- Joined
- Aug 1, 2017
- Messages
- 206
While Hasbro retains the rights to their own Intellectual Property, the My Little Pony brand, as far as all the Canadian and American licensing goes, it appear that the Japanese side of MLP was originally done in collaboration with Hasbro, back in 1985, with Tomy (now known as Takara Tomy) to make what became known as “Takara ponies”, as identified by the g1 collectors and fandom.
Since then, these unique Japanese ponies and their licenses, along with Japanese license of MLP in general have been bought and claimed by Bushiroad, at the start of Friendship is Magic’s franchise beginning.
Later in 2015, after Bushiroad disowned the distribution rights, Sega Toys reacquired the rights to all generations of the franchise. Interestingly enough, Sugarbunies- characters created by Sanrio, is also owned under Takara Tomy, though it remains to be seen if this was acquired by Sega Toys as well.
So with that brief history exposition out of the way, let’s get to the meat of this discussion, shall we? Could it ever be possible that Sanrio acquires the Japanese licenses for all generations of MLP- primarily, the “G1 Takara ponies”? Well, anything is possible, really.
But why would they want these odd Takara ponies? You might ask... they have quite the lineup of cute and simplistic characters as it is- so what’s a few more, really? Could they be given proper attention and spotlight in such a large lineup? Who knows? As things stand, Hello Kitty has always been the face of the Sanrio franchise, and that’s not going to change at all, nor am I expecting it to. While the g1 Takara ponies may have originally bombed hard when they were released in the mid 80’s, times have changed, and as far as I know- the America’s at least, are riding hard on nostalgic things in this present day. With Japanese anime also banking on nostalgia (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, etc), I can only assume that they’re riding the wave, too.
How would g1 MLP benefit under Sanrio? One need only take a look at the status of the company y as a whole, to know that Takara ponies would be in no better hands than Sanrio, they’re the second largest grossing franchise in the world, with only Pokémon in the lead.
As things stand, there’s been nothing done with any of the past generation MLP (especially that of the Takara ponies) under Sega toys. Why acquire a listened if they’re not using it nor have intention to, as we have seen this far.
I think that Sanrio would treat the licenses of the Japanese pony brand and distribution much more honorably and with more with greater respect to the past gen pony fans and collectors.
Since then, these unique Japanese ponies and their licenses, along with Japanese license of MLP in general have been bought and claimed by Bushiroad, at the start of Friendship is Magic’s franchise beginning.
Later in 2015, after Bushiroad disowned the distribution rights, Sega Toys reacquired the rights to all generations of the franchise. Interestingly enough, Sugarbunies- characters created by Sanrio, is also owned under Takara Tomy, though it remains to be seen if this was acquired by Sega Toys as well.
So with that brief history exposition out of the way, let’s get to the meat of this discussion, shall we? Could it ever be possible that Sanrio acquires the Japanese licenses for all generations of MLP- primarily, the “G1 Takara ponies”? Well, anything is possible, really.
But why would they want these odd Takara ponies? You might ask... they have quite the lineup of cute and simplistic characters as it is- so what’s a few more, really? Could they be given proper attention and spotlight in such a large lineup? Who knows? As things stand, Hello Kitty has always been the face of the Sanrio franchise, and that’s not going to change at all, nor am I expecting it to. While the g1 Takara ponies may have originally bombed hard when they were released in the mid 80’s, times have changed, and as far as I know- the America’s at least, are riding hard on nostalgic things in this present day. With Japanese anime also banking on nostalgia (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, etc), I can only assume that they’re riding the wave, too.
How would g1 MLP benefit under Sanrio? One need only take a look at the status of the company y as a whole, to know that Takara ponies would be in no better hands than Sanrio, they’re the second largest grossing franchise in the world, with only Pokémon in the lead.
As things stand, there’s been nothing done with any of the past generation MLP (especially that of the Takara ponies) under Sega toys. Why acquire a listened if they’re not using it nor have intention to, as we have seen this far.
I think that Sanrio would treat the licenses of the Japanese pony brand and distribution much more honorably and with more with greater respect to the past gen pony fans and collectors.