Amazing Prototype Discoveries

[Ember1]

OK so I am just limiting my collecting to prototypes of all kinds..And I just had to share my recent finds with the community.

 I recently was lucky enough to acquire a very cool test color g1. Shes beautiful! I got her from the delaneys collection. She could have been a test color for the romance ponies or the tropical ponies. Thats my guess anyway.

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The next amazing discovery came when a former Mattel toy designer decided to sell these amazing prototypes from the Wonder Woman and the Star Riders Toy line which never went into production. The line was designed in 1992 and when Mattel couldnt reach a deal with DC comics the line was canceled. After much preparation and plans for even an animated TV show everything was scrapped and destroyed.

These two prototypes are named Nightshine (pink) and Cloudancer (blue).  They appeared in the 1993 Mattel catalogue and there are over 10 pages of advertisements promoting the line. They even show a pretty amazing playset.. Only a few prototype samples were made for toy fairs to promote the line and to photograph them for the catalogues and these irridesent finishes were very costly. According to my research, no other prototype has ever popped up from this line. According to the seller, the action hero proto dolls shown in the catalogues were converted into disney princess prototypes for another line and there was a Mattel policy to destroy or reuse existing prototypes during the 1990s. The former Mattel toy designer that designed this line quit right after hearing the news that the line was canceled, so she or he must have taken Nightshine and Cloudancer with them.

The seller told me the following:

 "Technically speaking, samples are not supposed to leave Mattel as they could end up in the hands of children and they may not be safe. In the 1990's it was ordered that all samples be destroyed after production was complete. But when designers and engineers have worked on products for so long, they tend to see some of those samples as trophies of their work and do not want to let them go. Eventually, some let them go. Some designers have passed away with a house full of samples left behind. They refused to sell or give away "their babies". They also dont understand collectors desires to have prototype pieces. To them these pieces are examples of their portfolio rather than a collectable. "

Nightshine and cloudancer have this iridescent amazing finish to their bodies.. Their hair which still has its original curl is two toned (white and pink or white and blue) with super delicate tinsel. They have buttons on the sides of their necks that are suppose to light up the jewel or horn on their foreheads. They are very high quality and very nicely made. It looks like Mattel was reusing the old Shera molds from the 1980s when creating them. I included a photo of the comparison to a Shera horse. The shera horse says made in mexico while these are stamped made in france.

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Comparison to shera horse

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The next prototype I found was in a Kenner Morgue box that someone was given through an old Kenner connection. The Kenner Morgue was a facility created to store old prototypes Kenner had made through the years. Some boxes have managed to turn up with former employees but most prototypes housed in the Kenner Morgue will never see the light of day. (Can you imagine Hasbro having a facility full of pony prototypes?). Apparently Hasbro was very different than Kenner and ordered all of their protos to be destroyed. Hasbro actually bought Kenner in the early 1990s and ordered a lot of the existing Kenner prototypes to be destroyed. The morgue was downsized to potentially reusable items or ideas for the future and everything else was scrapped.

The prototype that was discovered is a from the very short lived toy line named Princess Vanessa and her Royal Family. This was made in 1991 and is the actual resin prototype shown in the catalogue. The horse and carriage never went into production sadly. She came with her carriage as well which is also resin.

She slightly bigger than a My Little Pony and completely made of resin. There are carved slots for the mane and tail. Can anyone suggest a name for her since to my knowledge she didn't come with one.

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Size comparision
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[Taxel]

Wow, what an amazing group! Those Star Riders horses are absolutely breathtaking.

[zombienixon]

That first one is an almost perfect color match for G4 Scootaloo.

[Leave a Whisper]

They're all so beautiful.

[josiekat]

OH man, where was that girl superhero line when I was growing up?!?! They would have fit in perfectly with my She Ra and Golden Girl dolls!

[glitterball]

ooh, Aurora Borealis coated ponies! Shiny!! 

[PrincessTiffy]

What great finds! I'm also loving the iridescent girls, especially the white and blue one. How do you come across all these? You have such good luck finding little oddities.

[Stormy31685]

Beautiful!  Congratulations!

[invaderhorizongreen]

wow those are amazing thanks for sharing.

[kiwimlp]

Beautiful ponies, Ember.  That prototype is really unusual

[Shy Violet]

They are all absolutely amazing! Those Star Rider horses are especially exciting! Congrats!

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

these are some really cool prototypes!!

[pinkkittywinks]

I love those Star Rider horses! What a shame they never made it into production.

It's great to finally see a clear picture of the unfinished orange/pink pony. I saw a poor picture of her years ago in the early 00's on collectors website. There was another pony is the similar, she has a yellow mane instead of pink.

Thank you for sharing.

Love pkw xxx

[nhal039]

Wow i love those shimmery girls they are impressive

[Galactica]

Wow, some really interesting prototypes indeed! I LOVE LOVE LOVE those Shera horse looking prototypes SO MUCH!

I am also a huge sucker for prototypes- I feel very lucky to own some from Rainbow Brite and the Shimmers.