The San Diego report (unicorns, pony points prog, and more)

LadyM

LadyM

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
955
What's better than finding an exclusive pony at San Diego? Finding the people who actually WORK on the MLP products at Hasbro . . . and grilling them! Mwahahahaaa!

Seriously, though . . . there were at least three people from the MLP part of Hasbro there (including a lady who had previously worked on the Transformers part and said the ponies were "way better") and they were all incredibly nice, even after we (Blazer and I) kept thinking up new questions and heading back day after day.

So . . . the questions I asked are in bold, the answers are in, uh . . . NON-bold. ;)

Does Hasbro still have the G1 (80s) pony molds? Or the rights to those molds?

The guy I talked to wasn't sure about the status of the actual molds, but assured me they still have the rights to them. "We have to protect our copyrights, but we know there are a lot of knock-offs out there," the representative said.

Will there be unicorns?

Yes. (I think they mentioned introducing them just before Christmas, but I could be confusing this with something else. Anyway, they definitely said there would be a lot of new stuff just before Christmas.

Will there be any more pegasus babies in Honolulu's mold?

Probably, but not too many because they want to keep the pegasi "special."

Will there be boy ponies?

Okay, let me just give you the complete conversation as I recall it.

Me: Will there be any boys?

Hasbro guy: There aren't any plans for boy ponies, but there will be a boy . . . I don't know for sure that there will be a toy of him, though, he might just be in the cartoon.

Me: *confused pause* Soooo, like . . . a human boy, or . . . ? (*mentally* NOOOOOO!)

Hasbro guy: No, Spike is a dragon.

Me: Spike?!

Hasbro guy: He's a dragon, but I don't know if there will be a toy of him or not.

Me: OMG.

Will the mail order program be discontinued?

No, but it will be overhauled. The pony points will be dumped in favor of codes (?) included on/with the boxes, that can be redeemed at Hasbro's site. (I'm kind of fuzzy on what they were talking about . . .)

Are the Seaside babies Euro exclusive?

Yes. There are plans for a free baby promotion to be included with the purse ponies in the spring, though. (Different babies.)


UNICORNS! Rejoice!

Oh, also . . . one of the ladies there was wearing a Truly shirt one day. I asked about it and she said there would be new merchandise like that hitting the stores. She mentioned Target specifically.

Edit: Oh, dur, how could I forget? The Pony Project! I'm sure everyone's seen the Con exclusive Pony Project pony on eBay by now . . . or "Bobbie Zombie", as I affectionately call mine. In case you haven't noticed from the pictures, she's unique among G3s in several ways:

- Her eyes are comprised of pink, pupil-less hearts (no eyelashes, either)

- She has no heart hoof.

- She has a symbol on BOTH SIDES of her body. Nice to know that it's possible for Hasbro to do that, even if they usually don't.

The Pony Project itself is this:

Hasbro gave a number of artists a large white pony with white hair. It's completely blank, no eyes, nothing. Then the artists all get to customize/decorate their pony however they choose. They had an example one at the 'Con dressed as a schoolgirl. It was one of a kind and had a price tag of $4000.00.

The rest are going to be unveiled in New York, I believe in October. (Also, I asked the girl at the booth if Hasbro had contacted the artists or if the artists had contacted Hasbro, and they said it was the artists' idea and Hasbro had jumped on the bandwagon enthusiastically. Rock on!)

~LM~
 
So if the points program is going to change, does this mean that the 400 and some odd points I have will be invalid? That will make me one unhappy pony. I am excited for unicorns but the dragon thing seems a bit odd. Like what will he do in Ponyville, run the cell phone store?
 
*dies* I can't wait to see spike! it's really gonna tick me off though if he's pink again....
Also! The comic con pony.... my aunt went to the con. and boughtme TWO! count 'em, TWO! I don't get them tillmy b-day and x-mas though...... :oops: I hope the first uni is yellow..... with pink hair.... not enough ponies those colors! ^_^ *dances around yellow and pink ponies*
And I really hope they don't kill the pointsthing for a long time.... I have too many and it'll just make me scream if I have no use for them...... :x
 
So if the points program is going to change, does this mean that the 400 and some odd points I have will be invalid? That will make me one unhappy pony
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I really dont like the sound of the "reordering" the points program...im quite content the way it is..plus if my points become invalid at the end of this month i will be so PISSED off!

Spike? as in spike the dragon?? *is confused* they are gonna rerelease him?? :shock: are they gonna reissue princess ponies too?? i would like some g3 princesses besides royal ribbon

im more confused now then i was before i read this post...
 
I was hoping from the beginning that they'd do the pony points program with codes, because it is much easier to track and enables much faster processing, so this sounds great to me.

I'm guessing Spike will probably be a tie-in to the Unicorns, probably in the video that comes with the first unicorn if the trend continues. Dragons and unicorns go hand in hand, no? Probably something like the enchanted forest bit.

Weren't the "UK Exclusive" babies just recently spotted in New Zealand? Does that count as the UK?

