I think I'm losing heat on the G4s...

[TwistedWindSox]

I'm getting bored with just Blind Bags and the same mane 6 brushables over and over again.
I thought it would be really fun to collect blind bags, but it just got tedious after the bronies in town stopped buying them up, and now the only "hunt" is picking through the boxes til I find the numbers I still need. I liked the thrill of actually finding some in the box and then finding ones I wanted. Maybe thats just me?
And, please no more mane/core 6! Isn't this what happened to G3?? I mean, yeah, I can understand wanting to make them available for the kids. But couldn't they get away with only doing two new re-releases a year, or something like that? I would rather have new original ponies than the same six all the time. :/
And I know other people will be excited about the clothes, etc etc. And thats great. But I'm not really one for that. The bronies in my town are kind of rude people (from the ones I have met, please don't get me started) and I don't really want to get lumped in with them.
I am happy about the vinyl figures by Funko though. I wish I had a credit card so I could buy them.

[Luxrayx]

Ugh... It's just blind bags, blind bags, blind bags. No brushability. No variety in the hairstyles. All they can do is stand there.
The brushables... That's just 6 ponies. Or, at least it feels that way. The Crystal empire line sounded exciting, but it's just more of those 6 ponies. And Cadance. 7 ponies. And poses! WHERE are the poses? I can't seem to find them ;;

[Bellevi]

When blind bags first came out, I felt like I needed all of them. But not anymore.

I lost interest in the cartoon, but I still like buying the toys. Even those are getting a little boring, though. It's the same poses, over and over again. I think Hasbro really backed itself into a corner as far as the design of brushables go.

[Elisto]

I feel the same way. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I loved that G1 didn't have a specific group of obviously main characters. It seemed like at that point in time, Hasbro was more open to the idea of lots of different characters with different features and looks. I don't mind the current Blind Bags too much, but I don't really want to just buy 1" tall lumps of plastic, even if they are cute. It's not like I play with them, but I feel like the brushables look more interesting, and not having set hairstyles to me gives me more room to interpret the characters however I want. They also display better I think because you can actually see them from a few feet away.

I'm also not too excited about the show anymore...I feel like it's loosing a lot of the fantasy/adventure aspects; like they thrown in just enough to keep me thinking there's going to be more, but mostly it's become very slice-of-life (but with ponies), which I've never liked.

[Desert Rose]

They also display better I think because you can actually see them from a few feet away.

Lol this! I like the Blind Bags, but I prefer not needing a magnifying glass just to see their symbols

[candiedapples]

It's cool that there's lots of types of collectors, from those whose main focus is the brushables, those who like the cartoon more than the toys, and everyone in between. For me, G1 is special because that's what I grew up on, and I like the variety of the toys. I missed out on G3 because they weren't like my childhood ponies, but I have come to appreciate their beauty too, especially the art ponies and Comic Con ones etc. But G4 is what got me interested in MLP all over again. I love the cartoon just as much as I did in Season 1 because I think the stories keep getting better and better. Of course there are some weak episodes in there but I loved the additional character development of Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna, and others. I'm excited for Season 3 !! I'm sorry that some people have had bad experiences with bronies in real life but in my city I have been lucky enough to meet some of the nice ones and it was fun hanging out and discussing episodes through meetups.

I can understand how people would be disappointed in the toys because of the lack of variety in poses and characters represented who aren't in the Mane 6. If you're not a fan of the show it makes sense that you want this variety of new gals to play with and are not necessarily into toys that just represent aspects of the show. But for me, it wasn't until this year that I started collecting the G4 brushables, because of the beautiful releases like Diamond Rose, and the current wave. For me it's an added bonus that Sunny Rays and the rest are actually from the show. Plus Ditzy Doo, Zecora, and the TRU Favorites Pack came out this year!! I know there were problems with distribution and the actual quality of some of the toys, but I think it's great to have these characters in toy form. I don't have a lot of patience with styling the hair, so I am one of those who likes the molded hair type ponies and blind bags. I just think that it's only been two years since the show has come out and there's plenty of time to improve on the line and make things more appealing to collectors.

[aellos]

I'm pretty pooped on them. All of them look the same with different coloring. DX

EDIT: I also think it's appropriate to say I started out with G4 too. They're just not as much variety as there was with previous gens.

[Marigold]

I love the brushables.  They are a nice size, have pretty hair, and could be very collectible.  However, they need more variety!  I don't want them to go crazy and send out too many, but I want a guarantee that with each release there are at least 3-4 new ones to go with the main six. 

