My Thoughts on the Current Direction of My Little Pony

It has been interesting to see the progression of the My Little Pony line over the past two years. New characters have become nonexistent (unless you take into account the Collector Art Pony line and the two mommy and baby sets that have popped up recently). Hasbro seems very committed to the Core 7 theme (much to the dismay of many collectors) and even after they reinvented the body style last summer, the same seven characters continue to represent the My Little Pony brand. Character recognition seems to be a driving force in the line which I suppose is necessary since the target market is 3 to 5 year old girls. Still, I would think that Hasbro would want to extend their target market age to those same girls as they get older by offering products that could maintain interest and engage 6,7, and 8 year olds. However, instead of sticking with ponies, the girls commonly move onto Littlest Petshop (another Hasbro brand). I get that My Little Pony is currently a brand that is geared toward the Preschool and Kindergarten set. I accept it. I still collect them because I love My Little Pony; but I have to admit that collecting the newest reincarnation of My Little Pony seems a little more like going through the motions and I don't get nearly the same amount of enjoyment out of them.