• Celestia Toy Review


    A very dedicated Brony has recently dropped in our inbox a review of all three versions of the normal sized, pink, Celestia toys released by Hasbro. For you custom creators and collectors out there I'd definitely recommend giving it a read! He goes into quite a fair bit of detail describing each version's unique characteristics which could make picking the right Celestia for your custom project or collection a little easier!

    Thanks to Richfiles for the review!

    You can find his full review and picture comparisons after the break.


    Well, I have all three of the major releases of the standard size Celestia toy. This is a detailed review of the differences between the three versions of the toys.

    The oldest is the Friendship is Magic 5 Piece Gift Set (Right most toy). She has a solid color tiara with gold (yellow) color, a purple multifaceted gem, and a dark gold trim and back. It fits tightly against the forehead. The hair is 4 toned, and the wings are made of the same plastic as the main body. Head is fixed, and mane and tail are molded.

    The middle image is the version of Celestia that came bundled with the 3" standard version Princess Luna toy. Her tiara is the same mold, but is now unpainted, and uses a translucent yellow plastic. The body is identical, and uses the same mold as the gift set version. Her hair is now only 3 tones of color however, eliminating pink. Her wings are now made of a translucent plastic... I'd call it magenta, or close to it.

    Both of these versions of the toy featured molded manes and tails. The wings are individually set into recesses in the body, one for each wing. There is a "peg" that can't be seen on the rear left leg and the right side of the neck on both of these. There is also a deep "Y" shaped trench in the top of the head, and a deep hole in the back. These are all mounting/anchor points for the molded mane and tail.

    Finally, we get to the newest version of the toy, seen on the left. This toy comes with a posed leg variant of Twilight Sparkle, with a tiara that ACTUALLY looks similar to the "Big Crown Thingy", aka her Element of Harmony. It even has the purple 6 pointed star on it. The set also comes with Spike... Same old Quadrupedal Spike the Dragon that has come in every Spike pack in. Props for finally releasing a posed leg variant of Twi. Another check mark off my "Gotta collect 'em all" Pony checklist... Yes, I carry a detailed checklist covering pony toys in my wallet. Twi would be so proud. :D

    Sadly, Twi would not be proud of the Princess Celestia toy that comes in this set. I honestly can't say everything about it is good.

    The newest version of the Celestia toy is more of less defined by the fact that it has a brushable mane and tail. Due to these changes, there are no longer any "pegs" on the neck or legs for the molded hair to mount to. Fact is, the ENTIRE body and head mold are new. The head is noticeably larger, larger eye decals are used, and the horn was slightly bent out of the box. It's also angled more upward than forward. I will admit that the forward view of the face looks more natural on the new Celestia. The old toys looked derped a bit when looking at them head on. The brushable hair is fitted to a very large number of plugs... With the light blue colored hair being fitted three plugs wide in the forelock position. The purple strands are mounted 2 plugs wide. The hair only has 3 shades, with there being 2 shades of purple. Last head detail to point out... The head can be rotated. That's nice.

    The tiara on the new toy is made from yellow plastic, and only has the purple gem painted, but the gem, and overall crown design is much simpler. The gem no longer has complex facets. One nice addition is the neck piece. It does NOT fit the older toys, unless you break the bond between the neck peg and the mane. Both the neck piece and the tiara are loose fitting, unfortunately. One new addition to the body is a hole in the bottom of the fore hoof. The old toys did not have this hole. This means the new toy can be pressed onto the pegs on many of the toy playsets now.

    The wings have returned to the overall color of the body, but now feature a gradient shading from body color toward a very deep pink near the wing tips. They are notably thinner than the wings of the old toys, and are extraordinarily flexible. I was able to bend them all the way down to the legs, and did not fear they would break. I suspect these would be good for custom poses, by applying a little heat to make the deformation permanent. Sadly, the thinner wings come with a big negative. The body no longer has two individual slots for the wings to insert into, but instead has a massive rectangular pit on the back. One wing has a large "block" of plastic, and the other wing is thin. It leaves an ugly looking asymmetrical back with deep seams and is simply not as nice as the old wing plugs. It kinda reminds me of the plastic chunk on the back of the new Glimmerwing ponies.

