Prototype Ponies

[Iris Patch]

What I wouldn't give to get into a hasbro factory to see how they get symbols and eyes on ponies. Paint brands too...

I have ALWAYS wondered this, even as a kid. There are some kid's toys that have incized lines for every part of the eye, so it's pretty easy to stay in the "lines" for the factory workers... but on stuff like MLP where it's largely a flat surface, I really have to wonder what their method is! Maybe some kind of "stamper"?

[Summer-blade]

anyone wanna take a midnight trip over to hasbro with some flashlights and mission impossible outfits....

ME! i so want to see if they have like a valt of all the old ponies and prototypes.... *puts on mission impossible outfit*

count me in I'll bring the theme music *dun dun dun dun* your misson should you chose to accept it...

I think I wanna try making those human pony friends I bet a dollar store fairy doll might be about the right size 

[Lady Starflower]

I've heard oddities were found in Rhode Island (Hasbro's headquarters)

[angela22]

...practicing ducking under security laser beams now....

 

[DappleCafe]

What I wouldn't give to get into a hasbro factory to see how they get symbols and eyes on ponies. Paint brands too...

I have ALWAYS wondered this, even as a kid. There are some kid's toys that have incized lines for every part of the eye, so it's pretty easy to stay in the "lines" for the factory workers... but on stuff like MLP where it's largely a flat surface, I really have to wonder what their method is! Maybe some kind of "stamper"?

That's what I figured. Stamp or perhaps a computer controlled painter? I wonder what Barbie does. I mean the eyes are similar as far as flat surfaces.

It must be automated somehow. The G4s are clearly printed on in some way. You can see the dots of color where the eyes change shade. That's not something you can just do by hand quickly.

The others are a little trickier. I wonder if the do tours.

[angela22]

Yeah a tour would be AWESOME!! It absolutely MUST be by machine. There's just no way they could make anything in that quantity with that amount of uniformity by hand. So, definitely machine done. A tour would be so fuuuun!!

[Iris Patch]

What I wouldn't give to get into a hasbro factory to see how they get symbols and eyes on ponies. Paint brands too...

I have ALWAYS wondered this, even as a kid. There are some kid's toys that have incized lines for every part of the eye, so it's pretty easy to stay in the "lines" for the factory workers... but on stuff like MLP where it's largely a flat surface, I really have to wonder what their method is! Maybe some kind of "stamper"?

That's what I figured. Stamp or perhaps a computer controlled painter? I wonder what Barbie does. I mean the eyes are similar as far as flat surfaces.

It must be automated somehow. The G4s are clearly printed on in some way. You can see the dots of color where the eyes change shade. That's not something you can just do by hand quickly.

The others are a little trickier. I wonder if the do tours.

Sadly, a tour in a Guandong sweat shop is highly unlikely. ^_^;

[CarnationTwirl]

I believe they use a type of screen printing process

[angela22]

What I wouldn't give to get into a hasbro factory to see how they get symbols and eyes on ponies. Paint brands too...

I have ALWAYS wondered this, even as a kid. There are some kid's toys that have incized lines for every part of the eye, so it's pretty easy to stay in the "lines" for the factory workers... but on stuff like MLP where it's largely a flat surface, I really have to wonder what their method is! Maybe some kind of "stamper"?

That's what I figured. Stamp or perhaps a computer controlled painter? I wonder what Barbie does. I mean the eyes are similar as far as flat surfaces.

It must be automated somehow. The G4s are clearly printed on in some way. You can see the dots of color where the eyes change shade. That's not something you can just do by hand quickly.

The others are a little trickier. I wonder if the do tours.

Sadly, a tour in a Guandong sweat shop is highly unlikely. ^_^;

that makes me so sad to think about...that's why i like buying old things where the damage is already done, rather than new in package stuff that supports that kind of thing. super super sad.

[Iris Patch]

What I wouldn't give to get into a hasbro factory to see how they get symbols and eyes on ponies. Paint brands too...

I have ALWAYS wondered this, even as a kid. There are some kid's toys that have incized lines for every part of the eye, so it's pretty easy to stay in the "lines" for the factory workers... but on stuff like MLP where it's largely a flat surface, I really have to wonder what their method is! Maybe some kind of "stamper"?

