American toy company Hasbro launched the third incarnation of My Little Pony toyline and media franchise in 2003. The revamped line of dolls targeted a younger audience than previous lines.[1] This incarnation is unofficially known among collectors as "Generation Three" or "G3". Until the generation's end in 2009, there have been at least two minor revamps. A series of direct-to-video animated films (mostly produced by SD Entertainment) accompanied the line-up. My Little Pony: Meet the Ponies, for example, was a 2008 collection of animated shorts commemorating the 25th anniversary of the franchise and introduced the "Core 7" ponies.[2]
Toys
"Generation Three" is set in the fictional town of Ponyville, which is centered on Celebration Castle. Only Earth Ponies were released from 2003 to 2005, but in 2005 and 2006 Pegasus Ponies and Unicorn Ponies were respectively introduced.
Until late 2005, packaging came with Pony Points that were later used for exclusive mail orders. Unlike the "G1" line, the Pony Points had to be mailed in to order; a customer could not pay a flat fee and add points to it to lower the price. Some of the ponies available with the Pony Points program were Dazzle Surprise, Sunshimmer and Love Wishes.