So are "cutie marks" for all ponies now?

[MJNSEIFER]

This is going to be a little hard to explain, but if you give me a couple of days I'll be able to provide more of an idea of what I mean.

I don't know if My Little Pony was the first pony related product that placed a symbol of some sort on its ponies, much less on the flank, but that seems to be what they are all doing all of a sudden, or maybe for longer.

In MLP, the cutie mark (called a "symbol" until Generation 3) has always in someway been relevent to the pony in question, be it a description of their personality or what they can do, but has always been an important factor of the MLP franchise for me (I personally love the G4 version, where it can be earned, as I liken it to finding your purpose in life...) however, there seems to be a "fad" amongst all pony merchandice to place some kind of symbol there.

I went into a toy shop revently, and not only was there a really strange looking plushie "alicorn" (MLP or not, that is what I now know flying unicorns as) that had a star-shaped symbol in the correct place, but also there were some toy ponies that all had a kind of symbol on their flanks.  None of these were from My Little Pony, nor did they say they were at any time (that said, I think one of them was the same, or of similar color scheme to that of G1 Sundance, but it wasn't her).

This also brings me back to ages ago when I visited my local newsagents and saw what I think was a comic book, and there was a children's book about ponies, and they were all colorful MLP-Esque ponies, who all had the same symbol (what the symbol was, escapes my memory, as does the name of the comic, but I'll check if it's still there one day) - it really looked like someone was trying copy MLP, but making a very lazy job of it.

Aside from that is it tradition for the symbol to go on the flank anyway, or did MLP start something?  Sorry if this is long, I have difficulty making sense with short topics sometimes.

[NoPonySpecial]

 I assume MLP started it, and the other toy makers are either trying to act like them to trick parent and grandparents into buying their toy instead, o, more innocently, were just inspired by MLP.
 I used to think it had to do with branding the flank of a farm animal, but that's more of a cattle thing. Is that done with horses? Any ranching experts around?

[SeashellnBubbles]

Lots of people get antsy about such things as terminology, and they're right to, but many of us are happy just with whatever pony we're happy with, be they MLP, "fakie", "bootleg", or "knockoff". When something is proven popular there will always be followers and arguements over who started what and when, but I choose not to get involved. I have fakies I adore just as much as my Ponies, and they all give you a wonderful rush when you see them out in the "wild" at Goodwill and such.
Barbie has fakies and knockoffs, but some of them are extremely high quality and I'm sure they have a "higherarchy" as well. Beanie Babies, Care Bears, even the humble Teddy Bear, all have their legacies as do the toys that followed in their footsteps or branched out from them.
At the heart of all these toys, collectables and MIB's is the happiness and warmth they bring, and that means more than any single symbol could ever represent...that's why there are so many of them!

[Sunset]

Well, the rump is a common place to brand a horse so there has always been that.  But as far as I know,  MLP was the first to make fantasy horses with symbols.  I think it is an instance of something being so incredibly popular (I'm talking about in the 80's) that it kind of set a standard.  Kind of how everyone who isn't a collector or fan still knows what My Little Pony is in a general way and how those same people will call all pony toys "my little pony" even if they aren't.

I would have more to say on this but otherwise I'll be late to work.  I'm sure that others will chime in.

[Stormrave]

Even in the eighties, people made copycat MLP's with symbols. 

[disturbed-rainbow]

Yea, I've been setting back here wondering what made Hasbro put symbols on the ponies flanks for years.. I still haven't figured that out.. or maybe I'm just not doing enough research.

[Sunshine]

This is a totally interesting thread!

They did used to brand horses as well as cows, I suppose not nearly as frequently.. but not I totally wonder what made them decide to put them on the flanks as well! If you look back to horse toys in the 1970s, more of them are realistic types, based on "Cowboys" and such, or "real horses", you don't see nearly as many fantasy types coming out back then...

The obvious choice to me would've been like the MGR ponies - because that plays off a saddle... But there's really no evidence that Hasbro ever started thinking about making the symbols on their backs or as "saddles" ever, ya know... even the My Pretty Pony peachy had the flank symbols already and that was straight up 1980. Maybe it plays off of the on a Teddy Bear's chest? They felt it was the largest canvas on the toy, and could be something sorta like that?
Sorry that's just my rambling thoughts... But yes I'm totally interested!

Oh! Another thought! Could it go back to the Native Americans and how they would paint their war horses at all? I wonder if they marked flanks to identify who was who on the battlefield?

