An animated television series based on My Little Pony, a popular children's toy marketed primarily to young girls, has attracted a group of ardent male fans known as "bronies".

The series, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, debuted on television in 2010 and has a legion of adult fans around the world.

Paul Hocksenar, a 38-year-old father of three, recently organised SalvageCon, a My Little Pony convention in Sydney.

"Something fathers don't often have with their young daughters is a similar interest – we do and it's something I value," he told 7.30.

"The show has good moral content but it doesn't beat you over the head with it, it just leads by example.

"As a result it's gained more attention than just being treated as a kids' show. Plus, they have pop culture references that only adults who watch the show would pick up on.

"[The show has] eight million fans – and that's adult viewers, not just the children – so it has captivated the world."

These days, event volunteer Jono Colwell said, males like the show just as much as females.

"[Brony] started off being a term for a male who likes the show, because they were so much more visible and everyone likes to pick on them so much more, calling them man-children," he said.

"We thought if people are going to call us this anyway, we might as well take it and make something of it and it's since become a gender-neutral term."

Mr Colwell said he proudly identifies as a "brony".

"I feel my masculinity does not need to be defined by what I do or don't like," he said.

"I'm a man – I'm perfectly fine with liking My Little Pony.

"You know, I also like guns and explosions, all that sort of stuff."

Show's emphasis on friendship unites community

Another fan, Joshua, said he liked that the show was about friendship – a quality that unites the brony community.

"It's such a big open community that will let anybody in," he said.

"The door is open to anybody at any time. There's little to no judgement here.

"You could be dressed up as anything, a dragon for example, and nobody would care. Nobody would go, 'That's weird.'"

Fellow fan Andrew said many bronies come together to escape bullying they have experienced in the past.

"We have a lot of that sort of thing going on in this world, so basically we are just here to escape from that," he said.

"[We] just come here to have fun ... [to] get along with everyone else and just forget about it. It's really good."

Fans dress up, play games and have pony tattoos

Sharah, who dressed up as a pony named Fluttershy, said each pony in the show represents a particular positive trait.

"Each pony represents laughter, kindness, generosity, loyalty and honesty," she said.

"You can see each of those elements in your own self."

Fans dress up in costumes and play My Little Pony games. ( ABC News: Monique Schafter )

The community takes fandom seriously, with fans dressing up, creating pony art and playing pony games.

One brony, Owen, who said he had been a My Little Pony fan for three years, had a pony tattoo on his arm and created 3D models of fans who were dressed up as their favourite ponies.

"I can do a complete scan from like ground up," he said.

"No matter what they're after, it's just a matter of getting them to sit still for about two or three minutes, which is probably the hardest part of it and then just running over them with an individual scanning camera."

Artist Paul Abstruse combined his love for the band Guns N' Roses and My Little Pony in a t-shirt that read 'Guns N' Ponies, Appetite for Friendship'.

He said the television series has one of the most committed fan bases.

"Despite what the outside stigma is, it's an amazing fandom," he said. "It's the best fandom I've ever seen."