Are any pony outfits more rare then others?

[Lilja]

We had those outfits in Sweden too, on US cards (or so I assume. Maybe the only type of card that exists for the Costume Wear set?) in 1987. Would be interesting if it was easier to get ahold of them in certain European countries than it was in the US at the time.

[LadyMoondancer]

I seem to remember reading that the Costume Wear set was not widely available in the US at the time of its release. That a bunch of carded ones were found in some specific place years later. Can anyone confirm this? That would explain why it seems easier to find these outfits on card rather than loose. It was also the very last set of pony wear. Maybe stores still had pony wear from earlier years clogging the shelves, so they didn't order the last set.

Yes, the HQG1C project was able to buy boxes of MOC ones recently, which were bonuses with some pony bundles and later were sold individually MOC.  So a bunch of MOCs came onto the market quite recently, but will probably go up in value again as they "settle" and find permanent homes.

Not sure of the story of where the MOCs came from, but my guess is they were just forgotten in a warehouse somewhere.

[nessa16]

I seem to remember reading that the Costume Wear set was not widely available in the US at the time of its release. That a bunch of carded ones were found in some specific place years later. Can anyone confirm this? That would explain why it seems easier to find these outfits on card rather than loose. It was also the very last set of pony wear. Maybe stores still had pony wear from earlier years clogging the shelves, so they didn't order the last set.

Not sure of the story of where the MOCs came from, but my guess is they were just forgotten in a warehouse somewhere.

I am still amazed that stuff like this happens from so long ago.

[Mermaid]

Costume wear took me FOREVER to complete! In the center ring, galaxy wear and academy award were the hardest for me to complete.
Strike up the band was also a pain to track down really nice pieces and that darn baton!

[goddessofpeep]

Costume Wear seems to have been very hard to find in the USA back in the day.  I knew about it as a kid since it was in a brochure, but I was never able to find it myself.  And that wasn't from lack of looking!  Many of the Costume Wear outfits I got were from Canada, so I think it was more common there.  Several years ago MOC sets of Costume Wear started pouring out of Chile from a single source.  That seems to be the main source of a lot of the MOCs that are floating around now.  Some warehouse find or something.  Costume Wear seems to be a lot easier to find now than it was back in the early days of the pony community.  I've had 3 complete Ponynaut outfits, 4 complete Academy Award outfits, and 3 complete Rockin' the Night Away outfits pass through my hands alone.  And that's not counting the MOC ones.

Of the sets released in the USA, Costume Wear is probably the hardest to find at the time.  Most of the Megan and Pony Wear sets aren't easy to come by, and the second set of Baby outfits isn't easy to find either.  Some of the Play 'n Wear outfits are hard to find complete, and a few random pieces are a nightmare to track down (Hearts and Candy necklace I'm looking at you!).  The general rule of accessories holds true to ponywear - if it's small and/or easy to break, it's hard to find.  So your tiny hair band from Galaxy Glamour and your real straw hat from Pony Holiday make those sets hard to complete.

There are tons of Nirvana outfits out there.  The UK had an extensive line all its own.  Many outfits from Greece and Argentina hit the market years ago, and they're still common on ebay(though trying to complete a set of those has become VERY DIFFICULT).  Peru had its own odd line, and you see those pop up from time to time.  Some Brazilian ponies came with outfits, and those can be VERY tough to track down.  The Japanese Takara ponies had several lines of outfits, and those are not easy to find either, but they tend to be MOC so at least they're complete when you do find them.  Spain had a set of 4 outfits.  They came in two versions - one for regular ponies, and one for Piggy ponies!

As far as I know, the rarest line of outfits I have actually seen examples of is from India.  I've only ever seen 4 different outfits(Indian versions of Pony Royal, Tea Time, Best of the West, and Parade Pizzazz), and none were MOC. I've only ever seen 5 complete Indian outfits(the tea set has two known variants - so far), and I own them all.  I've seen a few pieces of some of the other outfits pop up from time to time, but as far as I know, there is only one complete set of at least 3 of those outfits in existence. 