    The most notable difference stood out to me the second I placed the toys side by side. The new Princess Celestia with brushable mane and tail is fatter... Yes... Celestia appears to have been partying too hard at Sugarcube corner with Pinkie Pie. All the well defined, trim features of our favorite sun raising,  prank loving Princess... are gone. You can clearly make out the lines of old Celestia's legs as they meet her body. The old toy has her flanks clearly defined as an extension of her leg into her torso. No any longer... All leg definition ends the moment the leg meets the body. The new body is physically larger, filling in all those fine details, and the forelegs are spaced slightly wider apart at the point where they meet the body. In addition, other details, like the hoof shoes are less defined, and are overall, thinner and less defined. The seams between mold segments are in more visible spaces, and it certainly appears they sacrificed overall quality to simplify the overall mold structure. (I speak with a degree of experience on the subject, as I've worked with a friend who does injection molding for a fishing lure business).

    Overall, I'd say that the new Celestia is probably cheaper to make than the other two Celestia toys (not considering the mane and tail... I'm uncertain whether molded is cheaper or costlier than brushables). Thinner wings, less complex molds, more obviously visible seams, fatter body with less detail, cheaper tiara and neck piece (though it's nice they added the neck piece), and overall... I feel the whole product is cheaper. It's still pink, though a SLIGHTLY lighter pink. I emphasize the slight part.

    Also... Still pink...

    Still Pink...

    HASBROOOOOOOO!!!

    Richfiles



    45 kommentaari:

    1. wall of text'd.


      http://mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1606-Cheerilee_dizzy.gif

      VastaKustuta
    2. Pinklestia has returned and it was Luna all along. The troll wars will begin again.

      VastaKustuta
    3. I'd can get over Pinklestia, IF we get a remotely accurate Luna!

      VastaKustuta
    4. (reaction to pink Celestia) WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT! o___________O





      Moo

      VastaKustuta
    5. Well that definitely counts as dedication. Never really thought of toys having "revisions," but here it is.

      @Twilight Sparkle Moo?

      VastaKustuta
    6. What about this one? http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__BgIrAtMG2g/TK1N6O44Y7I/AAAAAAAAAc0/rxqDQmmSQCE/s400/new+bbts+5.jpg

      VastaKustuta
    7. (Buck, Here's a cleaner link) Yea, what bout this one, it's all I've seen in the Uk. http://mlpf.im/lO

      VastaKustuta
    8. Just like the comic says: http://pqp.vc/euc

      I found it the following site: http://www.sandraandwoo.com/

      Agronopolos
      Editor in chief of the site: http://mlpbr.blogspot.com

      VastaKustuta
    9. @RainbowDashia

      I believe the review says that they're only looking at the one size of Celestia toys. That looks like the big, electronic Celestia that I bought my little cousin.

      VastaKustuta
    10. Silly bronies. Celestia IS SUPPOSED TO BE PINK.

      The show was made for the toys, not the other way around.

      VastaKustuta
    11. I strangely prefer this new Celestia... At least it matches the others with brushable hair. Imma buy her and paint her white.

      VastaKustuta
    12. Why is it I can very easily picture Celestia and Luna having a prank war?

      VastaKustuta
    13. Other then Celestia being pink, I don't mind this figure at all.

      Nao all they need is a Nightmare Moon figure and I'd be all set, but I'm probably not ever going to get my wish there.

      VastaKustuta
    14. @Twilight Sparkle

      Supposedly pink sells better.

      Perhaps among the /intended/ target audience, it does...but the older fans (y'know, the ones with /all the money/) would prefer something more accurate to the show. If only Hasbro could see that.

      VastaKustuta
    15. @GoldenSandslash15 From Hasbro's perspective, the show may exist to sell merchandise...but I've got a feeling they'd sell a lot more Celestia figures if they were white like she is in the show. Lots of bronies want their figures to be show-accurate, but are too lazy to repaint Celestia.

      VastaKustuta
    16. @Silverlight

      Oh, the target audience does have money...though it's not their money.

