@Background Pony #1EFD
 
You know, aside from the fact that they devote an entire series of “premium” merchandise specifically for us.

@bingo77  
I would expect your estimate to be slightly on the conservative side, quite possibly. I’ve bought every show-accurate Funko vinyl that’s come out so far, as well as a few of the official Hasbro toys.

@Background Pony #3B85  
Even if this is true, they have their fans now. Bronies have no real power over Hasbro

I know for a fact that I and several other individuals I know purchase MLP merch as bronies, so I think that bronies DO have a good impact on the show.
 
Moreover, bronies will often buy large amounts of merch simply to SUPPORT the show. Bronies who buy for toys for tots will purchase MLP toys for the event, and bronies will likely give their child relatives MLP products if they have to choose between an MLP product and a competing product for their christmas/birthday gift.
 
 
I think a very good chunk (not majority, but probably 20% or so) of sales come from keeping bronies happy.

@Background Pony #3B85  
I don’t think Funko and Hot Topic would be selling as much (or any) mlp merch if it wasn’t for them, so SOME money is there to be made.

Regarding these last few comments, it’s always been my opinion that whatever you may think about the brony impact on Hasbro’s profits, I highly doubt that the show would have been anywhere near such a runaway success without us. I know I’ve convinced many family members to give it a chance.

@Goldenpwny  
I have been involved in The Lion King fandom for 5 years. The major moves on the part of the “original creator”, Disney, are confined to only four movies, TLK (1994), TLK 2 (1998), TLK 1.5 (2004), TLK 3D (2011), and the TLK Musical (1997 onwards). There are many small spin-offs like comic book series (The most famous one being “The Lion King: Six New Adventures”), magazines, plushies, TV series (“Timon & Pumbaa”)… but most of the fandom focuses on the movies and the musical.  
The Lion King fandom is a vibrant fandom that has persisted for 20 years, solely relying on the movies and the musical, and mostly relying on TLK 1.  
By analogy, suppose that MLP G4 gets canceled after Season 4, it’s completely possible that the fandom lives on on its own, using the 4 seasons as a source of raw material to fabricate its own universe.  
As for the worry that no new members will join the fandom… At least Hasbro would still sell the seasons in the form of DVD.  
In any case, even if the world has stopped caring about ponies, you can still care about it yourself. There is no reason to stop loving something just because it is obscure.

@PonyPon  
Oh, when i say “support” i mean like take you little sister to go see the movie or suggest to your coworker to take her daughter and her little friends to go see it on the weekend. That kind of support.

@Goldenpwny  
But according to you and those employees, we don’t really matter.
 
So which is it?

@PonyPon  
Because we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot if we dont support it. There would be no benefit to opposing or ignoring their latest promotional media (no matter how stupid it is), rather it would only hinder their sales. If you want the show to continue you’re going to want to do all you can to make sure that Hasbro makes the money it needs to make, if not they’ll just pull the plug on mlp and emphasize their other products and services.

@Goldenpwny  
So, why do we need to support whatever they “churn out”?

@PonyPon  
And you’re correct. I spoke with some hasbro employees at bronycon (that implement the designs of characters in their merchandise department) and that was the gist of the conversation. I’ll admit i was a little disappointed to hear it.

@Goldenpwny  
I thought the loss of brony support would be negligible.

@bingo77  
My main point is: love it or hate it you need to support the stuff Hasbro churns out because if it doesn’t do well, there will be consequences.

@bingo77
 
Any potential loss of the brony fandom is negligible as far as Hasbro is concerned. Hell the entire brony fandom can go under and it wouldn’t make a dent in their profit margin. We like to think we really make a big contribution to the profits Hasbro makes but in actuality we don’t. As long as Hasbro has the attention of it’s target audience the show will go on. As soon as kids stop caring about the show… well, it’ll have been a good run.

@bingo77  
Season 5 may be the final season. It will be a full season unless we hear from writers that it would be shortened to half season.

So like, where are these dubious details coming from? To my knowledge, nothing about EqG2’s story is really known.

I honestly hope we never get another half season. Season three was honestly the absolute worst thing of FIM i’ve seen, and it did a number on the brony fanbase, causing a good many to leave.
 
 
Season 4’s rebounded, which is good, but the damage that S3 did to the number of fans of the show isn’t going to heal methinks.

@martianmister  
Syndication? Got it. Still, it takes time away from making the show proper, meaning another long hiatus and less focus on the show.

@Background Pony #8FBB  
It’s because of 65-episodes-rule.

Whatever.

@Background Pony #3440  
*without pony

@Zennistrad  
>If ponies are the only thing you’re interested in, then maybe you should step back and take a look at what you’re doing with your life.  
Honestly, when I see people ask the question: “What are you going to do when the show ends?” and some panic and respond:  
“OMG, I don’t know, man, I just can’t imagine my life with pony!” It’s a tab worrying.  
What am I going to do when the show ends? What I was doing before it started. Wow, that was hard.

@j4lambert  
Hidamari Little Ponies?  

@Zennistrad  
It would still be nice to get a My Little Pony movie that actually involves ponies.
 
 
@j4lambert  
Oh please let it be this!  
And it better have every single slice of life and magical girl cliche ever!