Someone from Columbia had a brochure that claimed there were Columbian outfits out there, but I don't think I've seen them anywhere.  Mexican ponies sometimes show up with random clothing pieces, but I'm not sure if they're from legitimate ponywear, or something else.

[Taffeta]

I remember the ones coming out of Chile as well. I think I got In The Center Ring from that haul.

I'm not an expert on ponywear here, so I would have to poke the brains of people like Chrissytree and such who probably know more (Goddessofpeep, you probably also know more than I do here because I categorically avoided ponywear for the most part) but I do know that we didn't have the 2nd set of babywear, nor Megan & Sundance wear besides the Country Jamboree outfit with M&S in 1987. We didn't have Pageant Queen and we didn't have the Mum and Baby Wear, just mother versions.

I know the netherlands had a bunch of those I just listed though, as I have some from there on US cards labelled up with the dutch/belgian release sticker.

As for the Costume Wear, it's interesting to me that this happened because up til then there are still I think UK cards and definitely UK renames for outfits. Like, Sidewalk Surfer I think was called Skateboard Sensation here.

The reason I am a bit iffy on the final details is that I never had or bought any of the later ponywear as a kid. I had some of the earlier ones but I can't be 100% how common those outfits were here, just that they're on the insert and they're listed on Hasbro's notes. I am currently wondering if they were also in Jennings' toy stock at end of line but I am suspecting not...I know some ponywear was but I don't remember those being on it, so would have to check.

I remember the Play & Wear being advertised in the comic with Shady and co.
http://www.etherella.com/scrapbook2/mlpmedia/advert_pw3.html

I am trying to remember if the Costume Wear appeared as well. I don't think it did, but for some reason I have a mental image of Locket wearing the Pony Naut outfit in the comic..?

Most all the loose Costume and Play & Wear I got came in a tub of accessories from a collector here in 1998,which makes me think they must have been sold here as well as being advertised here. Someone who has done more digging into ponywear may know for sure though.

I can't comment on Nirvana ponywear. I have one Japanese wedding outfit just because I study Japan so as a curiosity, but haven't done any real work on them. Some of the Nirvana outfits from Spain and I think Peru? are interesting though.

[nessa16]

As far as I know, the rarest line of outfits I have actually seen examples of is from India.  I've only ever seen 4 different outfits(Indian versions of Pony Royal, Tea Time, Best of the West, and Parade Pizzazz), and none were MOC. I've only ever seen 5 complete Indian outfits(the tea set has two known variants - so far), and I own them all.  I've seen a few pieces of some of the other outfits pop up from time to time, but as far as I know, there is only one complete set of at least 3 of those outfits in existence. 

Pictures?!

[LadyMoondancer]

Yes, there's a comic where Locket wears the Ponynaut (or maybe Galaxy Glamour) in space.  I remember it was a New Years issue.

[Lilja]

Costume Wear seems to have been very hard to find in the USA back in the day.  I knew about it as a kid since it was in a brochure, but I was never able to find it myself.  And that wasn't from lack of looking!  Many of the Costume Wear outfits I got were from Canada, so I think it was more common there.  Several years ago MOC sets of Costume Wear started pouring out of Chile from a single source.  That seems to be the main source of a lot of the MOCs that are floating around now.  Some warehouse find or something.  Costume Wear seems to be a lot easier to find now than it was back in the early days of the pony community.  I've had 3 complete Ponynaut outfits, 4 complete Academy Award outfits, and 3 complete Rockin' the Night Away outfits pass through my hands alone.  And that's not counting the MOC ones.

Thanks for sharing that info! I'd love to hear if anyone from the US was able to find them in stores back in 1987. It'd be crazy if it turned out they never made it to US stores at all. If they were available in Canada, does that mean a bilingual English/French card exists for the set?

I am trying to remember if the Costume Wear appeared as well. I don't think it did, but for some reason I have a mental image of Locket wearing the Pony Naut outfit in the comic..?

She did wear it in a comic adventure. I believe Whizzer wore Galaxy Glamour in the same story.

[Taffeta]

That sounds familiar. I know they promoted ponywear in the comic, but I couldn't remember exactly what the reference was. I just remember it.

