My Little Pony

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My Little Pony is a product line of colorful toy ponies marketed to young girls, and is produced by Hasbro. On some occasions they have also appealed to boys. The toys were first introduced in 1982, following the related "My Pretty Pony" toy which was introduced in 1981. They became enormously popular throughout that decade. The original toy line inspired several animated specials, an animated feature length movie, and two animated television series. Redesigned toys have been introduced to the market twice since then, one near the end of 1997 and again in mid-2003. Collectors refer to each line as a "generation," often referring to each as G1, G2 and G3.

All three My Little Pony lines consist of plastic ponies with brushable manes and tails. Their hair and body colors are fanciful and span every color of the rainbow. They are not meant to look like real horses. Each has a specific symbol located on its haunch or rear-end that allows it to be identified. Some ponies have marks that stretch over their backs and sides or can be found on their cheeks and foreheads, as well as haunches. However, there were a few released with no symbols at all. There are various types including, but not limited to, Unicorn, Pegasus and the seahorse-like Seapony. The My Little Pony line has and continues to experiment with a variety of body types and fantastic designs but always manages to maintain a horse's guise.

My Little Pony was one of the most popular collectible toys of the 1980s and is enjoying a successful comeback on the current market.

Due to the brand's recent return to stores the second hand market for the toys has boomed. However, many of the older ponies are not worth a large amount of money, due to the fact that many were manufactured in large numbers. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. Toys that were only available in limited supply are always worth more to collectors.

Other toy companies have chosen to mimic My Little Pony designs (and in some cases use actual My Little Pony molds) and create what are commonly referred to as "fakies." Almost all real My Little Pony toys have Hasbro's stamp on their foot so it is relatively easy to tell them apart.

Contents 1 Generations 1.1 Pre-My Little Pony: My Pretty Pony 1.2 Generation one: Dream Valley 1.2.1 Animated series 1.2.2 Mail-order Ponies 1.2.3 International Ponies 1.2.4 Related lines 1.3 Generation two: Friendship Garden 1.4 Generation three: Ponyville 1.5 Other items 2 Movies 3 My Little Pony Live 4 Collectors 5 Restoration 6 Custom Ponies 7 Trivia 7.1 The toys 7.2 Other media 8 References 9 Further reading 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] Generations

[edit] Pre-My Little Pony: My Pretty Pony

"My Pretty Pony" toys were produced in 1981 by Romper Room, which would become Hasbro the following year. They were around a foot (~30 cm) in height with hard plastic bodies and brushable manes and tails. Their eyes could be made to close and their ears to wiggle, and they came with brushes, ribbons, saddles and hats.

[edit] Generation one: Dream Valley

Earth Ponies, as the toys which most resembled real horses came to be known, were soon accompanied by additional species. Pegasus Ponies had molded wings, while Unicorns had horns which purportedly gave them magic powers. Sea Ponies resembled real-life seahorses, apart from the colourful mane they shared with the original Little Ponies. Flutter Ponies were much smaller and thinner than Pegasus Ponies and had translucent wings more like those of an insect, and featured a "fluttering" action. Wing Ponies were even smaller in size compared to the Flutter Ponies, but were proportioned more similar to their larger kin, and had larger distinctly butterfly-like wings. Finally, Mermaid Ponies loosely resembled the mythological hippocamp. Baby Ponies were also available in many forms; they resembled their mothers, but were smaller and typically had softened colors and simplified identifying symbols.

Many different sets of Little Ponies with striking variations were produced, starting with the Rainbow Ponies (which all sported rainbow-colored manes and tails) in 1983. Other notable variations included the So-Soft Ponies (which were entirely covered in fleece), Twinkled-Eyed Ponies (with small jewels in place of the eyes), Twice As Fancy Ponies (with symbols covering most of the body), and Brush 'n' Grow Ponies (which had a longer-than-usual tail stored inside the body that could be drawn out through brushing).

The line ran for ten years, ending in the US in 1992. Oddly, this year was touted as the celebration year of My Little Pony.

Apart from the ponies themselves, merchandise included children's bedding and room decorations, plush toys, puzzles, and books. There were also more unusual items, such as a pomander and toy sewing machines.

[edit] Animated series

Two animated television series were aired during this generation. The first, My Little Pony, was set in Dream Valley, a land inhabited by witches, goblins, and other magical creatures with whom the Little Ponies and their human friend Megan would often do battle. The series promoted a great many of the toys available in 1986-1987, featuring a large regular cast of Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn Ponies with guest appearances by new lines such as Flutter Ponies and Princess Ponies. A later program, My Little Pony Tales, anthropomorphised the Ponies - they lived in a human-like town, going to school, fretting about relationships, running businesses, going on vacation, and exchanging currency for goods.

