The Brony thing started a year or so ago, I think. Basically, it's male fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on The Hub, which was created by some of the same people responsible for Powerpuff Girls. As such, it's actually funny, with interesting stories and developed characters.

That's it, basically, as far as I know. I watched a few episodes of the show when I heard about the craze. It is, in fact, good; there's definitely an intelligence to it, but it didn't take with me.

-JJJ

The My Little Pony reviews and articles I write on my blog literally get more traffic than every other toy review I post each month combined. No, really. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is just that awesome.

Not sure where you got that "instant sell-out item for the young aduld male demo" line from... is that in an article or something?

The new series is pretty good (though I've got a little girl and in comparison to the other shows like Strawberry Shortcake and the new Care Bears, it's not good, it's incredible), and the male fanbase has been pretty big, but I'm not sure how that translates to toys. I don't see the toys being in that much demand, which is probably heightened by the fact that it's a lot of mold reuse and rooted hair. In fact, my favorite toy that I've given my daughter is the set where the hair is actually just molded into the sculpt... I wish they sold more toys like that, because that hair just gets in the way.

Actually, I can probably shed a little light on this, as I'm part of the Brony community as a Pegasister.

Like it was previously stated, the whole older aged fandom started about a year or so ago. I feel like part of the initial hype to watch the series was because Lauren Faust, the main producer, played heavy roles in shows like The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Code Name: Kids Next Door. I think that there was also the incentive for fans to watch because Tara Strong is the voice actress for the main character, Twilight Sparkle. From there, people just got hooked in one by one due to the wonderful animation, variety of characters, the music, etc.

Personally, I really enjoy the series because it is purely meant for kids. I got hooked into it after seeing a small clip of the episode "Bridle Gossip," and I decided to figure out what all the hullabaloo was about. There's not a single episode I can name with adult humor, borderline inappropriate dialogue, etc into the story line and dialogue. Sure, there are clever background characters, which Lauren Faust's previous cartoons have displayed before, such as the characters from The Big Lebowski turned into ponies, the many representations of what has become seen as Doctor Whooves (or Time Turner), but they're simply in the background most of the time, and they're fun to notice. The music is incredibly catchy and well written, the characters are all lovable in some way, and it's entertaining! I'd absolutely let my kids watch this show in the future! I'd prefer that they watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic over incredibly popular shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, or even Spongebob Squarepants. I'd rather I hear my kid singing Pinkie Pie's song "Smile," or hear them write their own Letter to Celestia, than hearing them say things like "What the stuff?!" or "I need some waffles for my dump truck!"

As for the toys, those have always been around, no matter what Generation of My Little Pony you look at. The toys have changed over the years to look like their cartoon counterparts, and even some of the ponies have remained part of the series for a long time, like Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They've just evolved with each new Generation. I don't necessarily think that there's any BIG demand for these toys, but there certainly is a big appeal to collect them, especially one's 'favorite' characters. I personally decided to collect all of the main character figurines; they're cute, they'll keep well, they're easy to store away, and I can keep them for my future kids. I think there will be a bit of a surge in demand once the Toys R Us exclusive Nightmare Moon/Trixie/Vinyl Scratch set and Zecora set come out since they're more of the popular less seen ponies, but otherwise everywhere I go is usually well stocked and everything.

Sorry that I have so much to say! I hope I was at least able to help make SOME sense out of it! ^^;;

Nobody likes me on the internet anyways....so........I think they are for really small children. And if a grown man is into them well....his shoes never touch the ground.