looks like the only brushable with accurate colors has that post-movie style to it. :(
g2: i'm waiting for g2 to really "click" with me, but so far it hasn't happened. they're just a bit wonky to me. the lack of pose variety is basically on the same level as g4, but the expressions bother me more. almost every g2 pony seems to have that open-mouthed smile. however, a lot of g2 ponies do have symbols that i really like - golden light comes to mind. it's just a shame that so many of them are european exclusives and pretty expensive to get these days. a lot of them have really pretty color schemes.
g5: g5 isn't very high because of how new they are. i think hasbro is still figuring out what they really want this line to be. i'm loving the little polly pocket inspired sets they're coming out with, and the articulated ponies are lots of fun and have great accessories. but my ideal pony generation is one such as g1 and g3 - a huge variety of characters with soft, brushable hair in a variety of poses. i wouldn't say g5 is that quite yet, but i think it was also unfair of me to get my hopes up so high after g4 was decidedly not my ideal. i do like how leggy they are! i have that large brushable izzy, and her hair is amazing. so thick and nice to comb. her plastic...hmm. it's the kind of plastic where you can accidentally scratch it with your finger nail and leave a permanent mark. (yes, i unfortunately did that.) whereas g1 and g3 are much more durable. the art style of the toys is basically just taken directly from the movie with no changes. if that's what they're going for, can we have some flocked g5s? i love how fuzzy they are in the movie.
g3.5: this covers ponyville ponies as well, right? because i love ponyville, they're so cute. as for the larger g3.5s...i'm just not a fan of the faces at all. they do have nice hair, though. i do wonder how this generation would be perceived if they'd produced more ponies besides core 7.
g4.5: i don't really have any positives for these guys. weird art style and really bad hair.
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G1
G3
G2
That's it. I'm not even going to give G4 and G5 a spot. G4 did have some nice collectibles, but overall, that's the gen that rang in the decline of the brand. I'm torn on the fact that some people do rank G5 quite high - to each their own of course, if you enjoy the new gen then more power to you, but I truly hope consumers will start to send toy companies a clear message about the deteriorating quality and creativity in toys or these current standards will become the new normal I fear. I feel a little sad to see the market accept whatever is thrown at them because of the brand name and/or the success of entertainment tie-in. Rant over ;)
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These are based purely on the toys themselves and not any media related to them! :)
G1: I used to see people with huge MLP collections on tumblr back in 2011 and I just fell in love. They're beautiful! So many poses, color schemes and interesting gimmicks! I would browse ebay for hours looking at all the G1's I wanted to buy someday haha.
G3: These are the ponies I remember seeing in stores when I was younger! I don't think I ever had any since I was a bit 'too old' (in my mind) at the time lol. But now I have quite a few of them that I've rescued from thrift stores or cheap lots online. I really love the colors and aesthetics of these ones! They're also relatively cheap!
G2/G4: G2, I think they are precious! They all give me magical unicorn vibes haha. I was honestly shocked at how many people dislike or are indifferent to them, but they are quite different from G1 so I feel that probably has something to do with it!
G4, I know I said I was only basing this off the toys, but FiM is what got me into MLP as a whole, so I am a teensy bit biased lol. The toys aren't my favorite (How many times can you use the same pose and remake the mane 6?) but there are some really cute designs! Blossomforth, Dewdrop Dazzle, Lulu Luck etc. But I wish the toys were bigger and had different poses.
G3.5/4.5: 3.5 Look like deformed babies, I don't like them at all lol. 4.5, they look kinda like cats? The molded figures look okay, but the brushables are horrid :huh:
G5: These are so disappointing! I loved the movie and thought it was adorable, but the toys...They look so bizarre and un-ponylike. I really hope they update the toys, as I do really like the characters :(
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I don't think I'm rock-solid on this order but here goes. I'm going to include the visuals of the associated media/art but not the actual storylines, characterizations, etc, if that makes sense.
G1: Nostalgia, nice variety, I like the way the ponies look, great accessories, good size, etc.
G3: Again I like the way the ponies look as toys and in the art, nice variety, great size imo, but the playsets and accessories were more meh to me.
G2 and 5: I can't really decide how to rank these. I feel like G2 could have been so much better if they hadn't done so many weird gimmicks like the removable tails, weirdly long moving necks, clamp-on wings, etc. But I really like the shape of the G2 pony bodies, with the little hooves and more horse-like legs. Which leads me to G5 - I mostly like the way the ponies look, I love their legs, although I wish their heads were "horsier." Both of these gens, I think, would have benefited from heads that were closer to the original. I like the larger G5 brushables, but the small ones are just sooo small and thin. I do like how the ponies look in the 3D art!