In 2004, the first season of the My Little Pony television series was released on DVD. The four-DVD collection features two television specials--"Rescue at Midnight Castle" (later retitled "Firefly's Adventure" when sold as part of a VHS and pony set) and "Escape from Catrina"--and fifty episodes from the original series. Some songs from the original airing of the two specials have been cut, leaving the specials as they appeared when syndicated as part of the cartoon series. Strangely, the packaging on the DVD features ponies from both the series and the 1997-1999 line. The ten-episode miniseries "The End of Flutter Valley" was released on a single-disc DVD in 2005.

2006 brought the release of episodes from the second season, with two single-disc DVD releases: "Flight to Cloud Castle and Other Stories" and "Quest of the Princess Ponies and Other Stories", in addition to a DVD of "Two Great Pony Tales", with "The Glass Coins" and "The Glass Princess" available as 8 episodes.

[edit] Mail-order Ponies

All packaging (typically a plastic bubble attached to a backcard) came with Horseshoe Points, which could be used to obtain discounts on special ponies available only through mail order. Mail-order ponies were generally reissues like Majesty, first available only with the Dream Castle Playset, or unique ponies such as the first boy pony, Lucky. Many of the mail-order ponies are hard to find, and a select few are considered quite valuable: one, Rapunzel, regularly sells for above US$400 and has sold for over US$800.

[edit] International Ponies

In many parts of Europe, there were European exclusives. These were produced by factories in France, Greece, Italy and Spain. European ponies generally fetch more than their respective counterparts made in Hong Kong or China (where the vast majority of ponies were made). Some are fairly easy to find (for example, a Peachy made in Italy) whereas some are much harder to find (for example, Happy Birthday, a Greek exclusive pony made in the sitting pose with candles as a symbol).

Most ponies released in the United States could be found in Western Europe as well. The majority of domestic mail-order ponies never appeared overseas, though many countries had their own mail-order systems (covered below). Some of the ponies (and even playsets) were given different names abroad (for example, the Big Brothers were known as Adventure Boys in the UK).

Some variations came from different countries and were variations on US- or UK-released ponies. Some, however, were unique to their country or region.

[edit] Related lines

• Petite Ponies

Petite Ponies are tiny pony figures that came in sets. Some have different traits such as combable hair, shimmery bodies, or glow-in-the-dark bodies. Under the base of each is an engraved hoof that allows the pony to function as a key to the Petite Playsets. None of these smaller ponies had official names and many had the same symbols. They were sold from 1989 to 1991.

• Dream Beauties

Larger figures, made of hard plastic, were advertised as "grown up" ponies and called Dream Beauties. Unlike the main line, they looked more like horses. All of them were earth ponies except for the three Highflying Beauties, who had large multicolored wings. They were sold from 1989 to 1990 and were often confused with Fashion Star Fillies and Barbie horses. One way to tell the difference is that Dream Beauties have a line of plastic "beads" along the bases of their manes.

• My Little Kitty/Puppy/Bunny

Kitty, puppy, and bunny sets were sold under the Hasbro MLP logo in 1990-1991. Each set comprised a mom, two babies, and a plastic comb. All the moms were flocked and all the babies were mini plastic figures. Kitty moms had cottony tails. Puppy moms had either silky or cottony ears. Bunny moms had cottony tails and silky forelocks.

[edit] Generation two: Friendship Garden

The second line of My Little Ponies (referred to as "Generation Two" (G2) or 'Friendship Garden Ponies') lived in Friendship Garden, and were almost entirely limited to Earth Ponies, although a few Pegasus and Unicorn Ponies were made. They were fairly small, slim, long-legged poses. This line was largely popular in Europe, where it continued for several years after it had been discontinued in the United States due to a lack of popularity. There were no television spin-offs for the G2 Ponies, although they did have their own video game on the PC which involved taking care of a Pony and playing games along the way.

In Europe, the ponies lived in Ponyland, rather than Friendship Gardens. The line was much more successful. Unlike the USA, it ran until late 2003, where the introduction of Generation Three ponies brought out the end of the line. A lot of the ponies released in later years are hard to find. Many more playsets were introduced, including a mansion and a castle. There was more merchandise to be found, including beanie ponies (though those were released in the USA), magazines, clothing, perfume, wrapping paper and colouring books.

