Eyes on G4's?

[RainbowAlicorn999]

I noticed that eyes on G4's are very complex with gradient colors and all. How does Hasbro put these on the ponies? Do they have a machine do it or are they really hand painted? I heard someone say they are decals. What's a decal and how do you use and make one? Is it really true?

[Sparkle Pony]

I believe that pony eyes from almost every generation are stamped on.  There were some exceptions, like some G1 Nirvanas with airbrushed eyes, but this mostly holds true.  Basically though, a machine stamps the paint onto the ponies.  The eyes might be decals though, I'm not sure...  Decals are basically stickers that transfer their design to another surface when heated.  If you've ever used a design that gets ironed onto a shirt from a sheet of plastic, that is a good example of a decal.

I hope that this helps!  I'm not completely sure about any of this though...

[hathorcat]

I think Sparkle explained it perfectly. "decal" is a bit like the word "vector" they have come to be used out of context a little in this generation for some reason.

I used to have a link to a little video which would show you a little loosely how items [in the case of ponies eyes and symbols] are "stamped" on toys but I cant find it at the moment...I ll come back when I can.

Painted items like eyes are added by a system called paint applications/masking. The painted areas are applied by spraying paint through a thin metallic mask. The mask shapes to the area that needs to be painted and holes are cut in it to reveal the areas underneath which are to be painted. A separate mask is normally needed for every colour used and basically the finished "eye" is created through paint layering on top of one another.

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Very interesting! I didn't know about any of that. And when people have called G4 eyes "decals", it really puzzled me, because I always thought a decal was simply a removable sticker and the eyes didn't look removable to me.

[gabumon]

here's a video showing how toy decals are stamped on.  note it is by human labor, not machine.

http://youtu.be/cp9yEV7pjmY

here's another vid

http://youtu.be/cDOXxKE2V1o

[Sparkle Pony]

here's a video showing how toy decals are stamped on.  note it is by human labor, not machine.

http://youtu.be/cp9yEV7pjmY

That answered a lot of my questions actually.  How interesting!

[Twilight Pink]

here's a video showing how toy decals are stamped on.  note it is by human labor, not machine.

http://youtu.be/cp9yEV7pjmY

here's another vid

http://youtu.be/cDOXxKE2V1o

That's pretty cool
I wanna work at a Chinese toy factory!

[sd_dreamcrystal]

here's a video showing how toy decals are stamped on.  note it is by human labor, not machine.

http://youtu.be/cp9yEV7pjmY

I have my doubts that MLPS... at least G4s are done in the same way... mostly because eep someone must not be doing alignments right then! Somehow I imagine for the mlp toys its more like conveyor belts and mechanical arms doing all the work

[gabumon]

I'm pretty confident G4s are done that way.  I'm sure they have little placement shapes/forms that hold the pony and then a machine comes down and stamps the eyes and cuties.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

I'm pretty confident G4s are done that way.  I'm sure they have little placement shapes/forms that hold the pony and then a machine comes down and stamps the eyes and cuties.

Probably do but they probably could use some calibration then

[gabumon]

^ LOL
you got that right!

[hathorcat]

That first one is the video I was looking for! There is another one floating around, which I cant find, which shows you the inside of the "stampers" and the way they work with different metal masks as well hopefully someone else can find that because I cant track it down.

[NoPonySpecial]

Have you guys ever seen the show "How It's Made?" There are a ton of little things in the production of stuff that seems like they'd be done by machines, but are actually people doing a very tedious job. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the eyes were put on by people. Maybe that's why they're misaligned so often!

Edit after watching the video:
That's cool! But trust me, TPN, you do not want that job. I don't think they're paid very much, they don't seem to have any masks on, and doing a very tedious job in an incredibly noisy enviroment...I like toys and tedious jobs, but not for what they're getting paid!

Was anyone else really irritated that he kept calling the toy by the wrong name? "He's starting to look more like the Alvin we know and love." You must not know or love him much, you're holding up Simon!"

[achab1984]

That makes total since cause sometimes they are off were they should be.