G4: Don't really like the way the ponies look as toys or in the art, not much variety of poses - although the "reboot" toys do have some great poses, and I do really love some of the color schemes/symbols.
G3.5 and Pony Life/G4.5: Do not want.
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I did a ranking generations awhile ago mostly based on toys, media, shows, and so on!
Best to worst
1st G1: While I didn’t grow up in the 80’s I fell in love with the toys when looking up the history of mlp! So many poses, gimmicks, fun backstories, the art, comics, and so much more! The hair is the best quality ever! As a horse person it’s somehow not too, too far off from real horse hair (but obviously at the same time you can still feel the difference) Hasbro doesn’t make it like that anymore! Haha, the show wasn’t bad, I liked Rescue from Midnight Castle and the style of the ponies. I’m too focused on the toys than show and this is the generation where it’s nirvana had the most unique toy ever, the Japanese Takara ponies! While I like the fantasy type stuff I also like fashion stuff like Takara did! I would always look and check on all the shopping sites and even some Japanese ones then one day after having a bad day, I found Milky on buyyee, I only paid $700 for her and I’m just SO HAPPY to have her! I wouldn’t mind getting another Takara pony again! One of the many I love collecting ponies is the rewarding of getting a rare pony and this generation has the most rare ponies!
2nd G3: The generation I grew up with and that’s mainly with the toys since I never watched the specials as a kid and before the brony days while small, it did have its corner of the internet of fans and charm I wish I could go back to! The toys are beautiful and the art I just LOVE! It’s so gorgeous! While it didn’t have the most creative gimmicks, the glittery body, detailed cutie marks, magnet hooves, and for me nostalgia made up for it! I remember smelling the scent it came with! The shows were meh (with the exception of A Very Minty Christmas) but hey it’s not meant for me cause I’m an adult, so kiddos would love it but I’m more into the background art and the style of the ponies! It did have its own charm and I also like the comic con pony design so the fans did get a little something and while not as popular as g1 and g4, it’s more successful than bronies think (I use bronies loosely I know they aren’t all rabid fans)
More about the toys than the show, I am still waiting for the day hasbro reference g3 ponies in g5! So far a few small Easter eggs but the biggest one is our girl Minty as a toy!
2nd G4: No this isn’t a typo, to me g3 and g4 got a tie! The show is my tween/teen years watching it and loved the fantasy style of it! When I first saw g4 ponies I was like, “That’s what they look like? Their muzzles are weird that’s not how horses work!” I kept seeing people everywhere talk about it, I gave it a look and I loved it! The figurines were amazing, t shirts, and while I don’t like the basic mare muzzle, (or just a regular pony cause I’m not a fan of simple designs) I do find the alicorns beautiful! (Especially Luna!) As great and coming from a g3 fan, this the best generation ever but I can’t say the same for the toys, I don’t like them, they are cheap, boring, almost always a simple/same pose, and have no personality. The hair quality is just bad! Ahh! The small non brushables collectibles where just lazy molded recolors. While they did have more gimmicks than g3 but the execution of it wasn’t good either. The reboot of toys didn’t get any better, they were even cheaper and more weird looking! Those big round heads! The only good thing about is more poses but that’s it. While I do have some g4 ponies in my collection either because it came in a bundle online or flea market or I got it as a gift, so I don’t entirely not like them, just not my first choice. As much I as prefer toys over show, I’ll stay with show for g4! (Though didn’t appreciate the g3 bashing they did in the show and now it’s hard for me to watch it but oh well toy ponies will keep me entertained) EQG did the same sadly and even on g1 but on the topic of equestria girls the movies and specials were nice or not good but I came here for ponies which is why I don’t have any EQG dolls expect one and I can’t say much on whether it’s good or bad quality because I don’t collect human dolls!
3rd G2: Me and my sister grew up with the pc game but the funny thing is when we replayed it, I remembered the music and the cake making part but oddly not the ponies! I wish it was successful but being in America and an early 2000’s child me and my sister never had any g2 ponies except the pc game. While I find ponies like Sliver Swirl beautiful and the gem eyes I really like, I just wish the cutie marks weren’t simple, nothing wrong with having simple from time to time but it doesn’t become fun when it doesn’t have a lot. I also wondered the unicorns that came with wings, were they considered to the the first toy to have an alicorn? (I say toy because in g1 mlp tales that’s when we had our first alicorn but not in toy form) also there’s Princess Twinkle Star, while her wings magically appear but is she considered to be a pegasus? I know in the comics Wingsong was but not in toy form and I wish they made a pegasus mold.
