Hasbro favouring Blind Bags // The future of G4 brushables

[TornadoTwist]

As for now I like the BBs more. They are smaller. more detailed and represent their characters more then the brushables. Now with all these comming I want them all! I still love the brushables. But they need more varity.

[Majesty]

Yeah I'm not too happy about blind bags.  I only have one and it's G4 Minty.  I don't have too many brushables either.  I'm not entirely into G4's in general to be honest.  I watch the TV show but I'm not into the ponies as much as I was with G1's and G3's.  I think blind bags are the future of MLP sadly.  Since ponies keep getting smaller and smaller blind bags would be the perfect size for G5 ponies.

[sd_dreamcrystal]

It would be nice to have more brushables. I collect the BB mostly because of cost, there cheaper. And I'm limited on space. So for it's a win win.

Maybe Hasbro is stepping up production not simply to court the "brony" fan support. When they are in the minority, if more a vocal group. Rather it could be for cost. Cheaper to make, take up less shelf space. Frankly if I was a kid, one or two BB's or a three character pack. Would more likely get my limited allowance money. Than a brushable. Or worse a brushable as part of a castle or play set.

BB's are limited in what you can do with them most of the time though, if I was a kid while i would have liked the BBs I would have gone straight to the brushables because I could do things with them. To me BB's actually take up more space if you don't have a proper way of displaying them (or in my case don't want them to look cluttered).. Looking at space wise, it really only takes 2 to 3 BBs to fill up a space for brushables (going by hoof space somewhat) and if you not a die hard got to get every brushable no matter how many repeats, BBs really do take the most space.

Each wave of BBs have about 24 figures (with the exception of wave 1 with 25 figures due to the two different colors for Twilight), this is not counting the mini packs at all or even the other special sets.. With about 8 waves of BBs thats a total of about 193 figures... including repeated ponies... Add the special packs (like the singles that first showed up, the 3/4 packs, and collections) that's about 273 figures (not including what I haven't seen on Strawberry Reef yet and the Taobao ones)... which now I probably sound redundant

Brushables I will have to go through them and pick out the prototypes as many of use won't be getting those... but I can tell you even with repeats there isn't over 200 figures of the NORMAL 3" brushables (not counting the princesses and Shining Armor), a rough count though shows  about 140 (remember this includes repeats)

[gabumon]

I am also upset that new variety of brushable ponies aren't being made.

I've boycotted blind bags.  no more in this house, I don't care what mold they make.   

I want non mane 6 Brushables!  that's what MLP "is", ponies with hair.

[Dragonflitter]

It would be nice to have more brushables. I collect the BB mostly because of cost, there cheaper. And I'm limited on space. So for it's a win win.

Maybe Hasbro is stepping up production not simply to court the "brony" fan support. When they are in the minority, if more a vocal group. Rather it could be for cost. Cheaper to make, take up less shelf space. Frankly if I was a kid, one or two BB's or a three character pack. Would more likely get my limited allowance money. Than a brushable. Or worse a brushable as part of a castle or play set.

This.

Personally I think it has less to do with the vocal brony community demanding the blind bags and more to do with the fact that they are super cheap to make, you can mass produce them very easily, and as someone else pointed out, blind bags are much more of an 'impulse buy' for parents than a brushable would be. They are easy to buy, easy to replace if they get lost, and make fun 'party favors', etc.

Post Merge: August 06, 2013, 06:38:07 AM

But I really don't like the bb's much and I tend to only buy the characters I really like. I'd much rather have a shelf of brushable ponies that I can hold in my hand rather than one that can fall down behind something, get lost, poor paint job, etc.

[Pinkie21]

I agree.  I just cannot get into mini figures as I do brushables.  But apparently "show accuracy" is serious business, unfortunately.  I really hope the brushables still remain a favorite with collectors and kids, so maybe when the show keels over and the craze dries up, we can get tons of new brushable ponies.

