Generation Four refers to the fourth generation of My Little Ponies. It started in 2010, and went officially until 2020, although new merch is still sometimes produced - The mainline figures are no longer in production though, and most G4 merch being made now is not available in the USA. Generation Four is the generation that coined the term "Bronies", and boosted MLPs popularity with older audiences considerably. This is because of the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Types of G4 Toys

SORT G4 BY CHARACTER

MENU: Brushables Mainline Blind Bags Happy Meal & Similar

Other Minifigures Other Figures Plush

BRUSHABLES

G4 had two different types of brushables - The Classic Brushables, which ran from 2010 through early 2016, and the Reboot Brushables, which ran from late 2016 through 2020. The Reboot Brushables have more unique poses, bigger eyes, bigger and rounder heads, non-tapered necks, skinnier legs and smaller hooves. They are less popular with fans and tend to be less valuable to collectors & sold for less online - although many people still like them. The regular size for a G4 MLP brushable is three inches tall, although there were special toys lines, such as the Styling Size ponies, that were bigger than this.

Classic Style Brushables

Image source: Pinterest

Reboot Style Brushables

Image source: worthpoint

MAIN SERIES BLIND BAGS

G4 had a series of small, fully molded figurines. These are usually referred to as the G4 "Blind Bag Ponies" - Because most were sold in plastic "Blind Bags", where you had a random chance of receiving a character. I specify "Main Series" Blind Bags, because there were Hasbro partnerships with other brands that also used the "Blind Bag" model, although often under another name, like "Sweet Box". The Main Series Blind Bags where primarily released in series called "Waves", of which there were 25. But they also sold the same sorts of figurines in other sets outside of this, some which were specialized Blind Bags (Like "The Best Gift Ever"), and some that actually let you see the ponies (Like the "Friendship is Magic Collection" and the 2012/2013 miniature sets).

Non Blind Bag lines/sets that include this type of figurine:

The 2011 packs, which sold just the Mane 6

The various Collection Sets from 2011 to 2016

The Mini Sets sold in 2012 & 2013

Friendship is Magic Collection (2015-2018)

The Wonderbolts (2016)

These will still be included under the Mainline Blind Bag Tag

Image source: ivivxtte on Tumblr

The Elements of Friendship (2016)

The MLP: The Movie Set (2017)

Best Gift Ever (2018)

Rainbow Road Trip (2019)

(There is a Brushable series also called this)

Note: Blind Bag style ponies were also sometimes sold in Advent Calanders and with books or board games.

HAPPY MEAL TOYS

MLP G4 released many Happy Meal toys, mostly in partnership with McDonalds. These toys typically have molded bodies and manes, with brushable tails - There is a distinct style to them, that was used by most Happy Meal G4 MLP releases.

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Image source: eBay

Image source: Picclick

Image source: Flikr

The exceptions to this typical look are:

The 2011 Brazil-exclusive McDonald’s Happy Meals (Fully molded, style closer to blind bags, have translucent plastic)

The 2013 US Burger King toys which look otherwise pretty much the same, in line with the style, but have molded tails.

The 2016 Brazil-exclusive McDonald’s Happy Meals (Fully molded, distinct style)

The 2018 US McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, which have a more chibi-fied style

The 2019 US Burger King toys (Fully molded, distinct style)

Other minifigures that came with food items include:

The Hershey’s kisses minifigures

The Danli minifigures

Chupa Chups

Good 2 Grow

The Kinder Figures

The Surprise Drinks figures

Brickell Candy

OTHER MINIFIGURES:

Pop Mart Figures

Pop Mart is a Chinese-based company that is known for selling high-quality toys, usually in blind bags (or “sweet boxes”). Pop Mart is an influential company, and their sweet box toys are probably the inspiration behind the many similar-looking sweet box MLP G4 Fakies that are popping up in China as of late. Their toys have very unique and fun poses, with a lovely style, and are highly regarded by fans. They often go for a lot online, seeing as they are so high quality, and are exclusive to China. Pop Mart has released multiple MLP-themed Sweet Box series, starting with the 2021 “Natural Series”. Their other series as of right now are “Leisure Afternoon” (2022) and “Pretty Me Up” (2023). These toys will be included as blind bag ponies, but not main line blind bag ponies.

Egmont Magazine Figures

Egmont is a Denmark-based company that started as a magazine publishing company but has since expanded to more things. Egmont ran a MLP FiM themed magazine series from 2010 to 2018. There were a total of 350 issues. Some of the magazines came with toys, manufactured by Egmont. There were multiple waves of these toys, starting in 2014. The earlier waves have the charming, cute silliness of the main series blind bags, but just slightly off looking - while the newer ones are almost fan-made levels of quality… They are usually 2" tall and include some of the characters that don't have as much merch, including Sugar Belle, Nightmare moon, and Discord (who get almost no merch) and Trixie Lulamoon, Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer(who get some merch but not a ton).

Funko Minifigures

Funko put out a series of blind bag vinyl minifigures, called “Mystery Minis”. They released them in several sets from 2013 to 2016. Most are just mini versions of their already existing vinyl figures, which are very show accurate - but their “Power Ponies” line uses a more chibi-like style. These toys will be included as blind bag ponies, but not main line blind bag ponies.

