My Stylish Pony

[Mana Minori]

I know that people are more inclined to talk about the g1's that they grew up with, and as Osharena Ponii wasn't accessible to many in the US at the time of its production (and still isn't), sadly, it doesn't generate much discussion among collectors. But I am truly, deeply in love with these ponies, and have longed for some company to remember these and give U.S collectors a change at at least having their retro collectable (even if they're from fanmade groups, like HQg1C), or even more discussion and theories/ headcanons on them, at the least. Milky and Pinky are adorable, as well as Lily and Popo! I wonder what sort of magic they were capable of? Do they exist in a parallel world between ponies and humans (like Equestria Girls)? Does anyone have any thoughts or theories on these adorable ponies?

[Esbayne]

Hmm, I'm not sure. I guess I've always imagined them as alternate universe ponies, like the Dream Beauties, only way more alternate.

I can imagine them living kind of like Hello Kitty. Maybe not very much magic, just living simple, cute little lives. I think they'd be more pony than human. Maybe have lots of little animal friends, as well.

I also agree I'd love to see HQG1Cs of them (or even some well-done adult fakies! It always seems to just be the babies) but I don't know if I can ever see that happening because of how hard they are to get ahold of. I'd also love one for the novelty, and they are very cute, but their pricetag puts me off, especially because they aren't a dire want like regular ponies are for me, they are to ponies as Hello Kitty is to cats imo. (Like just imagine Pretty Kitties vs Hello Kitty)

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

As neat as it'd be to see HQCG1s of them, wouldn't that require sacrificing a real one to make a mold? I'm fairly certain they'd have to remove the hair. Not worth it.

[Khoufu]

Oh do you mean the Takara ponies? They're so cute but so expensive. I'd love to get a HQG1C version.

[LadyMoondancer]

I don't think they're popular enough to get a HQG1C.  Not to say that your desire for one isn't legitimate.  Just that I don't think it would be profitable, especially since they would surely cost more to make than a 'regular' MLP.

You couldn't reproduce them with one mold, because they are jointed toys.  You'd need seven:

right arm
left arm
right leg
left leg
torso
main part of head
nose / muzzle (which for some reason is a separate piece on them)

Which is going to cost more.

And then the extra cost to hire factory workers to assemble them, and THEN extra cost to produce clothes.

On top of that they have not ranked high on past HQG1C "what ponies would you like to see?" polls.  I think if you want them to come to life it would make more sense to do what the HQG1C project did--contract with a Chinese factory and give up a Takara pony to make the mold--than to expect one from the HQG1C.

The pony is actually not destroyed when a mold is made, but typically the people at the factory don't send it back . . . I would never consider it a guarantee that you could get it back.  Also, it would have to be completely bald and taken apart to create the mold (so they could pour a mold for each arm / leg etc.)

I really like the idea that they're the mirrorverse to Mattel's Little Pretties, which were MLP-ish cats.  And yes, they seem like they would know and get along with the Sanrio characters!

[Taffeta]

I still think you should be badgering Takara with this...

But that's a discussion already had many times before.

In terms of their world, they remind me of moomins somehow. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just what they make me think of I guess they'd fit in with Hello Kitty but I'm somehow not convinced about that crossover. Maybe because Kitty has taken over pretty much every area in some way, you can even get little keychains of her as a mediaeval warrior hero or whatever. Whereas I feel like the Takara ponies are very much living in their own gentle secluded little world...

Maybe somewhere in Yamaguchi It's pretty there, by the sea!

To be a bit more serious, the world they seem most kin to for me are Sylvanian Families. Not in terms of how the toys look so much as the idea of small animals living humanoid lives...

[Taxel]

I don't know if they're still available or not but I know at some point someone on the Arena was selling 3D printed Takara replicas. I never had the chance to buy one so I may be remembering a bit off but they were jointed and smaller than real Takaras. Unjointed babies may have been available as well, though perhaps that was someone else.

[banditpony]

I don't know if they're still available or not but I know at some point someone on the Arena was selling 3D printed Takara replicas. I never had the chance to buy one so I may be remembering a bit off but they were jointed and smaller than real Takaras. Unjointed babies may have been available as well, though perhaps that was someone else.

I bought some jointed ones, they were *amazing*
He's no longer selling them on his etsy...

I never got to do anything with mine, but I had to resell they were a hard sell-- even though they were priced cheaper than when I got them (and they were really reasonably priced to begin with).