[Al-1701]

How much does it cost to make a pony they're already selling as a blindbag a brushable?  They've already bought the exclusive rights to the character.  They already have plastic, hair, and eye colors ready to go.  I think it's more Hasbro resting on its laurels when it comes to brushables.  They're only making what they know is popular.

Peronally I think blindbags are stupid.  It would be like making Transformers that don't transform.  All they do is stand there.

[Argentum-Zeena]

I definitely prefer brushables to blind bags. With the BBs, most of them really are just color swaps. You can at least make brushables more unique by styling the hair differently.

I think the reason BBs are the majority of what's coming out is that they're selling better, though that's probably because the only alternative is more mane 6.

[RainbowAlicorn999]

I like brushables alot more too, the blindbags have way too many paint problems.

[Sabrina]

Yeah I'm not too happy about blind bags.  I only have one and it's G4 Minty.  I don't have too many brushables either.  I'm not entirely into G4's in general to be honest.  I watch the TV show but I'm not into the ponies as much as I was with G1's and G3's.  I think blind bags are the future of MLP sadly.  Since ponies keep getting smaller and smaller blind bags would be the perfect size for G5 ponies.

Oh no, I really hope blind bags aren't the future for MLP. It'd be just too sad!

[CrazyCatPony]

while i have BB on my desk at work, and my daughter has a handful that i gave her both me and my girls prefer the brushables and i just wish  they would make more than the main 6 not just for me but for her. while she doesnt mind having 2-3 of the same pony i know she loves having lots of different ponies. so if nothing new is out then ill just pick out a G3 from my semi bait (already have) box and give her a "new Pony"

[RainbowAlicorn999]

If we want new poses we're dreaming, but I guess new characters in old molds for brushables are too much to ask for. I'm so tired of the mane 6!!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

*shrug*  I'm not interested in G4 so I would like them to move onto a design that I do like!  If people stop buying them because they're bored, the sooner G5 comes to us!  :-p

[diamondshy]

You knooow, If I were a toy mogul, I think I'd treat blind bags almost like a test run for the character's popularity.  I actually keep my fingers crossed that all these blind bags are a sign that they'd be willing to consider brushables of the particularly popular ones.

Depending on how a new blind bag is released, there are a number of ways the analytics department can track how much of a particular mold/group of molds are selling.

For one, there's basic ol' replenishment requests, which would be really good for tracking the special sets.

There are also the people who physically go to stores and check displays.  This would probably be more indirect, but if they speak with a manager or overhear customers talking about particular ponies, they might offhandedly comment to their regional manager that they'd improve sales if something changed about their product.  If the regional manager hears it enough, he or she might in turn offhandedly comment to their boss or someone who can make a difference with the toys.  Or not so offhandedly, depending on the idea.  Very roundabout, but it's a thought.

With the explosion of BB popularity, it really would be much cheaper and safer to test new characters and pseudo-mold prototypes of brushables as BBs.  The special sets are things I would have gone crazy for as a little kid, and they're easier to track than the big waves.  Wanna see if a particular character in a pack is doing well?  There's always eBay--which I know the card producers watch, and it does influence their decisions when certain cards are hard to find and very high priced.

I don't see BBs as ever taking over the brushable end of things.  I think they'll still be the "flagship" toy design, but as BBs get better and more intricate, I get really hopeful that all this work in cheap figures is practice for the real things. 

[Al-1701]

The problem is they're blindbags.  The point is you're not supposed to know what's inside.  We've found ways around that, but it's too difficult to track which ones are selling.

A better method might be online polling.  Say a wave of 24 has the Mane 6 and 18 other characters.  After the wave has been on the market for a few months, start a poll to see which are the most popular and people want brushables of.  The top six are made into brushables for the next wave.

Sometimes I wonder what Faust thinks of the brand collapsing down to focus on six ponies.  Her mission going in was showing there are many ways to be a girl.  However, Hasbro seems only interested in six ways to be a girl.