While some may be content to collect their ponies and have them on display, perhaps never to be touched and taken off their shelf space, others might perhaps find more joy in interacting with their ponies- maybe through imaginary play, or the occasional photoshoot. There is no wrong way to collect, and- if desired, interacting with your ponies.

But today, I want to address the interactive type of collectors. How do you interact with your ponies? What lengths do you go for them? Perhaps you painstakingly pose them and agonize over the right lighting and backdrops for their photoshoots? Perhaps you have been having them out to keep you company as you channel surf your way through home lockdown. Or maybe they occupy a space at your kitchen table just to make home stay seem a little less lonely, if you’re all by yourself.

Personally, I enjoy giving my girls photoshoots once in a while- the more adventurous fillies and foals will sometimes prefer the outdoors, and I take them on my walks. The greater lengths I go to for my pony gals, though, are creating handmade sets for the ones who prefer their photoshoots at home. (Or throwing 5 separate parties in the course of one day, and being the photographer for the ponies. How the heck does Pinkie Pie do it?!)

Staying home has me bored out my skull and so I have been redecorating using cheap Dollar store products. https://sayastarr.tumblr.com/post/625034926384922624/pony-theme-redecorating
Thing is- I want to display ponies in some way that isn’t through wall decals. The walls are super thin panels, because super old trailer, so I don’t want to punch nails or screws in the walls if it can be helped. I also don’t want to mess up the wrapping paper/poster board I used to decorate, if something were to fall off and damage the print.  I thought about making a pony display hammock out of some scrap Fabric material I had lying around. But it would be a tight fit for my larger ponies.
Any suggestions?

I know for too long of a time that g4 fans have criticized earlier generations of MLP, and I’m sure that past gen fans have felt the same. Generation 4 is a very strange era in the franchise that  as just a wholesome show for little girls to enjoy, but almost immediately began to cater to the older male fans that spawned out of some other site- I think the exact moment was from the beginning of the episode “The Last Roundup” straight through to the series’ end. What I mean by this is that the g4 fandom not only heavily influenced both the animated series, but the g4 comics that were made to feature more adult content that they couldn’t approach in the tv series, and also influencing the toyline- taking on more molded manes, like they wanted, being more show accurate like they wanted, and by in large having the mane 6 and Princesses be repetitively spawned because the Mane 6 and Secondary 6 fan favorites were favorites of the Bronies, getting a more mature  Guardians of Harmony line, blue and white packaging, poseable, articulated and angry-faced figures with weapons....

These are all things that were absent from the first 3 generations of MLP, and it is, admittedly, disheartening that this entire generation of g4 and every bit of Licensed content that came from it was shaped by and specifically tailored to and for the Bronies from early on it its run. (Whether they themselves admit to it or not)

I would like to know how early gen fans feel, and whether you guys think that the pony franchise will ever Return to the way it was before. Not largely  influenced by and made then onward by an adamant and vocal fandom.
On the flip side, are there any positive elements that you might think can result in fandom influence in future pony generations?

Because reboots have been gaining popularity for a while now among animated media, I began wondering, what if companies like Hasbro saw the trends and were motivated to dust off and reboot some of their old toylines?  Purely hypothetical- what if some of the more obscure MLP lines- namely Takara ponies (although I believe they might be owned by Sony, now?). Do you think they would benefit from the a redesign? Are they fine with their current design? Why could be done for them to appeal to the kiddos, today? Would they be released again as a Japanese exclusive line? Would they get their own animated series? 

How would you guys consider handling a Takara pony reboot, if you were part of the marketing team being asked to handle these ponies?

I’m actually quite curious if My Little Pony’s content has made anyone laugh before? I know that everyone has a different sense of humor, and maybe MLP’s type of humor doesn’t strike your funny bone...or maybe it does. Personally, I cannot recall anything from any gen making me laugh. I’ve cracked some smiles here and there...maybe a chuckle at a line from Pony Life, of all things, but nothing significant or noteworthy. (However, There have been many Tumblr posts that have me in utter hysterics and tears, that I do wish at times that future MLP gens were left in the hands of Tumblr users as writers)

Has any pony content made you guys laugh? If it hasn’t, then why do you think that is?

My Little Pony has a very large amount of non pony species- from Bushwooloes, Furbobs, Witches, Trolls, Penma, and Pigs, to Griffons, Zebras, Twittermites, Perasprites, Bugbears, and Ursa Major/Minor. The world across every pony generation is chock full of interesting and largely unexplored species. What is your personal favorite? What sort of backstory might you give to a select non-pony species that might lack one?

I have always had a fascination for the Ursa that were introduced in g4- as I had long held love for astronomy - even making OC’s with astro-attributes and names. The Ursa remain largely mysterious, and I like to think that they are the raw energy “astra” forms of Care Bears, which were distant and ancestors of certain clans of ponies (through Noble Heart Horse).

 The Penma are another interesting species- possessing shape shifting powers, and are quite beautiful in their default form.

I just hit up one of my favorite thrifts and picked up Yesterdaisy, Wave Catcher, and Star Swirl ( plus a fakie) for $1.07! I consider this a sweet deal!

Every Pony gen has the fans making the staple art of it- fan drawings, fanfiction. But I have to wonder if this expanse from staple fan drawings and fanfic and expansion into other artistic expressions, through PMV, music, fan animations, plushies, crafts, etc. will become the norm for Pony generations going forward- namely g5z How do you guys feel, if it is?