Yuixe said:
Hi there,
Now, now, everyone.... ponies were not originally made for collectors. They were made for little GIRLS who like PINK and BUTTERFLIES and PURPLE and all that stuff. You should be happy that Hasbro has even done as much as they have for us - look at this:
Points Program: Mainly for collectors.
New Pegasus: Because of collectors.
SDCC Pony: Mainly for Collectors.
Rarity the Unicorn (coming soon...): Because of collectors wanting Unicorns.
Plastic Tail Bolts: Because of Collectors.
... And that's just off the top of my head. There's probably more still.
Did you ever consider that? If you ask me, Hasbro has been very gracious to us in places where they could have never done anything for us at all.
-- Yuixe
Oh, I'd disagree with that. The pegasi and unicorns aren't because of collectors; they're because pegasi and unicorns sell with little girls. The points program is not specifically meant for collectors and we don't really know if they are the ones using it the most. And non-rusting plastic washers would be more of a boon for children than collectors--collectors are less likely to bathe with their ponies every night and more likely to know to let them dry out.
(Plus Hasbro is only using the plastic washers sporadically; many of the newest ponies don't have them. Take it from someone who spent ten minutes prying the metal clasp off Citrus Sweetheart's tail for a custom.)
Hasbro really doesn't pander to MLP collectors at all. That's not necessarily
bad, because the products they make are cute anyway, but I'm just sayin' . . .
The only "made for collectors" item I can think of are pre-release Bay Breeze and the SDCC pony (both of which were very nice, especially the SDCC one.)
Now, the Transformers line is a different story. There are far more TF collectors than MLP collectors, and I believe that TF collectors actually make up a pretty large percentage of the TF market (whereas the vast majority of MLPs are bought for little girls.) So they get reissues and homages through names, color schemes, and statistics, as well as several exclusive TFs at Botcon every year. In recent years there have been tons of TF G1 comics, plus tradepaperback collections of old comics. They're always talking about doing a G1 TF movie. I'm really very jealous of the TF community!
Transformers fans are also the most demanding group of toy collectors I've ever come across . . . When one G1 TF was reissued--I can't remember if it was G1 Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus--large groups of them flipped out because Hasbro had made the smokestacks on the vehicle mode larger (which they had to do to meet federal safety regulations.) OMG, NOT BIGGER SMOKESTACKS!! All I could think was, "Booooy, try being a MLP fan, guys."
~LM~