Will there be another generation of MLP?

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

Kids toy sales are declining year on year, and with the TV show primarily there to sell toys, I don't think there will be another generation. Enjoy it while it lasts!

[Banul 3,831]

Bah, there will always be kids to buy toys. Ponies have lasted for 4 generations, and people think half of those generations weren't even good. So, I doubt this will be the last generation.

 

 

Where are you getting that information about sales, by the way?

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

Bah, there will always be kids to buy toys. Ponies have lasted for 4 generations, and people think half of those generations weren't even good. So, I doubt this will be the last generation.

Where are you getting that information about sales, by the way?

From Hasbro's own sales figures! Every franchise apart from MLP is losing money, and MLP is only being kept afloat by the Equestria dolls!

Their video game business, however, is turning a big profit.

[temmie 117]

I'm not certain, but I think there will be. MLP has lasted for four generations--and I'm pretty much repeating Banul at this point. So, yeah, I think there will be a fifth, maybe even sixth, generation of ponies.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Well thanks to electronic media, kids don't want toys anymore. Why beg mommy to buy you those 12 new pony toys, when you can annoy her to get you the new ipad.

 

And the TV show itself is making mad dosh. Merchandise may not be churning out profits like the 1980s anymore, but Hasbro can easily keep going with another generation with the revenue they are currently getting from the show.

[~Sylveon~ 188]

I think there will be another generation. Even if sales are declining, they're probably still good.

[Nine 707]

After this generation I'm sure there'll be another, though probably not right away.

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

Well thanks to electronic media, kids don't want toys anymore. Why beg mommy to buy you those 12 new pony toys, when you can annoy her to get you the new ipad.

And the TV show itself is making mad dosh. Merchandise may not be churning out profits like the 1980s anymore, but Hasbro can easily keep going with another generation with the revenue they are currently getting from the show.

They made under $70 million in profits last year. Hasbro are barely covering their own overheads. Although apart from Lego they are about the only toy company who are making a profit. Edited June 10, 2014 by Poniez With Attitude

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

They made under $70 million in profits last year. Hasbro are barely covering their own overheads. Although apart from Lego they are about the only toy company who are making a profit.

And the show is the only thing keeping the channel afloat. Their Hub network is running almost solely on FiM.

And loosing profits doesn't mean they'll just die out and stop, if that were the case mattel would have gone under in the 1940s.

[RainbowMau 291]

There will be another, and another, and another without a single doubt, as there have been various generations of Transformers and G.I. Joe that have been keeping in constant renewing, MLP is a flagship Hasbro franchise and part of it's life cycle as a toy franchise is ending a generation and renewing it by starting a new one.

Edited June 10, 2014 by RainbowMau

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

And the show is the only thing keeping the channel afloat. Their Hub network is running almost solely on FiM.

And loosing profits doesn't mean they'll just die out and stop, if that were the case mattel would have gone under in the 1940s.

Mattel only survived because of Barbie, and even now, she won't save Mattel. I bet in 5 years half the toy companies around now won't exist. Hasbro will still be around, MLP will probably be, but it will be like the Moshi Monster franchise, almost entirely online.

There will be another, and another, and another without a single doubt, as there have been various generations of Transformers and G.I. Joe that have been keeping in constant renewing, MLP is a flagship Hasbro franchise and part of it's life cycle as a toy franchise is ending a generation and renewing it by starting a new one.

That was before the rise of cheap handheld technology. Why would a kid want a pony castle when you can get a smartphone for the same price?

[RainbowMau 291]

Mattel only survived because of Barbie

 

And Hot Wheels, don't forget that.

 

That was before the rise of cheap handheld technology. Why would a kid want a pony castle when you can get a smartphone for the same price?

 

Just one word: Collection! And the same happens with the rest of the Hasbro franchises, try to do that with a smartphone.

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

And Hot Wheels, don't forget that.

 

 

 

Just one word: Collection! And the same happens with the rest of the Hasbro franchises, try to do that with a smartphone.

Have you heard of Moshi monsters? It's the same principle as MLP but almost entirely online. And the company behind them, which is very small, has made more profit than a huge toy company like Hasbro!

