Dominic wrote:Wait, you are talling me that there are Fan Project pony parts.....
Prowl, you are really not helping. I am trying to cut back on toys. I am months behind in my customizing.... And, now, you tell me that one of the biggest hurdles to pony projects has an effective workaround...
It's not even really a workaround. It's just...what you do.
So, what Pony forums do you recommend?
Can't say. Only place I really talk/lurk around talk about Ponies is 4chan's /co/ and occasionally /toy/. Fun stuff and entertaining (and often horrifying) images, you just have to sort of mentally filter out all the bullshit. I don't really have any desire to join a dedicated forum for the series; I'm really just in it for a fun cartoon. I only know what I do about customizing because of the aforementioned customizer friend (she made me a Lunar 2 Leo Pony, which is awesome). Like I said, I'm sure you could Google around and find answers to your questions or a place where you could get advice. Quit sheltering yourself, it's the Internet! What's the worst you could find?
Not really! I mean, some, but you know. It's easy to avoid, you just scroll past it. /co/ and /toy/ are supposed to be mostly-work-safe boards anyway, so.
At '09 Botcon, the topic of MLP came up during the G1 cartoon writers panel, so I suppose there is some justification to have a MLP thread on our TF site. I personally haven't watched MLP, but I did enjoy one of the G1 writers telling the tale of how he had to convince the execs that there had to be conflicts in the show because they wanted ponies being nice and just playing every single episode and couldn't understand that conflict is the heart of drama.
See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
They are not, for I do not watch MLP and only have a passing familiarity due to this thread and /co/. It was reblogged on a furry dude I know's Tumblr. (Yes, I know and follow the work of a furry dude, if only because he's a cool dude, isn't weird about it, and makes pretty neat music. In fact, it's mostly the music. I try not to look too hard at all the fox penii on his Tumblr.)
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
Well, no new comics this week. And, I really do not feel like reviewing any PCC figures. And, I am still wrestling with the idea of opening Wheeljack and Thundercracker. (Of course, I have extra copies of those coming in soonish. So, I might open the ones I have.)
That being said, I may as well review some MLP.
From a marketing and sales angle, "My Little Pony" is very similar to "Transformers". The toy line has several price-points and scales as well as media support in the form of a cartoon. As is the case with "Transformers", the prices and toy sizes correspond. But, unlike "Transformers", which has a dominant price point, "My LIttle Pony" has a dominant scale. While there are clear deviations from this, proportionally more of the toys are made to be scaled to each other than to simply fit a price point. As with "GI Joe" or "Star Wars", there are larger toys at the same scale. Though the larger MLP toys are likely to come with "regular" figures.)
As I am not sure what the "My Little Pony" terms are, I am going to break this down in "Transformers" terms. The prices are a bit lower for the pony toys, likely as a function of the relative simplicity and redundancy of the moulding.
-Legends: There is a gift pack consisting of smaller scaled figures that sells for ~$20 and could be parsed out as being roughly the same as Legends.
-Scouts: So far, everything at this price looks to be in the same scale. It is possible to get the entirely of the main cast in this set. (And, they are all available more or less at the same time, in the same place. I am pretty sure that I could have picked them up at the same time had I started at Target.) Sets at this price point consist of a pony, a critter, a saddle for the critter, and a comb. (More on the comb later.)
-Deluxes: I have only seen 2 sets at this price point. Both include one main character, (Pinky or Fluttershy), and a character appropriate setting. Pinky comes with a smaller pony, Flutter with several animals. What strikes me about this and the Voyager scale playsets is that they include standard variants of main characters that are otherwise available. While this could require people to buy multiples of the same figure, it also makes it easier to get certain characters, and ensures that a kid who gets a set has the right characters for it. Something else that I am noticing is that the playsets actually include, for lack of a better term, infrastructure. For example, the Fluttershy set includes food for the animals. Older "GI Joe" sets used to do this regularly. But, aside from recycled moulding, they tend not do this now. Old "Treansformers" bases tended not to include much in the way of infrastructer. (Long Haul may have been designated as the guy who carried supplies. But, what was he carrying, and where was he bringing it?)
-Voyagers: This is much the same as the Deluxe scale. A main character is packaged with either a vehicle or playset. The only bit of real bastardry I can see in this case is that Applejack has a hat while the single carded figure does not. Much of this price point is scaled to the "regular" ponies. But, there are larger scaled ponies that have more ornate accessories and such.
-Ultras: Unless there is something I am missing, the line tops out at the Ultra Price Point. The two toys are both at the "regular" scale. . Princess Celestia is a large figure with electronics that towers over the regular ponies and is packaged in a "try me" box. Twilight is packaged with a hot air balloon and her dragon cohort. (This is the only way I know of to get Spike in scale with the regular figures, essentially requiring a completist to buy this set. If I make a custom using Twilight, I might actually buy this set, just to round out the cast.)
All of the packages have a short character note and description of the toys on the back.
The pony figures themselves are fairly consistent. There are 2 body moulds (with and without wings) and 2 head moulds (with and without unihorns). Recolouring and mould sharing allow for 8 possible combinations, of which Hasbro has used 6. (The only official characters with both wings and a unihorn are Celestia and Luna/Nightmare.) The ponies themselves stand about 3 inches tall, are moulded in softish plastic and have one point of articulation at the neck. The over-all lack of moulded detail is a possible challenge to customizers, as they will be unable to rely on moulded lines to guide their paint.
One huge point of failure for MLP figures is the rooted hair. Besies the prospect of the hair coming out, (this happened to my Fluttershy when I took the damned thing out of the package), it also has to be maintained. It is a safe bet that pony collector web sites have tutorials about preserving/restoring damaged pony hair. The combs are something between toy accessory and tool for maintaining the toys. (It was actually necessary for me to come Applejack's and Rainbow's hair as it got mussed up when I opend their packaging. Granted, this is better than chipping/schmootzed paint on a TF. But, I do not like combing my own hair, never mind a toy's hair.)
General thoughts:
As general representations of the characters, "My Little Pony" does a solid job. The figures are discinctive, and have enough detail to give audiences some idea about the character's schtick. That fact that much of this is achieved with paint is very impressive. That fact that the moulding is not obviously vague or mis-used, (as has often been the case with recent "GI Joe" toys), is also impressive.
However, as representations of the characters from the cartoon, the current figures are lacking. The "Legends" type figures are not as offensive in this regard. But, Applejack is missing her hat, which is a problem. (I am seriously considering getting a Terry Funk figure and using that hat for my Applejack. Or I could buy a crappy hat-less Undertaker and start an "action figures packaged without vital accessories" support group.)
From a marketing angle, another possible problem is the lack of characters. I am the last person to complain about being able to get a complete set of something quickly and easily. But, there is something to be said for having a broad range of figures.
Many collectors, myself included, gripe about being offered the same characters every other wave. But, TF collectors can usually gripe about there being too many Bumblebee figures while looking for a Wheeljack or Thundercracker. (Granted we cannot always find the new figures. But, Hasbro at least produces them.) The line could benefit from including more secondary characters. (Rather than making Twilight with a balloon, why not make Rarity with the sea serpent? And, as much as I love Fluttershy's garden, why not make Twilight with her library and package a Flutteryshy with the Manticore?)
