Toy Bender

The following guest post is by my wife, Diane. She’s a My Little Pony fan who has some issues with Hasbro. I find it interesting that the issue she has parallels the feelings of a lot guys have who collect toys like Joes and Star Wars figures, especially when the 25th Joes were in their first year:

Dear Hasbro,

As a collector of My Little Ponies, I am considerably disappointed in your recent My Little Pony offerings. The fun of the previous series was that each new wave of Ponies brought new characters with new special gimmicks. What you’re giving me now is the same 6 Ponies with new add-on crap (cowboy hats? surf boards?) and a slightly different paint job. It’s hard for me to get interested in buying the same ponies over and over again. Now, I know you may be gearing this line towards kids, so you really don’t give a crap that I don’t want 2 Scootaloos even if one comes with a tennis racket. But, when the toys were originally released in the early 80’s, I was a kid and I ate that shit up like birthday cake. Call me crazy, but I’m thinking it still works that way. You can keep releasing the play sets with the creepy Pony clothes for the kiddies, but keep up with the variety for the adults with money to spend.

Sincerely,

Diane M. Rudolph

Sure the G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary was a big hit and the upcoming Transformers 25th Anniversary will most likely be a pretty big deal, but one of the biggest lines for Hasbro in the 80s is hardly getting any love. That line is My Little Pony. Hasbro is doing a little more about the anniversary by having a one night art show in New York City for fans to reflect on their favorite plastic ponies. The show will feature 25 My Little Pony figures “created” by such notable celebrities as David Arquette and Courteney Cox, Deborah “Debbie” Gibson, and LeAnn Rimes. And if you’re the biggest David Arquette fan in the world (that must be a tough competition for number one) and want to drop some cash, the ponies will be put up for auction that night.

Mamas Don’t Let Your Girls Grow up Without Boy Toys

Super Ginger is confused and frightened by his sister’s bounty of non-war mongering Ken dolls.

I’m grateful to wrest control of this blog away from my fiancé long enough to speak about an important consideration when buying toys for children. Parents, please buy your daughters some male gendered toys. I grew up in the 80s, an era that saw the rise in gender neutral ideals like pink could be a boys color or that girls could play with trucks. My parents were no exception to this new wave of parenting ideas, as I had Matchbox cars and a few He-Man figures in addition to my Rainbow Brite and Care Bears. I happened to prefer buying my toys in the pink aisles, but they still did their part. Good job, Mom and Dad!

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