Jump to content

Pony Toy Flaws


Recommended Posts

I just bought a Pinkie Pie from target, and I had some thoughts...

Firstly, the ponies eyes should be much bigger. In the cartoon, the eyes are the focal point of the entire face. On the toys, it looks like the nose is.

Also, they have hardly any hair. If the eyes are not the focal point, then the hair is. But Pinkie, for example, has straight pink hair. Which concerns me, because no Pinkie with straight hair should be anywhere near me. I'm afraid to sleep at night ;)

Got any comments?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!! also Hasbro is known for their inaccracy in portraying the ponies correctly with their toy counterparts. Its sad really I would buy them if not for the fact that they are so utterly wrong. :blah:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This would be all well and good if it weren't for the fact that any animated tie-in is ALWAYS an afterthought and a marketing ploy for Hasbro to sell toys. And in the land of toys marketed to little girls, hair that they can play with and style will always trump exact show accuracy, if that is the main selling point of the toys. With MLP and the like, since they do not have full wardrobes like Polly Pocket does, that's the draw.

People complain and complain and COMPLAIN about the toys and seem to forget that aspect. It's even likely that the toy molds attachments for screen printing the eyes, etc, were even finalized well before the character designs were firmed up on the show.

Just learn to customize yourself if you want a perfectly show-accurate set, because seeing them get exactitude like they do in Pokemon isn't something that's really ever been top on the priorities of Hasbro marketing toys to girls. We might get it, but it'd be a limited edition or an exclusive and folks will complain about that as well. But since this new demographic of people who are fans of the show itself, instead of being limited to people who want vast herds of brushable ponies, is unprecedented with the line, and quite frankly it's not a sure bet as to how long it will last, why would they invest the capital to make every single pony unique and perfectly show accurate?

Now, complaining about offset eyes, I can get behind. Complaining maybe about the colors they chose for Twilight and Luna and Celestia, a definite quick fix. But entirely new molds, unique for each character? Don't see that happening. MLP has always been a "reuse this pose" franchise.

But this, I have no sympathy. I've gone through three entire decades of Hasbro releasing toys for girls not being 100% exact to what I am seeing on the TV. And usually I'm more upset that the character designs on the show are so horrible. We lucked out this time around. The toys are not perfect, but they are much MUCH cuter than g3, and the show's great. We are so SO fortunate that they took a chance on taking the show in that direction, because it is nothing that would have happened a few years ago.

If we didn't have the point of reference of the show having great characters and designs, the toys themselves *are* really nice in the fact that they are well constructed, cute, have nice hair, and don't look like g3.5 monsters.

Baby steps.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My crystal RD/Pinkie keychains only have their cutie marks on one side. Don't get me started about how bad the plushies are.

I think Hasbro is sort of caught in a weird situation, which is why the quality of some of their pony stuff is questionable: some of the toys are designed to be cheap to produce, and cheap for parents to purchase. Part of the "draw" of pony toys was and probably still is brush-able hair -- at least to the target demographic. I can't imagine they'd have the resources to produce brushable manes just like the ones from FiM, so I think that's another toss up.

Maybe we'll see an improvement of quality with a bigger emphasis on accuracy with the future release of the new toys and products. Here's hoping!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I realize this generation of toys came before the show, but the show is more popular and the toys aren't cute. Hasbro is rolling in money, they could make them cuter anytime.

They CAN but is is financially beneficial to them?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was fortunate enough to be able once to see what goes into prototyping a mold for My Little Pony. It's a lot, and the molds have to not break down under years of manufacturing use. Shapes have to be simpler because too many sharp, overhanging corners introduce loads of QA issues (this is likely why the hair on that first set of molded ponies is an entirely different piece)

It's also a lot harder than creating a mold for a McDonalds pony, which is ostensibly two pieces and not meant to last through a long manufacturing run.

But Hasbro REALLY does need to learn to match different types of plastic better *glares at the mismatched head and body of Cadence*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I was a g3 gal, and I had pretty much all the toys. And they were such great quality. They had big, adorable eyes, thick hair, and they were totally durable. You could not break them, not even the wings or horns came off. Their hair was long and silky, and they had cutie marks on each side. They were individual. They were also made from decent plastic!

Now the toys are cheap. So cheap. I don't know a single little girl who enjoys the new ones over the old ones. The little girl I babysit said that hers looked creepy and it broke. Pretty much sums the entire line up. Ugly hair, flimsy wings, misplaced cutie marks, mismatched plastic, and stupid horns. That day I gave her all of my g3s, and I still don't regret it.

BLEGH. HASBRO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I was a g3 gal, and I had pretty much all the toys. And they were such great quality. They had big, adorable eyes, thick hair, and they were totally durable. You could not break them, not even the wings or horns came off. Their hair was long and silky, and they had cutie marks on each side. They were individual. They were also made from decent plastic!

Now the toys are cheap. So cheap. I don't know a single little girl who enjoys the new ones over the old ones. The little girl I babysit said that hers looked creepy and it broke. Pretty much sums the entire line up. Ugly hair, flimsy wings, misplaced cutie marks, mismatched plastic, and stupid horns. That day I gave her all of my g3s, and I still don't regret it.

BLEGH. HASBRO.

As A kid and not a collector for investment (I was most assuredly an adult collector when g2 came out), you may have missed the inconsistency in cutie marks, the sometimes oddly chopped hair, and most distressingly and weird the FINGERPRINTS. It seemed like we were always finding ponies with filthy fingerprints on them in-package.

And pony collectors are a PICKY bunch. this did not go unnoticed among the collectors, and you had to disclose those "manufacturing defects" in your ebay sales. This is why I don't sell ponies anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that you mention it, I did have a Sky Wishes with the weird fingerprints. It was gross. I also had a Sunny Daze once with a messed up Cutie Mark, and a Minty with weird hair. But that was pretty much it, besides those three no defects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...