Could this toy be indicative of something big?

[Dolphanatic 298]

So I saw this at a Toy R Us store today. While it may not seem like anything out of the ordinary, it's actually quite significant.

 

 

At first glance, it doesn't look that unusual. It's just any old pony toy set, save one critical detail...

 

 

Twilight is a unicorn! Sure, you're probably thinking it's just from an older line of toys, right? There's no way this could have been made after 2013.

 

 

Why is this significant? It shows that Hasbro is finally acknowledging Twilight Sparkle as a unicorn. This is actually quite unusual, especially in a time where they insist on Twilight being an alicorn princess. "Princess Twilight Sparkle" is an official registered trademark that has been used by the marketing department almost non-stop, with literally just about all official (not just licensed) merchandise of Twilight since 2013 being exclusively Twilicorn. Nowadays, whenever you look at anything MLP-related, you don't see the Twilight as an antisocial unicorn bookworm, you see "Princess Twilight Sparkle™" the alicorn princess of friendship and so on.

 

But now, for the first time in years, I'm finally seeing unicorn Twilight in official merchandise again. Could this be a possible sign of unicorn Twilight returning or is this all just wishful overthinking?

Edited January 10, 2016 by Dolphanatic

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

I see it as this: A company made that tot, whether it be Hasbro or another company, and just used Twilight from before, that's it. I don't see it as an indication of anything. 

 

At least, it better not be. Them doing some kind of reversion would be enough for me to give up on this show entirely. I am fairly certain that this is the result of a third-party company that made this toy used Twilight from before. Wouldn't be the first time, I have seen it from some other products before. 

[Scrubbed user 3,417]

Looks like just a couple of old stills pulled from the show and used for box art.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Okay I know this is about the Unicorn Twilight on the box, but the first thing I thought was that the show was going to have ice cream cones on tripods attack Equestria. 

[cider float 2,539]

As much as I like Twilight as an unicorn than a goddamn alicorn OC but knowing the track record for Hasbro toys not staying true to the show like the pink Celestia, I'm just going to chalk this up as Hasbro just being Hasbro.

[FlootahBabby 265]

What a nice nod of nostalgia.

[Malinter 3,064]

Nah. Its just product recycling. If Rainbow Dash suddenly turned Monochrome in the show, Hasbro would still sell toys of her coloured self because it sells.

 

Also, Unicorn Twilight is probably still sold because its a less finicky toy to produce than Alicorn Twilight.

[cmarston1 5,964]

It better not be, because that would spit in the face of two seasons worth of character developments as well as what lead up to magical mystery cure in the first 3 seasons of Twilight's growth.

It probably is just product recycling because of how hasbro handles it's toys and merchandise.

[Sporemane 546]

I think it's just an old image of Twilight. The people that design packaging don't realy keep up with show.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,825]

Nah, you know how toy makers are...it's like they have almost no idea of what's going on with the show...

[simba86 1,541]

that looks like an international set from outside the USA, those tend to have errors on them, i remember one time there was an advent calender that made sweetie belle an earth pony i think

[Gestum 2,493]

Well it could actually indicate that she will go back to being a unicorn. Maybe it will happen in the same episode that Celestia will turn pink.

 

But seriously, it's a mistake and nothing else.

[SBaby 660]

The only way I could see that happen is if Twilight Cure Flowered a major villain. 

 

And I doubt Hasbro would do that, because their goal is to sell more toys, and Alicorn Twilight is surprisingly a good marketing tool.  Kids buy the new toys because they're new and look cool, and Bronies buy them because every new toy is potentially a major plot development waiting to happen and they want to see if/how it connects to the cartoon.

 

From a marketing perspective, it makes no sense having her go back to being a Unicorn.

Edited January 10, 2016 by SBaby

[Dolphanatic 298]

It better not be, because that would spit in the face of two seasons worth of character developments as well as what lead up to Magical Mystery Cure in the first 3 seasons of Twilight's growth.

 

No, it wouldn't. It would be just another step in her development. It's not like her becoming a unicorn again would retcon all the episodes where she was an alicorn. She'd still have all the character growth she got during her time as an alicorn (which was very underwhelming at best, anyway).