[edit] Generation three: Ponyville

The current line of My Little Ponies is referred to as "Generation Three" (G3) by collectors. This has been attributed to it being the third release of ponies, which started in 2003. The G3 line is very similar to the G1 line in construction and design, although they are smaller. For their first few years they have been almost exclusively earth ponies, but now a few Pegasus ponies and even a unicorn are also in the line. The ponies live in Ponyville in the shadow of the Celebration Castle. Until the recent release of "The Princess Promenade" (Jan.2006), there appeared to be no distinct ruler (like the G1 line), however the discovery of Spike the dragon brought a new princess to the G3 line - Princess Wysteria, but right after that she named every pony on Ponyville a princess too.

Most ponies in the G3 line have shiny or pearly bodies and matte symbols on one side, now referred to as "Cutie Marks". G3 Ponies also have a magnet in one hoof that is used to activate playset items. These magnets are fairly strong and can ruin computer equipment and TVs if prolonged contact is made. The foot where the magnet is found is marked with a small symbol, often a heart. In some early ponies, the heart and magnet were mismatched and the heart was on the wrong foot; this has since been corrected.

The first year was the "Year of Celebration", heralding the return of the My Little Pony Line. The years following have been the Friendship Ball and Butterfly Island, with the most recent being Crystal Princess, and each year has had video and DVD cartoons starring the new ponies. Packages were shaped like plastic purses with white cords at the top, and the background was of Ponyville's meadows. The early Ponies came with a shiny cord called a "Friendship Ribbon" and a small pony shaped charm that matched the pony's body color; these were phased out quite early. Until late 2005, packaging came with Pony Points that were later used for exclusive mail orders. Unlike the G1 line, the pony points had to be sent in to order; a customer could not just pay a flat fee and add points to it to lower the price. Some things you could get from the Pony Points Program were: Sunshimmer, a yellow pony with neon pink and orange hair, and one of the first jewel cutie marks. There were only two exclusive ponies, except for a plush toy that went out of stock very quickly. You could also get some posters or a Ponyville play mat for you to put your buildings on.

Single ponies were of two main types. Rainbow Ponies had hair that had three or more colors in their mane or tail. The first four were Wysteria, Sunny Daze, Sweetberry, and Rainbow Dash. Glitter ponies had one or two colors in their manes or tails, which were interlaced with iridescent tinsel. The first four were Kimono, Pinkie Pie, Minty, and Sparkleworks. Sparkleworks, Pinkie Pie, Sunny Daze and Rainbow Dash have since become the trademarks of the line, having been re-released in different poses and/or outfits at least three times each. Later in the year two new Glitter and Rainbow ponies were released, and the four were released in new poses.

While the line was simultaneously released in the US and Europe there have not been very many non-US ponies, the first one a green pony with white hair named Winter Snow. 2 Breezies (small fairy-like ponies) have been found in certain stores attached as a bonus with the ponies that came with hot air balloons. Similarly 3 extra breezies (different to the ones with the ponies) are sold in little leaf like train cars, which attach to a pony carriage.

One of the rarest G3 ponies so far was released unintentionally in 2004. A Pinkie Pie with "2003 Licensing Show" integrated into her symbol was used to promote My Little Pony at the 2003 spring Licensing Show. Only three hundred were supposed to be given out at the show alone, but due to packaging error a few were packaged as regular ponies and sold in stores. Because of this, she has quickly risen in value and can go for as much as $400. Other limited edition ponies have been the Pony Project promotional ponies and Rosey Posey, who was given to children in hospitals by Hasbro.

Hasbro's handling of the G3 points program had some problems, the largest being the Frilly Frocks plush situation. An offer for a three foot plush Frilly Frocks pony was put up in exchange for 150 points and 2.50 in shipping in December 2004. The shipping cost for the 3' foot Frilly Frocks ended up being an error and was edited to a more correct amount of $25. But by then the demand had outgrown the supply and the stock was quickly depleted. The plush was removed from the site to prevent additional orders. Those who ordered the plush before January 18th had their offers honored; any after had their points returned. Most customers received a postcard in the mail detailing the understock situation and prompting a toll free call to the Young America Company. A customer could agree to wait and have a plush sent later (but no later than July 15, 2005). Those who either decline the wait or did not call had their orders cancelled and the points returned. The points program ended on January 31, 2006.