That's what I figured. Stamp or perhaps a computer controlled painter? I wonder what Barbie does. I mean the eyes are similar as far as flat surfaces.

It must be automated somehow. The G4s are clearly printed on in some way. You can see the dots of color where the eyes change shade. That's not something you can just do by hand quickly.

The others are a little trickier. I wonder if the do tours.

Sadly, a tour in a Guandong sweat shop is highly unlikely. ^_^;

that makes me so sad to think about...that's why i like buying old things where the damage is already done, rather than new in package stuff that supports that kind of thing. super super sad.

I actually don't suspect it's as bad as people want to say it is. It looks really bad for companies to employ unethical sweatshops, these guys know any news of mistreatment to their workers is going to be exposed and cause loss of sales. A large company like Hasbro is going to send a representative on-site a few times of year to do an inspection and make a report, make sure everything is legal, safe, and ethical.
I've seen a video of a plush-making shop in China, it looked extremely similar to my old job as a seamstress, except they have actually had higher safety standards than we had (oh boy I could tell you stories about my old work). It's a boring job, and a low-paying one, but hardly inhumane.

So when I say "sweatshop", I'm not implying any kind of poor conditions or slave labor, just more of a blanket term for these manufacturing plants. I suppose I should say "production facility" so it doesn't paint these companies in a poor light.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

So when I say "sweatshop", I'm not implying any kind of poor conditions or slave labor, just more of a blanket term for these manufacturing plants. I suppose I should say "production facility" so it doesn't paint these companies in a poor light.

Considering what just happened in Bangladesh... I'd say it's more than fair to mention these concerns regularly! 

[Iris Patch]

So when I say "sweatshop", I'm not implying any kind of poor conditions or slave labor, just more of a blanket term for these manufacturing plants. I suppose I should say "production facility" so it doesn't paint these companies in a poor light.

Considering what just happened in Bangladesh... I'd say it's more than fair to mention these concerns regularly! 

I'm not familiar with this, what happened?

[MidnightMocha]

So when I say "sweatshop", I'm not implying any kind of poor conditions or slave labor, just more of a blanket term for these manufacturing plants. I suppose I should say "production facility" so it doesn't paint these companies in a poor light.

Considering what just happened in Bangladesh... I'd say it's more than fair to mention these concerns regularly! 

I'm not familiar with this, what happened?

Wow, really? It's been all over the news this week  Basically, a production facility in Bangladesh crashed to the ground and has killed at least 70 people. The building collapsed. The day before, they noticed a huge crack in the building but went ahead with business as usual, but the point is that had the inspections been more thorough and more regular, this wouldn't have happened. Now tons of families have lost loved ones and in a place like Bangladesh (my father is from there), the family members who worked there were likely to be a primary or sole source of income for their families.

[Iris Patch]

So when I say "sweatshop", I'm not implying any kind of poor conditions or slave labor, just more of a blanket term for these manufacturing plants. I suppose I should say "production facility" so it doesn't paint these companies in a poor light.

Considering what just happened in Bangladesh... I'd say it's more than fair to mention these concerns regularly! 

I'm not familiar with this, what happened?

Wow, really? It's been all over the news this week  Basically, a production facility in Bangladesh crashed to the ground and has killed at least 70 people. The building collapsed. The day before, they noticed a huge crack in the building but went ahead with business as usual, but the point is that had the inspections been more thorough and more regular, this wouldn't have happened. Now tons of families have lost loved ones and in a place like Bangladesh (my father is from there), the family members who worked there were likely to be a primary or sole source of income for their families.

That is absolutely terrible. I don't really have TV service, so I don't watch the news. My heart breaks for those who lost a loved one or got injured.

[angela22]

That is so sad! I hate sad things in the world - I wish I could just make everything happy and safe for everyone. I think that's truly why I love My Little Pony so much - it's what I always turn to that is so innocent, safe, and secure. Like an alternate world where things like that just don't happen. At least we have MLP! But no amount of daydreaming will help the people who have tragic things happen - I wish I could make the world without any sorrow or tragedy.  We should raise money for Bangladesh families with some kind of pony arena fundraiser!