Mattel, Hasbro rivalry followup / EQD Feature. · 3:33am Jun 7th, 2013
Well, I didn't think my first feature on Equestria Daily would be for one of my blogs. (Although considering the stories I write, I shouldn't be surprised that none of them were featured on EQD.)
Imagine my surprise to learn that an excerpt from my recent Rule34 blog post appeared on EQD.
Some of the mods on the MLP subreddit suggested that I post a censored version of my article on Reddit. So I did. Someone sent a link to EQD.
I must confess that I haven't checked out EQD in a couple months. The only thing that drew me back was knowing that something I had written had been posted there.
I should address the title of the edited version.
Calling the article an "In-depth Look at the History of Hasbro's Rivalry with Mattel, and Why We Need Equestria Girls" has rubbed some people the wrong way. My critics think I'm a Hasbro apologist.
To those people, I ask them to remember that there is a difference between what we want and what we need.
Do I want Equetria Girls? Not really. I regret all effort that's being expelled on this new franchise, because I'd rather see this talent be used to produce more episodes of MLP.
I would've rather had a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic movie. If Equestria Girls gets it's own animated spin-off series, I'd lament the fact that each season of Equestria Girls could've instead been another season of MLP.
So why do I say that we, as a fandom, need Equestria Girls? Many bronies, myself included, don't want this humanized series.
It's important to realize that Equestria Girls, like My Little Pony, was never meant for us. A shocking revelation, to be sure. (Sarcasm.)
Think of it like My Little Pony has been drafted. Hasbro picked Twilight Sparkle to wear some new armor in order to take back some territory from Mattel.
We don't want the characters we know and love thrust into this strange, new world, but the powers that be have spoken.
It's June 6; the 69th anniversary of D-day. June 16th is EG-day for bronies. That's when Equestria Girls premieres. 
They'll be storming the beaches in an effort to chip away at the stranglehold Mattel has with dolls.
All we can do is sit and watch and hope Equestria Girls is successful. Whether we like it or not, any negative press for Equestria Girls will trickle back to the main series. They both carry the My Little Pony brand, after all.
With any luck, Equestria Girls will turn out to be good and help further the overall longevity of My Little Pony.
In the meantime, I'll be here commenting, until it's over, over there.
I have those very same hopes.
I'll be giving it a try... AFTER it hits the shelves and iTunes.
~Skeeter The Lurker
It's exactly like Twilicorn.
I mean, we get bitching and moaning about Twilicorn before the episode comes out…
Then some people loved it, some people liked part of it, and some were annoyed by it.
Sure, there were some people who still didn't like it, but the episode was nowhere near the grand disaster it was thought to be.
Instead, we got a songfest.
What if Equestria Girls had magical lightsabers, robot dinosaurs, zombie terrorists, bacon, cowboys, aliens, zombies, bacon, Derpy and the Doctor, guns, bacon, Gamer Luna being canon and hacking off zombies' heads with a chainsaw, Twilight wearing the same outfit as that chick from Lollipop Chainsaw, Sunset Shimmer actually being a badass rogue spy sent by Celestia, and Discord summoning the Death Star. Would you like it then?
So what you're saying, basically, is "get yourself a helmet"?
Will do.
1129484 Sounds like a normal Reidgar fic, of course I'll watch it.
1129484
...That sounds like the recipe for one of the greatest things in human history.
1129484. Only if it has bacon
I hope to be at the premier, or at least see it while it's still in theaters.
now that i've calmed down and taken a step back, EqG does not even look that bad
Woo, congrats. Bronystories!
1129664 Of course it has bacon! Hell, SUNSET SHIMMER looks like BACON herself.
plus, i don't think hasbro wants a bunch of 20-somethings hogging up the theater.
Of course Equestria Girls, and the My Little Pony brand wasn't for us. Any brony knows that, infact there are many who fail to acknowledge the show because its gears towards girls.
What Equestria Girls is trying to do however, reflects how Hasbro has ran the Franchise, prior to Lauren Faust intervening and effectively saving it. What many Bronies, fans alike, even girls who Hasbro are targetting themselves, are scared of the brand being directing into a "Girls-Only" thing again.
In this day and age, we no longer find gender stereotypes for shows we watch, if a show is of quality, believe me be, Boys/girls, Men and women will all watch accordingly. What Hasbro is doing not only turns off Bronies, but the demographic they have been targeting from the get-go.
Why would little girls watch My Little Pony, when they can watch Transformers? Or better yet, a "girly" show that can do it right? Anyone remember Powerpuff Girls?
That said, I'm not saying Equestria Girls WON'T be good, infact I can expect a Canterlot's Wending Vibe from it. It'll be a 8/10 at best.
Although I think it will probably flop since I doubt Equestria Girls will affect the show anyway I have remained neutral throughout the whole thing because there really dosen't seem like much of a point to panic.
Yeah, I read this both on reddit and EQD. I even posted a rebuttal on Reddit which at this time has 3 upvotes.
http://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/1frb7t/indepth_look_at_the_history_of_hasbros_rivalry/cadhn3s
I actually agree with most of your points, I just felt the need to inject my personal experience into the mix.
"When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but do not need me, I must go." Nanny McPhee
It's not that we (bronies) need Equestria Girls. Hasbro needs Equestria Girls. I can't blame people taking issue when the way it's being phrased is that we (the fans) need Equestria Girls, when it's actually Hasbro that needs it to try and cut into their competitors profits. Rather than relying on the now popular MLP franchise, they should put those brains of theirs together and come up with something else rather than "selling out" one of their franchises whenever they want to compete with someone. It would be like if Monster High was a show where the character's gender's were swapped so to compete they made the Transformers humans and started marketing Transformers Human dolls/action figures.
