Why did G1 end?

[Artemesia's Garden]

I have an entire G1 universe in my  mind and I have less than 200 of the line. 200 characters as I've said elsewhere is more than I could ever write a book about, maybe even a series of books. Some of them would have to be canon fodder or chorus line however you prefer to put it.  What I find amazing is that G1 carried on as long as it did and produced such high quality toys in such a creative way.  Every toy line rises and falls, like human civilisations, colonies of bacteria etc 

The generations following G1 have almost the same basic concepts but a different overall aesthetic. With G2 that was a bad choice but they have moved on.  Also as I see it, the narrative has grown up from being aimed at 6 year olds to 12 year olds to adolescents.  This is a natural, predictable evolution in my view, nothing radical.  But without design principles from anime G4 wouldn't exist so I've no idea what could come next and I'm not taking it for granted.

[Sunset]

I just wanted to add my own story to this.  We only got those 3 channels growing up.  We were able to check out the specials and the movie at the video store but the only reason I knew that there was a show was because we caught one episode at my grandparents once.   I never even knew what happened with the magic coins until I was an adult and bought the DVDs!

For me it was definitely all about the toys. Though I adored RAMC and it's still my favorite!

About the time G1was starting to hit its decline was about the time that I was hitting my pre-teens and lost interest in ponies.  By the time I regained interest in my late teens was right when G2 started.  I did not like them at all because they were too different from G1.  I also find their faces to be too expressionless even now.

As others have said, these things go in cycles.  The kids from one generation grow up and the line has to be redesigned for the knew generation.

[MoonStars]

 For me I was a very scared child when they stopped making original MLPs.. For years I would wander the toy aisles looking for them.. The clerks gave very little information.. Just that they didn't have them in stock..

Oh dear. Now I have this mental image of a sad, pale, ghost-like child wandering the dusty, barren aisles... There are torn, faded curtains flapping in the lonely-sounding wind... perhaps a train whistle mourns in the distance... Certainly tumbleweed tumbles through the scene... What light from yonder shelf breaks... Could it be a longed for pony? The child runs to it. Alas... 'Tis only yet another LPS.

[Artemesia's Garden]

 For me I was a very scared child when they stopped making original MLPs.. For years I would wander the toy aisles looking for them.. The clerks gave very little information.. Just that they didn't have them in stock..

Oh dear. Now I have this mental image of a sad, pale, ghost-like child wandering the dusty, barren aisles... There are torn, faded curtains flapping in the lonely-sounding wind... perhaps a train whistle mourns in the distance... Certainly tumbleweed tumbles through the scene... What light from yonder shelf breaks... Could it be a longed for pony? The child runs to it. Alas... 'Tis only yet another LPS.

Oi! I found that very moving actually 

But check this out - I never had pocket money to go any buy ponies in the first place 

[MoonStars]

 For me I was a very scared child when they stopped making original MLPs.. For years I would wander the toy aisles looking for them.. The clerks gave very little information.. Just that they didn't have them in stock..

Oh dear. Now I have this mental image of a sad, pale, ghost-like child wandering the dusty, barren aisles... There are torn, faded curtains flapping in the lonely-sounding wind... perhaps a train whistle mourns in the distance... Certainly tumbleweed tumbles through the scene... What light from yonder shelf breaks... Could it be a longed for pony? The child runs to it. Alas... 'Tis only yet another LPS.

Oi! I found that very moving actually 

But check this out - I never had pocket money to go any buy ponies in the first place 

Me, too. she must have been so forlorn!! which is why the mental image thing popped up and became overly dramatic with tumbleweed and train whistles...  

Did you only have one or two as a child, then, and are now making up for it like crazy?

[Artemesia's Garden]

 For me I was a very scared child when they stopped making original MLPs.. For years I would wander the toy aisles looking for them.. The clerks gave very little information.. Just that they didn't have them in stock..

Oh dear. Now I have this mental image of a sad, pale, ghost-like child wandering the dusty, barren aisles... There are torn, faded curtains flapping in the lonely-sounding wind... perhaps a train whistle mourns in the distance... Certainly tumbleweed tumbles through the scene... What light from yonder shelf breaks... Could it be a longed for pony? The child runs to it. Alas... 'Tis only yet another LPS.

Oi! I found that very moving actually 

But check this out - I never had pocket money to go any buy ponies in the first place 

Me, too. she must have been so forlorn!! which is why the mental image thing popped up and became overly dramatic with tumbleweed and train whistles...  

Did you only have one or two as a child, then, and are now making up for it like crazy?

