Even wild horses. . .
I have a confession to make. I. . . I like the new My Little Ponies.
I've been pretty disgusted with most of the new MLP stuff on shelves in the past year. (Which is probably A Good Thing, really, since I really don't need to invent more reasons to spend my not-so-hard-earned-but-not-so-plentiful dollars.) I mean, G3.5 was creepy. Toy designers these days seem to have a painful obsession with stylizing the ever-loving shit out of everything - this is the industry vogue post-Bratz dolls. I think the mainstream obsession with anime and Japanese culture has convinced the marketing gods that the bigger the huge, creepy, soul-eating eyes and the smaller the mouth, the better. Littlest Pet Shop toys only vaguely resemble the animals they are meant to represent these days (admittedly, though, some of them are kind of cute regardless).
I didn't really care for the G4/Friendship is Magic ponies when I first saw them, either - they looked doe-like instead of horsey. The original G1 line is what I held dear as a kid, and while arguably, they didn't look entirely equine either, they were still clearly a pony. The G2 line never quite appealed to me in design, but I bought them in stores because I was 8 when they came out, and I was thrilled to be able to find something MLP on a shelf rather than just at a flea market.
I was a teenager during the G3 years, and out of the whole pony scene, so I didn't get the chance to get excited about buying them in stores. Somthing about the line lacked character to me, too, and although I own G3 ponies now, only the more inspired designs appeal to me. . . some of them were just very generic and bland.
The G4 ponies have really grown on me, though. I still don't think they have a terribly strong resemblance to actual horses, but I'm less bothered on this point than a lot of collectors because I'm not an especial enthusiast of horses as an animal. (Before you go getting offended, I think they're cool enough, but I don't love them any more than I love cows, ostriches, or capybaras.)
I was at Toys 'R Us the other night, and they had a "buy one, get one free" sale on all Hasbro stock, so I caved. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the only two single ponies they had in the store - I was a lot more sold to Rarity than I was to Pinkie (whom I've never been that fond of in general - pink on pink, boooring, and what do balloons have to do with anything?), but hey, she was free, and I don't look a gift horse in the mouth! [/shot]
Friday, I sat down on my lunch break to watch an episode of the show, since 4chan and SA seemed to be going crazy with GIF's and macros, and I was already curious. And. . . Man, you guys, I am so into these Flash-animated ponies and their cotton-candy flavored adventures. I got actual goosebumps listening to the theme song, which made me feel extremely lame - not because it was a master accomplishment of musicianship in any way, but because it was the sound of my childhood accompanied by badass character designs that actually engaged me at an age demographic above the pre-school level. And Rainbow Dash's "Look out below!", in homage to Firefly from the first 80's animated special (shut up, I only watched it 500 times when I was five), totally stole my heart.
Check it out:
Of course, it's no surprise that the new cartoon is 747345645474 times better than any direct-to-DVD animation Hasbro has put out in the last decade (the only time I subjected myself was when I got a free DVD with a pony I received as a gift, and it was quite enough, although yaoiophile and I did get a laugh out of it). That's because it's the brainchild of Lauren Faust, the creative force behind Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and wife of Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken. Also, she's a collector and longtime fangirl. "For the fans, by the fans", anyone?
But yeah. . . I am seriously into this. In an "I would DVR this shit" kind of way. AND I AM NOT ASHAMED (nor am I the only one).
And after watching the show (which is, toy franchise aside, actually very well-done, as far as visuals and character animation and scriptwriting go), I had to go out and buy the rest of single ponies. One thing I really like is the individualism each pony has - the shape of the eyes and the style of the hair is totally unique to the character. I still think the modernized designs work better in the context of animation rather than a toy, but I've got to say, I still think they're pretty cute
I'm happy to be genuinely excited about something pony-related for the first time in a long while - actually, just excited about something, in general, ponies notwithstanding. It makes me feel somewhat less embarrassed to be turning 21 in a few days and having shelves full of plastic marketed towards little girls. Good on you, Hasbro, for actually investing in something intelligent and engaging to move units rather than just shipping out more trite plastic crap.
That said, though, there's a reason why I'm not involved in the pony collecting community very actively. . . And that is because I don't want to associate with adult women who forfeit their life savings to obtain coveted plastic figures, and languish in debt while they sit alone in their pony rooms, husbandless, boyfriendless, and childless, drowning their sorrows in vacant stares of so many handpainted eyes.
