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Author Topic: Ponies in Eastern Europe? (With digressions on other parts of Europe & Asia!)  (Read 6853 times)

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Offline Shaz

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Following on from my obsession with foreign pony names (subject of a previous thread), I have now become interested in the complex world of My Little Pony releases in Europe. Help....

Anyway, as two of my favourite countries to research in terms of language, history, culture etc are Romania and Greece, I soon started focussing on them. And then I got interested in Eastern Europe in general, especially since I can't find out much about ponies in that part of the world.
So here is what I know so far:

ROMANIA - Romania did not have G1 ponies. At all. It is the only country listed on My Little Wiki that definitely had no G1 ponies. Poor Romania. I know they have G4, but does anyone know if they had G2 or G3?

GREECE - I know a LOT about Greek ponies, from the El Greco ponies to the Hasbro European releases. I don't think I have any questions about Greece at the moment.

CROATIA, SLOVENIA, MACEDONIA, BOSNIA, SERBIA, MONTENEGRO - Back in the G1 days, these were all part of Yugoslavia. I can't imagine that ponies were a thing in Yugoslavia, but I hope to be proved wrong :). I know these countries had G3, as I have a Princess Parade sticker album in Croatian, and have seen these albums for sale on eBay from Serbia and Macedonia. Obviously G4 is there now. What about G2?

BULGARIA - I don't know anything about ponies in Bulgaria. Again, I think their political situation in the '80s probably means that vinyl ponies weren't exactly a priority.

RUSSIA - I am pretty sure I have seen the G1 cartoon translated into Russian! I even found some G1 names translated into Russian; they were in an article comparing G1 and G4. I would love to know more about G1 in Russia.

I'm also intrigued by HUNGARY. I know Hungary is really Central Europe not Eastern Europe :). I know they had G1 ponies as I bought a bundle from there once, and it included 'European' ponies such as Music-Time and Collector's Pose Applejack. I know that the 1986 movie was released in Hungary too. I'd love to know more about the pattern of releases in Hungary. It seems to be a bit of an ignored country in terms of pony history.

So if you know anything about ponies (pre-G4, since G4 is pretty much global) in these locations, I'd like to know it too :). Maybe there's even people from these countries here, who remember childhood ponies! Do you know of websites about ponies from these countries?

I have vague ideas of one day creating a website about ponies in Europe, with especial focus on G1. After all, there's plenty of info about countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and various parts of Scandinavia, which could be collected and collated. I'm not sure I would ever have the energy to do it all (I have some health problems which means my interests can be a bit stop/start sometimes, as every so often I just have to let everything go hang and rest up for a while), but I am collecting information just in case. If you have obscure info about European ponies, I'm the person who wants to know it :).
« Last Edit: October 07, 2018, 01:10:59 AM by Shaz »

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2018, 02:40:22 AM »
Totally on board with you if you ever do make a European website. I'm trying to integrate some European stuff into my site at the moment but a more pan-European specialised site would be amazing, especially covering so many regions. Even if it takes you a lot of time, good luck with that :)

I remember there are a couple of Russian folk on here who mentioned stuff before. I have seen a Russian pony comic from the later years...1990s maybe? But featuring artwork from earlier pony stuff. I forget who it was who posted it but there was a discussion.

In honesty, I am interested in both Israel and China, as well as Malaysia and Singapore, as we don't talk about them much. Israel isn't quite Europe but it isn't quite not Europe. Any chance of adding that to your range of stuff? I know a little about Israel and G1 ponies because of my friend who is now back out there...she has her childhood ponies still and remembered some of who she has...but not much.
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Offline Mismatch

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2018, 02:42:18 AM »
The release of G2s would have coincided with the Yugoslav Wars, so I kind of doubt that any were released in Yugoslavia, though I wouldn't know either way.  The wars themselves were terrible and would have had a profound economic impact on the former Yugoslavian States:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

Offline katrine2309

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2018, 04:12:49 AM »
Oooh! This is great! I can’t wait to hear what you find out!! These areas are a little forgotten when it comes to MLP. Hopefully, your research on this will do something about that!