They also put out “Pocket Pops”, which are minifigure versions of their MLP FiM Funko Pops. Only a few of these were released, in 2015. They were packaged in tin lunchbox-like cases. The only Mane 6 characters featured are Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. The other figures were D*rpy Hooves, Doctor Whooves, Princess Celestia, and Discord.

Mighty Jaxx Minifigures

Mighty Jaxx is a Singapore-based toy company that sells worldwide, and has worked with many large companies, including Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers and DC. Many of the Mighty Jaxx Figures appear higher quality and aimed at older fans, and the prices they sell their figures at are generally very high (often over $100 USD).

In MLP, they are most known for their “Dissectables” series, where the pony figures are cartoonishly split in half to reveal their skeletons (It is not as violent as it sounds). They also released a line called “Kwistal Fwenz”, which has chibi-style ponies with hair made to look like crystal. They’ve had a few other MLP releases where they just put out one single toy, such as the Rainbow Dash, designed by Ricardo Cavolo, which features a “biblically-accurate angel”-style Rainbow Dash.

Busy Book Figures

In 2013, “My Little Pony: My Busy Books” was published by Phidal Publishing Inc. This book tells a story, but at the end of the book there is a little box containing My Little Pony minifigures, and a place mat to play with them on. The 2013 MLP Busy Book figures are famously awkward, goofy and silly looking. There was a second, lesser known, MLP G4 Busy Book published, themed around MLP: The Movie. It was published in September of 2017, and has smaller and debatably better looking toys - in some ways.

Cutie Mark Crew

These figures are heavily simplified and chibi-like, with overly large heads, small eyes, and very little detail. They were released in multi-packs of five or eight figures, and as blind bags. These toys ran from 2018 to 2020. For the first two years, each toy was paired with an accessory, themed on the character, that the toy can fit inside. In the third year this gimmick was largely abandoned. The 2018 McDonald’s figures are based on the Cutie Mark Crew designs. The blind bag Cutie Mark Crew toys will be included as blind bag ponies, but not main line blind bag ponies.

Playskool

Another example of small, chibi-like figures. These rubbery-textured toys were aimed at younger children, such as toddlers, hence the simplified designs. They often came with accessories, including little cars, despite cars not existing in FiM. They ran from 2015 to 2017.

There are several other minifigure toy lines for MLP G4, these are just ones that have a bigger number of releases. Minifigures from other toy lines (such as the ones by Takura Tomi, Confitrade, and Spearmark) will also be featured on this site. Keychains and holiday ornaments will be included in both the minifigure section and the “other” section.

Image source: eBay

Image source: eBay

Image source: MyPlasticHeart

Cutie Mark Crew McDonald's Figures

Image source: Pinterest

Image source: eBay

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Image source: MightyJaxx Website

Image source: Etsy

OTHER FIGURES:

Fash'ems

These guys are made of a particularly stretchy, rubbery material. Holding one is kind of like holding one of those “splat hand’ things. They feel like they are meant to be fidgets, but don’t seem advertised as such. My cat thinks they are cat toys because they bounce around when he hits them. They ran from 2013 to 2021. They were typically released in packs of multiple ponies, or as blind bags, in little egg-like capsules. The blind bag Cutie Fash’ems will be included as blind bag ponies, but not mainline blind bag ponies.

Stack’ems

By the same brand (Basic Fun) who did the Fash’ems, these guinea-pig looking creatures for some reason go for an insane amount of money online in a way Fash’ems don’t. They ran from 2017 to 2019, and there are far, far less of them than there are Fash’ems (So maybe this is why they’re pricier…)

Squishy Pops

Another Basic Fun invention, these miniscule little rubbery toys are not even half the size of a blind bag. They have tiny suction cups to attach them to surfaces. They ran from 2014 to 2017.

Guardians of Harmony

These fully molded figures have two focuses: Their main line of toys are articulated toys meant to encourage action-based play or dynamic posing for collectors. They are heavily focused on FiM characters and aimed specifically at fans. They depict more violent and action-packed scenarios - Such as featuring the characters in armor and with weapons, and including figures for villains who don’t tend to be featured in merchandise.

They also have the “fan series”, which is not articulated, and portrays complex, mid-action scenes, very much aimed at older fans and collectors. The “fan series” figures tend to go for $70+ USD, sometimes well over a hundred, and are very highly regarded by fans. The mainline Guardians of Harmony figures are less acknowledged and don’t go for as much, although fan response seems to still be very positive.

Funko Figures

Funko’s previously mentioned vinyl figures and Funko Pops - Most people aren’t fond of Funko Pops (fair), but Funko’s MLP vinyl figures are held in high regard! They’re very show accurate, well-made figures, and include many popular characters that didn’t get much merch in Hasbro’s main releases, such as Dr. Whooves, Sweetie Drops (Bon Bon), and Octavia Melody. These were released in multiple waves throughout 2013 - 2015.

(Unfortunately, in 2022 Funko did try their hand at digital MLP Funko-Pop themed NFTs. These will not be featured on this site, for obvious reasons such as NFTs are stupid, and NFTs aren’t even real - And we all know Fluttershy would hate NFTs. Unsurprisingly, fan reaction to these is not positive. )

PLUSHIES:

G4 had a lot of plush releases - More than previous generations. Hasbro outsourced a lot of the plush making to other companies.

G4 Plush by manufacturer:

Hasbro

4th Dimension

Beanie Baby (TY)

Build-a-Bear

Famosa

FurYu

Funrise

Intek

Multi Pulti