Bit of each, really. I got a MLP figure before I'd ever seen any of the TV shows or movies, and I did like collecting them. But when I got into the TV shows I ended up getting more excited about them than the figures. I also had a MLP book and cassette tape (no idea if I still have them somewhere).

As I said, I like both, but I remember eventually getting to the point where I would specifically want to collect characters that I particularly liked in the cartoons. So I kinda put the TV shows first, but continued to collect figures because I loved them so much in the cartoons.

ok i will add both