Hasbro favouring Blind Bags // The future of G4 brushables

[diamondshy]

The sets were what I was talking about, not so much the truly "blind" bags, since usually the mini sets are the ones with the unique molds. 

[tulagirl]

I don't really collect G4 brushables as I find them to be very poorly made with huge factory errors that just don't justify a purchase for me personally. I do understand their appeal though and respect that. I love the blind bags.  Its the only part of the G4 line I have enjoyed.  Its not because of the characters either its just the look of them.  They have their own factory issues, but for the most part I have gotten lucky with my purchases in quality respect.  To suggest that there may not be any more brushables though...I am not sure you will see that.  However, there has been a serious decline in the number of brushables compared to previous years.  The quality problem to me suggest money is the main factor. I don't think it has anything to do with collectors brony or not.  The hair on these brushables is far less in quality than that of G3.  Why such a drastic change in the quality of the MLP product?  To me it just has to be about money.  All of the sudden stuff is smaller with far less attention being made to detail.  Then you have this little line of figures where it costs a lot less so, there can be some attention to detail in regards to them actually looking like ponies.  Just my thoughts.  I am one of those that is waiting for G4 to end and G5 to begin.  I am not saying that to hurt anyone, I just have found that the quality and direction of this line didn't work for me. I miss what MLP use to be.  That is okay.  Its also perfectly understandable that many will love G4 and brushables and I hope that for those of you who do, that you will not be disappointed with what the company chooses to produce for you to collect.  Ponies are ponies and if you love these, I can see where this whole thing would be very upsetting.  I guess a company is going to make the most of what sells and they also look at what other companies are making and try to compete.  BB's are the rage right now.  Tiny toys are really big right now.  They are a big money maker.  It was like all of the sudden tiny was just the thing.  Star Wars has those PODs, there are squinkies for so many characters or cars...so I suppose MLP has found a way to get in on all of that or maybe they were first and the others followed.  Also the same toy company makes many of these, but not all of the micro stuff out there.  Toys are all about money, what is in and what is popular and how easy it is to make and get a huge profit.

Post Merge: August 06, 2013, 09:35:36 AM

Oh and PS) I love the mini sets as well.  They just look more like the characters they are supposed to.  They are cute.

[GoodyGumdrop]

I have nieces and nephews who are coming of the age where they like MLPs.

Blind bags are banned in their homes because the adults have to worry about the smaller children swallowing them. I also refuse to buy blind bags for the kids as gifts for this reason--so far they only get the small and large brushables (fashion size) and plushies because those are safer and harder to lose.

Also, i'm not buying doubles of ponies. If my niece already has a Pinkie Pie brushable, why would I buy her ten more identical ones? I swear, Hasbro concentrating on the Mane 6 has made it so easy for me NOT to spend money.

[Dragonflitter]

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.

This is the opposite of how Hasbro is actually doing it, though. Diamond Tiara, Blossomforth, Cherry Berry, Cherry Pie, Dewdrop Dazzle, Diamond Rose, Feathermay, Flitterheart, Flower Wishes, Honeybuzz, Lily Blossom, Lulu Luck, Mrs. Cake, Rainbow Flash, Skywishes, Snowcatcher, Star Swirl, and Twinkleshine were ALL brushables long before they were blind bag characters.

[scarletjul]

*sigh*. I'm not fond of the blind bag trend either.  I want brushable ponies, darn it.  I do have a few blind bags (mostly the sparkly wave) and they're cute but they're Mai ly an impulse purchase that I end up regretting later.  They don't *do* anything and they just end up looking like clutter on my shelves, IMHO.  I'd much rather have a normal pony.

I believe Hasbro is doing this mainly because it is cost-effective for them but I wish they'd stop.

[CupidStrikes]

Blind bags probably sell better than brushables, so Hasbro are probably following the money. I can count the number of times I've seen non-mane six brushables on one hand and a lot of places don't seem to even have gotten the masquerade ponies because they still have a shelf full of the CE ones. Hasbro need to either release more non-mane six or make more of them so that they don't disappear off shelves instantly. It might help if they had less exclusives and more wide releases, too...I love brushables but damn importing is expensive ;_; At least the blind bags are international  (barring Waves 1 and 2)

[achab1984]

I like brushables way more then blind bag ponies. I had some for a while when I get into the G4 ponies.  But they just did not do anything for me.  So I sold them all off and have not missed any since.

I am a little upset that they seem to not being caring about how the ponies all started out. We love our ponies with hair!!! Oh Hasbro I do not understand you at all. But then your not the only company out to try to make money off of us.

Guess we will all have to wait and see. The other thing....I wish the fair pony would of been on the G4 pony and not that huge DJ. She just does not do anything for me

[Violet CLM]

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.

This is the opposite of how Hasbro is actually doing it, though. Diamond Tiara, Blossomforth, Cherry Berry, Cherry Pie, Dewdrop Dazzle, Diamond Rose, Feathermay, Flitterheart, Flower Wishes, Honeybuzz, Lily Blossom, Lulu Luck, Mrs. Cake, Rainbow Flash, Skywishes, Snowcatcher, Star Swirl, and Twinkleshine were ALL brushables long before they were blind bag characters.

Pretty sure Diamond Tiara's blind bag, which has been released for a long time, came out before her brushable, which isn't in stores yet. Likewise Lyra Heartstrings and the hypothetical Minty and Silver Spoon and Twist. Others, though, like Mrs. Cake and Lyrica Lilac and Chrysalis and Cadance and Shining Armor, have felt like they got pretty simultaneous development on both fronts.


