Italian Trickles Variant?

[Baby_Honey]

Hello Everyone 

It's been a while since I posted here on the forum, but I hope it's okay to ask for suggestions in this matter anyway. Apologies for the super long text in advance 

I found a pink haired Trickles in a childhood collection and would like to hear opinions if she's for real. Here is a photo (and many more in my album here) --->
https://www.flickr.com/gp/105219357@N03/7x14P5

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Here's a little background Info:
I recently acquired a great My Little Pony Lot from a private person for a steal.Said person is not a collector and has no clue of prices or that people collect them. I got a whole collection including a box full of Italian Ponies. I live in germany so this isn't rare. Italian Ponies have been regular releases here.

The seller said they found their childhood Ponies in the basement of her parents house when they had to empty everything due to the house getting sold. All of these Ponies spent the past 30+ years in the basement untouched.

There was the Italian dream castle that came with it's original box and instruction too (And Re Unicornio). I talked to the person who I bought this lot from and they said they were on summer vacation in Italy during the 80's quiet often and their dad always bought Ponies for them during their stay.

The Ponies are all in a very good condition for Italian Ponies, some have a few plugs of hair missing or rough hair ends but overall they only needed a quick wipe down. I didn't dare to wash them because I don't want to ruin the original curls or risk to get water inside of them. There's also alot of accessories left for the castle aswell as brushes, ribbons and alot of Italian puffy stickers on original backing.

When I went through them, I noticed a Trickles with pink hair instead of rainbow hair. Now my question:

Is she real? I can't believe that such a tidy kid who managed to keep all these things together would manipulate a Pony like that! It makes no sense snyway since there also was a Posey in the lot and a rainbow haired Trickles aswell. I checked all of them and all heads sit firmly on the bodies. No sign that they ever have been opened or swapped around. I took a few comparison photos with all three (Posey, Trickles & pink haired Trickles) to see if I can detect anything that helps. Here is what I noticed:

1) Posey is the slightest bit brighter yellow in color than both of the Trickles (see pic with & without flash, I hope it shows)

2) My Posey is bigger and softer while the other two are more hardened plastic yet still "soft" of some degree

3) The pink hair on Posey is not the same as the Trickles pink. Sadly it doesn't show on my photos and it's only very minor

4) Posey is stamped "Pat. Pend." While both of the Trickles only say "84 Hasbro"

5) Both Trickles are the exact same height, Posey is bigger in comparison.

Is there any way to get an answer to this mystery? I asked over on Instagram aswell and people suspect that the kid could have swapped heads or tails but I really doubt it. She looks factory made.

I do not want to sell her, I only want to know if a special gem found it's way in my collection. 

Thank you very much for reading and willing to solve this case

[brightberry]

I would guess a head and tail swap is a possibility.  Does her head turn at all?  Other than that, I have no idea.  This is not my area.  She’s really cute.

[Barnacle_lady]

Congratulations with your find.

This reminds me of another Trickles topic but that was about an HK version with green eyes but also with pink hair. And that one looked like she had been dyed. Maybe a closer look at the plugs?

[Baby_Honey]

Congratulations with your find.

This reminds me of another Trickles topic but that was about an HK version with green eyes but also with pink hair. And that one looked like she had been dyed. Maybe a closer look at the plugs?

Thank you! I was quiet excited to find that lot. She doesn't look dyed at all. it seems her original hair color. See the two curly Lickety Split on my pic? This child took good care of their Ponies

[IceCrystal02]

Aww, the group looks just like (part of) my childhood collection, I had exactly the same ponies and the Dream Castle (all Italians except Majesty) and I still have about half of them. 

It's difficult to tell from the photos, but to me her neck looks unopened. My Italy Trickles was partially rehaired by someone, so while you can't see a cut at all on her left side, you can tell she was opened from the other side. So while it's possible that she was very neatly resealed after the rehair job, she could also have got Posey's hair instead of Trickles' at the factory I suppose. 

If you opened her, you would know for sure but then if she turns out to be genuine she wouldn't exactly be in original condition any more. Difficult decision!

[Baby_Honey]

If you opened her, you would know for sure but then if she turns out to be genuine she wouldn't exactly be in original condition any more. Difficult decision!

I really don't know how to open her. Italian Ponies look like they have been sealed with heat or something? I never opened any of my Italians before, simply because I never had to  But that left aside, how would I know for sure then? People already suspected that the head and tail could have been swapped around with Posey Once opened, I wouldn't be able to proove that she was originally factory sealed before. Is there another methode? What about the hoove marking? My Posey has "Pat Pend" while my pink Trickles only shows "Hasbro 84"

[IceCrystal02]

I don't know what the safest method to open ponies is, but someone here with customising experience will hopefully chime in.

If you open her you'll see how the tail and mane were secured. Here you can see how an original Italy tail looks like: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,398994.msg1819791.html#msg1819791. I don't know what technique the factory in Italy used to secure the mane as I've never opened an Italy pony so far and the ponies I had re-haired came back to me re-glued, but I'm sure there are several people on here who can elaborate on this.

It was the other way round with my ponies. My Trickles had a pat pend stamp while Posey didn't (I'm glad I took so many photos before re-homing them  ).

[Baby_Honey]

If you open her you'll see how the tail and mane were secured. Here you can see how an original Italy tail looks like: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,398994.msg1819791.html#msg1819791. I don't know what technique the factory in Italy used to secure the mane as I've never opened an Italy pony so far and the ponies I had re-haired came back to me re-glued, but I'm sure there are several people on here who can elaborate on this.

