What do you think of pony card situation in China？

[Endless_JIN 17]

Hi,I'm a Brony from China.These days,pony cards are very famous among children in China.You may think this is a very good thing, and I thought so at first.

However, at present, the fact seems to be just the opposite.A lot of young children bought them just to follow the trend, and some of them don't really love MLP. For example, they like one Pony, but they don't like other Ponies. so they just throw it away when they get what they don't want, and even make some insults to the role.What's even crazier is that the scraps of paper made from MLP screenshots can even sell for tens of thousands of yuan. Because most of them are immature, they use their parents' money to buy them, and sometimes they spend a lot of money.I think it's normal for children to like playing cards, and I understand it, but it's really worrying that some children spend too much and have behaviors similar to "gambling"These days, I often see this kind of children's excessive consumption behavior in the news, and news reports often write "My little pony”cards, and even seem to focus on" MLP ",but I think this has nothing to do with MLP, it is a means adopted by some manufacturers to make money.What worries me is that people outside Brony will think that MLP is not a good animation to some extent when they see this situation, and they may also think that Bronies are the people who play and sell cards like this.Because of this, I am even a little afraid to introduce MLP to my friends. Originally, MLP was considered by most people who didn't understand it as an animation just for children, but now the misunderstanding is more serious.However, there seems to be a bright side, which greatly improves the popularity of MLP, and if some people really understand MLP in depth, they may also understand its beauty and become a member of Bronies.But I think it will do more harm than good.

So what do you think of it? Is a good thing or a bad thing？

[Fluttershutter 2,359]

Sounds like typical kid behavior to me.

[black20120305 5]

 I'm a Brony from China,too.Those cards have a really significant negative impact on the Chinese MLP community.I think we should regulate them appropriately.

[Iforgotmybrain 5,083]

I’m an American so can’t comment on China specific stuff. But this does remind me of what Pokémon trading cards were like when I was growing up. A mix of kids having their parents buy them because it was the cool thing at the moment and kids who were genuinely interested in Pokémon and the trading card game. If kids are spending too much money on or being wasteful it’s definitely on the parents to deal with that. Since kids will be kids at the end of the day. For Pokémon the trading card craze didn’t really do anything negative to its perception. If anything it helped it become even more popular and well known. I’d imagine it’s similar for MLP. There might be some negative aspects but the positives likely outweigh and outshine them.

[Arrlong28 381]

I have some of those cards, I'm from Spain and I think that... Well... Trading cards IS gambling.

I love those cards BUT i'm not buying more. Or im going to buy specific card but not boxes...

Sounds like typical kid behavior for me too.

Edited August 8 by Arrlong28

[Finding_Marty 639]

It does sound like Pokemon playing cards and tazos in the past.

Nothing can be done to change their behavior. Nor can anything be done to change the general opinion about MLP. Unless you control media... 

[donutmasterjoe 195]

I believe this is really worrisome, and throwing them away is really a huge waste, this behavior doesn't seem right but I've been in touch with chinese community before and something similiar happened with a yogurt brand. They had QR codes or something in each one of them to get something I don't remember about an idol group, but it was a huge issue since people was buying the yogurt and NOT eating them, throwing an intact FOOD away. In instance, the company and the idol group around it issued a note about the occurence and how dissapointed they were with the fans with such behavior. I believe, if the pony cards get such strong impact like the yougurt had, Kayou will emmitt an official note too, even more because the yogurt case happened with teenagers and young adults, and now the cards are happening with children, which is far more worrying. 

I'm sorry to hear what's happening so near you. If you have any chance, you should talk to kids you know doing that same thing, I'm mostly sure they won't listen since they are children and only obbey their parents, but who knows.

Edited August 10 by donutmasterjoe

[Ganondorf8 11,241]

That does explain why people from China have been wanting the MLP CCG cards I've been selling on eBay as of late.

[Rafa Stary 2,696]

For me that is terrible, these cards are art, I know most of them just reuse vector arts or promotional arts, but a lot of artistic effort was still put into them.

If these people don't want the cards, then they should sell them to someone who wants them, there are collectors everywhere, the two sides win, much better than throwing art away, that is an insult to me.

[ZiggWheelsManning 9,261]

@Rafa Stary

These cards surely have value, hope there is benefit to both sides and the art.