 

Besides, there was little to no lead up to Twilight's ascension at all (other than 10 seconds of a book at the end of The Crystal Empire, which could've meant anything). It just happened with no rhyme or reason other than to shoehorn another alicorn into the series. There was no need for any of that to happen. The few "character development" moments we have gotten from Twilicorn did little to change the outcome of the episodes she was in, since they would've been almost the same even without those pointless wings and the like. For example, rarely has she ever needed to fly, she's almost never used her royal authority to get her words across, and the few times she's used her new alicorn magic, it's always backfired, even in Twilight's Kingdom, where she needed her new powers more than ever. Simply slapping a pair of wings and a title of princess on someone just for change's sake does not develop a character, it just confuses the audience. By giving Twilight a reason to be an alicorn (and a reason to no longer be), it would retroactively fix a lot of these issues and thus, cause even more character growth. Why is that a bad thing?

Edited January 10, 2016 by Dolphanatic

[Celli 4,349]

I doubt it. And to be honest, I think making her back into a unicorn after making her an alicorn would be worse than just making her an alicorn. Plus, Hasbro still needs their marketing, and Twilight is just better marketable as an alicorn. Seriously, don't forget, the show is great and all, but Hasbro needs to sell toys, and unicorn Twi doesn't sell as good as alicorn Twi.

[Steve Piranha 29,496]

Nah, just because it shows up in toys, doesn't mean it'll be in the show. JUST LIKE THE CUTIE MARK MAGIC  . Funny that I've noticed it's absence two days ago 

[Jeric 46,884]

That toy line series is supposed to highlight moments from the series. Twilight being a unicorn makes sense as she was a unicorn for three seasons. 

[Grepper 3,193]

The people who design the box art don't care about continuity. At least they didn't use this vector of her that has been used much in the past.

(I've grown sick of it because of overuse in Hasbro's box art. The odd perspective certainly doesn't help.)

Edited January 12, 2016 by Grepper

[Unikitty 1,212]

Whaaaaat?! You mean companies use existing assets to cut production time and costs?! People cut corners to increase output speed? What an absurd thought!

 

But seriously this is nothing. Just people saving a quick buck. People need to get over the whole 'winged Twilight'. It's a cartoon, don't let it get to you.

[WindShear 545]

I don't think it means anything, we have seen a lot of things pop up in toys that have never been reflected in the show.

 

Also, while I personally feel that twilight has become a little less interesting as a character since becoming an alicorn, simply cutting her wings off isn't going to instantly fix any problems with her character. It would be much better if they simply do a better job of writing her, and making her more interesting as an alicorn moving forward.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Auriel

[Steve Piranha 29,496]

The people who design the box art don't care about continuity. At least they didn't use this vector of her that has been used much in the past.

(I've grown sick of it because of overuse in Hasbro's box art. The odd perspective certainly doesn't help.)

Not to mention they use it to palette swap many unicorns who have their own design (I'M LOOKING AT YOU LYRA AND SUNNY  :=: ) 

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/f/fd/Heartstrings.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111103012006

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/b/b4/Cutie_Mark_Magic_Sunset_Shimmer_doll_packaging.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/480?cb=20150213181907

[Guest]

I'm just going to throw this out there:

 

Companies a lot of the time have "unused" product, returned product, or stuff they never sold from the older lines all the time. A common practice is to re-package them and resell them to clean out inventory. When you got to do that though, new advertisement is usually printed to put on the box to make them "feel" new. On top of this, Hasbro's toys are quite often inaccurate, so it's not a surprise to me that this kind of thing happens and I wouldn't think too far into it.

[Riganthor 484]

it better not be a thing that is going to come because I kinda like twillicorn

[PacificGreen 1,163]

I think they just used some stock image of Twilight without regard to the current status of the show, or they might justify it by saying, "Eh, let's just say this is happening before Magical Mystery Cure".

[Dolphanatic 298]

Okay, this is getting really out of hand. No, I never said that the toy in question was proof of Twilight becoming a unicorn again or that it was even likely. I was just saying that it's rather unusual for Hasbro to do this stuff these days. Obviously, they know about Twilight being a unicorn for the first 2½ years of the shows run. That's not the point. What I was getting at was how Hasbro basically phased out the production of unicorn twilight merchandise after Season 3 aired. Had they kept making unicorn Twilight merchandise, I wouldn't think much of it, since it would probably be safe to assume it's just based on how she looked during Season 1 to the end of Season 3. However, the fact that unicorn Twilight has basically become nonexistent until just now is what has me curious.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Dolphanatic