G4 is awfully cheap...

[PWN-E]

Today I made  trip down to Target as someone gifted me a gift card and I wanted to buy some ponies. I made my way over to the pony section with my older sister and we were both pretty shocked at the low quality of the toys that Hasbro's been pushing out. I mean, I understand that they can't always afford to make them to a certain standard and with more and more being produced there's a higher likelihood of factory errors, nut now it's getting a bit silly.

Some of the ponies had some pretty bad paint issues, such as the last Fashion Style Pinkie Pie in the store (who I ended up buying because I wanted her pretty badly) with black dots on her face and smudges on/near her eye. A few of the 3 mini figure packs were in the wrong packaging, being mislabeled as different sets in addition to their really bad paint jobs; Also see this thread, which discusses such:
http://mlparena.com/mlp/index.php/topic,318275.0.html

Packaging keeps reusing the same vectors over an over with little to no variation in the pictures them use, some of obvious poor/lazy quality and being slapped onto everything.

I've been picking up brushables for a while (despite their puny size and disappointing amount of hair but that is for a different day) and noticed that the dents left by the packaging are getting worse and worse with each one I pick up. The holes in their tails are no longer perfectly circular, but are irregularly shaped puncture for the tail to go through.

What are your thoughts on this, everyone?

• How do you think this will effect g4 when it is retired?
  
  Perhaps collectors will seek out ones with fewer factor flaws
• Do you think this trend will ever stop or only get worse?
  
  Children probably don't mind it or even notice, and Hasbro is probably making more money this way
• Is this even a big deal?
  
  Or am I just making mountains out of molehills here?

I don't want to stir up any arguments or anything, I'm really happy My Little Pony has become more popular over the years and there are new toys with creative designs, I just can't help but feel disappointed.

May post pics of some of my messed up quality ponies if anyone wants to see/if I get around to it

TL;DR: they ain't making them like they used to

[Cherry_Sunset]

On my Princess set, all of them look like they have...err...excuse my lack of better words...but it looks like they have bumholes because there are slots for the tails to go lower but they were placed higher on them and it just looks lazy and sloppy, and Celestia's slippers are smudged. It's almost a rarity to find a G4 in perfect condition, I mean, their heads don't even match their bodies, and that was considered a factory defect before. Some people have complained that their new ponies smelled bad. They're just trying to make some quick cash cheaply. I even expect phony ponies to have dirt on them, but not G4s.

[achab1984]

The G3 ponies also had dents left in there legs from the plastic. That is going to happen when toys are put in them air or shrink tight plastics. I wish they were better and still had the low price. I know that I have said this before. I am just happy that they are making ponies 

[LadyMoondancer]

I would've minded as a kid.  I was very selective (picky, even!) about my toys.  I also kept them in great condition myself, so I would've been really upset with a problem that came straight from the factory.

What it boils down to is that G1 ponies cost $5 in the 1980s . . . but that's ACTUALLY $10 in today's money.

I would be perfectly willing to spend a few more $$$ per pony if G4s had the same quality as G1s, including that lovely watercolor backart.   I think Hasbro's POV is "oh, it's just the packaging, who cares", but . . . the repeated clipart and vectors do cheapen the entire brand, IMO.  :/ 

I kept all my backcards as a kid and DROOLED over them.   Looking at those beautiful pictures made me want every pony shown, and also familiarized me with them.  I could name every pony from Year 2 to Year 4, because I had the brochures from those years, with the ponies all beautifully illustrated and neatly labeled.  (I think they even included checklists for the entire year.)  That is worth something!  That translates into real money and also shows the kids, "Hey, someone really put a lot of EFFORT into this toyline."

I mean, what is going to be more memorable to a kid?  This?

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Or this?

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Just my opinion.

[Bow Tie]

I would've minded as a kid.  I was very selective (picky, even!) about my toys.  I also kept them in great condition myself, so I would've been really upset with a problem that came straight from the factory.

What it boils down to is that G1 ponies cost $5 in the 1980s . . . but that's ACTUALLY $10 in today's money.

I would be perfectly willing to spend a few more $$$ per pony if G4s had the same quality as G1s, including that lovely watercolor backart.   I think Hasbro's POV is "oh, it's just the packaging, who cares", but . . . the repeated clipart and vectors do cheapen the entire brand, IMO.  :/ 

I kept all my backcards as a kid and DROOLED over them.   Looking at those beautiful pictures made me want every pony shown, and also familiarized me with them.  I could name every pony from Year 2 to Year 4, because I had the brochures from those years, with the ponies all beautifully illustrated and neatly labeled.  (I think they even included checklists for the entire year.)  That is worth something!  That translates into real money and also shows the kids, "Hey, someone really put a lot of EFFORT into this toyline."

I mean, what is going to be more memorable to a kid?  This?

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Or this?

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Just my opinion.

