For those of you who got into ponies with G4...

[Rainbowrific Renia]

How did you end up liking older gens (if you do)?  I've noticed that G4 gets a lot of dislike from people on here, which makes me a little sad since I wouldn't care for MLP at all if it weren't for Friendship is Magic.  Although I totally agree that seeing re-re-re-re-releases of the mane 6 is getting very old. 

I'm a 90s kid through and through, so MLP wasn't really a popular thing when I was growing up.  When I first started to notice ponies, around the time of G3, I thought "Eeek, these are too girly for me!"  But now, as a 25 year old, I can't imagine my life without my G4s and G1s.  Even when I started to see more of what G1 looked like, I wasn't entirely impressed.  They just weren't as cute as G4, or at least that's what I thought at the time...

I have the Arena to thank for my love of G1.  I didn't start collecting them until I became a regular poster here last August.  I spotted a Night Glider and knew she was the only G1 for me!  She was the first one I ended up purchasing, too.

Now I have... about 30 different G1s, I think?  I'm obsessed. I've even watched the Rescue at Midnight Castle special and I've been watching the My Little Pony Tales episodes.

So, for anyone who was introduced to the world of ponies thanks to FiM, how did you end up getting into G1/G2/G3?

[Jordan]

for me, I think it was the idea of Lauren Faust using her childhood ponies to make these amazing stories, so of course I did some research of what they looked like and looked into some other ones too,

When FiM ends and there's no new toys coming out and / or they're making a new series I"ll probably will get into buying gen 1 since I have so many rescued G3's 

[CupidStrikes]

I ended up liking the older gens I think from realising how many G4 characters were inspired/based on them, and finding the interesting designs of the older gens ^^ G4 will always be my favourite, but G1 was definitely a lot better in terms of sheer diversity and numbers, though given how limited my space is, the re-releases do give me some breathing room

[Twilight Pink]

G4 only got me back into pony collecting. My heart will always be with G3 if you think they're too girly, then that's where your imagination comes in 

I've branched out to G1, I like some of them, I now own a few, but I feel they aren't really the generation for me 
Same goes for G4, but now I kinda have the "Get all of em NOW" mentality with em. I currently have all the G4 brushable ponies until the new ones comes out. So ya, G4 is within my herd too :3 plus the pony style is easier to draw 

[Rainbowrific Renia]

G4 only got me back into pony collecting. My heart will always be with G3 if you think they're too girly, then that's where your imagination comes in 

Well, I said I thought they were too girly.  This was like... 10 years ago. I'm still not big into G3, but I get their appeal now!  Maybe once I collect all the G1s I want, I'll venture into G3.

[rebm19]

I wouldn't have started collecting ponies as actively as I do now if it weren't for FiM, but I also collect G3 and I have a weak spot for the sea ponies. I just think that there is more effort put into the G3s and so many ti collect. Their paint job is much more detailed and varied, as are their poses (plus their eyes are gorgeous!),  but I'm not really into any other generations, except for of course, the sea ponies. Because they are just too cute

[Niksilp]

I got into collecting with G4. I actually didn't really like the look of the older gens at first but they've grown on me. I have a G1 Applejack now and there are a few other older gen ponies I want too.

[pupp3rmint]

Like you mention, I like FiM a lot, I do like the toys we have even if they are veeeery cheap, but I don't like the fact that it's mostly re-releases of the mane 6 over and over. I wanted a bigger variety of ponies to choose from! I saw a really cheap G3 Silver Glow on eBay by chance and I couldn't help myself, I wanted to give this toy a new home so bad. Something about the cute little wings? I'm not sure.

Interestingly, I didn't find the previous gens appealing until around last year actually. I never really disliked them or anything, I just didn't find them as cute (at first). G3's huge range of colors and how inexpensive they usually are pulled me in, and then I just fell in love with G1 somehow (like I think most people would). There's so many cool ones, I realized, like the So Softs (I love flocked toys) and the Twinkle Eye ponies. I don't have any G1s yet, but I'm planning on getting my first one soon. :3
That said, I still like G4 the best because of the show, it's what I started with pony-wise, and I like how small everything is (toys, characters, etc).

[Nebula Light]

My life with ponies started when I would go to my cousin's farm. She always had a huge thing for horses, and of course she had the prettiest pony toys around, including mlp, which were G1's. I absolutely adored them, realizing they had a certain charm.
I ended up getting G2's for my birthday one year. I liked their form a lot more then G1, but there is just something about G1 that can't be topped.
I really didn't care too much for G3 or G3.5. That is when ponies drifted away, and I focused more on my love for dinosaurs and pokemon (which I still love just as much  )

If it were not for FiM, I would not have started collecting ponies again. One day during my pony resurgence, I stopped by a now out-of-business thrift store and found four G1 ponies and I just...fell head over heals. You can't beat G1 quality and love. I don't know what it is about them!

My favorites are G4 and G1. I recently got some G3's and they are growing on me, so many different colors! I know a bit about the FiM universe, but I want to appreciate the history behind these toys more and I feel like I need to delve into G1 to fully appreciate them because I'm also a 90s kid lol. 