The political situation in Europe, and especially Eastern Europe was quite different than it is today. In the early 80’s it was still very much, both politcally and economically, defined by east vs west. It was cold war. You mention Hungary as a land of interest. During most of G1, I think Hungary was occupied by Soviet union? I’m fairly sure they didn’t get their independence until 1989? The same is more or less true for Poland (you don’t mention them, but I think that is an interesting country to look at as well). Given that you already know something about releases there it would be interesting to find out if the areas connected to Soviet would have more or less the same releases?

You mention that Romania didn’t have any ponies. At all. I don’t find that strange though. After they  were fred from Soviet occupation in 58 I think I read somewhere that they turned more towards China? Which can explain why they didn’t have any Hasbro toys. I’m not sure though. Regardless, Romania was extremely poor country in the 80’s.

What I also find interesting, and never seen any discussions on is if there were any differences in MLP in west-Germany and DDR( East- Germany). I am sure there would be? Do we know if there were any MLP in DDR at all? If you are looking into Eastern Europe, I would also include DDR if I were you. The Berlin wall didn’t fall before 1989, and the Soviet union didn’t dissolve before 1991. Did those two events impact anything perhaps?

 
The release of G2s would have coincided with the Yugoslav Wars, so I kind of doubt that any were released in Yugoslavia, though I wouldn't know either way.  The wars themselves were terrible and would have had a profound economic impact on the former Yugoslavian States:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

Agreed. I very much doubt that ponies were sold in former Yugoslavia. These wars were terrible indeed, and the worst wars in Europe since WW2. Tensions were high after Tito’s death in 1980, so that might have impacted the market during the first years of G1 too. The wars and what followed with them led to a high scale of refugees and forced movement. If G1 was sold during those early years I think it will be very difficult to find out any info on them.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2018, 04:29:25 AM by katrine2309 »
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Offline Shaz

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2018, 07:02:23 AM »
Lots of interesting things to reply to!

I figured that all the political upheaval in Eastern Europe would mean that there was no market for ponies in many of the countries. I know how grim things were in Soviet Romania, but I didn't previously know much about former-Yugoslavia.

I keep finding more and more countries that I want to know about! I know that Poland had the cartoon and the 1986 film, so I am guessing they had the toys too. Israel didn't get the cartoon until the 1990s (I think?). I think the MLP n Friends cartoon was quite a presence in various European countries in the late '80s/early '90s, e.g. Greece didn't get the cartoon until after the 1986 movie, but it continued to be aired on TV at various intervals throughout the '90s. I wonder if Russia also only got the cartoon later.

I know that ponies sold in Israel include Powder, because I bought one from there! I would like to know more about Israel, but there is quite a language barrier there. I will have a go at any language written in Latin, Greek or Cyrillic alphabet, but Hebrew is a closed book to me!

I remember reading somewhere that the Soviet regime in Hungary was less strict than, for example, that in Romania, and that Hungary was generally more affluent and had more access to Western media. So that is why it made sense to me that Hungary could have had ponies in the 80s even if neighbouring countries didn't. Based on my purchase of a bundle of ponies from a non-collector in Hungary, they seem to have had: Princess Ponies, Merry-Go-Round Ponies, Sunshine Ponies, Tropical Ponies, Pony Bride, Rockin' Beats, Precious Pockets, Playschool Babies, Schooltime Ponies and Rollerskates Ponies. Hmm, that is all later lines; I think the Princesses were 1987/8 elsewhere. There was also a Peachy and a CP Applejack, but who knows where they come into it!

My ultimate dream would be a gigantic list of all the ponies produced in G1, with comprehensive details of the countries and sets they were sold in. But trying to organise that would probably melt my brain! My hypothesis so far is that there was a great deal of variation in the early years of G1, with different sets in different European countries, ponies made in Italy, Greece, Spain, France etc.; then around 1988/9 the European countries that had ponies began to get the same ponies. I'm following a Greek vintage toys shop on eBay and they sometimes have later ponies for sale in pan-European packaging with lots of languages on the back.

Sorry if this is a bit scrambled! I'm at the "collecting lots of random info and hoping it all fits together later" stage of my pony researches :lol:.

