- Joined
- May 31, 2022
- Messages
- 619
Welcome everypony to the official thread for:
Hello friends! I am pleased to announce that we are now far enough along with this project and close enough to the final product for it to be time for an official thread here on MLPTP!
First of all we have the . . . (drumroll) . . . LOGO REVEAL! So excited to show this to you all. I have spent an unreasonable amount of time hunting down similar fonts and learning about typography with terminology like ligatures and swashes in order to craft this logo as close to the 90's style as possible. The original font either doesn't exist in any findable capacity, or my theory is it was actually hand-lettered and based on a couple of popular fonts with some added flare and isn't actually a full font. (If anyone wants a highly specific lecuture on the G2 fonts and my quest to find and replicate them let me know!) . . . Anyway, please bask in her logo-y glory because I'm very pleased with the final result!
Second announcement: Rough release timeline (subject to change, keep up to date with the post for the latest information)
March - April 2024:
- Website launch! I have had the domain purchased for some time now and I'm hoping to build the site over the course of this month and launch it ASAP. I am hoping for it to have a nostalgic 90's feel but with modern functionality and accessibility. It will have full e-shop features with international shipping, as well as digital content sales, a blog, information page, contact page and more! This will be the main hub to get your ponies from me in the UK, but we will also be launching the ponies with at minimum the lovely @darklys as our USA / North American distributor for international buyers! If anyone is interested in becoming an international distributor we would love you to have on board so please drop me a message.
- Smaller products and digital products launch on the website. I've been working on crafting some G2 inspired merch such as jewellery, accessories and hopefully even some stickers, stationery and fashion items. I am hoping to 'soft launch' the website with these products while we wait for the 'mane event' to launch. I am also hoping to offer some digital downloads such as hand drawn colouring pages, pony art and digital art assets for other creators, potentially even a fully formed font bundle based on my research. Grab yourself some goodies and help me fund the launch costs and website costs!
- Social media launch. This one is fairly self explanatory but I'm hoping to launch social platforms for the project and products (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Tumblr). Don't worry, this thread and the website will also have all the up to date information, but why not pretty up your feeds with some pony nostalgia?
- Actual product reveal!!! This is the big one! What has been going on the past year during product development? Essentially, an extremely detailed back and forth between myself and the UK toymakers to perfect the ponies. This has been a long process of them working on a 3D model, sending it to me for feedback, making corrections and repeat, repeat, repeat. Why has this taken so long? Well, the models are tweaked by the company's inhouse artists but also require consultation from the technical professionals too. It hasn't been as simple as just casting a mold from the originals, especially because we've worked on perfecting design features with customisation specifically in mind. I'm hoping to post a blog about the whole process eventually, but I have applied my eye for detail and perfectionist tendancies to ensure these products are deeply authentic, detailed to perfection, and functional for customisation too! We're talking specifics like 'can you move the tail hole 1mm to the left' and 'the nostril holes need slightly more depth' - details that I hope will be worth the wait! We are just finishing what I believe is going to be THE final, 100% perfect product model complete with no detail overlooked; we're talking G2 Redo specific branding, eye indents perfectly chiseled to fit eye gems (with the perfect fit of gem also being available on the website), soft hoof fur swirls, premade tail hole, mane rooting guides and more!
- Physical production begins. Once you all see and hopefully love the product renders from the 3D models as much as I do, it's time for them to become reality AT LAST! The rotocasting mould will be produced, it will be an absolutely huge steel beast full of pony head and body shaped holes ready to be filled with PVC and spun around. Science! Eastimated timeline is that making the mould will take about a month, and that then getting 1000 ponies made from it will take another month-ish.
- It's pony time!!! If everything goes according to plan, I expect the ponies to have finished production around June! They'll arrive to me in my home. That's right! 1000 ponies delivered to my door! Some will be flying off to international distributors, and the rest will be stock on the main website! And hopefully, then they'll be yours and I will get to see all your wonderful pony creations. I will also be celebrating this amazing victory of community spirit and support, probaby crying a bit, and in my mind I'll be diving into a vat of ponies like Scrooge McDuck with his money pool.
- Full customising experience and support. These ponies are for everyone, and I don't want people to feel as though there is a barrier to entry for creating and customising your own ponies. I am committed to affordable pricing for a start, but also will be using the website to provide everything you need to start or continue your DIY pony journey! Eye gems, rooting tools and hair, other tools and essentials, and hopefully eye and cutie mark 'stamps' which I'm prototyping right now will be available on the shop so that everything you need can come in one pony package. Additionally, tutorials will be available to help crafters on their journey from absolute beginner to how to take your ponies up a notch with special effects and mane and tail styling! After all, one of the main points of this project is to firstly offer blank canvas ponies so you can build your pony army, customise and make mistakes to your heart's delight without worry of damaging a vintage piece, and to encourage the preservation of vintage ponies as collector's items by offering customisers purpose made products! Modern materials mean these ponies will have better longevity, easier customisation, and won't suffer so much from issues working with older plastic can provide (looking at you, notoriously sticky plasticiser leaking Queen Sun Sparkle).
Due to both family committments and the fact that production timelines can change, I've decided not to apply for an official stall for UK Ponycon this year. It's almost certain that the ponies will be fully made by October, but in the chance production is delayed I don't want to be stuck at an empty table for a weekend! I will almost certainly be attending though as I love the event and would to meet up with people there!
I would love if other vendors wanted to stock some ponies for their stalls though! If anyone is interested in stocking some please message me!
I also fully intend to apply for a stall for Ponycon 2025! This year is just a no-go sadly!
Final note: The future!
This first run of G2 Redo ponies will be the ponies in the 'Sky Skimmer' pose as discussed on the 'G2 Custom Blanks' thread that started it all in 2022. Custom blanks are hopefully going to be a mainstay of this project, with hopefully more blank styles to come such as unicorn and pegasus bodies, multiple poses, baby ponies etc.
My other goal is to produce small runs of custom characters too! Once the moulds for these ponies exist, they can be used to make finished ponies as well as blank ones. I have an obsession with the G2 prototypes that never were commercially made, as well as a love for designing new characters, putting together colour palettes, and a huge love for toy production in general.
My dreams for the future include:
- A wide range of blanks, including different species, colours, special effects like glitter, poses and more
- Some custom characters with high quality hair and printed designs
- Archived and reproduced artwork, books, magazines etc to prevent any more G2 content from becoming 'lost media'
- Plushies! I want actually on-model G2 plushies so bad! I can't be the only one right?!
To conclude . . .
I couldn't have even got this far without the support of this amazing community and I am so grateful to have found likeminded people with a love for the often forgotten pony generation! You are all incredible and I thank you all so much for your support! I hope you like your ponies when they materialise!
Hearts and hooves,
Grace Ruby xx