[aluke]

Definitely custom ponies are what drew me in to older generations. I don't remember how, but I discovered custom ponies, before G4 was a thing, and thought it was an amazing idea to breath new life into toys. I never really noticed/looked into actual Hasbro ponies then, but it was the first time I ever looked twice at MLP in general (they were never part of my childhood, and my only real exposure to them as a kid were the ear grating G3 commercials...I still can't stand the MLP jingle). Admittedly though, as much as I loved the customs themselves, I really didn't care for the pony molds/shapes (I have no idea what gen I saw, probably a mix of 1-3?).

Then I completely forgot about them and MLP until G4. When I started getting into the toys, I remembered all those pretty customs I was admiring years back, and started looking at G4 customs. Which led to looking at older gen customs, then older gen Hasbro ponies in general, and, well, this time I did like them.

[Violet CLM]

I like G3 (albeit not G3.5) a fair amount, though some of the poses look better than others. G2 I have no real opinions about, since they pretty much just look like horses. G1 I don't care too much for either the toys or the cartoon.

[zombienixon]

I actually got into the older gens because of a brony streaming site, of all places. On rare occasions they'd  show some G1 episodes, and I was there when they showed Rescue at Midnight Castle, which got me wanting to watch more G1.  They also showed some G3 a few times (the night before "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" came out, for one), and I saw that (with the exception of the Newborn Cuties shorts), it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be.  Dull, at worst, but not unwatchable.

I didn't really get into the older toys until after I joined here.  And the original reason I joined was because I had this 3D printed model I had made I was trying to sell, and I was trying to get as many people as possible to see it. I still have it (I could never sell it...), but I ended up sticking around here because I liked that it was focused on the toys.

I didn't start to want any G3s until I saw some pictures of them here and thought that they were pretty cute, and the low prices kind of sealed the deal.  I don't have any G1s yet, but I'm hoping to get some soon, once I get my display shelves all sorted out.

[ladybastilla]

I had a few g1 as a child, but was much more into Barbie when it came to toys. I didn't get to see the g1 cartoon during childhood, definitely because we had one TV and I had two brothers, and possibly because it may or may not have aired here. (I don't know.)

I got into FiM because my boyfriend's brother wanted a Pinkie Pie Funko Pop when I sent a Valentines box to my bf & his family. Curious why my bf's 18 year old brother would want an MLP toy, I decided to check out FiM for myself. It quickly became one of my favorite modern cartoons and I hope to get all the seasons on DVD eventually.

This all happened during the winter when it can be hard for me to get out and go shopping. When I finally did get to go and buy some pony toys, I was (and still am!) shocked at how tiny they are! And as I have expanded my collection, studied the history of various pony generations and brought ponies from different generations into my home, G4's place in my collection has largely gone down.

Why?

Repetitive characters. We've talked about this in many threads, so I won't elaborate too much here.

Lifeless poses. The ponies don't really feel like they have personality to me. They just kinda blankly stare forward. I find this kinda shocking since they come from a show with such neat characters. It's really too bad.

The show damaging the toy line. Because it focuses on a core group of ponies, the developers of the toy line do not feel the need to give the toys any real story or depth. This leads to repeat releases. It also leads to totally blank slate side ponies who have nothing but color scheme and cutie mark to sell them.

Bland color palette. Every yellow pony tends to be the same shade of yellow. Every blue pony tends to be the same shade of blue. etc. Or at least they seem to stay within certain hue perimeters. One of the things I love about g1 and g3 (can't speak for g2 as I don't own any yet) is how varied and quirky the colors can be. I'm doing a private swap right now with a color theme. My partner and I both chose blue for this and despite that the lists we made (and the differences in appearance of the ponies on them) is extremely vast.

Weird design choices. Ponymania. The flower ponies with huge black outlines coming out soon. Plastic vs. cloth clothing. G1 did some really quirky and potentially weird things, but those (to me) seem interesting. When G4 does something weird it tends to be more of a 'why did they decide that?!'.

Too much focus is put on other stuff, like blind bags and Equestria Girls, and I don't think that helps the quality and creativity of the pony line. It may help Hasbro's bottom line, which is likely the only reason ponies are still around, but those two concepts are not one and the same.

In short: G4 has my favorite MLP media, but my least favorite MLP toys.

[Prince_Sunbeam]

My interest for other generations actually came about on a Facebook group I joined to sell some of my G4 stuff. I saw other people posting and selling G1 ponies and the rainbow ponies really caught my eye. So I bought one to really check it out for myself, and also bought the movie/series to really get a feel for what G1 was really like compared to G4. Once I'd gotten through all the videos I was hooked! And now I've started branching out to G3s because their colors are so bright and varied!

[Sparkle Pony]

If I remember correctly, I found a link to the My Little Wiki from the FiM wiki at one point.  I was really struck be how detailed and clean the site was, and even more than that the ponies caught me eye.  Eventually, I decided to sit down and go through every single pony on MLW (I know, crazy).  It took me weeks, but what an adventure!  So many colors and crazy ideas, I was in love!  The little backcard stories were so charming too...  It made me realize something, the G4 toyline is BLAND.  After that, I watched all of the old cartoons and eyed some of the older ponies at what can best be described as a "nerd store".  One day I just broke down and bought two G3 ponies, Merriweather and Moondancer.  Holding them in my hands and cleaning them up is something I will not forget anytime soon.  Same day, I joined the Arena and never looked back.  Pretty surprising coming from a girl who actively hated G3 in her elementary school years!