Ever tried to buy an exclusive toy at Comic-Con International?  I have.

Each year, Hasbro releases a superhero-themed My Little Pony that’s sold only for the 5-day duration of the convention in San Diego.  My first attempt to obtain one such Pony in 2008 quickly degraded into a scene that can only be described as Thunderdome, but with air conditioning.  The Hasbro booth was a pushing, shoving mob of adults, most of whose members were not, I suspect, jostling for a Pony, but rather a limited Transformer or some other popular toy for eBay their curiously absent kid.  Hasbro had multiple registers running, which probably would’ve been a fine idea if there wasn’t only a single line leading to them, making me just one tiny grain of sand endeavoring to pass through the waist of the hourglass and emerge in the promised land of Checkout on the other side.  I gave up the effort, my confidence in the inherent goodness of my fellow man severely shaken.

(In order to preserve my dude cred, I’ll state for the record that the Pony was neither for me nor eBay, but a gift for a living, breathing, little girl.) 

I’m pleased to say that this year the scene was much different, Hasbro having set up a separate register solely for My Little Pony sales.  Walking up and purchasing the toy with ease as the mob jostled anew not five feet away was one of the highlights of this year’s convention for me (and it confirmed my previous year’s suspicion regarding the ratio of Pony/other-popular-toy customers).

Earlier this week at Comics Alliance, blogger extraordinaire Laura Hudson uncovered an entire subculture of My Little Pony enthusiasts who, rather than wait for Hasbro to iron out contracts with Marvel, DC, and others—or perhaps not wanting to brave the masses at Comic-Con—have taken matters into their own hands.  If Pony Han Solo frozen in carbonite doesn’t elicit a smile, then your heart is two sizes too small.

(Thanks to Leigh Walton for bringing Laura’s column to my attention.  Leigh has been there for the highs and lows of my Pony chase, seeing both the joy of 2009 and the crushing defeat of 2008.)

What, this post too cutesie for you?  Fret not, The Ugly Truth returns on Monday.