Hasbro Makes it Hard to be an adult MLP Collector

[ChocolateStarfire]

What about the re-release of the original Mane 6?

Whoa, did I completely miss this? I thought just Firefly was getting a rerelease (in miniature). I haven't heard of any other ponies being rereleased recently. I'm intrigued!

There was a re-release during the 25th anniversary of MLP....

http://www.entertainmentearth.com/item_archive/items/My_Little_Pony_25th_Anniversary_3Packs_Wave_1_Set.asp

Oh, that! I thought you meant recently like this year haha. My bad!

No worries!

I just don't understand what is meant by the OP. I honestly don't think collectors are purposely being ignored. I thought collections were built based on what is/was available, not necessarily based on what the consumer wants to be produced at a given point in time. If only sales worked that way...can you imagine? I want my chocolate ball with the prize toy inside from 1990 now!...oh wait, that's nearly twenty year old candy...nevermind...

Everyone gets rose colored nostalgia glasses, heck I do all the time. But that doesn't mean I am not happy with what I've got. *shrug*

[bewilderness]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

[Shiromisa]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Hard to say--it's with a little book, and sadly I think it's only going to be a dollymix pony.

With that said, I disagree with the post you quoted. Hasbro has marketed many things towards adult collectors lately--the SDCC ponies, the bejeweled Twilight, the CNY Pinkie--it's just that they haven't gone over well.

[ChocolateStarfire]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Yes...click here...
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Firefly-Illustrated/dp/0762454156



I don't know if more material will be released for MLP's 30th anniversary....we will see...

[Firehooves]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Hard to say--it's with a little book, and sadly I think it's only going to be a dollymix pony.

With that said, I disagree with the post you quoted. Hasbro has marketed many things towards adult collectors lately--the SDCC ponies, the bejeweled Twilight, the CNY Pinkie--it's just that they haven't gone over well.

Yes, FiM themed products. While it is really cool, some of us have would like to see some G1, G2, or G3 stuff again.

[hathorcat]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Hard to say--it's with a little book, and sadly I think it's only going to be a dollymix pony.

With that said, I disagree with the post you quoted. Hasbro has marketed many things towards adult collectors lately--the SDCC ponies, the bejeweled Twilight, the CNY Pinkie--it's just that they haven't gone over well.

I don't feel as though the former are targeted at collectors though. Hasbro probably does know what collectors want its just that they financially most likely don't stack up due to the potential purchasing market. They have attended the fairs, they have designed the art ponies and engaged with collectors directly over the years. The SDCC/Fair ponies in G4 are targeted at the brony market. Sure they appeal to a lot of collectors too but I feel they are more for the wider G4 fandom. As for the Pinkie and TS, I suppose we can at least give them points for trying. However, having seen the popularity of their art ponies with adult fans, I have to wonder why not do more of this if they are really catering to the adult collectors market. Releasing G4 characters seems more about appealing to a wider audience.

[Majesty]

I'm sure Hasbro knows of its adult collectors.  Back when G3's were still around Hasbro made the art ponies for their adult collectors and even stated that the fair ponies were for their adult collectors but I think that has come and gone.  I'm not impressed with the fair ponies now and how they will appear in the future.  As other people have mentioned, I don't think the adult collectors make a large enough percentage of their sales to be considered anymore.  I know sometimes we see the retro shirts, even in adult sizes which is great but in my opinion it's not enough.  Also, as other people have stated MLP will always be aimed for little girls but I'm sure even little girls get tired of seeing the same ponies over and over again.

Post Merge: October 30, 2013, 09:09:39 AM

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Yes...click here...
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Firefly-Illustrated/dp/0762454156



I don't know if more material will be released for MLP's 30th anniversary....we will see...

It would be neat if it was based on the G1 version, but it could also be a G4 version of Firefly but looks completely different.  Like, hasbro had rights to the name but not the pony itself.

[bewilderness]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Yes...click here...
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Firefly-Illustrated/dp/0762454156

Omigosh yay!  I can't wait till they get a picture up.

[Ice Crystal]

This firefly brushable is the first thing for the adult collectors since the re-release of the first set of ponies in the line for the 25th anniversary.

There's a Firefly brushable being released?!