It confirmed for me we definitely got Ponynaut, or were meant to, despite the US flag on the uniform. Not that it matters too much in the bigger picture but we didn't get Pageant Queen and the only reason I can see is that it has USA on the sash, which would be kind of weird for kids in the UK. Since they delayed and then went to the trouble of renaming the Big Brother ponies as 'Adventure Boys' etc, I am gonna guess those are things they thought about.

...I did have a quick skim through my comic images but didn't have that story to hand. Did see a cover with Tex getting his hair done in braids at the hair salon, though

[kingluke]

Seems like I started quite the stream of info. Does anyone know if its okay to open moc clothing?

[Taffeta]

Seems like I started quite the stream of info. Does anyone know if its okay to open moc clothing?

Discussions about opening G1 items tends to end up quite heated.

Personally I would say no, because when you open something you remove it from circulation forever. And there is a finite number in circulation, which means eventually someone will miss out on adding an item to their collection.

[kingluke]

Seems like I started quite the stream of info. Does anyone know if its okay to open moc clothing?

Discussions about opening G1 items tends to end up quite heated.

Personally I would say no, because when you open something you remove it from circulation forever. And there is a finite number in circulation, which means eventually someone will miss out on adding an item to their collection.

I thought so too. SHame I'll probanly won't find the item decared tho. Oh well. Maybe I can sew an astronaut outfit.

[goddessofpeep]

Costume Wear does show up loose from time to time.  I have had multiple complete outfits in my trade bin over the years.  I sold my last complete Ponynaut at my ponymeet a few years ago sadly, so I can’t currently help you with that one.  Look for large accessory and/or ponywear lots on ebay.   They show up from time to time.    Ponynaut is one of the outfits that has the silver glitter shoes(available in 3 Costume Wear sets), it has relatively few pieces(the pants, the shirt, the helmet, and the shoes), and it doesn’t have any teeny, tiny pieces that are easy to lose, so it is a little easier to construct a complete outfit from different sources.  The helmet is the hard piece to find.
 
I still don’t know how Costume Wear was originally distributed in the USA. Over the years, I have found some outfits in lots from people in the USA.  In fact, it’s become more common for that to happen in recent years.  I don’t know why that is, but it has made collecting that line much easier.  Loose outfits don’t come with a passport that show where they’ve been:p

As for the UK, they seem to have gotten a weird mix of outfits, and they got their own artwork on the packaging.  The UK got a handful of exclusive outfits, some outfits that were originally from the Mother and Baby line, but released there without the baby pieces, a release of the first wave of Baby Pony Wear, and a release of the Ponywear with Jewelry set, minus two of the outfits(and with some subtle variants to most of the outfits).   Those are the only lines that have the UK packaging, so those are the only lines I can positively confirm as UK releases.

Italy got a lot of Ponywear too.  It was repackaged in fully Italian packaging, but as far as I’ve seen, the actual Ponywear is identical to the US releases.   Canada seems to have gotten all the Ponywear releases that the US got.  A few variants show up in Canada, so there are a few outfits that may be a tiny bit different if you can find it in Canadian packaging or from a Canadian seller, but it’s generally minor.  Costume Wear, Play ‘n Wear, and the Megan and Sundance Wear have never been seen with alternative art packaging(though you might be able to find some Canadian packaging), so the distribution of the releases of those are much harder to track down. 

[Taffeta]

There are certainly Play & Wear sets with "Skateboard Sensation" on the packaging rather than "Sidewalk Surfer". They're marked Hasbro UK on the back and favourite is spelt with a U.

Edit - the Wiki also has an image, but only of the front, not the back:
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I don't think the art is different from the US art though I can't be 100% on that.

Edit again - no, art is the same, but the name of the outfit and spelling of favourite is different:

Spoiler

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I am also not sure if any of the other outfits have different names in the US, just Skateboard Sensation is the one that sticks with me (as we don't have Sidewalks in the UK, it's an obvious change).

The comics, the inserts, that card and the fact I've found most all of that set here second hand suggest we definitely did have the release as a UK release, though with more minor changes to the package than previous releases.