Baby Cuddles with freckles... but made in Hong Kong. Help!

[applejackSA]

Hi there!

I received a huge lot, and in it is a Baby Cuddles. I checked MyLittleWiki, and it says that the Baby Cuddles with freckles was made in China, and the one without in Hong Kong.
Mine is made in Hong Kong and has freckles. Also, there is nothing in the lot to suggest it was part of the Baby Buggy.
Could someone please shed some light as to where I should place her in my collection?

It came from the UK if that helps at all.

Xx

[Taffeta]

Probably the Wiki is just mistaken.

She would have come originally with the baby Buggy. Baby Cuddles in the UK didn't have any other release than that, but she was released over several years here.

[LadyMoondancer]

My childhood one had freckles and I'm pretty sure he's from Hong Kong.  I got him around the time Trickles, Gusty, etc were in stores, which seems too early to be China.   I'll check when I get a chance.

[Taffeta]

Baby Cuddles was still available in the UK as late as 1988 according to Hasbro UK's information. I certainly have a box dated 1987.

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 I don't think I have a regular baby cuddles myself (my sister does, but hers are in storage). If I do, I can't find her right now, but the playset release schedule over here isn't anything like the US one in terms of timeline. I am fairly sure that the regular eyed one happened either at the same time as or after the BBE one in the UK. The one being sold in 1987 was a regular eyed baby, but the BBE one is advertised in the comics before that. Something similar also happened with Baby Half Note, so the timeline compared to the US one is all over the place.

There's also a mystery here where one version of the UK Baby Cuddles box says pony made in Spain but the actual pony sold inside was made in HK. So it's not that strange to ask the question.

I am not sure whether there is a MO Baby Cuddles like there is a freckleless Baby Tiddly Winks, but I don't believe I have ever seen a regular eye Baby C over here that didn't have freckles. The Wiki pictures are interesting, and may stand further investigation...but freckles are also easily removed... If there is a MO version then that would explain the variation of no-freckles. It would also explain why I have never seen one, as we didn't have the MO ponies here.

The Wiki doesn't have hoof pictures, so it's hard to verify. The known variation between regular baby half note versions (purple eyes vs aqua) are both HK, so it doesn't have to be a different place of manufacture necessarily.

Because I don't have a loose one to hand I can't check where she was made, but there are definitely Chinese ponies being made at the time Baby C was still out over here, so I imagine a variation could exist made in China (perhaps like Majesty...). I am just not sure the simple way in which the Wiki puts it is actually the case.

[kingluke]

hmm...my freckles baby cuddles is also hong kong. I'm not sure about the rest.

[Shaz]

My Cuddles (bought second-hand in the UK) has freckles and was made in China. Since the Baby Buggy was available for such a long time, maybe more than one factory made them?

[shabbychicdee]

i have both china and hong kong and they both have freckles

[freezestime]

My baby Cuddles has freckles and her hoof says Hong Kong, so idk.

[Taffeta]

I think it's just a Wiki mistake. The Wiki can and does make mistakes. It's editors are only human

[RoseNoire]

Yup, I've talked about it a year prior and it's just a Wiki mistake. Both my Baby Cuddles are HK and have freckles.

[Taffeta]

Yup, I've talked about it a year prior and it's just a Wiki mistake. Both my Baby Cuddles are HK and have freckles.

I didn't realise it had come up before.

It would be great if any Wiki editors are reading this thread that they can maybe remove that so it can't confuse anyone else. It's clearly relevant that there are HK and China ones and it probably does relate to the late ongoing release, like Majesty and ultimately LD as well - but if there is a freckle free version, this isn't it.

I am still unable to find a regular eyed baby c on my baby shelf so maybe I genuinely don't have one, but I'm going to make sure I add something on my site that both China and HK ones are around here but they all have freckles as far as I know. I may have one in my trade box. I'll have to see. It's a nusiance Naynie's ponies being in the loft, as I can't check hers.

...I do remember some ages back a conversation about how easily you could remove freckles with acetone and the problems of identifying a MO baby Tiddly Winks from the lack of freckles because of it. I wonder if that happened in this case also or if there's something else. Is there a MO version of baby C? I feel like she was on a pamphlet but I've taken pictures of so many of those recently I may be getting muddled up.

For the record, officially Hasbro UK only listed Baby Cuddles and the baby buggy coming out in 1987 and 1988 in the UK.
I would need to check if she is on the 1986 insert as well, but that makes sense with the comic advert that shows the BBE one in the buggy with Buttons, also from 1987. Those years make it logical there'd be China and HK versions. Kiss Curl was also available from around 1987 through to 1989ish and she also has HK and China versions as well as symbol variations.

[LadyMoondancer]

Cuddles and the baby buggy were released as a mail order set a few times but I think all the MO ones came with BBE Cuddles.  I don't think I've ever seen it advertised with the NBBE version.

BBE Cuddles never has freckles, no matter if storebought or not.  I don't thiiiiink there's a NBBE version without freckles.  There's a NBBE Tiddly-Winks without, but only because she came with that Playset Pony set, and I don't think Cuddles was included in that.

[Taffeta]

Then probably the one pictured without on the Wiki has been tampered with...?

I keep it with a ? because we still haven't resolved the "pony made in Spain"/HK release thing that happened here, and some of the NC (assumed Spanish) made brother ponies have poorly removed HK stamps on their hooves, so if there WAS to be a Spanish one, and it had badly edited hooves, it might be the missing freckleless wonder.

BUT we have never proven that the pony in the box for this playset ever was Made in Spain, as none - including nearly complete or boxed sets - have ever been found...

And there are still some queries about whether all the ponies that we think of as NC/Spanish are actually Spanish, too...


Edit to add: the baby Cuddles in my trade box - who originally came in a lot from the US - is made in HK and has freckles

And the 1987 box that I posted the date image for further up the thread says "pony made in Hong Kong" on it.

[LadyMoondancer]

Oh interesting, I didn't realize the Wiki had a picture.  I'm not sure . . . Maybe there was a MO NBBE Cuddles after all.  Some issues of the buggy specifically mention the Beddy-Bye Eyes but the Baby Buggy did get released a bunch of times.  Maybe some issues DID have the NBBE?

Anyone know?  Did anyone get a MO buggy as a kid?

I edited the Wiki to basically say "lol WHO KNOWS" so at least it doesn't have misinformation.

[Taffeta]

I don't think I have all the US MO inserts, but the 2 I have both show her with BBE (the Sparkle Pony one and the Rainbow Pony one). I guess it doesn't necessarily follow they were always sent like that though.

She's not on the UK 1986 insert either, which I kind of didn't expect since Hasbro's list didn't mention her for 1986, but I checked anyway. I guess we had the strollers in 1985 and 1986 and then only had the buggy after that. She is on the 1987 and 1988 inserts but both are drawings so don't give indication of which eye version (if there was even any consistency), let alone freckle status.

She's featured (photo) in the 1988 Argos catalogue but that one is a BBE.

So I have nothing re the freckless wonder in terms of paper trail here

(But the 1988 argos does show the dance school with regular eyed baby half note and she is definitely wearing white shoes too