My Star Dreams came my way via Australia.

Even the one new brushable character we are waiting on is a repeat of a Glimmer Wing already released!

That's okay with me- I don't collect the Glimmer Wings but I think Ploomette is gorgeous and can't wait to add her to my herd.

I agree with everything else you said as well.

The part that I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around is non-brushable MLPs.  That's been their gimmick since day one- they're brightly colored ponies with hair you can comb.  It hasn't stopped me from grabbing the blind bags (I like new characters and they're cheap enough) which makes me part of the problem.  I'm voting with my wallet and my wallet is saying I want more blind bags.  And I'm not buying more brushables because I already have the ones available at retail.  But that's not what I really want- they could stop the blind bags tomorrow and I'd be happy as long as brushables continued.  But I suspect I'm not alone on this- how many others here are buying blind bags because that's where new characters are available, as opposed to those who like them better than the Playful Ponies line of brushables?

Obviously the brushables are not as profitable as repaints of the same five molds for blind bags.  Considering since the G4 line came out we've already seen a reduction in quality (loss of forelocks), Hasbro is squeezing every ounce of quality out of the line to stay profitable at the $5.00 price point.

Walmart is big enough to demand prices from their suppliers.  That's why so many companies squeeze every penny they can before raising the price anyway (you can't fight inflation with quality cuts forever).  I'd rather see quality remain the same and increase the price accordingly, but I know I'm in the minority on that one.  Especially on a product that's designed specifically for children as opposed to adult collectors.  Mom & dad are more likely to spend $5.00 on a toy than $7.00.

They must have at least considered making her given that she has appeared as a blind bag and there was at least a small handful of prototypes.  I wonder why they didn't produce her...

I suspect this is because the demand for a similarly colored unicorn (Lyra Heartstrings) was louder.  I like Heartstrings, but I like Minty much more.  She's just so adorable.

*Giggles* Of course I do love my green socks the best.  But maybe my silver sparkle socks are my favorite.  But I really like my rainbow socks and my glow in the dark socks. *Giggles* Oh yeah.  Oh who am I kidding?  I love all my socks!

Quote from: Rainbow Dash on October 27, 2012, 10:40:17 AM

If they make a regular Playful Ponies brushable or blind bag I will pick her up.  Until then, they don't make a version of her that meets my collecting parameters.  And she's not a 'must have' character for me by any stretch of the imagination.  I don't understand the fascination.  She made a funny face in the first episode and that makes her a fan favorite?

It's because the brony fandom has turned her into their mascot. They pretty much created the whole image of her. I guess she is kinda their representative in a way. Hence why they react rather strongly the moment "something happends to her" that doesn't fit their fanon.
As an actual show character (or as a character design) there isn't really much to her.

Right, and I don't get how that funny face turned her into this character so many people obsess over.  And it's not just the bronies judging from the replies on this thread.  Fanon isn't canon and it seems like people have forgotten that she isn't really a muffin-obsessed mailmare.  Nor is Doctor Hooves/Time Turner/whatever his name of the day is actually Dr. Who as a pony.

Still, she's a pony and if they make a version in the lines I'm collecting I will pick her up.

Berryshine
Bitta Luck
Dainty Daisy
Lucky Dreams
Minty
Minuette
Noteworthy
Ploomette (the Glimmer Wings version doesn't count to me so I hope the prototype that popped up is accurate)
Rainbow Wishes
Rainbowshine
Ribbon Wishes
Roseluck
Sassaflash
Shoeshine

If the current pattern is any indication, I cant help but wonder if ponies will go down the get smaller route - i.e. blind bag size and the whole line similar in scale to something like LPS rather than the traditional MLP.

I think you're completely right.  I'm new to collecting ponies but not new to collecting toys in general.  From what I've seen among other toylines there are two directions Hasbro can take the line.  The good news is they're not mutually exclusive- they can do both.

A lot of toys have been cheapened specifically to keep the pricepoint the same regardless of inflation.  This is why ponies have gotten smaller and I suspect this also why later G4 brushables lack forelocks.

The other alternative is to raise the price.  This is my preferred option because I'd rather have the quality remain the same, but I understand why toy companies are so reluctant to do so.  They're primarily toys and parents are much more likely to spend $5 on a toy than $10.

But the nice thing is they can do both.  We've seen ponies marketed towards adults before- the Comic Con exclusives and the Fan Favorites set being great examples.  And that may be where the line heads in the future- the regular line gets smaller and less expensive to manufacture while Hasbro taps into the adult collector market with larger ponies.  I think we're seeing some of that now with the new Hot Topic ponies.

Hasbro manages to keep their Transformers line appealing to kids and adult collectors alike, so I have faith that they can do the same with MLP as well.

I think they need to release every pony that they have made into a blindbag as a brushable....

I agree 100%.

...they feel more like the inexpensive free toy in a cereal box than an actual my little pony. MLP for me is about plastic ponies with brushable hair and blind bags dont fill that for me.

Also agreed 100%.  Even before I was collecting MLP I knew that was the very core of the brand: pastel-colored ponies with brushable hair.  It's what I expect to see from MLP.

I know there's a group screaming for "show-accurate" molded hair.  And I don't mind that one line (in this case the blind bags) is molded hair (brushable hair on such a small scale would be challenging, and probably impossible for the intended price point) but that doesn't mean Hasbro needs to stop the new brushables completely.