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The NY Toy Fair 2016 is over and that means it's time for our yearly wrap-up. In this mega-post we focus mainly on Hasbro's announcements of the Toy Fair, but also share images of Funko, Tech 4 Kids and other brands. If you want to read the wrap-ups about the previous years, you can find them here:
- 2014 NY Toy Fair Wrap-up
- 2015 NY Toy Fair Wrap-up

Hasbro's 2016 Plans

Hasbro announced some big changes for 2016, one of which is already quite obvious in the current and announced merch lines. Storytelling is the keyword here, which means that Hasbro is releasing more figures combined with a story, rather than simple stand-alone figures. We see this in the Friendship is Magic Collections, which are basically blind bag figures but with a dedicated story arc per wave. Another example is the Equestria Girls Minis line, which is also coming in themed waves, with more story-related details and accessories and show-like presentation. And last but not least is the announcement of the Guardians of Harmony line (more info below), which brings a new line of brushable-sized figures revolving around scenes from the show or story-arcs. 

Another announcement from Hasbro, which actually applies to all their brands, is that they're going to listen more to fans. Last year Hasbro started to be more open to fan designs (e.g. Shapeways), but 2016 will revolve around the voice of the fans. Fan chosen figures or characters will finally start to happen this year, as Hasbro will actively ask fans for their ideas and opinions, probably through polls or surveys. They also praised the current size of the fandom (both target audience and adult fans) and are openly admitting that My Little Pony isn't just for small girls. One big announcement in regard to that statement is the launch of Guardians of Harmony Fan Series figures (more info below), which will be the first adult-targeted Hasbro figures outside of convention exclusives (like the SDCC figures).

Guardians of Harmony

This is without a doubt the biggest announcement of the year (and possibly ever). This line of brushable-sized (and priced) figures are a textbook example of what Hasbro is trying to achieve with Storytelling. The Guardians of Harmony line will consist of various sets, comparable with the Friendship is Magic Collection and a special Fan Series line with more detailed figures, but without articulation. The regular figures have articulation and/or motion, plus a gigantic 13" Big Dragon Spike figure with motion too! All figures include their own pin/badge that you can wear yourself.

The regular sets that have been announced are:
Guardians of Harmony Single Figures ($9.99)
- Rainbow Dash & Tank
- Pinkie Pie & Party Cannon & Boneless
- Shadowbolt & Cockatrice
- Shining Armor

Guardians of Harmony Figure and Friends Sets ($14.99)
- Princess Twilight Sparkle & Changeling
- Queen Chrysalis & Spike
- Soarin' & Spike

Guardians of Harmony Big Dragon Spike Figure ($39.99)

Guardians of Harmony Fan Series ($19.99)
- Princess Celestia
- Nightmare Moon

MLP Guardians of Harmony at the NY Toy Fair 2016MLP Guardians of Harmony at the NY Toy Fair 2016
MLP Guardians of Harmony at the NY Toy Fair 2016MLP Guardians of Harmony at the NY Toy Fair 2016

Explore Equestria

Of course the main line of MLP will be expanding as well. At the end of 2015 we were introduced to the "Explore Equestria" line. This has also been confirmed as the main series theme for this year. As the name suggest this theme will be all about exploring Equestria. A lot of new merchandise has been revealed as well.
First of all let's start with the basic brushables which are, maybe, the most popular wave announced so far. During the fair they've shown some new pearlized ones. We already got a look at the first four, but by the looks of it a lot more characters are coming as well. A high request by fans was that Hasbro would release more different characters, and in this line of brushables a total of 5 new character will make their first (brushable) appearance: Coloratura, Meadow Flower, Pretzel, Sapphire Joy and Sea Swirl. We'll also see some new releases of already existing characters like several of the mane-six, Starlight Glimmer and Cherry Berry. Still, I feel like a lot of people are actually pleased with all these characters.
MLP New Explore Equestria Brushables at the NY Toy Fair 2016
Secondly, the line of articulated ponies will expand. As we all know we have two kinds of articulated ponies, the basic ones and the ones combined with an action. Both of these lines will get three additional character each. The basic line will get Applejack, Cheerilee and Fluttershy and the action line will get Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle.
MLP Articulated BrushablesMLP Articulated Brushables

The Princesses will also get a new line named "Sparkle Bright" brushables. These can be quite confusing since they look a lot like the Rainbow Shimmer (snowglobe) ones, but these work a bit differently. Instead of them being filled with liquid these are actually filled with lights! When you press their cutie marks they will light up. The first wave will contain Princess Cadance and Princess Luna and the second wave will contain Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.
MLP Sparkle Bright BrushablesMLP New Explore Equestria Sparkle Bright Brushables at the NY Toy Fair 2016