4th G3.5: Now can’t expect much what I like to call, “a mini generation” a lot and that’s when the toys started to go down hill by getting lazier, the faces aren’t the cutest, but I’ll be honest, I prefer a g3.5 pony toy over a g4 pony toy! Not counting newborn cuties since it looks like they don’t have fun hair to mess with but hey, if the kids like it then that’s all that matters! I’m not the target audience! In the shows nothing really happens and unpopular opinion, I don’t think Twinkle Wish Star was that bad, I find it a bit more interesting than a few of the g3 specials.
5th G4.5: This ranked to be my least favorite generation, first off is the style, the bean mouth style is really not my style at all! While the show was ok to watch, it’s good if you want to watch something not so story serious and your favorite ponies just happily living their lives, but the toys are weird, still not my style the way it looks, no chins, look more like cats but they did get more creative on whose eyelashes would look different and the color gradient eyes are nice and at least from what I noticed and this might surprise a lot of people the hair quality surprisingly got better? At least in my experience I may not be seeing all of it not as good as g1-g3’s hair quality but better than g4’s from my experience! But the toys are always in the same simple pose and there are some non brushables that are down right lazy! This generation’s style was just craziness and exploding, at least with g3.5 it had same of it’s own personality and a bit of charm. But again, it’s a mini generation so can’t expect much from it.
G5: Doesn’t have a rank yet since it just started but what I think so far in the very beginning we had a good start on the movie and toys but nowadays Make Your Mark wasn’t good, Tell your Tale isn’t horrible but it’s the best either. It’s a mix of g3 and g4 content, while simple plot and conclusion but still has potential to be good if made longer, that being said since it’s only five minutes per episode so I’ll cut them some slack. Now for the toys, they haven’t been appearing a lot more lately, which makes me sad because I find the quality (especially the hair!) to be an improvement from g4! (Not counting the unicorn party thing whatever it’s called, those aren’t that good and my cat keeps knocking them down lol) Though still in the simple pose which I don’t like (with the expectation of the moveable ones) The molded hair I’m ok with but brushable hair especially a background pony I can style how I like and there doesn’t seem to be enough of them and I wish the boys would have brushables hair. Speaking of which where the heck is Hitch!? The Walmart exclusive Rockin Ranger Hitch! He never came to my Walmart and he’s not being sold anywhere else! Expect in Brazil which is interesting. So far I hope this generation picks back up.
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G3>G1>G2>G5>G4
I might explain why I place them this way later, but for now, I've got a throbbing headache. :drunk:
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G3>G1>G2>G5>G4
I might explain why I place them this way later, but for now, I've got a throbbing headache. :drunk:
Feel better soon
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G1--always and forever! They are what I grew up with. Nothing like a soft, squishy, chonky pony that fits right and feels right in your hand and has the perfect quality hair for brushing and playing with.
G3--kinda fun...went through a phase where I acquired a bunch, but as I scale my collection back, I'll probably sell most of 'em because they don't hold any real nostalgia for me.
G2--they are weird. Some of the gimmicks are downright baffling. But I have one-Prince Clever Clover, who I found for 50 cents at a garage sale, and I really like him. Not seeking any more out, though.
G4--just tired of these. Same ole' characters over and over, same ole' pose. I had to inwardly groan when they were being given out as party favors at my niece's birthday that my kids went to recently...MORE of these? And of course they picked the 3 characters I despise the most...c'mon, someone at least get Applejack! (Actually, I ended up finding Applejack in my purse later, so my sister must have snuck her in there as a joke!)
G5--nope.
G3.5--nice hair, but otherwise hideous.
G4.5--nope, nope, and nope, with some more nope sauce on top.