[Jocelyn]

Maybe HQG1C can do the sitting fakie baby instead? Those are much easier to come by, and only have one neck joint.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yes, the Takaras have a little world all their own, it's mostly on the packaging and there are a FEW girls' shoujo comics with them in it. 

If I remember correctly, they didn't do well in Japan in the 80's because that was during an economic recession and toys in general (including Sanrio!) suffered.  Also the kawaii culture we see nowadays did not exist yet.  Add to that, with the Shinto tradition of giving up/burning one's toys as they grew up, and a lack of thrift stores, etc., they are much harder to find.   The Japanese Shinto culture believes in the energy that exists within things (kami) and so keeping/donating/using secondhand items is not as prevalent as it is in Western cultures.  You banish it/dismiss it/pass it onto the next "realm".  That's a really really general way of trying to explain it!   

I mean, they rebuild certain temples every 20 years - right next to the previous site.  They keep the pieces of the lumber all together as the same tree by labelling it, then the priests bless it all to ensure the proper energies remain with the shrines, the sacred objects are transferred, etc.  That's in a "keeping/preserving" context, you can sort of understand the idea behind "outgrowing and moving on from something".  Objects that have prayers written on them are burned, to pass the energies to the proper place.

You see all this stuff very heavily hinted at in anime/manga but oftentimes, Westerners do not really understand the context. 

And certain items, like the heirloom dolls used for Girls' Day shrines and such are not considered toys, they are more in the religious context, so you see those get saved and re-used in family shrines, but NOT childhood toys!  Nowadays, maybe so, but not during the era of Osharena Ponii.

[Taffeta]

Hrm, Japan's big recession wasn't till around 1991. My mother used to work as a TEFL teacher at some of the local companies, teaching business people English, and it was around that time that they started pulling back.

More annoyingly, I had to teach this to my students last term. The burst of the Japanese bubble. So 1985, when these came out, shouldn't have been an economic issue. The thing is, if you look at a toy store in Japan, you see a lot of sameish kind of toys that these would pretty much fit in with. Cute things with tiny accessories, etc. I guess they didn't stand out enough. Ironically if you look on Japanese auctions, you find more ponies from G1 than you do Takara. Probably because of the number of families who spend 4-5 years stationed in the US or the UK or Europe or wherever. This still happens, but although G4 toys (aside plushes) are no longer in Japanese toy stores, FIM did exist over there, so seeing G4 stuff on sale is less surprising than the older ponies.

[banditpony]

1985 was the start of the bubble...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/01/06/reference/lessons-from-when-the-bubble-burst/#.W5aj-5NKjdQ

My opinion. I just don't think ponies were a big thing in Japan. That's one of the reasons they got a make over for their market.. to be more like sylvanians etc as those types of toys were popular

[Taffeta]

1985 was the start of the bubble...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/01/06/reference/lessons-from-when-the-bubble-burst/#.W5aj-5NKjdQ

My opinion. I just don't think ponies were a big thing in Japan. That's one of the reasons they got a make over for their market.. to be more like sylvanians etc as those types of toys were popular

I agree. I should add, Japan does have second hand stores. I mean, you can get seriously lost in the toy and figure aisles of the right Book Off store if they happen to have the right section. BUT I think Banditpony is right. I should also mention that Sylvanian Families are insanely popular in Japan. They flood the toy stores. I can't see how the Takara attempt at MLP stood out enough to catch on and sell well.

Ironically they might have done better with real G1 ponies. My sister had a friend growing up (daughter of two of my mother's students) who had MLP and who loved them like crazy. And as I said, second hand sales indicate that happened a fair bit...

[LadyMoondancer]

1985 was the start of the bubble...
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/01/06/reference/lessons-from-when-the-bubble-burst/#.W5aj-5NKjdQ

My opinion. I just don't think ponies were a big thing in Japan. That's one of the reasons they got a make over for their market.. to be more like sylvanians etc as those types of toys were popular

I agree with this.

Also, sometimes a toyline just doesn't take off in a country and that's that.   G2 MLP didn't do well in the US, but did great in France.  Keypers was a "oh yeah, I kind of remember a friend of a friend who had one of those" toyline in the US, but sold like crazy in the UK.  I think sometimes it's more happenstance than any other reason.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

all very good points!  My Japanese teacher was very vague about the 80's-90's recession, she had immigrated to the USA back in the 60's, though, so she had a very different perspective.  I do recall that Sylvanian Families were insanely popular there!!!