Last year we saw the first folding playsets for Fluttershy and Rarity, Hasbro is going to release a second wave of these and this time Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash will be released with one. Pinkie Pie's one will be themed after a Donut Shop and the Rainbow Dash one will be themed around the Cloudominium. Like most of the merchandise these will be available this fall. (By the way, at the bottom of this image you can see a new huge Hasbro POP! Or "Design-a-Pony" Rainbow Dash figure since Hasbro renamed the line. This was the only thing shown however.
MLP Folding Playsets

Hasbro also shown some other brushables with a brand new gimmick. These brushables are called "Magical Scenes" brushables. The first thing you notice about these is that they have gigantic cutie marks compared to their bodies, they also have a large hole. The thing is with these brushables that you actually need to take a peek trough that hole. If you do so a “magical scene” will be visible. I really feel like you need to experience these in real life. Quite a mystery what’s behind them… The characters released will be Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity.
MLP Magical Scenes FluttershyMLP Magical Scenes Pinkie Pie

MLP Magical Scenes Rainbow Dash

We're also going to see a new Ponyville Express Train Set this year. And surprisingly enough the train set is not accompanied by Pinkie Pie, but Twilight Sparkle! Complete with conductors hat and accessories she is going to manage the Express in 2016.
MLP New Explore Equestria Brushables at the NY Toy Fair 2016

Moving on to the larger ponies. We’ll also got some news about those. First of all it looks like the normal brushable ponies won’t be the only ponies to receive articulation. The larger Fashion Styles will also be articulated, but in a different way then the others. Instead of ball-joints these fashion styles named “Action Friends” each feature a different action. Fluttershy flutters her wings and raises her hoof. Pinkie Pie has a bobble-head, Rarity blinks with her eyes and moves her legs and Twilight Sparkle stands on her back-legs and flutters her wings as well.
MLP Action Friends Fluttershy

MLP Action Friends RarityMLP Action Friends Twilight Sparkle

But we also have the normal Fashion Styles. Quite an interesting waves as all of them are characters that haven’t been released as a fashion style before. The characters shown are: Photo Finish, Royal Ribbon, Sapphire Shores and Starlight Glimmer. Each one comes with additional clothing and accessories. In my opinion these are some of the best Fashion Styles announced yet. Especially Sapphire Shores and Photo Finish!
MLP Fashion StylesMLP Fashion Style Photo Finish

MLP Fashion Style Twilight SparkleMLP Fashion Style Sapphire Shores

Baby Flurry Heart

I feel like she's quite an important announcement, so that's why we made a different section about her. As we all expected Flurry Heart is the child of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. According to Hasbro she's also the first pony to be born as an Alicorn. Three pieces of merchandise have been revealed of her so far. The first piece is a new playset which is themed around the Crystal Palace/Empire which has some light-up gimmicks. This playset will come with a Princess Cadance Brushable and a small Baby Flurry Heart Figure (no idea why Shining Armor isn't included...).
The second piece of merchandise that has been announced is a large so-soft like pony. Her horn indicated how she's feeling at the moment. You can feed her and she laughs and giggles.
And at last the "Good Night Baby Flurry Heart" book was displayed. This book features bedtime stories for small children and will be released this April. The artwork is done by Amy Mebberson who also made several IDW Comic Covers in the past and designed the Equestria Girls Minis.
MLP New Explore Equestria Baby Flurry Heart at the NY Toy Fair 2016
MLP New Explore Equestria Baby Flurry Heart at the NY Toy Fair 2016MLP New Explore Equestria Baby Flurry Heart at the NY Toy Fair 2016

Baby Flurry HeartGood Night Baby Flurry Heart

Equestria Girls 4: Legend of Everfree

A new year, a new Equestria Girls movie, right? Well, earlier in 2015 we spotted the first Legend of Everfree references, and it was a long doubt whether this was another movie or a (short) series about the girls. But, at the NY Toy Fair, Hasbro confirmed that this is in fact a new movie, but one thing has changed for this year's Equestria Girls: It will debut on Netflix! No longer is the premiere of the movie for The Hub / Discovery Family, but the major media-subscription Netflix. And even before the premiere Hasbro will release the first 10 minutes of the movie on YouTube, a week in advance! Hasbro only mentioned Netflix as premiere channel, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be release on physical media or Discovery Family soon after.

