People seem to dislike the Gen directly before the current one.

[mercynova]

I was thinking about this the other day...


When I began to lurk in the on-line community in 2003, you couldn't really go too far without someone saying something bad about G2s, people couldn't stand them!


Nowadays however (perhaps alongside the release of G4s) a new found love seems to have emerged for G2s but people can't seem to give away G3s now. They're really not popular at all.


Looks like people aren't valuing things on aesthetics, but how old something is. G2s are from the 90s so they can be considered retro now (urgh I feel old!) and people suddenly love them. Perhaps when G4s come to an end they will be shunned in a similar way? Because I know when G3s came out people absolutely loved them.


Strange hmm...


PS. This is a completely generalised observation and I am in no way hating on any particular generation...

[antlercat]

I think the simple answer is... people have different opinions and different ponies.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

Some people already shun the G4s and miss the style of the G3 toys (not G3.5, those just really bombed out)

[EmberBright]

I don't know, I'm kind of the opposite- when G3 were in stores (before I was collecting again), I HATED them- I'd completely missed G2 and thought G3 looked like giant-headed G1's who had dieted themselves almost to death trying to look like supermodels or something. It made me SO sad to see ponies going that way. Then I started buying them as baits... and they totally grew on me. Now I have over 70 of them, not counting baits. But you're right, they seem to be hard to get rid of a lot of the time. I'd take them all if they were cheap enough, though.

Maybe they're hard to sell because they're still so common? I buy bait lots and fix up what I can, but I also find a G3 or two every few weeks at Value Village, so I generally don't buy them individually unless there's one I really want (and I'm not THAT into them- I usually just like what I get, or put away the ones I don't for later). I'm sure they'll find love again when the kids who grew up with them are old enough to want their childhood collections back, and some get into collecting.

If you add in G3.5, I think there's a lot of dislike for them, but I don't think they were ever popular with collectors. They have fans, for sure, but I see more negative comments here than positive. It will be interesting to see if they ever become at all sought-after in a big way.

As for G4, who knows? I'm sure that in 15-20 years the kids who play with them now will want them back, if they love them as much as I loved my G1 ponies when I was a kid- that's why I'm here. I hope MLP is still going strong at that point, in whatever form.

[mercynova]

I think the simple answer is... people have different opinions and different ponies.

I totally agree
However what I'm trying to say is those opinions do generally seem to be linked to what I have said above. There are patterns occurring which I even find myself adhering to. Ie, I loved G3s at the beginning but now I don't feel that I have room for them any more.

[EmberBright]

I loved G3s at the beginning but now I don't feel that I have room for them any more.

I have room for them! Over here! *waves*     

[Elisto]

I wasn't here for the start of G3s, only the end, but my impression is that even for people who like them, they're so common, it's hard to sell them. Plus they're not too nostalgic for most people yet. But I don't see too much active dislike of them like I see for 3.5.

[josiekat]

I don't think that just because people "can't give G3's away" doesn't mean that people don't like them. I think that many collectors bought G3's as they came out, and then there were parents who bought G3's for their kids too. Now that people are finding them in thrift shops as kid cast offs. However, many people already have the pony, so they are not going to buy another one. I bought a lot of G3's at the end of the G3 run because I got into collecting them so late. But even now, I have at least half of them and so my buying of the common ones has died out.

I missed the G2 hate.....except for my own personal hate for them when they first came out. However, I was 18 or so when they first hit shelves, and I just couldn't accept that they were the same as G1's. When I came back around at them, and left my childhood bias behind, I found the beauty in them. I could accept them for what they were. Looking different made them lovely. I think that others feel more like that....though there are some who may only like them because they are now consider retro.

I also think that G3.5's were not given a fair shake. They were doomed from the start when they were only released as the core seven. I think the most sought after G3.5's are the OC mom ponies. I think they might have had a longer run if hasbro had opened the line up to more original characters. People don't like the regular ones, but I have seen people moon over customs made from G3.5's.

There are always going to be people who love or hate a specific generation. Hopefully as time goes on, more collections will start, then all those ponies who can't find homes will be given loving homes.

[Varkolak]

when i started collecting, i wanted to get pony toys and went to the store thinking the g4's were WAAAAAAYYYY too small for $5 a pop. so i grabbed the last of the g3's they had because they were bigger and older. i thought i was getting a good deal at something no longer made lol.

[LadyMoondancer]

G3 were really popular, but Hasbro released them at such a rate that it was almost impossible to keep up.  So people bought them but didn't really get a chance to get attached to them before it was "race to the store to get the next wave!"  Then the Core Seven struck and a lot of people gradually left the collecting community out of boredom.  And as they left they often sold off their G3s as they went.

I wouldn't say the G3s are unpopular or disliked.   People just didn't get as emotionally attached to them.   Their low prices are a result of too much supply compared to demand, not dislike.


Now, the G3.5s were CERTAINLY disliked and the fact that they were all Core 7 didn't help.   Honestly I think the root problem is the molds, though;  IMO there's something eerie and "uncanny valley" about them.  I don't think they will ever achieve the popularity of G1, G3, or even G2. 

[Dragonflitter]

Nah I think it all depends on who you talk to. I remember people having a really negative reaction to the G2's when they were first released. They were teased and shunned long before the G3's came along! For years they were called anorexic ponies or lizard ponies. But they always had and always will have their certain fans, just like any gen.

Like others have said, I don't think people have much dislike for the G3's right now (personally they are my favorite generation!) it's just that we have such an overabundance that they're not selling.

[Malicieuse]

G3 seems to get a lot of hate from newer fans these days because it is too "girly" compared to the current show. Most people don't seem to know the targeted age group was different from the one now and seem to judge G3 based on the movies rather than the toys.
Frankly, hating on older gens seems to have become a bit of a "cool" thing to do and G3 suffers the most from it. Possibly because there are still G3/G3.5 products in the stores and because characters like Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are portrayed in them as, again, being "too girly".
A lot of other complaints i hear about G3 is the fact that they are too "fat" and look too much like actual ponies. G2 and G4 resemble eachother a lot more in the sense that they are both more stylised and slimmer looking. So that is perhaps why G2 is getting more love right now.

[Opalescence]

Heh, some people simply dislike everything that came before G4. They just dislike G3,5 the most.


And while I wouldn't say that I hate 3.5, I can clearly see why the design would scare people away.

[StoryDreamer]

Omg the G2 wars. The graphics and banners. Somebody dig those up, eh?

[PinkRosedust]

I agree with the idea that it has a lot to do with a larger supply than demand when it comes to G3s, and the opposite with G2. I think people see so many pictures of G2s around here that they start to like them and want them, but obviously they aren't plentiful like G3s are.

However, I do feel like I see more dislike for G3 now than I did in the mid-2000s when they were current and exciting and we were getting new sets and characters all the time. I think it's part new fans who don't care for them, and part people getting tired of their huge G3 collections...

Omg the G2 wars. The graphics and banners. Somebody dig those up, eh?

I am now curious.