Tell me all about G4

[Tzan19]

So last week I found my self adding a cutie mark magic rarity that was in the reduced section in to my supermarket trolley (I am fond of rarity).  She was the first G4 I have bought.  Yesterday whilst having a look about for prices the rest of the set, I noticed tru were doing buy one get one half prices on ponies....payday today and I have returned home with 5 rainbow magic(? They have glitter hair?),and another 3 cutie mark magic ponies    but they were £2.99 each at buy one get one half price which I thought was a bargain! I think this is going to spur the start of a G4 collection to run along side my g1s....

Anyway I know absolutely nothing about G4, I have had a look at the guide hathhorcat created which is fab.  I think to be honest I would only go as far as to collect the single brushable figures, I don't think I can be trusted to leave them mib  and there is no way I will keep track of accessories   (sorry to all you mib people I envy you buy have to be realistic and honest with myself  )

The thing is that with the G1 and G3 ponies each pony is quite obviously different, where as I gat the impression that until you start getting into the more recent waves of G4 where they have glitter hair, patterns etc.  From what I can see on the guides the main difference with the earlier G4 waves is the accessories (unless it's a different character pony obviously).  Am I missing something?  I guess what I am getting at is how would you tell the difference between a rarity that was from wave 1 and one from say wave 5 if you were only looking at a loose figure?

Also I have seen figures on eBay from China that are quite obviously fake and are not branded but then others that say they are hasbro or in the us style clear bags, what's the story with these?

Experts please enlighten me 

[Sunset]

You can't generally tell the difference between waves unless there is an obvious difference like the tinsle hair.  To be honest, most of the mane 6 characters are never going to be worth much because they are so ubiquitous.  There are a few exceptions like Fashion Style AJ who has had only one regular release in the states.   The only more sought after playful size versions of the mane 6 are the earlier releases with the bangs ( because they are more "show accurate"). Other than that most people aren't fussed about which wave the pony comes from.

[TornadoTwist]

Here's another guide which also has plush, comics and other items: http://data.mlpmerch.com/ We've even added items which are yet to be released for the end of this year/ begin 2016.

First Wave (Original Series) Regular Brushables with pets.
Travel Wave (Original Series) Regular Brusables with Pets and a Travel Case
Pony Wedding Singles: Wedding themed item and invitation
Crystal Empire Singles: Tinsel in Hair
Crystal Princess Celebration Singles: Regular Hair, Paper Mask no markings.
Rainbow Power Singles: Half Tinsel Hair (Horrible IMO) Normal Body
Rainbow Power Neon Singles: Markings on Legs and eyes, Neon Colored Hair
Cutie Mark Magic Singles: Comes with Cutie Mark Charm, Cutie Mark all over Legs and over one eye.
Cutie Mark Magic Ribbon Hair Singles: Comes with a bracelet and a Ribbon in their manes with their Cutie Mark on it. Normal Body
Explore Equestria Singles: Regular Brushables with a Tiara

[zombienixon]

Well, if you have a favorite character, G4 is perfect for building up an army, because of all of the variant releases, and the different kinds of toys (plush, EqG, POP, blind bag, etc.)

[Tzan19]

Thanks guys that helped.  Had a look at the other guide which was great....and never thought of a rarity army.  I might go with getting together the mane 6 brushables and then a rarity army. 

[hathorcat]

The one joy of G4 (although its also something people will rightfully bemoan) is that here are not hundreds of unique characters. So if you decided to collect just one of every playful size pony release you would have a nice variety of ponies but not have to track down crazy numbers of them.

And thanks for your comment on the guide - it does need updated which I will get to next month - we have listed pretty much everything G4 in there category wise