I don't keep any of the backcards from my G4s. They aren't that pretty looking and the vectors are eh. I would much rather keep my G1 backcards if I had any outside of the two MOC Pony Wears. The G1 backcards are infinitely better.

[achab1984]

I loved the backcards from the G1 ponies! I wish that I would of kept mine also when I was younger!

[CottonTALE]

I have noticed this gen being pretty bad for quality, but I go out of my way in the store to search for any good ponies I can see from face value. My fiancee bought me a Wedding Invitation Twilight Sparkle and the head was REALLY far off from the body:

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So he emailed Hasbro about it, asking them how this got past quality control. There is no return policy in place for the Zellers he bought it from (since Target bought out Zellers earlier this year, all the stores have been slowly but surely closing to be turned into targets) they apologized and sent him a new Twilight Sparkle from Wave 5 (the traveling ponies) the colour was STILL off on that one too... Safe to say, he wasn't too impressed.

[Trinity]

This?

Or this?

We can thank today's standards of marketing. How they've changed the minds of parents and kids. They care more about what a toy can do rather than what they can do with it. G1s were more about dreaming and imagination. G3/4s are more about "look at my new skirt/saddle/etc!" (Not that I don't love the toys. I think I'll cherish them more than any little kid would.)

My fiancee bought me a Wedding Invitation Twilight Sparkle and the head was REALLY far off from the body:

I think I've seen a factory-second TS whose colour matches better than that... o_O

[CottonTALE]

I think I've seen a factory-second TS whose colour matches better than that... o_O

Yeah, I am thankful that they at least tried to rectify it (the one pictured is now being turned into Minuette from the show) but it was still enough to tick me off.

[StarlightGaze]

If the economy was better right now, do you think G4s would have better quality or be about the same?

[Tupin]

It is indeed sad to see G4 being treated so badly on the toy front. I've seen some G1 toys, and G4 toys really can't hold a candle to them in terms of build quality. Shame, because FiM was inspired by the quality of G1 toys.

If they put in even half the effort they put into the fantastic show into the toys, we'd have some great stuff.

[Diamond]

If the economy was better right now, do you think G4s would have better quality or be about the same?

The same, a lot of what you guys are seeing existed in each of the previous generations, more so G3 then G1 or 2. 
Mis matched heads - check
Marks from packing - check
Stray dirt marks - check
Glue in the mane - check
Poorly done eyes or flaws to symbols - check

So nothing new.  Try to remember the price point these are being sold at, plus they are aimed as today's children which are expected to move on to new toys faster then say the '80' child was.  We have become a very disposable society (which saddens me) and therefore things are not always made as well.

Would you be willing to pay say $20 to $25 dollars a piece for a normal pony?  Well that is what you are in a way asking for.  Yes I know Zecora was up there and she had a ton of flaws, but again she is aimed more at the toy market then the collector market and originally was only $10. 

Would it be nice if the quality control was better, yes, will it happen, not likely.

[RAMChYLD]

eh, G4s are already expensive as-is. My impressive card bills are mostly due to G4s...

[LadyMoondancer]

I don't think it's due to the economy.  G3s were also $5 each.  I think Hasbro is just focusing on that price range.  The thing is, that changes the type of toy MLP is.  When I was a kid my family was not poor but not that well-off, so I would only get ponies at Christmas or birthdays, pretty much.  Getting any pony was a Big. Huge. Deal.   They were, as I said, about $10 each in today's money (or sometimes more if they were loaded with accessories.)

Now they are $5 each and that does put them in more of an impulse-purchase category.  I can kind of understand why Hasbro just slops them out.  I still don't think it's good for the brand as a whole, though.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

Ok I'll be honest with the art issue that is being used for the mlp packaging... I was reminded of this when I saw a Frosty the snowman DVD being returned in the library. The cover are is clearly vector and done in programs like flash or image ready... I believe most companies that do the cartoony art stuff are leaning towards using vectors because for the most part is might be faster and a little easier on them...

As far as packaging goes, Hasbro has taken a step on trying to fix the dent issue I think with the new wave of Crystal Empire main 6... I haven't picked up one of those yet and don't plan on it... but I don't know if they will stick to that kind of packaging...

Hasbro, from what I'm seeing... started using vectors since G3? At least that is what it looks like to me... I'm not 100% sure on if they just started reusing vectors for the G3 line but of what little I've seen of the back cards for G3s at least some of the ponies are in different poses...

Edit: I can tell you this.. I'm holding two Lanard Animal fakies right now from one of their 2010 lines I believe... and a few fakie ponies from a recent buy... while yes the plastic quality of the fakie ponies are lower they are not mismatch in head and body... and the two animal friends I have in lanard do have removeable heads... One of the animals wouldn't matter because the head is supposed to be different from the body but the other one isn't and that one isn't mismatched either... It might just be hasbro trying to take shortcuts in factories... who knows.. because I'm pretty sure G4s could of had the same plastic for both head and body and still work