Offline Taffeta

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2018, 07:18:44 AM »
Unfortunately my Israeli friend is now back in Israel, so less easy for me to poke about stuff. I am not sure about the timeline, but I know from what she told me/remembered from her collection which she still has, she had the Apple Delight Family (Mum, Dad, Sister), SS Shady, and a winger...I think we decided it was a Windy Wing but I forget which one. She also told me a lot of these shows got to Israel a bit later. It sounds to me from what she said that the ponies they had were mostly from the US, so Powder makes sense, probably on US card.

The only Hebrew I can read is 'Shalom' and when I was over there I could make out signs that said Jerusalem while she was driving. Which isn't helpful for ponies.

It's not Europe but I am also interested in the Chinese language media and also what was in Singapore and Malaysia as I've heard various interesting stories about that. I can also sort of read bits of the Chinese (for example, I can read My Little Pony & Friends on the covers of the books LM listed on ebay) and I suspect with a bit of poking I could make some sense of those. My mandarin is still basic but there's some kanji crossover with Japanese and I can at least get the gist.

But that's not Europe. It makes me sad that the Japanese line holds zero interest for me and has zero in the way of interesting G1 media to read and translate :/ What is there is all covered in katakana and I don't like the Takara ponies anyway so meh. I would love to read and translate some G1 Japanese pony stuff, but it doesn't exist :(

But now I'm going off topic.

I had a friend from Croatia and it was pretty dire over there when he was a small kid. :/

I wonder whether some of these places got ponies after 1989. It sounds possible.

I used to have a colleague from Dresden which was in East Germany. I wonder whether anyone on here grew up on that side of the divide and may know the answer. She told me a lot about growing up in East Germany, but we never talked about ponies because she was ten years older than me and it wouldn't have appealed to her I don't think.
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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2018, 07:29:36 AM »

I keep finding more and more countries that I want to know about! I know that Poland had the cartoon and the 1986 film, so I am guessing they had the toys too.

I don't think you should guess at the information.
So far confirmed Poland had the cartoon. Unknown if they had the toys.

And I think you should try to get information if it was a common toy in most areas or just only in big city toy stores.
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Offline Taffeta

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2018, 07:31:36 AM »

I keep finding more and more countries that I want to know about! I know that Poland had the cartoon and the 1986 film, so I am guessing they had the toys too.

I don't think you should guess at the information.
So far confirmed Poland had the cartoon. Unknown if they had the toys.

And I think you should try to get information if it was a common toy in most areas or just only in big city toy stores.

Also if stores imported from other countries direct, or if it was a formal distribution by a Hasbro branch somewhere else...I guess?
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Offline Shaz

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2018, 08:08:05 AM »

I keep finding more and more countries that I want to know about! I know that Poland had the cartoon and the 1986 film, so I am guessing they had the toys too.

I don't think you should guess at the information.
So far confirmed Poland had the cartoon. Unknown if they had the toys.

And I think you should try to get information if it was a common toy in most areas or just only in big city toy stores.

You're right, I was leaping to conclusions there. And actually, thinking about it, I don't think it's uncommon to have a TV show in several countries and its related toys only available in some of those countries. I'm sure I've watched children's things on UK television and then found that the toyline is only sold in the US (I immediately can't think of an example). That could have been the situation with Poland and/or Russia, as I haven't seen any actual ponies from either of those places. I will wait in hopes of some confirmation one way or the other.

There's a lot that I think it will just be impossible to find out. Or if not impossible then very very difficult! Unless I start living a nomadic life travelling around Europe asking random people searching questions about their childhood toys :lol:. But who knows what will come to light.

@Taffeta, arghhhh don't give me more countries to wonder about!
« Last Edit: October 03, 2018, 08:12:15 AM by Shaz »

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2018, 08:35:41 AM »
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/these-crazy-star-wars-bootleg-toys-are-now-130055132.html

Quote
“Because of trade embargoes in certain countries, a lot of the stuff was made during the Cold War,” Joseph Yglesias, a leading expert on Star Wars bootleg toys who is writing a book on the subject, tells Yahoo Movies. “So a lot of Soviet countries couldn’t get licensed products legally imported. For some reason, they could get the movies but they couldn’t get the toys. So to have something for the kid to play with, that was affordable for the average worker in say, Poland, a lot of these bootleg companies filled the gap.”
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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2018, 11:24:05 AM »
@shaz: I am not sure how things were in Hungary during the 80’s, but from what I remember from my history is that Hungary actually revolted against Soviet in the 50’s which they lost of course, but the result was a much tighter grip on the Eastern bloc from Soviet. Not sure how tight it was in the 80’s though.

