Question about G3.5 ponies

[InkyMilk]

So, after reading through the Pony Tales thread, I'm really curious about the G.3.5 ponies. If the pony generations are decided upon by their toylines rather than the show (which makes sense to me seeing as Tales ponies look exactly like all the other G1 ponies), why aren't G3.5 ponies considered G4? They don't look anything like G3 ponies, and had enough variety (through the Ponyville sets) that I would think they deserve their own full gen.

Can someone please enlighten me? I know G3.5 isn't exactly a community favorite, but I still feel like it lacks the respect it deserves.

[Magdalen]

Hmmm maybe, and I'm only guessing here, because the G3.5 are based off G3 characters, but toy wise they look pretty different.  It also looks like they borrowed from the Ponyville sets from G3.  And the characters are G3 characters that got a look upgrade.  Where as Tales' toys still are G1 toys.

G1 cartoon and Tales both had the same toys.  G2 has completely different looking ponies/characters/toys. 

Maybe someone can explain it better than me.

[Baby Sugarberry]

To add to the confusion (if I recall correctly) there wasn't any time break between G3 and G3.5 - in fact there may have been production overlap, there was definitely retail shelf overlap.  3.5 was aimed at the preschool crowd, and recycled pretty much everything from the G3 line in regards to characters and designs. 

Really they're no more different, probably less so, than other side lines we've had like Petites, which do not get their own generation number.  Some kind of designation was necessary to avoid confusion though, due to the character recycling - a G3 Sweetie Belle certainly is not the same as a G 3.5 of the same name.

[prancingstag]

I think because it was all a part of core 7, it could be considered "G3" because that's where the core began, but the designs are so radically different that it needed to be distinguished. G2/G3/G4 all began with a completely new set of characters in a new design, whereas 3.5 was a new design of existing characters. 3.5 ponies are also very similar looking to Ponyville figures, which started years before in 2006, attaching them further to the third gen.

[SourdoughStomper]

Basically, a compromise in the community. The view that it was the exact same generation because there was no break in production versus the view that they were radically different in structure and counted as something new. I just call 'em "fat heads."

[Violet CLM]

IIRC it was called G4, at least at first. Maybe not universally though.

[hathorcat]

Basically, a compromise in the community. The view that it was the exact same generation because there was no break in production versus the view that they were radically different in structure and counted as something new. I just call 'em "fat heads."

This ^ Initially we didn't really know what to call them. But because Hasbro essentially ran one style of toy straight into another style of toy - keeping the same characters, i.e. the core 7 - and the same general feel to the line, the consensus reached was that they were essentially G3 but that the toys were too different to be grouped in together. Hence the conclusion on G3.5. For a while people were calling them G3 but "new style"; thankfully G3.5 finally became the common way to refer to them.

[Elisto]

I kind of think of it like how the Sweetheart Sisters are still G1 even though they look very different, and in their case, even are different characters. Not exactly the same as G3/3.5 because the SHSs were produced alongside the regular G1, but similar situation to me.

[Epona]

I wondered about this myself.

So pinkie pie, rainbow dash, cheerilee, sweetie belle, and scootaloo were carried forward from G3-3.5-G4 with changes?

[hathorcat]

Essentially yes. Only Starsong and Toola were dropped from the core characters for the current generation.