      VastaKustuta
    17. @Harwick I had no idea that other sizes exsisted O.o UK gets worst toys >.>

      VastaKustuta
    18. I actually like the new version of Celestia. She matches the rest of the toys better. Instead of having a super tiny head and huge body compared to the regular sized ponies, her head is about the same size as theirs and she looks more like the Queen Marshmallow that she's supposed to be. =)

      VastaKustuta
    19. I guess I don't have that much of an issue with Pinklestia as other people do because I have been customizing action figures WAY before I got into MLP:FiM so doing a quick paint job is nothing to me.

      VastaKustuta
    20. @RainbowDashia
      While I admit that I haven't looked especially hard, the distribution of Pony toys seems spotty even here in the US. I'm not really interested in the existing toys since they don't look that much like the show characters, but I was curious to see those "blind bag" figures that have some background characters like Big Mac and Lyra and such. However, I've never seen a hint of them in any store by me.

      VastaKustuta
    21. @Harwick

      Sadly, I don't think those are in the US. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

      Kind of annoying really as I wanted a few as well.

      VastaKustuta
    22. http://mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/1317234975304853.gif

      VastaKustuta
    23. @Harwick @Nightmare Moon
      I've been hunting everywhere for blindbags too, still seems the internet is the only place to get those for us :/

      VastaKustuta
    24. @RainbowDashia

      It certainly looks that way, so far the only thing resembling the blind bag ponies I was able to get ahold of was something sold at Toys R Us online, but it doesn't have any of the ponies such as Big Mac or such.

      Hopefully in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

      VastaKustuta
    25. Well, sorry for the wall'o'text gaize! LOL!

      Mold structures fascinate me. What can I say. It's almost like a visual puzzle to be deconstructed. I'm a nerd. Don't even get me started on vintage calculating and computing devices (my Luna DOES have an abacus! LOL).

      Anyway, I took 2 more images detailing the molded hair versions mounting points. These are not part of the new toy's mold anymore, since they are no longer needed for the brushable mane and tail. It might interest custom modders.

      I'd have done these yesterday, but my camera's batteries are shot, and are now only good for about 2-3 shots. I know... lame.

      Anyway, here's my 2 additional images, posted on ponibooru:

      http://www.ponibooru.org/post/view/108163
      http://www.ponibooru.org/post/view/108164

      Hmm... Maybe I should drop a saucy warning for 108163... You can see her plot hole... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

      Sorry guys, I couldn't NOT do that joke. It's just the tail mounting hole.

      VastaKustuta
    26. I learned allot reading this, thanks. Will probably search for the oldest one anyway =P

      VastaKustuta
    27. PINK?!?! HASBROOOOOOOOOOOOO!

      VastaKustuta
    28. @Silverlight

      Actually, the pink Clestia's sell better to young girls. Which is why they were made to be pink in the first place. There's tens of thousands of Bronies. But millions of little girls that buy the FiM merchandise.

      I didn't read it, but dang is that a review. lol

      VastaKustuta
    29. lol, droves of people asking for show accurate models, and they're actually deviating from show-accuracy even more now.

      VastaKustuta
    30. I've actually got another small wall'o'text about some additional details regarding the actual play sets that Target just released. I've been asked questions about the other content, like if the Twilight Sparkle that's included is worth getting the play set for.

      The Twilight in the set is of the posed leg variant, and has a tiara that more closely resembles her Elements of harmony "Big Crown Thingy" more than any toy to date.

      It has regular brushable hair, which can be a good thing. The Target Canterlot Exclusives that were sold since August featured "tinsel" mixed with the nylon strands of hair. This toy does NOT have tinsel. For those who style manes, this is actually a very good thing, as the tinsel does not cooperate with traditional styling methods. In that sense, this toy is an improvement.

      If you have seen any of the standard 3 inch toys with one fore leg raised, then you know what the Twilight Sparkle toy looks like. I've yet to come across a posed leg variant of Twilight, so this may be the first one I've seen that's been widely released.

      Spike is still same as he ever was.


      On a side note, while I don't have photos, due to my stupid camera. I can vouch for the fact that the Pony School Pals & Cheerilee set is actually quite a nice set for a pony collector.

      They skip all the frivolous accessories (and I mean ALL of them, not even a brush is included) to actually include 4 ponies in this one play set for $14.99. Considering individual ponies ring up at $5 a piece, this is an alright deal.