[edit] Other items

A lot of licensed merchandise has been released for the newest generation. The main characters can be found on items ranging from bedding and home decor to clothing and dishware and school supplies. Plush ponies have been given away as theme park prizes and used in crane machines. The most noted of the plush is probably the 3' plush pony which was first available for sale in Australia (characters including Rainbow Dash, Minty, Sweetberry, and the special Kimono, which was used as a prize by Red Rooster Restaurants and Target). In the United States and Canada, the 3' Frilly Frocks was offered in the points program as a redeemable item and a special Star Shimmer was used by the Starlight Foundation to help special children and their families celebrate the magic of My Little Pony. McDonald's has also featured ponies in its Happy Meal promotions. Eight characters were used in the US promotion, while other countries had only four.

Hasbro sold the digital gaming rights various properties (including Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Tonka, Playskool, and Transformers) to Infogrames for USD$100 million in 2000, buying back the rights for USD$65 million in June 2005.^[1]

[edit] Movies

In 1986, the Ponies appeared in their first film, My Little Pony: The Movie. Directed by Michael Joens, it starred the voices of Rhea Perlman, Madeline Kahn, Tony Randall, and Danny Devito, among others. It had a mediocre box office performance, grossing almost $6 million in the United States. [1] It also recieved mostly negative reviews. This was one of many unsuccessful releases from its distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, who went out of business several years afterward.

The Ponies would not appear in another movie of any kind until the 2005 direct-to-DVD release of A Very Minty Christmas. The next one, The Princess Promenade, was released on February 7, 2006. It featured the G3 debut of the re-designed Spike the dragon, who first appeared in the G1 line. It also included Breezies, small, fairy-like ponies. The animated feature A Charming Birthday was packaged on the same DVD.

In the fall of 2006, another direct-to-DVD movie was released. Titled My Little Pony: The Runaway Rainbow, it featured the new G3 unicorn, Rarity, as well as Spike and the Breezies.

Set for release on February 6, 2007 is My Little Pony: A Very Pony Place. There is not much information on this DVD yet, but the box art describes it as 3 All-New Pony Tales, so it is presumably G3.

[edit] My Little Pony Live

On 19 June 2006, Hasbro and VEE Corporation announced a live touring production of My Little Pony. VEE is famed for its long-running Sesame Street Live production. ^[2]

[edit] Collectors

Over the past decade, a large number of My Little Pony collectors has emerged. Once a small and relatively unknown market, the numbers of collectors have skyrocketed into the thousands during recent years. Such interest has sparked a rise in regional "pony meets". Recently, such conventions have morphed into large gatherings on an international scale, such as the My Little Pony Fair, which hosts hundreds of collectors from all over the world for one weekend every summer.

[edit] Restoration

Because the My Little Pony toy line has been around for about 25 years, and because it is a toy line, My Little Pony collectors (G1 collectors, in particular) have to occasionally deal with figures in need of restoration.

These problems can range from old dirt, known as "play dirt," which simply needs to be washed off, to tail rust caused by the bolt that holds the tail in place being overexposed to water. Some other restoration problems collectors might experience are scraped paint, chewed ears, and newsprint stains from prolonged storage. There are fan-made websites available with tutorials to help collectors solve these restoration issues. One example isParadise Styling Salon and Day Spa

[edit] Custom Ponies

Another feature of the recent pony collecting scene is the making and selling of custom ponies. This is an art form in which common or poor condition ponies (called bait) are redesigned according to the vision of the artist. Customizers may paint new symbols on the pony, change their body color, paint their eyes, and re-thread their manes and tails with a different color of nylon hair. Some customs can become very elaborate, using sculpted parts, specially made wings, or detailed painting all over the pony. Customs have found a sizeable market on eBay alongside regular pony sales (because of the large amount of detailed work, many customs sell for $50-100). Artists are often comissioned by collectors and non-collectors alike to make a unique pony.

There are several great sources of custom information including: http://www.CustomPony.com (which includes a store for Nylon hair and other supplies, great tutorials, gallery) and http://www.Aikarin.com/mlp (great tutorials and gallery). There is also a webring that includes varies aritists websites at http://j.webring.com/hub?ring=mylittleponycust

