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| Vinyl Scratch by Troggle, Sep 2011. CC by-sa 3.0 |
Season 4
It's speculation, of course, but it would seem at least likely that, at some point in the next few months, the existence of S4 will be confirmed. After what to some (though by no means all) fans was a slightly shaky start, S3 has come up with some excellent episodes, so there's clearly still the requisite fund of ideas. You'd also think that Hasbro would be most reluctant to let go of such a cash cow just yet. I doubt we British bronies will get proper TV coverage any time soon, though. One other fly in the ointment might be that we might again have to put up with a 13-episode season.
A two-pronged approach by Hasbro
It's fairly clear that what sells to bronies and what sells to six-year-olds does not always overlap too well. In the UK, for example, the monthly magazine is most definitely aimed at the target demographic; conversely, I doubt that many kids read the IDW comic. We can already see this happening, if officially unacknowledged, with Derpy: she's in the IDW comic, on trading cards, on con-special toys... but nowhere to be seen in kid-friendly merch and apparently also on the way to being completely dropped from the show itself.
BUCK 2013
After the great success of last year's inaugural edition, next year's British con looks set fair to be... well, a great success. Holding it around the August Bank Holiday weekend has its pros and cons, especially for those using public transport, but the decision to keep it in Manchester seems an excellent one. As far as I know, no guests, events etc have actually been announced yet, though there is hope that this might be the first BUCK at which "official" people might be guests. My personal wish? Someone associated with the comic.
More Euro merch
There will be more licensed merchandise in European markets in 2013 than there was in 2012: we have that from the pony's mouth. We don't yet know the fine details, though we can hope that there'll be at least some acknowledgement of the very significant chunk of the UK market provided by the periphery demographic. (That's us!) Stationery is my own personal wish, but it would also be nice if next Christmas there were actually MLP calendars in Calendar Club!
It seems there's a huge amount going on in 2013 where MLP is concerned. I've no doubt at all that they'll make a 4th series, because it's done so well and of course if anything it'll have gained *more* fans, not less, with the 3rd series. And all those other things going on will all help it along nicely. BUCK in particular should be very interesting to keep an eyeball on, not to mention the various goodies they plan to sell across Europe.
ReplyDeleteIndeed so! Things do seem to be going well at the moment. Sure, there are the usual bumpy patches here and there, but on the whole, I think MLP has a bright future. :)
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