How My Little Pony collectible trading cards took China by storm
When My Little Pony first aired on TV in China, it didn’t take off. Instead, it was collectible cards that saw it become a galloping success
When US toy and board game company Hasbro brought out a new version of its My Little Pony Collectible Card Game in April this year, it teamed up with top Chinese trading card brand Kayou and launched the My Little Pony Card Game in China first.
Its decision to introduce the new game to the Chinese market first makes sense: it was through collectible cards that the IP (intellectual property) took off in the country.
The My Little Pony TV series debuted on the children’s channel of CCTV, China’s national broadcaster, in 2013, dubbed into Mandarin. It was then released on major Chinese streaming platforms like Bilibili and iQiyi the following year, but reception to the show was lukewarm.
In 2020, Kayou licensed My Little Pony from Hasbro and released its first collectible card set for the IP, in Chinese, called Friendship Forever.
By 2024, My Little Pony cards were ubiquitous, featuring everywhere from stationery shops near primary schools to live-streams on Douyin, according to CCTV news reports.