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The toys

• Many Ponies from the G1 line were manufactured with pink hair that faded to white easily. Ponies with this problem tend to sell for a lot less. Ponies that suffered from this include Wind Whistler (pale blue Pegasus Pony), Tornado (dark blue Mountain Boy Pony) and Posey (yellow earth Pony). This was not changed in the G3 line; ponies such as Minty, Pinkie Pie, Desert Rose and others with pale pink hair also fade under prolonged sunlight.
• Belonging to the same company, some My Little Ponies shared names with two other popular toy lines of the 80s, Transformers and G.I. Joe. For example, Beachcomber, Cosmos, and Seaspray were both My Little Ponies and Transformers characters, and Firefly was both a My Little Pony and a G.I. Joe character. The poor box office performances of My Little Pony: The Movie and Transformers: The Movie were the primary reason why the big screen release of G.I. Joe: The Movie was cancelled. In more recently lines, the name Star Catcher has been used for a Blue-winged Pegasus Pony in the My Little Pony line, and for the name of the Transformer club exclusive Astrotrain's partner Mini-Con.
• During year four of G1 production, Hasbro began using "regrind" plastic where old plastic was ground up finely and mixed in with new plastic. It reduced waste, but the old plastic did not hold the dye as well as the new plastic, and could lose its colour over time. If too much regrind was used then the quality of a toy could suffer. As a result there are now some Ponies with bright pink spots in the plastic where the plastic has deteriorated over the years. There is no way to reverse the effects of regrind deterioration.

[edit] Other media

• In 2005, when US President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States, political cartoonist Steve Sack drew a cartoon depicting Bush brushing a pony toy with false eyelashes under the title "My Little Crony", since it was recently after the dismissal of Michael D. Brown for failing to handle the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
• My Little Pony has had "cameo" appearances in several other comics as well as some TV shows. (The OC debut of Princess Sparkle from the G1 line is a prominent example.)
• Robot Chicken did a skit called Apocalypse Ponies which featured Pestilence Pony, War Pony, Famine Pony, and Death Pony.
• Another Robot Chicken short involved the mythical winged horse Pegasus having his wings severed and turned into a My Little Pony-esque creature by a demented little girl, who whipped him into accepting his fate, and his new name - "Sunny Muffins." This was a parody of a scene from the TV miniseries Roots, in which the African man Kunta Kinte is flogged into accepting his new name, "Toby."
• The Backyard Sports series has a parody called "My Precious Pony." In the series, Maria Luna says that she collects My Precious Pony dolls.
• Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, released an April Fool's joke revealing that the newest d20 RPG setting would be an adaptation of the My Little Pony setting to a tabletop roleplaying game ("d20 MLP") ^[3].
• For April Fool's day in 2006, the front page on Slashdot.org (a popular news site) was redesigned in the fashion of My Little Ponies. ^[4]
• A parody/homage of the ponies has made multiple appearances in the Cartoon Network animated series Dexter's Laboratory, as the Pony Puff Princess and the Pony Puff ponies, idolized by Dee Dee and her friends. Except for the unicorn horn, they bear remarkable resemblance to the ponies of My Little Pony.
• On Clarissa Explains It All, Clarissa in an episode rents a series called "My Little Unicorn."
• Towards the end of the second live-action Transformers trailer, a little girl walking towards a pool is carrying a My Little Pony stuffed animal just before a transformer emerges from the water. The plush is of the character Pinkie Pie, in the Generation Three line.
• In "Mars, Bars" is episode 14 of season 3 of the television show Veronica Mars. In the jail cell scene, Veronica has a drawn-on tattoo of a My Little Pony with the words Thug Life written over it.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Hillary DePiano (2005) The My Little Pony Collector's Inventory: A Complete Checklist of All US Ponies, Playsets and Accessories from 1981 to 1992. Priced Nostalgia Press. ISBN 1-4116-2165-4
• Summer Hayes (2006) The My Little Pony G3 Collector's Resource. Purple Pajama Press. ISBN 1-4116-7590-8
• Birge, Debra L.(2000) "The World of My Little Pony: An Unauthorized Guide to Pony Collectibles." Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-1013-5.
• Birge, Debra L. (2003) "My Little Pony: Around the World." Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-1749-0.

[edit] See also

• My Little Pony (TV series)
• My Little Pony: The Movie
• My Little Pony Tales

[edit] External links

• My Little Pony on Hasbro.com The official site
• My LIttle Pony Collectors Information site containing indepth information on the My Little Pony line, with checklists, guides, search, links, and other fan related information.
• Where the Rainbow Ends

A fansite with pony identification information for all generations of My Little Pony toys, included rare foreign versions.

• CustomPony.com

Contains information on making customs as well as an online store for nylon hair and other supplies.

• MLP Arena

Forum for MLP Collectors around the world.

• Dream Valley.com

Dream Valley, a fansite containing identification information and useful pictures

• Druvdalen

Swedish MLP forum

• Maria's My Little Ponies

A Collector fansite.