Ah OK I get you.  Yes that's right! I remember packing away my pretty parlour and a couple of ponies when I was slightly older, but even they have somehow disappeared from Mum and Dad's house. Not to worry I'm definately making up for it now

[Wardah]

I think it's just what the trends were. In the 90's the big trend was to go small. Littlest Pet Shop and Polly Pocket became popular and ponies just fell to the wayside.

[shimmlight]

Interesting theories everyone, it's kind of what I was thinking. I do however think it's a real shame they were discontinued, even though if it weren't for G4 I'd had never have discovered them. For me though, part of their charm is the fact that they're old, there's a nostalgic feel to them, and I love old stuff. I like to imagine what kind of past they've had, makes them feel much more "real" to me. But maybe that's just me 

 For me I was a very scared child when they stopped making original MLPs.. For years I would wander the toy aisles looking for them.. The clerks gave very little information.. Just that they didn't have them in stock..

Oh dear. Now I have this mental image of a sad, pale, ghost-like child wandering the dusty, barren aisles... There are torn, faded curtains flapping in the lonely-sounding wind... perhaps a train whistle mourns in the distance... Certainly tumbleweed tumbles through the scene... What light from yonder shelf breaks... Could it be a longed for pony? The child runs to it. Alas... 'Tis only yet another LPS.

That's quite depressing actually xD I've had many a time of only finding LPS where I thought I might find ponies xD

[Al-1701]

I think G1 ended because the time had come.

The bigger question should be why did My Little Pony seem to go into the wilderness everywhere but Europe for most of a decade.

I think it's because there was an intent to revamp like Hasbro was going with all their major brands.  Transformers and G.I. Joe were entering their second generations, and Tales might have originally been an attempt to revamp MLP.  Aside from the bigger gimmicks, the line was simple with almost all earth ponies.  However, the idea didn't go over well with someone so G1 was instead allowed to peter out in Europe.

Then they made an actual G2 line which others have said went over as well as a lead balloon in the U.S. and became essentially a regional brand.  It would not be until G3 that My Little Pony would be a global property again.

And while the shows are a nice perk, I don't think they helped the brand that much.  As others have said cable and satellite were just starting to become popular when the show originally aired and anyone living outside the city would be hard pressed to get a good signal.

Tales however was a case of a cartoon coming out just before the corresponding line was to be released.  It could be Tales lukewarm reception convinced Hasbro the brand was running out of steam.

[rtattles]

G2 didnt have a tv show in Europe either but it continued to run for many years. So I dont think its TV shows to blame for the lack of its presence in the US. As a style it just did not seem to appeal to US buyers and therefore there was no reason for Hasbro US to continue with it. It happens when manufacturers completely miss the mark of their market; anyone else remember Earring Magic Ken [I think this still causes Mattel panic attacks]. 

As for G1, as goddess and Vale have said, it ended because it had had its time. Toys by their very nature are influenced by the style of their times. As a consequence they all have shelf life in how long they will last in a certain style. And thats true of many products and industries. If you have any products in your house which as a brand have been around for longer than a decade [either consistently or without breaks] you can be guaranteed that product will have changed in some way...new name, new packaging, new logo, new design, new recipe, new purpose, new marketing schpeel, etc. MLP are no different than that. The packaging, style, design about G1 probably felt and looked tired after 10 years. The line was in decline, so rather than continuing on, Hasbro end the line, redesign and relaunch. In the case of G2 that was a flop...in the case of G3 a success.

To be fair, the G2s weren't exactly Hasbro's fault. If you look at the the early G2s, they are actually made by Kenner that was freshly inducted as a Hasbro subsidiary. In simpler terms, Kenner was bought over by Hasbro, and while they retained some of the staff, many of them were Hasbro haters. You can say the design of G2s was a deliberate sabotage on their part and omg such magic they pulled off. I remember this from asking some Hasbro staff at the 2008 pony fair. They said in the first year of the takeover, more than half of the Kenner staff left, and My Little Pony was a minor project to keep the leftovers "busy". Mind you, MLP wasn't a big brand to Hasbro in 1997. They were still chasing movie franchises and losing money. It wasn't about 1999-2000 that they started falling back on their "core brands" to re-position their profits.

I didn't think the G2s were too bad. They weren't what I expected when Hasbro said the ponies have returned. I think most people expected ponies that resemble ponies not some Barbie's pet. lol I will also say, some of their faces aren't too pretty to look at. They do eventually hold a small charm of their own if you are willing to give them a chance. I was actually disappointed when our Hasbro in Singapore said the G2s won't be sold here because they didn't sell well in the USA. We were a much smaller market back then and we took our marketing cues from the USA as the centralised HQ decision. I had to import everything.

