Surprising opinion from a mom with young kids

[Dragonflitter]

So I had an interesting conversation with an old friend today and I wanted to share it with the collecting community.

We started talking about Monster High dolls because I have seen them in stores lately and thought they were very cute, and my friend has two daughters who are obsessed with them. When I brought them up she mentioned her two daughters each have about a dozen of the dolls.

Of course the first thing I said to her was, "Don't you get annoyed buying the same four or five characters for them over and over again?" I knew that Monster High, like the MLP line, has a core set of characters they put out repeatedly with new outfits, and once in a while they have new characters added in.

I expected my friend to complain, but to my surprise she said she was glad for it! She said that when buying repeats:

1.) her older daughter likes it because she really likes collecting all the different releases and having them all (she has a collectors mind already lol)

2.) her younger daughter likes to play with anything, so she doesn't mind having the same character more than once

3.) she as a mother likes it because if one of them breaks or gets lost there isn't such a big fuss from her girls because there's a replacement right there on hand to give to them


So I explained to her that one of the most annoying things as pony collectors is that we no longer get unique characters all the time but instead get a core group that keeps being released repeatedly with different accessories, and occasionally a new character. "I really don't need like fifty Pinkie Pies," I finished with a laugh.

"My daughter wouldn't mind fifty Pinkie Pies at all," she replied with a straight face.

So in conclusion, the plethora of repeat characters is annoying for collectors, yes, and I always thought it was annoying for moms and little girls as well. But at least some of them seem to benefit for the repeated release of characters. And remember this line is aimed at what's best for little girls, not for us collectors. Maybe Hasbro does have some idea of what they're doing after all.

[reanna-mator]

Very interesting! It's true that Hasbro has been doing the "core" release thing for a few years now, and so if there was something inherently bad about it from a sales standpoint, they'd have abandoned it. I'm just glad it's eased up from the late G3-3.5 point where their really were almost no releases other than the core characters to speak of.

[Epona]

Its worked for mattel's barbie. Releasing the same doll in a different outfit for decades

[Shiromisa]

Hmmm, interesting. I suppose while it is counterintuitive, Hasbro must know its target market after all these years.

[Malicieuse]

My nieces still would rather have a new character than one they already have.
When checking out the toy store booklets they pointed out the characters they didn't have yet. They didn't go "oh i rather have yet another Pinkie." So opinions differ.

[ponylovers_mom]

as another mom that buys strictly for her girls, I have to agree for the most part. I do try to keep the numbers down on having the same exact one, like with Barbie, and with the ponies, they do have some repeats(they have 2 or 3 pinkie pies), usually by purchasing a set that has one in it they already had, but they don't seem to care that they have repeats, they just pretend they are another character most of the time!

[NoDivision]

One of the big difference with dolls though is that they are not actually the same item over and over again. The same character yes, the same doll no. The Monster high releases are all pretty different, and not just because they have different clothes. They get different makeup, different hair, etc. A doll from the 13 wishes line might be as different from her original release as Bowtie is from Blossom. 

But (with the exception of the handful that are actually new products) pinkie pie is pinkie pie is pinkie pie.

[gabumon]

Interesting point of view.  I guess in today's world we replace our cellphones and gadgets all the time (hopefully donating the old), guess it makes sense to update to newer pinkie pies in that sense.   Don't like the lack of characters but I see it.  Disposable and replaceable toys.  :/

[partypony566]

I don't think it's surprising that TOYS are aimed at little girls!?

I mean Ive always known that. It's adult (primarily male) collectors that like to think that ponies and dolls are somehow aimed at adults.

[Galactica]

I guess that's not completely surprising- kids like repetition.  (Thinking of nieces who watch the SAME Disney movie over and over and over and over x1 million)

[Shiromisa]

I don't think it's surprising that TOYS are aimed at little girls!?

I mean Ive always known that. It's adult (primarily male) collectors that like to think that ponies and dolls are somehow aimed at adults.

I think sometimes, people even on here forget that. All of us that are old enough to use the internet unsupervised, it's not about us anymore.

[NoDivision]

I don't think it's surprising that TOYS are aimed at little girls!?

I mean Ive always known that. It's adult (primarily male) collectors that like to think that ponies and dolls are somehow aimed at adults.

I think sometimes, people even on here forget that. All of us that are old enough to use the internet unsupervised, it's not about us anymore.

Some of us could probably use a little more supervision I need a grown up!

[Pony_Mama]

I think there's a lot of things to think about here.

*Not everyone has been collecting MLP (or Monster High) since the beginning. You just HAVE to continually offer the core characters. We  were late to the game with MLP and I am extremely glad I didn't have to shell out big money to get my hands on the originals. With MH, the original releases go for hundreds on ebay. It's crazy.

*I, as an adult collector, get annoyed with the constant stream of repeats. My kids don't. The love every pony and doll the same. With the repeat ponies, it's nice because then they don't have to fight over who gets to play with Rainbow Dash- there's one for everybody! With the MH dolls, each doll is so different from the other releases of that character that it doesn't seem like a repeat to them.

*MOST people out there, are not hunting toys on a regular basis, lol  The general population of toy buyers are buying 1 or 2 toys every once in a while. We're a pretty small group in the overall toy market.  We notice each and every release but most buyers have no idea what's going on. They just want to buy a toy for a gift and buy what LOOKS the best without really caring what they're buying. So why put the effort into designing and producing a new product when MOST people won't even notice a differnce?


Just a couple of points. I'm sure I'll think of more.

[NoDivision]

All very good points, pony-mama

[CupidStrikes]

Whilst I understand the logic of having the mane six readily available, it still doesn't excuse them being the ONLY single ponies available. They were still easy enough to get when the waves of single brushables also had a equal number of background characters, right?
I am perhaps influenced by the fact that as a child we didn't have a great deal of space or money so duplicates were a waste of money and space so I have little love for them. For what it's worth also, I have a little sister in the target age for MLP and she hates it when she gets doubles of characters (she looooves those Moshi Monsters things) so I think it depends on the kid as to whether or not they mind having doubles. I can see nurseries and charities getting a steady stream of donated ponies from those of us who don't want them, though, so there is that in their favour as well, I suppose?