Anyway, I hope anyone bemoaning the lack of brushable variety is taking pains to buy the many non-mane-6 brushables that Hasbro continues to produce. If they don't see demand for Wysteria and Sunset Shimmer and Mrs. Cake and Twirly Treats and Diamond Tiara and Lyra Heartstrings and Lyrica Lilac and Chrysalis and Bubbles and Cadance and Shining Armor, after all, they won't have any reason to keep making them.

[Galactica]

While I certainly wish there were MORE brushable ponies (there should ALWAYS BE MORE PONY!)  -  I don't think that Hasbro is abandoning the brushables in favor of blind bags/little figures.  There have consistently been about the same number of brushable figures coming out from what I've noticed.  There has been an uptick in the little plastic sets (ie the "Groovin' Hooves" set etc) - but probably just because they are selling so well.

I think the brushables are selling pretty well too- they seem to turn over quite fast at my Target. I love glittery Wysteria and all of the non-mane 6 to date- and am looking forward to the second "favorites" set.

I think we were a bit spoiled with G3- but it kinda makes the ponies that do come out more special.  I stopped buying G3s when it became clear that I'd never get ALL of the cute ones- there were too many!  But when a new G4 character comes out- it's an easy decision to pop one in the basket.

However- I agree that Hasbro needs to step it up with some new poses and molds.  There is an astonishing lack of variety in the G4 poses (straight leg vs bent leg? I think that's it right?) 

[Malicieuse]

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.

This is the opposite of how Hasbro is actually doing it, though. Diamond Tiara, Blossomforth, Cherry Berry, Cherry Pie, Dewdrop Dazzle, Diamond Rose, Feathermay, Flitterheart, Flower Wishes, Honeybuzz, Lily Blossom, Lulu Luck, Mrs. Cake, Rainbow Flash, Skywishes, Snowcatcher, Star Swirl, and Twinkleshine were ALL brushables long before they were blind bag characters.

Pretty sure Diamond Tiara's blind bag, which has been released for a long time, came out before her brushable, which isn't in stores yet. Likewise Lyra Heartstrings and the hypothetical Minty and Silver Spoon and Twist. Others, though, like Mrs. Cake and Lyrica Lilac and Chrysalis and Cadance and Shining Armor, have felt like they got pretty simultaneous development on both fronts.


Anyway, I hope anyone bemoaning the lack of brushable variety is taking pains to buy the many non-mane-6 brushables that Hasbro continues to produce. If they don't see demand for Wysteria and Sunset Shimmer and Mrs. Cake and Twirly Treats and Diamond Tiara and Lyra Heartstrings and Lyrica Lilac and Chrysalis and Bubbles and Cadance and Shining Armor, after all, they won't have any reason to keep making them.

That's all nice and dandy but Lyra, Shining Armor and Cadence are re-releases. Diamond Tiara, Wysteria, Lyrica, Chrysalis and Bubbles on the other hand will not get a worldwide release...
It's that bad.

In my country Miss Cake, Twirly Treats and Sunset Shimmer are just getting released. We have no other brushables to look forward to anymore.

[hathorcat]

I collect MLP - for me MLP is a plastic toy pony with BRUSHABLE hair. Simple.

So yes, while I find blind bags and their packs very cute and its great to get variety, I think of them more as little extras, almost like merch rather than out and out ponies. I also think there is becoming too many to reasonably keep up with. Perhaps if we had fewer blind bags and just a few more brushables the balance would feel better.

But I think my main grumpiness on this is that blind bags get variety - lots of characters, moulds and proper creativity. The brushable line is rapidly becoming same old same old with the odd random new character thrown in.

I think for me the best way to compare is if you think of Ponyville [because for me thats what blind bags are] - if we had just the core 7 G3 ponies and at the same time Hasbro was releasing wave after wave of G3 ponyville in different characters and poses and showing tonnes of creativity...we would not be happy.

[shabbychicdee]

That's all nice and dandy but Lyra, Shining Armor and Cadence are re-releases. Diamond Tiara, Wysteria, Lyrica, Chrysalis and Bubbles on the other hand will not get a worldwide release...
It's that bad.

In my country Miss Cake, Twirly Treats and Sunset Shimmer are just getting released. We have no other brushables to look forward to anymore.

this is so frustrating here in nz too, the whole year and that is all we get there has been an ok amount of brushables but only in the countrys who have tru, target and walmart.

my worry is the lack of FS, though they are expensive to collect it would be nice to see different characters like a cheerilee or lily blossom, though drama ditzy bubbles was different, that was only limited and available in the us at cc or taobao if you were lucky

[gabumon]

At this point I'd prefer more Equestria Girls dolls than BLIND BAGS!

[banditpony]

Since there are so many, it must be profitable for Hasbro right now. I'm kind of surprised there are soooo many~ but I think that's cool.

Ah well. I would of LOVED blind bags as a kid. I always loved everything tiny, and I loved the element of surprise~!

[patchworkboy]

I second what VioletCLM said (sorry tried to quote you but couldn't). If you want hasbro to make new and unique brushables, then buy them. Make sure to buy the new collectors set from toys r us as soon as it comes out. Thats how hasbro knows to make more, to take chances on new molds. The first set seemed to be a shelf warmer at my local toys r us. It was a bit expensive, but not much can be done about that.

I personally love all the new molds and characters in the blind bag size, but i love the brushables as well and am looking forward to the new collector set as well as the bakery set.