~Have a good one.
1130037
Sad thing is, the way they advertised Equestria Girls, is what really rubs us the bad way. I mean, the concept of turning Ponies into Humans, isnt a bad one.
Theres potential there, Hasbro knows this and thats why they're trying to capitalize on it. But the way they're executing this is all wrong.
I remembered that thread where Lauren Faust posted on 4chan, and .. sadly I can start to see the motive behind that "AMA". She really didn't intend to but, like the board /mlp/, they too want to see Lauren's Vision of a Girl's show enjoyed by all audiences. Not some girls show/movie, that serves no other purpose than to ADVERTISE their toys.
This is partly the reason why she stepped down, because of Hasbro's meddling.
(A Canterlot Wedding)
And the way Hasbro is honoring that vision, is by producing something like Equestria Girls. Now I'm not saying that the movie will be bad, or have all the niche's we come to loathe from a typical girl's show (Though it APPEARS to be that way, Again, Canterlot Wedding proved to be decent.) Atleast the writers, who actually understand and respect Lauren's Vision will write it.
I just hope it comes out like how Canterlot Wedding did, and NOT how we think it will.
1129961
Twilight Sparkle: "Hey, remember that time when we stepped through that portal and became human teenagers who wore makeup, ogled cute boys and hung out at the mall, and stuff?"
[3:50 into the video]
1130061
Lol! Funny cause that was one of my favorite episodes.
I like that "What-If" theme to that episode. Same could apply to Equestria Girls 10x. Seeing how its a full movie and not a 10 minute episode.
1130037
I agree that Hasbro should use their resources to come of with something new. The problem is, people in the industry are afraid of original ideas. Just look at Hollywood.
Hasbro wants to compete in the doll market, but they want a safe bet. Taking their most successful girls' toy, (My Little Pony), and turning into a series of dolls is much safer than trying something new.
Well put. I actually really like that draft metaphor. Especially since it implies that Barbie is either a Nazi or a member of the Viet Cong.
Also, Equestria Girls premieres in nine days. When did that happen?
1130108
But... Barbie was a Nazi.
d.gr-assets.com/books/1277956008l/2458001.jpg
When Klaus oversaw the lines to the showers, they were called "Barbie-queues."
1130069
But what will happen if their safe bet fails to meet expectations? Will this only go so far as to serve as a pilot experiment to test if their safe bet has enough of a sustainable competitive advantage against Mattel's product line?
If it fails to meet expectations, I find it hard to imagine that Hasbro will pull out of the competition for a dominant share of the doll market. Hasbro's competitive strategy could be an overly invested one when it comes to fighting their rival, they'll either pool more and more resources into EqG to see to its success, or use whatever backup concept they have for a completely different and hopefully better received doll line if EqG is abandoned.
Hasbro is a big company, but I still have fears that they will take resources out of MLP to fuel their competition against Mattel. And by resources I don't just mean funding, but also the creative resources behind MLP. So I really hope Hasbro has a better action plan than I imagine they have...
Before:
Hasbro: If we throw this franchise off a cliff, it'll fly!
After:
Hasbro: If we keep throwing this franchise off a cliff, it'll learn to fly!
I still can't get over the fact that it's showing in theatres. It's almost as if they expect this to succeed.
EQG won't be at my regular theater till the 29th and will only stay till the 30th
Loved the articles, man
Yeah, people often forget how big the business end of Hasbro is and that it extends to all of its properties. With any luck, EqG won't affect MLP:FiM's writing quality at all (and by the looks of things, it shouldn't at all).
If and when it ever premieres here in my neck of the Philippine Islands, I'll watch it at least once. And that's a promise any baby dragon can be proud of.
I'm not sure if
"the magic of friendship never changes"
Is a reference to Fallout, or Metal gear
Maybe both, but we all know that mlp has heavily reffered to Solid Snake before.
Okay, I get why you wouldn't have done what I'm about to say, but -- c'mon, it'd have been hilarious if you'd just sent EqD a note saying "Take down the excerpt of my stuff, please."
My father had an alarming tendency of going up to any authority figure he could locate in an area and testing their sense of humor via trolling, in person, with a smile. He used to do it with police officers; now he does it with TSA agents. (One time he actively asked, "Are you going to make a decorated Army Ranger pour out a coffee before they get on a plane? In America?" I still have no idea how he hasn't gotten cavity searched a few times. He's nuts, though; convinced Obama is responsible for 9/11 or some shit like that.)
I suppose I'm my father's daughter after all.
1129961
Fondly.
The way I view it, The Powerpuff Girls was like the Motown Records or Stax Records of "girly" shows. The record companies Motown and Stax each made black music that crossed over very well to white and hispanic people. The television series The Powerpuff Girls, much like the currently telecast My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, was a show for "Little Girls With Big Hearts" that crossed over very well to boys, women, and men. Go back further in TV, where we see that Sesame Street, a show oriented for preschoolers, was very capable (and was very good at) crossing over to a lot of viewers beyond the demographic in question.
1130046
Weeks after the release in question, those who have seen it...They Say It's Wonderful. So wonderful, to Hasbro at least, that they are now following it up with a sequel. In response to the picture, one brony has written a story here that tells of a character-fitting picture Lyra was working on that landed in the hands of Hasbro and...well, I hope you'll enjoy what happens next!