The only thing I hate about G2s now is the fact that they are the line that started with the 1 side symbol trend that continued on to the G3s and G4s. One of the most horrible things that can happen to a pony started off with that line. lol

[hathorcat]

G2 didnt have a tv show in Europe either but it continued to run for many years. So I dont think its TV shows to blame for the lack of its presence in the US. As a style it just did not seem to appeal to US buyers and therefore there was no reason for Hasbro US to continue with it. It happens when manufacturers completely miss the mark of their market; anyone else remember Earring Magic Ken [I think this still causes Mattel panic attacks]. 

As for G1, as goddess and Vale have said, it ended because it had had its time. Toys by their very nature are influenced by the style of their times. As a consequence they all have shelf life in how long they will last in a certain style. And thats true of many products and industries. If you have any products in your house which as a brand have been around for longer than a decade [either consistently or without breaks] you can be guaranteed that product will have changed in some way...new name, new packaging, new logo, new design, new recipe, new purpose, new marketing schpeel, etc. MLP are no different than that. The packaging, style, design about G1 probably felt and looked tired after 10 years. The line was in decline, so rather than continuing on, Hasbro end the line, redesign and relaunch. In the case of G2 that was a flop...in the case of G3 a success.

To be fair, the G2s weren't exactly Hasbro's fault. If you look at the the early G2s, they are actually made by Kenner that was freshly inducted as a Hasbro subsidiary. In simpler terms, Kenner was bought over by Hasbro, and while they retained some of the staff, many of them were Hasbro haters. You can say the design of G2s was a deliberate sabotage on their part and omg such magic they pulled off. I remember this from asking some Hasbro staff at the 2008 pony fair. They said in the first year of the takeover, more than half of the Kenner staff left, and My Little Pony was a minor project to keep the leftovers "busy". Mind you, MLP wasn't a big brand to Hasbro in 1997. They were still chasing movie franchises and losing money. It wasn't about 1999-2000 that they started falling back on their "core brands" to re-position their profits.

I didn't think the G2s were too bad. They weren't what I expected when Hasbro said the ponies have returned. I think most people expected ponies that resemble ponies not some Barbie's pet. lol I will also say, some of their faces aren't too pretty to look at. They do eventually hold a small charm of their own if you are willing to give them a chance. I was actually disappointed when our Hasbro in Singapore said the G2s won't be sold here because they didn't sell well in the USA. We were a much smaller market back then and we took our marketing cues from the USA as the centralised HQ decision. I had to import everything.

The only thing I hate about G2s now is the fact that they are the line that started with the 1 side symbol trend that continued on to the G3s and G4s. One of the most horrible things that can happen to a pony started off with that line. lol

This always puzzles me. Lots of companies are taken over or merged with other organisations - Hasbro also took over Milton Bradley and people who transferred from there didnt try and sabotage Connect4 . The implication that new employees would go on to deliberately sabotage something - made by the company that was paying their wages and that had, after all, kept them in a job rather than making them redundant - just seems such an unprofessional implication. Its not like the decision for MLP and design would have been made by a half dozen annoyed employees without someone more senior being involved.

[Al-1701]

You'd be surprised how petty some people can be in business.  And as was stated, Hasbro wasn't banking much on the new MLP line anyway.  They probably figured they would throw something out there and see if it worked or not.

[Carrehz]

You can say the design of G2s was a deliberate sabotage on their part and omg such magic they pulled off.

I... what?

[hathorcat]

You'd be surprised how petty some people can be in business.  And as was stated, Hasbro wasn't banking much on the new MLP line anyway.  They probably figured they would throw something out there and see if it worked or not.

I actually would really would be surprised if this happened. I have been in a company which took over another and merged with a different one, I have had lots of friends and colleagues who have TUPE transferred due to business changes. You can not like the circumstances but to set out to ruin the company which has taken you over? Why? What would be the purpose? You just loose your job then. At the time Kenner was going bust or being taken over by someone, Hasbro kept people in a job and continued to allow the release of Kenner lines. I agree people can be unhappy about the change and actively dislike the circumstances - about being taken over, about working for someone you did not set out to work for initially. But the thought that anyone would be so unprofessional and plain stupid enough to deliberately sabotage a massive money making franchise is pretty extreme and I think overly dramatic.

I can completely see that the line was an afterthought and perhaps did not get the attention it deserved. But if this was sabotage...it failed pretty badly when it came to the international market. MLP may not have been a top seller during G2 but it was successful enough to continue to be produced year after year for Europe. It clearly just was not a big enough seller for the US and therefore got shelved while attention was paid elsewhere.

[Al-1701]

I'm not saying it made logical sense.  Spite never makes logical sense.  I'm just saying there are very petty people out there who will harm themselves and their company to express their malcontent.  If they personally hated Hasbro, they might have figured getting fired wasn't a big deal.