Actually, Romania was the first country that «liberated» itself from Soviet. They gained their independence already in the 50’s. Whereas Hungary, Poland and many other eastern bloc countries didn’t before 1989. I actually think they broke out of the Warszaw Pact as well- which was Soviet and the Easter blocs equivalent of NATO. Of course, Romania had it extremely difficult both politically and financially up until recent years. But I think that was based on their own rule? They did have a communist rule under the Cold War and tried to implement several reforms that didn’t go that well if I remember correctly...?

Anyway, I don’t remember that much from my history classes on the cold war- it’s been some years :lol: And I babble on anyway, because I think history is so exciting (now you all know why I like pony-history!!) :P

Do you know anything from the Baltic countries? Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia? They were a part of Soviet, so maybe not? It would be awesome to find something though. Have you tried to find BST sites in some of those countries? If they did have these toys- would they perhaps have a similar structure for BST of used stuff?

I found this on YouTube by the way- MLP intro in Russian: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wLSVGQTS2Vo

They at least had the show!
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Offline Shaz

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2018, 12:44:35 PM »
Kind of off-topic, but I am majorly jealous of the fact that you got to study the Cold War in history classes! When I was at school, our history lessons were very UK-centric (with the occasional bit of the US), so what I know about European history can be a bit patchy and vague  :blush:. Quite embarrassing as I do love history, but my self-taught history tends to be pre-20th century (e.g. 15th century Romania <3). I am learning a lot more 20th century history thanks to ponies!

I have been making a ton of notes about all that's been said in this thread, and I've also found some info about when pony cartoons were aired in various countries!

What I'm getting so far is that Romania and what was then Yugoslavia had no G1 ponies. Russia had the cartoon at some point (1986?), in the 90s they had some comics, but possibly no ponies (I vaguely remember someone on this forum mentioning in passing that there were no vintage ponies to be found in Russia?).

Poland may not have had any ponies. MLP the Movie was released on VHS in Poland in 1989. In 1998-9, there were Polish dubs of the movie and MLP n Friends on TV. There was a Polish dub of MLP Tales too, but I'm not sure when that was broadcast.

Hungary had ponies from at least around 1987/8. MLP the Movie was released in Hungary in 1990. MLP n Friends was shown in Hungary between 1991 and 1993. They didn't have MLP Tales. Oh, I have also discovered that the intro for Hungarian MLP is really catchy: "Én kicsi pónim, én kicsi pónim...." https://youtu.be/-ioPYX17QCA
« Last Edit: October 03, 2018, 12:48:52 PM by Shaz »

Offline Taffeta

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2018, 12:53:17 PM »
Someone in Russia from this forum also mentioned getting pony stuff from Ukraine. But I can't remember which generation it was.
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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2018, 12:53:23 PM »
I can ask my Transformers bud from Russia if she knows anything about previous gens of MLP there, but she may not know since she is too young to have had G1 toys herself.  (I think they have the G4 toys.  They DEFINITELY have G4 bootlegs.)

I have a hard time believing G1 MLP would have made its way into the country, except as bootlegged stuff.  The USSR was around until 1991.  The Cold War was in full swing in the 80s and they didn't call it the Iron Curtain for nothing . . . But hey, maybe I am wrong.

Come to think of it, West Germany / East Germany were still a thing up to 1990.  Crazy to think about.  Anyone know if G1s were sold in East Germany?  Edit:  Oops katrine2309 mentioned this already, that's what I get for replying right away, ha ha.

Edit #2:  Yeah, here are the Chinese books if anyone is interested!  They are crazy long and they faithfully adapted EVERY episode of MLP & Friends + the two specials.  However the actual books appear to be published around 1994 and are almost definitely not licensed.
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Offline Shaz

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Re: Ponies in Eastern Europe? G1, G2, G3
« Reply #14 on: October 03, 2018, 01:05:38 PM »
Wow, I didn't realise it before but Chinese pony books were totally something I needed to see! They are awesome. It's really cool to think of all these people all over the world who had ponies as part of their childhood, whether it was toys, cartoons or books.

 

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