As usual Hasbro also revealed several of the new Legend of Everfree dolls we can expect over the year. For this movie a total of three different kind of dolls have been announced for the first release. The Boho dolls, the Geometric ones and the Crystal Gala one. One new character has also been revealed named Gloriosa. The Boho dolls wear... well Boho/Hippie-like inspired clothing (which means loose tops and fringe details if we look at the official doll descriptions. The Geometric dolls all wear bright and colorful clothes and the Crystal Gala ones all wear beautiful large dresses. One interesting bit is the fact that the Sunset Shimmer one wears large wings together with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, does this perhaps mean she turned into an Alicorn?
MLP Equestria Girls Legend of Everfree Dolls at the NY Toy Fair 2016
MLP Equestria Girls Legend of Everfree Dolls at the NY Toy Fair 2016MLP Equestria Girls Legend of Everfree Dolls at the NY Toy Fair 2016
Each of the three types of dolls have a total of 5-6 characters. The following dolls are included in each line:

Boho Style:
- Applejack
- Fluttershy
- Rarity
- Sunset Shimmer
- Twilight Sparkle

Geometric Style:
- Gloriosa
- Lyra Heartstrings
- Pinkie Pie
- Rainbow Dash
- Sweetie Drops

Crystal Gala
- Fluttershy
- Gloriosa
- Rainbow Dash
- Rarity
- Sunset Shimmer
- Twilight Sparkle

Equestria Girls Minis

The Equestria Girls Minis got released at the end of 2015, but they already turned out to be a huge success, so as we expected, some new Minis have also been revealed during the fair. And quite a lot of them, actually!
The first line which was also mentioned in the Toy Fair Presentation by Toy Fair are the school gala themed figures. There will be a new playset featuring Twilight Sparkle and several masquerade accessorizes and a new six-pack (bad jokes coming in 3...2..1...) This pack contains Applejack, Flash Sentry, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. A DJ Pon-3 mini was also shown.
Equestria Girls MinisEquestria Girls Minis

Equestria Girls MinisEquestria Girls Minis
We also saw some new sets of things that haven't been announced during the presentation. First off all we finally saw the mini for Sunset Shimmer, one character we actually hoped to see already at the start of the line, but she has been made at last, which is nice. Next to her are some minis representing the Pep-Rally in the cafeteria from the first movie, together with the matching outfits, ears and tails.
A new gimmick that will be added to the minis line is the fact that you will be able to swap the hair as well, as demonstrated with a Pinkie Pie hair salon set.
Equestria Girls MinisEquestria Girls Minis

Equestria Girls MinisEquestria Girls Minis

Friendship is Magic Collection

A brand new Friendship is Magic Collection was announced at the NY Toy Fair this year. The central theme is Nightmare Night and features most of the ponies from the "Luna Eclipsed" TV-episode. Hasbro did not release a list of all the individual sets to be released, but there are plenty of photos available from the Toy Fair showing all the figures. We'll be sure to see the following characters or sets in this collection:
- Princess Luna with her chariot and guard
- Derpy, Mayor Mare and Rainbow Dash as Shadowbolt
- Pipsqueak, Spike and the CMC
- Twilight Sparkle and Zecora
- Pinkie Pie as Chicken and Applejack with her Sweets Stand
Nightmare Night Friendship is Magic CollectionNightmare Night Friendship is Magic Collection

Nightmare Night Friendship is Magic CollectionNightmare Night Friendship is Magic Collection

Wave 16 Blind Bags

For those who've been following the blind bag releases last year, this shouldn't come as a surprise: The wave 16 blind bags are a re-release of the wave 6 blind bags. But, there is going to be one big change in this wave: The blind bag figures have Nightmare Night decorations, just like the FiM Collection! It's unsure whether the complete set will be decorated, or only the chase figures, but it's a nice twist on a simple re-release.
From what we can see in the image is that there will also be some changes in the included characters, but overall it will be mostly wave 6. But we can safely say that Fiddlesticks will be part of this wave.
Wave 16 Blind BagsWave 16 Blind Bags

Playskool

This year will be the second year for the Playskool ponies. A line especially for the smaller fans of the show. Hasbro displayed several items of the line including some of the new merchandise we found earlier in the brand toolkits. As you can see they displayed the Pony & Vehicle 2-packs. Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will be part of this set. This is also the first time we'll see Fluttershy and Rarity as a Playskool Pony.
We'll also see the small playset with Cheerilee and Bumblesweet as well as the Playskool Plush that were officially released some weeks ago.
One last new thing we see are the Bath Squirters. We already know them as they all got released in a 3-pack but as you can see they will be also sold separately.
MLP Playskool Friends at the NY Toy Fair 2016