Yes...click here...
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Firefly-Illustrated/dp/0762454156

Omigosh yay!  I can't wait till they get a picture up.

There was a picture found on edelweiss not too long ago.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?sku=0762454156

The image is just a photo of a regular ol' Firefly who I imagine will look a little different in miniature, but at least we know it's G1.

They've added some illustrations to the page now too which were not there the last time I looked. Scratch that. They have a .pdf of the entire book it looks like. Click on the 'booklet interior' link.

[gabumon]

Wow! the book has got Lickety Split and other G1s! cool.

[Catlein]

Huh... anyone notice that the book has a G1 version of the "mane six": two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies?

[lunar_scythe]

Sounds like the biggest thing Hasbro needs to do is simply more variety, and another thing that would be a big improvement would be to release each wave so they show up around the same time instead of scattered. What might work is a 'do not display until date' system, like fast food places do with toys.  More stores would have the exact same items instead of sets kind of trickling into areas and scalpers buying up all the new stuff for ebay.  Parents and children, as well as adult collectors, would appreciate that!  No one would be upset with a wider range of ponies in the brushables size, and knowing someone posting about 'I found X in stores' would mean you could find it right then, too, would be awesome!

also, I know the funcos are considered to be collectables, and for adults, but to be honest, I have a hard time taking them as serious collectable pieces, with all their quality issues.  The POP! figures may look silly, but the quality seems to be better.
 I wish Hasbro would make actual high quality pieces, such as ceramics or high quality resins(like anime stuff has) rather than another line of plastic.  The Hamilton figures were *supposed* to be high quality, but instead were cheap airbrushed figures with bad proportions and sticker symbols. :/  Also, those are why I DO NOT believe Hasbro lost the rights to the names of ponies...that set was only a few years ago, and those were sold under the names Firefly and Glory.

[Galactica]

I do wish that Hasbro would make some really cool retro high end stuff like they have done with Transformers and even Jem- but I think they probably did some market research, and decided it wasn't profitable. 

Recall that they did a poll a while back, before the anniversary sets- as to how much pony collectors would be willing to pay for repro ponies.  It wasn't high as I recall...  and then they made the collector sets and many of us were disappointed with the quality (which of course was directly related to the fact that Hasbro didn't think (probably correctly) that people would pay more for them).   So they probably didn't sell so well that they turned a very big (if any) profit.

It can't just be the number of vintage collectors- because there are a LOT- more than for many other vintage toys-  certainly there are way more vintage pony fans than Jem fans, right?  And yet now there is an ultra collector line of dolls just for adult Jem collectors (the Integrity dolls) - and no collector line of ponies.

But just what would a collector line of ponies look like anyway?  Bigger ponies? Gemstones?  Maybe that's the problem.  The original design is just so great that it's hard to improve on it or make something designed for collectors.  In contrast, there was a LOT to improve for Transformers and Jem...

Personally I'd love some giant G1 style ponies-  extra fancy with lots of hair and even crystals maybe.  Or an uber fancy flutterwing pony.   But I don't see it happening....

[Bright101Eyes]

I would like some G1 re releases and some G2 (though the ladder probably will never happen), but people to also remember. MLP Collectors are not as big a fandom as Transformers and Hasbro is focusing on G4. At the end of the day it is a kids brand, but some more retro call backs would be really nice  (and not just t-shirts like that Firefly one I got about a year back) BTW, the reason I did not say G3 was because they are rather recent and we don't need re releases *YET*.

[mod edit ~ hathorcat]

[Galactica]

MLP Collectors are not as big a fandom as Transformers and Hasbro is focusing on G4. . .

Well it is possible that Transformers fandom is larger than MLP- but I don't think that's it.  Like I mentioned, the Jem fandom is REALLY small and entirely adult based, and yet we have our own line of collectors dolls from Hasbro that has now been promised to continue for at least one more year.  http://www.integritytoys.com/jemandtheholograms/collection-hollywood-jem.php

So it is not the quantity of the fans at issue.   It must be something else.  Like the belief that pony collectors don't want an expensive product aimed at the adult collector.  Many collectors just say they want a re-release of G1s- but you can grab those on ebay for less than what it would cost Hasbro to make them for us again.