[WorldEdit]

I actually feel the opposite- I love that hasbro is branching out and doing licenses with other companies, there is much more merch available this go round! all kinds of shirts, bags, jewelry, and now vinyl figures! I am sad about the blind bag focus, and love the brushables most, but this is a pretty exciting time for my little pony!

I agree with this 100%!

I agree licensing and branching out helps grow the brand. Its amazing to see how many places are carrying different MLP merch. As a fan of another current Hasbro line (Transformers Prime) I can tell that there is a similarity in wanting to keep the main characters on the shelves even if it means just changing a bit about the toy and re-issuing it. For a collector yes it's a big disappointment and does kill the thrill of the hunt, but it also guarantees that new fans of the show can just run down to the store and pick up their favorite character without having to resort to scalpers or overpricing. This expands the community and helps it grow in my opinion. Just a thought!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

... and what are we on, Year Two of G4?  Doesn't sound good for the longevity of this generation! 

Seriously, even G3 had at least three really awesome years to begin with - why?  Lots of characters to collect, few re-releases, and playsets you could actually play with.  G4 has been very disappointing with its cardboard castles, Core 6, serious lack of new brushables and a cult following that detracts from the original creativity and imagination that make MLP fun. 

What do I mean by that?  Instead of Hasbro actually releasing more toys for collectors to purchase, they're running around getting t-shirts and coasters and keychains and plushies licensed out, and slapping the cult following's favorite characters on this stuff to get it to sell.  I don't want vinyl displayables, I want more PONIES.  I don't want a shopping bag or a lunchbox or a cellphone case.  I WANT MORE PONIES. 

[Tropical_Sunset]

I'm getting bored of them too - the series still interests me but the toys are rubbish!

This is how I feel.  Tired of blind bags and they are producing way too many of them and running out of creativity, fast.  Do we really need Trixie and Cherry Spices available in two different (specific main 6 character) molds?  Some of the blind bags have really pretty designs and color schemes but I'd take a brushable version of any blind bag pony over a blind bag version any day. 

As for the quality of the toys, it's just...bad.  Consistently bad, not anomalous like it was in G3 or G3.5.  I'm not surprised when I buy a badly made G4.  I'm surprised when I manage to buy one that isn't half bad.  Is that how My Little Pony should be?

Stores in my area just started stocking Lyra, Trixie, Sunny Rays, and Cherry Berry, ponies I've been really excited about getting ever since their toy fair photos were shown.  I had to decide which one out of the four I wanted the most because money is tight right now, and I ended up getting Lyra.  She looked good in the package but after freeing her I noticed that her head didn't sit on her neck properly, she had stains/ dirt (not sure which yet) on three of her legs and on her bum, dents from the packaging on her back and front and her cutie mark seems to have been applied badly.  It looks like the lyre is sneaking over towards the right in an effort to hide in her inner thigh instead of being properly centered. 

I wish I could say this was the first time I've been let down by G4 quality control, but it's not, not by a long shot.  Instead of feeling excited about my long-anticipated purchase, I feel let down and discouraged from buying any more G4s. 

My enthusiasm for the line is fading fast.

[Dragonflitter]

I just think that it's only been two years since the show has come out and there's plenty of time to improve on the line and make things more appealing to collectors.

The thing is, in all the other gens, there was much more variety in the toys by the time the second year was up. Comparing G4's to the previous three gens shows that Hasbro is really focusing their attention elsewhere for the line this time around. Compared to previous years we've had fewer unique characters, fewer unique poses, fewer new 'species' of pony, and fewer accessories and other things to augment the toy ponies themselves. The only thing the G4's are doing more than previous gens is non-toy merchandise.

[LadyMoondancer]

I love the show, but the toys are boring.  The toys, while cute, are not pony-like enough, IMO.  I think it was a mistake to follow the show designs so closely.  The show designs work in part because they are animated, the characters gallop and rear and move like ponies.  But the toys are static, they do not have that advantage.  They should've made them horsier to compensate.

[Elisto]

I think it's nice and a good thing that they're branching out to produce other merchandise, not just the toys, but I unfortunately haven't seen any other things that I personally want! That's just me and my weird preferences, though, not because I think there's anything wrong with the merchandise.

[Dandy]

I'm really close to being bored with G4, but I think it's because I own almost allt he avliable brushables.

I think they need to spice it up some. Make some more ponies from previous generations, and add more poses! Lots more poses! And do something special like So Soft, Twinkle Eye, or Twice as Fancy ponies~!

Also it may be just me, but G4 cutie marks seem so...uninspired. They're cute, but they seem so much less...inovative than G3. I wanna see some more creative stuff! Intricate cutie marks, cutie marks that cover the whole body, 3D cutie mark, scratch-n-sniff cutie marks, I don't care just something interesting!