Funko

For several of us the Toy Fair wasn't as expected in regards to Funko. A lot of us hoped that Funko would show the Nightmare Moon and Queen Chysalis Vinyl figures. Especially since the news came that Hot Topic is going to stop selling MLP stuff. Several of us feared this would be the end for the popular vinyl line. It didn't help much either that the Funko 2016 Catalog didn't contain the two. So what does this mean? I believe we will still see them this year. But when and how, that's the question. Perhaps during the SDCC?
But luckily Funko did show some brand new MLP Merch at the Toy Fair. A brand new line by Funko got announced named: My Moji's. These are adorable 1,5 inch figures featuring different characters with several emoji expressions. One of the sets announced for this line are the MLP ones. They will be packaged like Blind Bags and each figure also comes with a download which unlocks the emoji on your phone as well. The whole mane six will be included with the addition of Spike and Discord. Each character will be released with three different emotions which means this set contains a total of 24 figures to collect. Happy hunting!
Funko MLP My Moji'sFunko MLP My Moji's

Tech 4 Kids

In contrast to Funko, Tech 4 Kids showed loads of My Little Pony merch at the Toy Fair, with two brand new lines and two new waves of existing lines. 

MLP Fashems Wave 5
A new line of the well known Fashems, featuring translucent figures and new characters like Starlight Glimmer, Lyra, Trixie and Spike! Beside that it also seems that some of the ponies got new eye-colors, but these could be prototype figures.
MLP Fashems Wave 5MLP Fashems Wave 5MLP Fashems Wave 5

MLP Squishy Pops Wave 3
This new line of Squishy Pops will feature more clear figures and introduce Derpy/Muffins and DJ Pon-3 as new characters. Probably more will follow in the final announcement!
MLP Squishy Pops Wave 3MLP Squishy Pops Wave 3

MLP Micro Lites
The Micro Lites series has been around for a while with other brands, but this year the first My Little Pony line will be released. The mane 6 figures feature chibi-like bodies and light up when you squeeze them. They'll be released as blind bags later this year.
MLP Micro LitesMLP Micro Lites

MLP Stackems
A very interesting new line that Tech 4 Kids introduced this year. These Tsum Tsum-like figures are called Stackems and, as you guessed, are stackable pony figures that will be released as blind bags too. Initially only the mane 6 will be released, but we expect these to become popular enough for another wave!
MLP StackemsMLP Stackems

Paper Punk

A new brand that was spotted at the Toy Fair that is creating easy to build papercrafts around various brands, and as of this year they started creating My Little Pony kits too. The kits are $9.95 each and figure the mane 6 in 13-party DIY kits with cute patterns and over 150 stickers for decorating.
Paper Punk MLP KitsPaper Punk MLP Kits

Paper Punk MLP Kits

Other Merch

Of course there are always some smaller brands who join the MLP license party. Usually we don't know much about the merch or brands, so this section contains the 'spare' finds of the NY Toy Fair.

MLP Piano Music Mat
Create your own music by walking over this Piano Music Mat.
MLP Selfie Kit
Yep, a MLP selfie stick.
Sun-Staches MLP Shades
Sun-Staches' MLP shades
Sun-Staches MLP Mask Shades
Sun-Staches' MLP mask shades

Because we were not able to be at the NY Toy Fair, all images are credited to other people. Therefor we'd like thank the following people for sharing and providing the used images: Chevistian, Steven, Tany, Patricia, Stitch Kingdom, Bin's Toy Bin, @littlemissnonam, ASM, Kotaku (Mike Fahey) and eclipsedflame.

4 comments :

  1. I'm really looking forward to getting the nightmare night fim collection wave 16 blind bags and the pearlized brushible ponies and the shine bright brushible ponies.

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  2. Cool! I love the pearlescent brushies...And I also love Guardians of Harmony! I don't have cable, I use the Netflix app on my old Wii to watch tv (I also use Amazon and Hulu, but I like Netflix better) so I am REALLY excited the premiere is going to be on there for Legends of Everfree!!! The new EqG dolls look pretty great, and the new EqG minis are cool.

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  3. I hope that hasbro makes more male ponies this year

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  4. And Spitfire of guardians of harmony???

    ReplyDelete