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What gen I like more depends on whether your referring to the toy line or the show
G1: probably has the best toy line hundreds of different characters good designs for the most part and does the best job with boy ponies (there's still way to little but its better then the other gens) the show is fun to watch but its not really anything special
G2 (show): they got rid of any hint of fantasy so I will never really like it
G2 (toys): the molds are cute and they have some pretty good designs the only reason I have not gotten into these yet is because they were not very popular some of the nicer ones can be pretty hard to find
g3: I don't really like the toys they are just g1 but less charming to me they do have cute designs but a lot of them are the same pink or very light purple and there's so many of them that have that same color I'm kinda sick of looking at it I love the pegasi the show. . . it doesn't really have a show just a lot of specials I like the style of them and I really like runaway rainbow but once again too much pink
G3.5: just no
G4: the very early g4 toy line was kinda good but all the ponies had the same boring pose but there were some cute side characters but then they started phasing the side characters out and making any release of a non mane six character very rare the quality also dropped then they redid the molds and made the heads huge but they did fix the fact that all the ponies had the same pose they also made way too many spin offs to the point that when I was younger I could not tell what the main toy line was the show was the best out of all the generations but the toys were kinda a mess
G4.5 the show is dumb the toys are ok-ish some people say they look like cats and maybe that's why I'm ok with them because I'm A cat person
G5: the toys are mediocre I don't like the fact that some of them have molded mains and tails and that for some reason they never give hitch the regular hair when they do make ponies with the normal manes and if I just judge it by what the released so far they have the same issue as g4 where they only release the main characters as toys
The movie was really good but make your mark was a mess and tell your tale was mediocre I also don't like that they are spilting the show into different shows on different platforms its a confusing mess
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Feel better soon
Thanks! I took a 7-hour "nap," and I feel mostly better now lol
G3>G1>G2>G5>G4
I might explain why I place them this way later, but for now, I've got a throbbing headache. :drunk:
G3: Definitely biased because these are the toys I grew up with, and they have a special place in my heart. Still, I love the style. They're the perfect mix between looking more chubby and horsey, like G1, but also prettied-up, doll-like and stylized. Their colors are so gorgeous and vibrant, with fun themes and designs. They're just so gorgeous and fun, and it's what I think of when I think "My Little Pony." I don't have them anymore, but I remember loving the playsets for this gen, especially the hot air balloon. I just wish G3's Core 7 era didn't start the whole rereleasing the same handful of characters over and over again thing. The characters don't have a whole lot going for them personality-wise, but I still love them just the same.
G1: I didn't have any G1 toys as a kid, but I did have several G1 DVDs, so I grew up with the G1 cartoons. I always loved the characters, and I really liked Megan. What I love most about G1 is the variety. Plenty of species, poses, gimmicks, etc. I think the playsets rival G3's neck-to-neck. Although I think G3 in general had better designs, I love the designs of the G1 ponies as well. I think that G1 had the best personalities, based on both the cartoons and the backcards.
G2: G2 is super underrated, and I think that, had this gen lasted longer and was more successful, we would have gotten much more variety. Unfortunately, we didn't, so I think the lack of variety is easily the worst drawback of G2. That, and some of the gimmicks were strange and makes customization awkward. Aaand the symbols are unfortunately too lacking. But, besides that, I absolutely love G2. The style is absolutely beautiful. Sure, maybe they had more "supermodel" proportions compared to the other early gens, but they also looked the most like actual horses. They have hooves!!! The designs of the G2 ponies we got are all absolutely gorgeous. The eye gems are a good touch, and I really like how both female and male ponies used the same mold.
G5: I think it's still too early to really definitively rank G5, but from what we've got, I do like it for the most part. I own a couple of the large brushables, and they're excellent. They're very pretty, and their hair is incredible! I wish they had a bit more detail to them such as colored hooves and fetlocks, and I'm not a huge fan of the weird sticker eyes. For the style, I think the toys are fine, nothing more and nothing less. But it works great for the movie! Though, I just really wish we had unicorns with cloven hooves and lion tails, and pegasus ponies with feathered fetlocks like in the concept art. Such a missed opportunity. :( There are two big drawbacks to this gen. First off, it seems that they're focusing on completely molded figures as opposed to the brushables. As I've said before, to an extent, I do blame Bronies for this (I'll get into that in the G4 section), but I also think it is because that's just what kids prefer now. There will always be a market for brushables, but it seems that more and more toys have molded hair and even clothes. And kids seem to like it. My little sister loves both G4 and G5, but she usually chooses the molded figures over the brushables. It would be unfair of me to say G5's molded figures are bad. Not at all; They're great for what they are. They come with cool little accessories and they have impressive articulation. They're just not my cup of tea. The second issue I have with G5 is the lack of characters. In this regards, I thought G4 had hit rock bottom, but G5 somehow dug a well and all we have are the same 4 (5 if they're feeling generous) ponies over and over and over and over again. Which totally sucks, especially because a lot of the ponies in the movie/shows are stunning! If we end up getting a brushable Jazz or G5 Posey, I am going to be so heartbroken! That being said, I do like the characters we have. They have fun and unique personalities and designs. I think it goes without saying, but I really love Sunny! :lovey:
G4: The biggest positive about G4 is easily the show. I love Friendship is Magic. It's fun and charming. The toys, not so much. I hate the style for the toys. It works for the show, but it makes the stock art boring and the toys pretty ugly. They don't look remotely like ponies. The unicorns' horns are also so weirdly small. The fact that they all use the same mold is super lame. The "reboot" era fixed this, but they also somehow made them even uglier. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think even the G3.5 style had more charm. I feel like G4 was also pretty lacking design-wise. This wasn't much of an issue early on with lovely characters such as Star Swirl and Feathermay (EASILY the best design imo). And I mean, they did have non-show character releases, but to a far lesser extent than before, especially compared to G1 and G3. It's also just extra disappointing when a lot of the characters that were being constantly rereleased had pretty boring designs. Not all of them, mind you, but a good half of the mane 6 are unappealing to me. Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight are cute, but I could care less about this gen's versions of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Again, they work well for the show, but not as well for the toys. Personality wise, G4's characters are very hit-or-miss. For example, I adore Rarity to death, but I cannot stand Fluttershy. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are precious, but Scootaloo is annoying to me. Finally, there's the issue with the molded figures. As I said earlier, I absolutely believe Bronies are atleast partially at fault for the increase in molded figures over brushables. This isn't coming from a place of animosity towards Bronies, but because I was there (I never considered myself a Brony but I did participate in the community some from about 2011-2013), and I definitely remember a lot of guys, who previously had no interest in MLP, complaining about how the brushables were too off-model and that they didn't know how to style doll hair. I don't blame Hasbro for listening. They're a corporation, they're going to go with whatever is profitable. As I said before, molded ponies just aren't really my thing. I don't really like the earlier molded figures, but they did get better towards the end of G4. Even I like some of them. I like the blind bags, and I LOVE Pop Mart's Natural and Leisure Afternoon series!
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I, like SpacePinto and Taffeta, am going to be brief.
G1
G3
G2
Anything newer than this I do not spend time on.
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G2 - they have actual knees and hooves lol. Jokes aside, my childhood gen. and I love the Kitchen playset to pieces <3 They had some great accessories and colours. I wish they were more popular in the US too (instead of only being limited to Europe).
G1 - el classico :)
G3 - looks close to el classico
G4 - eh, some are cute. But I really didn't like show after a while :( and the lack of anything outside of the mane 6 was very tedious
G5 - will save me money. I like their body and yay feathered feet. But I can not get over the flat face and to me it looks even cheaper than G4 :( (didn't see the show though, so no thoughts on that)
G3.5 - this was a thing
G4.5 - this was also a thing xD
*edit because I changed my mind sliiightly
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G2 (show): they got rid of any hint of fantasy so I will never really like it
There isn't a G2 show - if you mean Tales, that's still G1.
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The unicorns' horns are also so weirdly small.
OMG yes. I'm so mystified by that. The adult unicorns had the same horn length as the baby unicorns.
g3:
they do have cute designs but a lot of them are the same pink or very light purple and there's so many of them that have that same color I'm kinda sick of looking at it
Yeah, I remember this being especially noticeable with the Crystal Princess line. There were a bunch of pink-purple-white ponies in various mane / body combos. Any of which would have been fine on their own but all together, coming out the same year, they were repetitive. (Butterfly Island was one of my favorite G3 years because it had bolder colors and more original symbols.)
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G1
G3
G2
That's it. I'm not even going to give G4 and G5 a spot. G4 did have some nice collectibles, but overall, that's the gen that rang in the decline of the brand. I'm torn on the fact that some people do rank G5 quite high - to each their own of course, if you enjoy the new gen then more power to you, but I truly hope consumers will start to send toy companies a clear message about the deteriorating quality and creativity in toys or these current standards will become the new normal I fear. I feel a little sad to see the market accept whatever is thrown at them because of the brand name and/or the success of entertainment tie-in. Rant over ;)
I didn't see anyone ranking the new gen that highly, everyone seemed to have ranked it either in the middle or lower.
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For the toys: My list is (in order from best to worst):
G1
G4
G3
G2
G4.25 (the redesign)
G4.5 (Pony Life)
G5
G3.5
As for the animations:
G4
G1
G4.5 (Pony Life)
G3
G5
G3.5
Yeah I don't think highly about G3.5. And the G5 toys look awful with their hot dog bodies and square heads (but still not as bad as 3.5).
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I'm not a fan of G3.5 at all, but I do love Sweetie Belle a lot ! Her style just screams Chibi imo. The others have the same characteristics but they don't quite capture the kawaii feel and cuteness the way Sweetie Belle does.