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Mattel only survived because of Barbie, and even now, she won't save Mattel. I bet in 5 years half the toy companies around now won't exist. Hasbro will still be around, MLP will probably be, but it will be like the Moshi Monster franchise, almost entirely online.

That was before the rise of cheap handheld technology. Why would a kid want a pony castle when you can get a smartphone for the same price?

Mattel will still be around, it is owned by parent corporations that are in far safer markets than pieces of plastic for kids. Not to mention the licensing and marketing that they can do with their already owned brands. Not to mention Mattel can always fire up those old government contracts and make weapons for the government like it did before, with DHS needing even more weapons and amo.

And MLP will still have a strong physical presence. The merchandise for FiM sells incredibly well, and hot topic has reported increases of both traffic in their stores, and sales once they began carrying FiM merchandise. It won't be entirely online, because Funko has reported profits, along with 4DE.

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

Mattel will still be around, it is owned by parent corporations that are in far safer markets than pieces of plastic for kids. Not to mention the licensing and marketing that they can do with their already owned brands. Not to mention Mattel can always fire up those old government contracts and make weapons for the government like it did before, with DHS needing even more weapons and amo.

And MLP will still have a strong physical presence. The merchandise for FiM sells incredibly well, and hot topic has reported increases of both traffic in their stores, and sales once they began carrying FiM merchandise. It won't be entirely online, because Funko has reported profits, along with 4DE.

Mattel made weapons for the US government!? Please explain!

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Mattel made weapons for the US government!? Please explain!

 

(and no, it was an in-joke to any gun knowledgeable people here, mattel never made firearms. )

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

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(and no, it was an in-joke to any gun knowledgeable people here, mattel never made firearms. )

Ah, you see. I'm from the UK, I've never seen a gun in my life! Let alone know a lot about them!

[RainbowMau 291]

Have you heard of Moshi monsters? It's the same principle as MLP but almost entirely online. And the company behind them, which is very small, has made more profit than a huge toy company like Hasbro!

 

So what? That's like saying Battlestar Galactica will replace Star Wars, it could be just as cool or even more, it can even make more money, but can't erase decades of history and experience from the running-classic one that easy.

Edited June 10, 2014 by RainbowMau

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

So what? That's like saying Battlestar Galactica will replace Star Wars, it could be just as cool or even more, it can even make more money, but can't erase decades of history and experience from the running-classic one that easy.

So what? It shows that if Hasbro makes more use of the Net, allowing kids (and us) to collect, share, and play with our ponies or Transformers online, they would be making a mint! But instead they pour money into a show and put it on a pay TV channel that relatively few Americans have access to. And I believe that Hasbro don't get to keep all of the profits from the show because 50% of the Hub is owned by Discovery.

[KokuraiNoSenshi 3,463]

Kids toy sales are declining year on year, and with the TV show primarily there to sell toys, I don't think there will be another generation. Enjoy it while it lasts!

*Points to Pokemon* How many generations of THAT do we have again!? What about Yu-Gi-Oh? & if you want a series not designed around selling something that has been going for bloody ever, Power Rangers. I have legitimately lost count of how many Power Rangers seasons there are. I think 4 is like the baby stage for big name series with multiple seasons.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

Ah, you see. I'm from the UK, I've never seen a gun in my life! Let alone know a lot about them!

But most of the larger toy companies will still be around. A loss in profit in a short span of time does not nessicarlly correlate to the death of an industry. Hasbro will continue with MLP, because it is making them a huge amount of money. From licensing to running adds on the Hub during FiM episodes, mlp as a franchise is making very large amounts of money. And there will always be a demand for physical items related to the franchise, so if in 20 years we see the toy market decline, it will still happen as companies like Funko are making a profit producing high quality vinyl figures. So we'll see another generation or two of MLP, because it makes money.

[RainbowMau 291]

So what? It shows that if Hasbro makes more use of the Net, allowing kids (and us) to collect, share, and play with our ponies or Transformers online, they would be making a mint! But instead they pour money into a show and put it on a pay TV channel that relatively few Americans have access to. And I believe that Hasbro don't get to keep all of the profits from the show because 50% of the Hub is owned by Discovery.