PONY POWER, YO.
I've been pretty disgusted with most of the new MLP stuff on shelves in the past year. (Which is probably A Good Thing, really, since I really don't need to invent more reasons to spend my not-so-hard-earned-but-not-so-plentiful dollars.) I mean, G3.5 was creepy. Toy designers these days seem to have a painful obsession with stylizing the ever-loving shit out of everything - this is the industry vogue post-Bratz dolls. I think the mainstream obsession with anime and Japanese culture has convinced the marketing gods that the bigger the huge, creepy, soul-eating eyes and the smaller the mouth, the better. Littlest Pet Shop toys only vaguely resemble the animals they are meant to represent these days (admittedly, though, some of them are kind of cute regardless).
I didn't really care for the G4/Friendship is Magic ponies when I first saw them, either - they looked doe-like instead of horsey. The original G1 line is what I held dear as a kid, and while arguably, they didn't look entirely equine either, they were still clearly a pony. The G2 line never quite appealed to me in design, but I bought them in stores because I was 8 when they came out, and I was thrilled to be able to find something MLP on a shelf rather than just at a flea market.
I was a teenager during the G3 years, and out of the whole pony scene, so I didn't get the chance to get excited about buying them in stores. Somthing about the line lacked character to me, too, and although I own G3 ponies now, only the more inspired designs appeal to me. . . some of them were just very generic and bland.
The G4 ponies have really grown on me, though. I still don't think they have a terribly strong resemblance to actual horses, but I'm less bothered on this point than a lot of collectors because I'm not an especial enthusiast of horses as an animal. (Before you go getting offended, I think they're cool enough, but I don't love them any more than I love cows, ostriches, or capybaras.)
I was at Toys 'R Us the other night, and they had a "buy one, get one free" sale on all Hasbro stock, so I caved. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the only two single ponies they had in the store - I was a lot more sold to Rarity than I was to Pinkie (whom I've never been that fond of in general - pink on pink, boooring, and what do balloons have to do with anything?), but hey, she was free, and I don't look a gift horse in the mouth! [/shot]
Friday, I sat down on my lunch break to watch an episode of the show, since 4chan and SA seemed to be going crazy with GIF's and macros, and I was already curious. And. . . Man, you guys, I am so into these Flash-animated ponies and their cotton-candy flavored adventures. I got actual goosebumps listening to the theme song, which made me feel extremely lame - not because it was a master accomplishment of musicianship in any way, but because it was the sound of my childhood accompanied by badass character designs that actually engaged me at an age demographic above the pre-school level. And Rainbow Dash's "Look out below!", in homage to Firefly from the first 80's animated special (shut up, I only watched it 500 times when I was five), totally stole my heart.
Check it out:
Click to view
Of course, it's no surprise that the new cartoon is 747345645474 times better than any direct-to-DVD animation Hasbro has put out in the last decade (the only time I subjected myself was when I got a free DVD with a pony I received as a gift, and it was quite enough, although yaoiophile and I did get a laugh out of it). That's because it's the brainchild of Lauren Faust, the creative force behind Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and wife of Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken. Also, she's a collector and longtime fangirl. "For the fans, by the fans", anyone?
But yeah. . . I am seriously into this. In an "I would DVR this shit" kind of way. AND I AM NOT ASHAMED (nor am I the only one).
And after watching the show (which is, toy franchise aside, actually very well-done, as far as visuals and character animation and scriptwriting go), I had to go out and buy the rest of single ponies. One thing I really like is the individualism each pony has - the shape of the eyes and the style of the hair is totally unique to the character. I still think the modernized designs work better in the context of animation rather than a toy, but I've got to say, I still think they're pretty cute
I'm happy to be genuinely excited about something pony-related for the first time in a long while - actually, just excited about something, in general, ponies notwithstanding. It makes me feel somewhat less embarrassed to be turning 21 in a few days and having shelves full of plastic marketed towards little girls. Good on you, Hasbro, for actually investing in something intelligent and engaging to move units rather than just shipping out more trite plastic crap.
That said, though, there's a reason why I'm not involved in the pony collecting community very actively. . . And that is because I don't want to associate with adult women who forfeit their life savings to obtain coveted plastic figures, and languish in debt while they sit alone in their pony rooms, husbandless, boyfriendless, and childless, drowning their sorrows in vacant stares of so many handpainted eyes.
PONY POWER, YO.