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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 12, 2013 20:52:15 GMT -7
Before I begin, the title is NOT referring to the Teddy Ruxpin fandom, but to another 80's fandom.
Okay, so I don't know how many here are aware of it, but Hasbro has recently announced a new movie based on the current incarnation of My Little Pony. In it, Twilight Sparkle is sent to a world where she is transformed into a human in order to retrieve her magic crown. Now, the movie is not the issue. My issue is with the My Little Pony fandom's reaction to it.
They're all up in arms about it, saying things like 'O noes, this will ruin MLP!' or 'I hope this movie sinks like a rock!' and similar stuff. Like they're entitled to special treatment just because Hasbro has been paying them a bit more attention than usual. It normally wouldn't bother me so, but sometimes I just want to ask them if they have any inkling of how lucky a fandom they are.
Compare the Pony fandom to that of our own fandom. They're getting new toys every year, even if the brand is doing so-so. They're getting brand new cartoons. They're even getting specialized products, like apparel, vinyl figures, and even trading cards. And what are we, of the Teddy Ruxpin fandom, getting? Absolutely nothing!
Oh sure, we occasionally get a new incarnation of our favorite illiop, but it's nothing on the scale that the Pony fandom is enjoying. We have to be content with one cartoon series and whatever merchandise from past releases we can get our hands on. If it weren't for websites like this, I probably wouldn't know Teddy even had a fandom. You have to travel to little niche corners of the Internet to find Teddy fans, but you practically trip over a Pony fan anywhere else.
I suppose I should be happy that we are such an exclusive fandom, because it means we don't have to deal with as much smut and the like as other, bigger fandoms do. Still, would it kill people of Pony and other fandoms to just acknowledge that they have it so much better than some of us? That while they're off enjoying the latest toy or piece of merchandise, that we, for all intents and purposes, are primarily enjoying memories?
Sorry for the rant, but I just had to get this off my chest. I'd better stop now, because I'm starting to tear up. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels this way.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2013 9:57:49 GMT -7
Unfortunately, it's just human nature, really - an awful lot of people are very self-entitled about what, ultimately, are very trifling things in the bigger picture. Not just the bigger picture of fandoms and the like, but of life in general, too. I, for one, would find a new Teddy Ruxpin production interesting, even if it did have some major differences (though I know that it probably wouldn't), because I know that the series is in good hands. Besides, maybe one day our luck will change, and I'm sure that it will be well-appreciated, purely because this is a small fandom. EDIT: You know, having thought about it for a couple of hours, it's kind of surprising that the Teddy Ruxpin fandom is as small as it is, given how *huge* the phenomenon was at the time - and for so many years, too (including two where Teddy Ruxpin was the best-selling toy in the USA)...
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 14, 2013 7:38:02 GMT -7
I wouldn't be adverse to another reboot, especially if it manages to give Teddy more face time.
I know I thought for the longest time that I was the only Teddy Ruxpin fan until I found this place. There may be several other fans who think they're alone as well.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 8:47:32 GMT -7
It's one of those chicken-and-egg situations, I suppose... Until something occurs to prompt those "missing" fans to search and find the rest of us, they may not think to search, which would likely bring them here - but without those "missing" fans with us, making the online presence of the fans bigger, some marketeers might think that it's not worth pursuing the franchise and actually doing that something with it that would bring those other fans here! (This is, of course, one of the reasons why making business decisions based on online fandom presence is an incredibly stupid idea, since the vast majority will never be involved in online communities at all.) I'm not a big fan of reboots, myself, in all honesty, but if that's the best way to go, it's the best way to go, and that's all there is to it. After all, a very long time has passed, now, and it may not be feasible to pick up where things were left. Of course, it may well be feasible to pick up where things left off, as long as it can be done in a way that makes it fresh and new for newcomers, instead of the "This is what your parents liked when they were kids!" approach. I guess either can work, if done right.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 18:16:14 GMT -7
I think they should just reair the original series on Nickelodeon or the Hub. Then they could make a hand drawn type movie sorta like the Winnie the Pooh disney did. Have the original voice actors (if possible) and also they could re release the toy to look more accurate to Teddy's character design that has eyebrows and separated fingers and toes. Make him the same size as the original. Re release everything that was for all versions of Teddys but remake them with modernized technology. Also they should rerelease all of the original stories. Not the backpack toys remakes. Those I believe weren't as good and were too jumbled. But that's my opinion
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 10:35:45 GMT -7
It's funny you should mention the MLP fandom at this time. This past weekend, I went to my city's second Comic-Con and amazingly, there were people in costume as some of the Ponies. Nothing too spectacular, but, it goes to show that MLP has a huge fandom.
I have a theory on that. Media that has fandom like tv shows, movies, and novels have that fandom, usually because something is always going on with that franchise. We haven't had Teddy around consistently like Batman's been around or MLP, or even Care Bears. So many fans might forget about Teddy as a result.
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 15, 2013 12:08:04 GMT -7
Maybe instead of a complete reboot, perhaps a soft reboot could work. Keep the gist of the original storyline (ie. Teddy and Grubby find map, meet Gimmick while searching for the treasure, etc.) but maybe include a few new storylines.
I figure as long as whoever does it gets Mr. Forsse as a story consultant, I don't think it would be too terrible.
Very true.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 6:13:43 GMT -7
I was going to use this in my previous post, but didn't have time to do so. In the '80s, the Star Wars franchise was dead. The trilogy was over, so no new merchandise was being made, and except for two tv movies, and two animated series, nothing new was happening, so a lot of fans forgot about it. Then in the early '90s, a novel trilogy was published, amid announcements of a new movie trilogy being made, and a theatrical re-release of the original trilogy, and suddenly, there were new toys, comic books, novels and collectibles being made. So, maybe something similar needs to happen to Teddy for old fans to rediscover him, and new fans to come into being.
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 17, 2013 7:24:42 GMT -7
That's a dream I've had for a long time.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2013 6:11:20 GMT -7
Same here. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 18, 2013 15:46:31 GMT -7
I keep hoping that Hasbro might take another whack at the license. Especially if they could get the Friendship is Magic crew to work on any hypothetical series.
It would be nice having three of my most favorite 80s franchises under the same banner.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 6:38:15 GMT -7
Honestly, I think that Hasbro may be the best bet for a toy company to get Teddy Ruxpin back on the market. They were the only ones who kept Teddy on sale for a long time, aside from Worlds of Wonder themselves (only without the financial issues that WoW had), and they have longevity and reach that many other toy manufacturers do not have. Not only that, but they they seemingly planned to do more with Teddy back when they held the license, and are probably the only ones with the budget and distribution power to have actually seen it through. Also, @kayla - Three? What's the other one? (Would I be right in guessing Pound Puppies?)
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 19, 2013 12:49:33 GMT -7
My Little Pony and Transformers. Both are Hasbro properties.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 18:20:52 GMT -7
Ahh, ok! That one didn't click at all, for some reason, even though I knew that... As an aside, I'm not that impressed by the Pound Puppies revival. (I've had to check it out online, in fact, as it seems that no programme-buyers are interested in getting hold of it for airing here... Not surprisingly.)
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on May 20, 2013 18:08:49 GMT -7
It hasn't really done anything for me, either.
I guess I'm just too much of an 80.5 kid*. Of course, aside from the movie, I was never really that into Pound Puppies.
* I say 80.5, because even though I was born during the late 80s, I grew up in the early 1990s when most of the series that were popular in the 1980s were still on the air. You, know, sort of halfway between being an 80s child and a 90s child.
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