      The set has yet another IDENTICAL Sweetie Belle, which is a shame (I now have 4, the others coming from Sweetie Belle's Ice Cream train Car, Fun at the Fair with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and the other from the Pinkies Bakery play set). I see this as a missed opportunity to offer a posed leg variant of Sweetie Belle. Makes even less sense, since Applebloom IS a posed leg variant, and Earth/Unicorn ponies use the same body mold, but a different head mold. Cheerilee is also posed, which is nice. As I said, Sweetie Belle, and the new Scootaloo are standing straight legged. Hopefully they will make a posed variant of these two in the future.

      As for Scootaloo... She is THE prize of the new play set. Yeah, it's nice to have a posed leg variant of Applebloom and Cheerilee, but this is the FIRST G4 pegasus filly toy. Her hair is a bit too pink. Looks disturbingly close to Fluttershy's shade, though not quite. Hasbro needs to darken this toy's mane and tail to the magenta thing Scootaloo has going on the cartoon, for future versions of the product. Lets just hope Scoot's mane didn't get hit by the Pinklestia canon.

      What I can say, HOOVES DOWN, is The. Best. Possible. Thing. about this entire play set...

      Scootaloo's tiny itty bitty widdle fiwwy wings are aDAAWWWWWWWWable! For size comparison, they are only about the size of a pony's eye... That's it... and it works. It just looks right. On her smaller body, it Just. Looks. Perfect!

      One more thing to note...

      The receipt that target printed made me laugh so hard. Both the Royal Castle Friends and the Pony School Pals & Cheerilee sets were listed under the following descriptors

      TOYS-SPORTING GOODS
      086020285
      FOREVER
      2 @ $14.99 ea
      T $29.98

      Yes...

      Target has the new My Little Pony play sets entered into their system as "FOREVER". No other descriptor other than item SKU number and department.

      FOREVER!!!

      VastaKustuta
    31. Man... Is it just me or is 1000 years of raising the sun wearing on Celestia? She's getting a sunburn for goodness' sale...

      VastaKustuta
    32. The crazy thing is kids can also be picky about their toys matching up with a show they watch. Though kids tend to be much less vocal about such things outside of when they initially get the toy.

      After all, a kid's imagination tends to take over pretty quickly. That can lead to some interesting results. As I know if I had been a fan of the show as a kid and got a Pinklestia, I would of turned it into an impromptu villain.

      VastaKustuta
    33. Looks to me like the same drawings were used to make the brushable Celly as the talking Celly, with modifications as needed.

      VastaKustuta
    34. I wonder if Hasbro dont care or if they have some quality control which:
      1)check quality of dubbing in other languages (dubbing to our language is awful)
      2)check quality of episodes on iTunes, because Apple mess up with colors in those files
      2)and if they check their tyos and know that Celestia isnt pink

      VastaKustuta
    35. If they'd change that brushable Celestia WHITE I'd buy it in a heartbeat. It looks much more like the character now, and I like her mane! /sweetiebelle

      VastaKustuta
    36. WOW!
      Speaking about the My Little Pony toys... I was putting things away, and noticed that the Pinkie Pie bubble blower toy has her cutie mark on BOTH SIDES!!!

      GAAAASSSP!!!

      It IS possible! Now if only ALL the pony toys would have cutiemarks on both sides.

      VastaKustuta
    37. No, srsly, when will finally the toy dept. of Hasbro get their heads straight and design a white Celestia toy? The fanbase was around for over a year now, that's long enough. I suggest we Occupy Rhode Island Hasbro HQ. Our demands? WHITE CELESTIA! Who's with me?

      VastaKustuta
    38. I just posted a picture of my Target receipt for my purchase of the "Royal Castle Friends" and the "Pony School Pals & Cheerilee" play sets I bought.

      http://www.ponibooru.org/post/view/108331

      There has GOT to be a brony entering these products into the system... Either that, or Pinkie Pie! LOL!

      VastaKustuta
    39. Even if she is still pink, I like the brushable Celestia the best.

      VastaKustuta
    40. GUUUUHH.....Celestia, why you is pink?

      Flier for new pony toys showed picture of you and you were WHITE!!?!?! WHY DOES PAPER LIIIE!?!!?

      VastaKustuta
    41. or if they know that Fluttershy isnt only recolored Rainbow Dash.

      VastaKustuta