[ValeofSpring]

The prototypes for the original six G1s all had Cotton Candy's spots, which suggests that the symbols evolved from the natural spots on a horse--BUT as Sunshine Pony pointed out, the Peachy-like My Pretty Pony had heart symbols.  But I think that one came out at the same time as the original six, so I'm sticking with my theory that they switched them from all having Cotton Candy's spots to different kinds of markings in order to make each pony stand out a bit more.

As far as terminology--I'm definitely a purist who really squirms when someone refers to a G1 having "cutie marks"  

[brightberry]

I always assumed it started with appaloosa spots (Cotton Candy) and that inspired the other 5 ponies.  I do remember a photo/picture of them with all the same symbols.

edit... here it is...

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:Collectors.jpg


Edit...

too slow

[disturbed-rainbow]

As far as terminology--I'm definitely a purist who really squirms when someone refers to a G1 having "cutie marks"

Lol, Yea I don't particularly call them Cutiemarks from G3 and back, they are "The Symbol" I can't really say "Hey That G1's cutie Mark is a balloon" just doesn't roll off the Tongue right.

Post Merge: May 21, 2013, 04:30:40 AM

I always assumed it started with appaloosa spots (Cotton Candy) and that inspired the other 5 ponies.  I do remember a photo/picture of them with all the same symbols.

edit... here it is...

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:Collectors.jpg


Edit...

too slow

Wow.. I actually like them like that Minty is cute.

[MJNSEIFER]

As far as terminology--I'm definitely a purist who really squirms when someone refers to a G1 having "cutie marks"

Lol, Yea I don't particularly call them Cutiemarks from G3 and back, they are "The Symbol" I can't really say "Hey That G1's cutie Mark is a balloon" just doesn't roll off the Tongue right.

  Okay... I'm kind of uneasy saying this without fully explaining this (I am planning on doing a post on this somehow, but I wanted it to be revealed better than this.)

First of all, I completly understand that a G1 purist would prefer the term symbol, so to avoid arguing I do sometimes try to refer to G1 and G2 symbols as "symbols" and G3 and G4 symbols as "cutie marks", even though I prefer the latter.  However, sometimes it is just easy to go with what I prefer, and the term cutie mark kind of means something sentimental to me, so I often lean towards that.

I realize that the term Symbol came first, but I just feel an attachment to the term Cutie Mark because it reminds me of three characters that I relate the most to; the three of them really remind me of myself when I was going through a difficult time in my life, and it kind of helped me get back into the show.  So I always identified with the term cutie marks more, but for pre-G3 (even though these characters are G4 versions) I try to say symbol, but it doesn't always work for me, or sound right even though it is.... I'm sorry if this hard to understand.  I am planning on doing a thread that explains this better...

Sorry I haven't respond to my original question in detail yet, but what people are saying makes sense.  If this sounds ignorant, I deeply appologise and will add a more detailed response later.  I just wanted to reply to this so people don't think that I'm hating on G1/G2 by implying they used the term "cutie mark" as well.

[Sunshine]

Maybe we can just call the delineation between symbols and cutie marks whether they're on one side or both sides?

So G1s and G2s are both sides... symbols? G3s and G4s single side... "Cutie Marks"?

Just a thought. 

[MJNSEIFER]

Maybe we can just call the delineation between symbols and cutie marks whether they're on one side or both sides?

So G1s and G2s are both sides... symbols? G3s and G4s single side... "Cutie Marks"?

Just a thought. 

Except G4 is on both sides. 

It's okay, I'll just try and be more careful with what terms I use, I guess.  Sorry if I offended anyone.

[Rhini]

I always assumed it started with appaloosa spots (Cotton Candy) and that inspired the other 5 ponies.  I do remember a photo/picture of them with all the same symbols.

edit... here it is...

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:Collectors.jpg


Edit...

too slow

Oh wow that's awesome! I think it's a combination of thinks, there having already been an established practice of branding a horses flank, and the natural markings that occur . I also think as SunshinePony pointed out, that purely from an objective unbiased point of view, it's the largest and most visible canvas on the toy and the easiest space to print on. It's the logical choice for placement. As to how that changed from semi-realstic marking to symbols, that's a good question for the original designer when she'll be at the fair, I'm sure she could shed some light on how that came to be

As a designer myself, we try to think laterally and explore as many options as possible so I don't see it as a huge leap. Someone just had a really good idea somewhere along the way and a lot of other companies followed suit.

Another question, who was the first non-pony toy line to feature similar markings?

[Sunshine]

Well the toy line isn't both sides on G4... At least none of mine have them on both sides!