 

And what about the mobile game? And what about the figurines? And what about the figures? And what about the Rainbow Power stuff? And what about Equestria Girls' dolls?

If you have no cable you can still watch the episodes on Internet, and no matter how epic the show is, it's still advertisement for the toys and now it's working better than ever when toys are more demanded thanks to the show.

Edited June 10, 2014 by RainbowMau

[Rarity Paige Belle 1,854]

But most of the larger toy companies will still be around. A loss in profit in a short span of time does not nessicarlly correlate to the death of an industry. Hasbro will continue with MLP, because it is making them a huge amount of money. From licensing to running adds on the Hub during FiM episodes, mlp as a franchise is making very large amounts of money. And there will always be a demand for physical items related to the franchise, so if in 20 years we see the toy market decline, it will still happen as companies like Funko are making a profit producing high quality vinyl figures. So we'll see another generation or two of MLP, because it makes money.

As I said before, I agree that MLP probably will be still around, as a Virtual world like Club Penguin or Moshi Monsters, likewise the show will probably only be shown online, and only when you buy a pass into the game world will you get to watch it, but on TV, or as physical toys? I'm not so sure

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

As I said before, I agree that MLP probably will be still around, as a Virtual world like Club Penguin or Moshi Monsters, likewise the show will probably only be shown online, and only when you buy a pass into the game world will you get to watch it, but on TV, or as physical toys? I'm not so sure

Physical figures will always exist. Funko reported massive profits with their MLP vinyl figurine line. And as long as people keep buying them, someone is going to keep making them.

And having the show be online pass only would absolutely kill sales, and increase pirating and streaming of episodes. It would alienate a large portion of the fanbase that cannot regularly access the internet, and those that are to young to use it. Having episodes online is great, but if you want to survive in todays world, you have to branch out more. Limiting can kill entire franchises these days.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Miaq_The_Truthful

[Fhaolan 4,484]

Hasbro has been putting a lot of effort into moving away from being a toy company for years now. They weren't a toy company originally, you know. They made pencil cases way back when.

 

As you say, MLP is providing a serious chunk of their revenue according to their financial statements, and none of that profit is from Hasbro-made toys. Mainly because Hasbro isn't making any MLP toys. They've licensed *other* manufacturers to do that. Hasbro only has two factories left, and neither factory is making MLP toys. All MLP products are made by someone else, under a variety of different types of licensing agreements. According to the statements I read, it's not the Equestria Dolls that are the profit margin. They *want* it to be the Equestria Dolls, because that's the market they are currently trying to compete in, so they're spinning those financial statements like that. But if you dig a bit deeper you'll find they don't actually state the actual numbers for any of the licensing deals, as if they're spreading out the licensing income from the regular pony stuff into smaller chunks, to make the Equestria Dolls revenue look larger in comparison.

 

Anyway, that's Hasbro's goal. To be an IP-holding company who takes in the licensing money, and uses legal means to continue to hold on to that IP. They have no intent to manufacture anything themselves anymore. They won't really be a toy company at that point, but can start getting more serious about media like online, movies, etc. Physical manufacture of toys was fine before, but it's not where the profit is in the current economy. All these toy/comic/game-based movies are starting to make some serious bank and Hasbro as a corporation wants a safe version of that bank. Movies as they are, are too risky. Video games are failures just waiting to happen. IP-holding, however, always pays.

 

So yeah, there will be more generations of MLP. The form-factor they appear in, however, isn't guaranteed. With 3D printers getting cheaper and faster every day, we're not that far off of printed toys being cheaper to manufacture than the traditional vacuum-form toys. Brushables and the like are still going to be a problem, but Build-A-Bear is turning a profit, so that shows that people are willing to pay for 'finishing' work being done to factory made shells. So having a fast 3D printer turning out the main body of pony and other dolls, and having the store worker pull customer-chosen mane/hair/whatever through might actually work out.