So many years of collecting and I didn't know about this fact 

So...Somebody suggested to "squish" her butt and tell what I feel, so I did (Sorry, Trickles  ) There's something hard where her tail goes into the body. It's about 1 cm long and if I press real hard (I had to use a clamp tool for some of the photos or it wouldn't show) the shape / outline is visible. I held her against a lamp to make it visible for everyone. I also took many more photos from different angles, also very clear closeups from all sides. She really looks genuine to me. No harm on the neck seam at all.

Here's one of the pics (more here on the bottom: https://www.flickr.com/gp/105219357@N03/ypZReW

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[The_Loner]

I'm glad to see you posted about her here This is so curious!

I'm inclined to think she's a genuine variant. I just find it very unlikely that she would be manipulated when the lot otherwise is in such good condition. I looked at all the pictures in your Flickr album and I think her neck seam looks untouched and what you are showing and telling about the tail inside the body sounds to me like an ordinary Italy tail. I know there are several hair variants among Italy ponies. One thing I do find odd though is her forelock - I have never seen an Italy pony with a short forelock like that.

[pinkkittywinks]

What a find! Congratulations

Italy made ponies for exportation to other European countries, as well as internal distribution

The lack of a PAT PEND mark could indicate she was made later, rather than earlier, since the Patent (PAT PEND stands for Patent Pending) for My Little Pony was granted sometime between 1987-89. So it is possible she was made in about 1987, the very end of the "made in Italy" line.

The second set "Rainbow Ponies" have cropped up with "funny coloured hair" in the past, such as coral haired Tickle and Pinwheel with "alternate rainbow" hair etc.

https://pinkkittywinks.wixsite.com/mlparenagallery/italy

I would be tempted to suggest she is maybe some how related to those ponies.

Love pkw xxx

[Baby_Honey]

One thing I do find odd though is her forelock - I have never seen an Italy pony with a short forelock like that.

Me neither! But she came to me this way. maybe it was a factory error or the kid gave it a small snip. We'll never know...Imagine there was an employee at the factory who thought "Let's make some of them unique"  That "forelock" was not visible when I got her. It was combed backwards like the rest of her mane but when I cleaned the Ponies, I found that odd and combed the forelock out of, made it wet and fixed it with a wrap for two days so it would stay on her forehead and not fall back into the rest of her mane 

[The_Loner]

One thing I do find odd though is her forelock - I have never seen an Italy pony with a short forelock like that.

Me neither! But she came to me this way. maybe it was a factory error or the kid gave it a small snip. We'll never know...Imagine there was an employee at the factory who thought "Let's make some of them unique"  That "forelock" was not visible when I got her. It was combed backwards like the rest of her mane but when I cleaned the Ponies, I found that odd and combed the forelock out of, made it wet and fixed it with a wrap for two days so it would stay on her forehead and not fall back into the rest of her mane 

Ah, ok, that makes sense! Yeah, it could be a factory error or a small haircut.

[Baby_Honey]

What a find! Congratulations

Italy made ponies for exportation to other European countries, as well as internal distribution

The lack of a PAT PEND mark could indicate she was made later, rather than earlier, since the Patent (PAT PEND stands for Patent Pending) for My Little Pony was granted sometime between 1987-89. So it is possible she was made in about 1987, the very end of the "made in Italy" line.

The second set "Rainbow Ponies" have cropped up with "funny coloured hair" in the past, such as coral haired Tickle and Pinwheel with "alternate rainbow" hair etc.

https://pinkkittywinks.wixsite.com/mlparenagallery/italy

I would be tempted to suggest she is maybe some how related to those ponies.

Love pkw xxx

Thanks alot for so much info!

I missed so much in all those years of my collecting-break. So much happened in the past 10 years! Your page is gold, lady! I soaked in all infos like a sponge  Those photos are a gorgeous reference and you're a walking encyclopedia! How do you managed to collect all those valuable infos?

So...what do you think? Is she real? Under the given circumstances I really do not believe she has been "made up" There's sadly no way to have a proof for it. She was unlucky to be a yellow pony with pink hair instead of something more "unique". Don't get me wrong, I love her but it's sad that she will always look "fake" to some others 

[pinkkittywinks]

One of a kind ponies are tricky, you either believe them to be real or have doubts about their authenticity. They will always be a mystery until either another turns up or we get insider information.

I am so glad you enjoyed the nirvana gallery I have spent since 2006 collecting information and pictures for the gallery It has been my "lockdown project" to create a nirvana gallery website, as the original nirvana gallery that was hosted here had to be removed due to corrupted data

Love pkw xxx

[Taffeta]

TBH, I kind of twitched at the suggestion to take off her head to check; I definitely would NOT do that xD. If there's no sign of tampering then you'd be vandalising a variation whose authenticity would, as you mentioned, be impossible to prove thereafter.

The seal on the neck looks pretty authentic to me...so does the way the hair lies for an italian pony.

Posey and Trickles are normally a shade or so apart in body tone so aside a reroot and tail replacement, which seems unlikely given her history and the state of the pony...it's probably as PKW says.

Definitely a pony to keep on ice till more is known. There have been other ponies suspected as fakes or customs which have later proven to be real (and vice versa of course).