These are all really fun things!
 
yay! Unicorns! my favorite! I love spike, he's so adorable! thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks for getting and posting all this info! I'm excited about the unicorns. However, I really wish those Euro exclusive babies would be released here too. But I guess it makes them special for those who live in Europe. :)
 
Hi there,

Oh dear. No more Pony Points? This makes me think of a song... :p

(To the tune of "Where Have The Unicorns Gone?" from "Return Of Tambelon Part One")

Where have the Pony Points gone?
Where are those magical papers now?
Once apon a time they frolicked near,
Hasbro just made them disappear!
...
I keep looking high and low,
They're no where at my Toys 'R' Us!
I search every store shelf that I know...
Oh what has Hasbro done to us?
...
Bring back the Pony Points please!
Don't say they've taken their final bow!
I still need a form to mail apon,
Tell me where have our Pony Points gone?
Oh Where have our Pony Points gone!

Heehee, ahem. Case closed. :lol:

-- Yuixe
 
Yay, Spooky happy about unicorns!! *pokes nearest unicorn* And Spike!! Huzzah, dragons are cool! I'm hoping for some big, real-life-like, kinda scary, big-bat-winged dragon, not chibi dragons, nothing against them, but, well, them ditzy G3's need somepersons big & tuff to watch Ponyville for 'em while they run cigar, I mean candy, shops. But yay, dragon!! And yay, it's a boy!! Wait, if he's the only boy, will we begin seeing half pony, half dragons soon?? o_O

PS, say, any of you UK people wanna swap ponies?? I can get most of 'em out, you can get the Seaside Babies for me... :D *plug*
 
silverfall said:
I'm also a bit curious about what they're plans are, but I suspect unicorns will be in the general line? Wouldn't they want something that delicious out on all the shelves where they can be snatched up amid all the hype? Like Star Catcher?
Click to expand...

Yes, I suspect a Star Catcher like introduction too. (Star Catcher was just sold to gauge the popularity of the pegasus concept, BTW. I asked, heh heh!) Wow, I can't wait! The line is so overwhelmed by earth ponies at the moment!

~LM~
 
Taffeta said:
Spooky said:
PS, say, any of you UK people wanna swap ponies?? I can get most of 'em out, you can get the Seaside Babies for me... :D *plug*
Click to expand...

If they'd start to sell the seaside babies here, then i'd be more'n happy to pick them up for people. They just aren't here yet. I have emailed hasbro UK and am going to try and phone them this week if I can get any sense out of them but they're usually less well informed than we are :S So I don't hold out huge hopes :S

Taffeta
Click to expand...

Have fun getting a straight answer out of 'em! :wink: They'll probably eventually reach ya, in 6 months... but I can wait!! o_O Maybe.
 
diet otaku said:
gauge the popularity of the peg concept? as if there was any doubt?!
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing, but I just bit my tongue and smiled and nodded and bought more convention ponies. ;)

~LM~
 
...

WOO! Thanks for posting this, LM! Very exciting stuff.

I'm also glad they aren't doing guy ponies, in a way. Cuz making guy molds down the road would make the ponies I already swapped genders look even girlier than they already do. :p

Points? Codes? Doesn't matter to me! As long as they have some great mail order ponies, I'm all for more effective programs.

The unicorns will be fun. I am glad they had the forsight to limit the pegasi and unicorns in the line. It DOES make them more special.

..and the thing about waiting for something, is that once it finally arrives, the wait is pretty much moot.
 
Cuz making guy molds down the road would make the ponies I already swapped genders look even girlier than they already do.
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I agree! Sheesh, it's bad enough with Seaspray. That's the least feminine mold ever.

~LM~
 
LadyM said:
Cuz making guy molds down the road would make the ponies I already swapped genders look even girlier than they already do.
Click to expand...

I agree! Sheesh, it's bad enough with Seaspray. That's the least feminine mold ever.

~LM~
Click to expand...

Indeed, it wouldn't do for me to have girly guys & guy-guys. I've converted many a G3 into guys, I mean, where do the kids come from?? o_O Though, I explain it by saying there's a recessive trait, smooth-hooves and hairy-hooves in the guys. The G1's are the parents of G2's & G3's, so, um, there's hoof-traits there. Yeah. 0.O
 
silverfall said:
That's what happened to me with G1. Even at a young age, I just naturally thought some of the ponies were boys. Firefly, Minty, Glory, Applejack, etc. When the Mountain Boys came out, I figured they just like the natural hairy feet look and the rest of them opted to shave. Mwha!
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Applejack ain't no boy, child! What you talkin' bout?! Shaving is another option, didn't consider that one. But, how would you shave that much hair off?? o_O Hairy feet sounds kinda gross, when ya think about it, hairy FEET, as in, Bigfoot/Yeti (though they call me Yeti at school/church, and my feet aren't hairy), but I know what you mean. I can't bring myself to switch any pony's gender except a G3's, cause they don't have guys in the line, or at least Hasbro-official guys. I just make all the G1's/G2's have identical brothers to account for all the kids/mares. I have a very developed society for my ponies, in which Applejack is important, and a girl. :tongue: She can be a boy to you all, but she'll always be a girl to me! :wink:
 
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