I rank Play 'n Wear outfits (again!)

[FernMariposa919]

Now that I have (the very nearly complete) collection of Play and Wear Pony Wear, I thought I would rank it. This is my second time ranking the six outfits. You can find my first ranking here:

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,400111.msg1835355.html#msg1835355

Now, when I ranked these six outfits the first time, I only had one and a half of the outfits, so my opinion has changed somewhat! These were really hard to rank because this is my favorite Pony Wear collection. I really do love all the outfits, so even if something is ranked 5th or last, I really do love it.

Here is a link to the outfits so you can see what I’m talking about:
http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Pony_Wear#Play_.27n.27_Wear

1. Pony Holiday - When I did my Costume Wear re-ranking, I originally had Pony-Naut at #1, but it went all the way to last place in my re-ranking. In this case, it’s the opposite. In my original ranking, I had Pony Holiday ranked last because it came with the least exciting accessory, a suitcase. Which, yes, probably is true, but now that I own this ensemble and have seen it up close and personal, I absolutely love it! (BTW, get ready for me to say that several more times!) And I just had to rank it at #1. The pink floral print on the yellow dress is such a delightful pattern and the pink trim really adds to the dress.The minute I saw this complete outfit on ebay, I immediately bought it because before then I had only seen the dress with the shoes. Sometimes the suitcase was with it, sometimes not. But I NEVER saw the straw hat with the ribbon, which is my favorite feature! That hat is *chef’s kiss*. I think it might be my favorite hat from a Pony Wear outfit. I can see why so many of these for sale didn’t feature the hat - it does seem quite fragile! Mine is in pretty good shape, but it’s not perfect. The suitcase actually opens, which I did not realize! It is a very cute feature, however, I will not open mine anymore! I did it once when I first got it and I heard this terrible crack. Luckily, it didn’t break, but I’m afraid if I open it again, it will break for sure! So that sucker is staying closed. I imagine this is why the suitcase often isn’t with the dress because I’m sure many of them broke in half! The backcard artwork of Surprise wearing this outfit with a cruise ship in the background is so adorable.


2. Get Into the Groove - I’m so happy to now have the complete collection of this fun and colorful outfit. I only had the dress and shoes, (this was the only outfit from this collection I had as a child), but was finally able to get the complete ensemble with the radio, socks, and even the hard to find hairlip. Yay, me! Yay, stimulus checks that helped pay for all of this! While the socks are cute and add to the outfit and make it unique, I’m glad this is the only G1 pony outfit with socks because they are a bit of a pain to put on and putting shoes on ponies WITHOUT socks can be hassle enough! The green plastic stereo has a strap so theoretically you could put it around your pony’s neck, but I refuse to do so in fear the strap is going to break because the strap seems awfully tight, so I just placed the radio in front of my pony. The backcard artwork of Moondance dancing in this outfit is another adorable illustration. I think the Pony Wear backcard illustrations are some of my favorites.

3. Hit the Slopes- I absolutely love this! (Told you I was going to keep saying that!)  I used to ski every year with my family in Colorado when I was a kid/teen, so I think that’s why I love this outfit with the pink snow suit, ski goggles, purple skis, and colorful hat. I’m so happy I was able to find mine with the goggles. Also, I assumed the hind leg would snap into place in the ski (you know, like an actual ski!), but there’s a lot of room when you put your ponies’ leg in it. In other words, it doesn’t fit like a shoe. I feel like this needed a sweater to complete the look.

4. Pretty as a Picture - Even though we are now at the bottom three of the outfits in this collection, I still really love this outfit so much; that’s how hard it was for me to rank all of these! When I bought this from e-Bay, I was lucky to get the whole ensemble for a good price. I had seen it before without the paint palette and paint brush and almost bought it, but held off and waited for the whole ensemble and I only paid a few dollars more and it was definitely worth it. Even though the pony can’t hold the accessories (although you can put the paintbrush in the pocket of the shirt), they really help complete the ensemble which consists of a white smock with paint splotches all over it (so cute), blue pants, a red beret, and four red shoes that give the outfit that extra pop of color. This is the first outfit where I’ve had pants for my pony and I love that there’s a little hold to stick the tail through! Makes sense, though. You wouldn’t want to have your tail bunched up in your pants if you were a pants-wearin’ pony!  The only thing that could make this outfit even more complete is if it came with an easel with a half-finished painting. Even Bowtie in the backcard illustration is painting on an easel (thought it would look pretty silly if she didn’t have one!)


5. Milk and Cookies - This is an adorable nightgown and nightcap with dogs, cats, and teddy bears (random combination!) printed on them. I actually thought they were frogs at first because they’re green, but then I read a description and looked closer at the photo. (That was before I owned it). As far as pony pajamas go, I like it better than the Sweetness and Lace nightgown from the Pony Wear with Jewelry collection (that one looks too much like lingerie for my taste!), but I like the Sweet Dreams pink pajamas with slippers and bonnet a bit more than this one (though that could be due to nostalgia since that was one of my first childhood Pony Wear outfits).  It comes with a pillow and blanket as well as a glass of milk and a plate with three cookies, hence the name. The glass of milk looks very small and I can only image it often got lost. I don’t see this outfit (or any of the complete Play and Wear outfits, for that matter) for sale that often, especially with everything that comes with it. I have only seen the complete collection once. I see it more with the blanket and pillow, but very rarely with the cookies and milk. That makes sense since they’re so small, I’m sure many kids lost them. I do have this outfit with the pillow and blanket (though the pillow is not the original one, but it is white-and-yellow striped, so it matches the blanket). Perhaps if I did have the complete outfit (it’s the only outfit in this collection where I don’t have all the accessories), it might be higher, but I’m not sure because I love all the outfits above it. But I love this one too…why does this collection have so many cute outfits? Speaking of cute…I love the backcard illustration of Posey with a cookie in her mouth.

6. Sidewalk Surfer - Okay, hear me out. When I say I love every outfit in this collection, I absolutely mean it and this one is no exception even if it is ranked last. But, unfortunately, something had to be ranked last. Mainly, the only reason I have this ranked last is because the iridescent red dress is super delicate and I can only assume many of them were ripped not with just rough play, but with gentle play as well! I’m not really sure what material the dress is made out of, but it kind of feels like tissue papers, perhaps a littler thicker, but not by much. The dress is super cool, don’t get me wrong, but what were they thinking making a Pony Wear dress out of super delicate material? They had to know that was a terrible idea! It’s no wonder I hardly see this dress ever, so when I did see it, I snagged it (and for a bit of a steep price, I might add!) I didn’t mind what I paid for it TOO MUCH because I did get all the accessories with it…if it was just the dress and some of the accessories, no way I would have gotten it. And I’m sure that’s why it was a little on the expensive side. The ensemble also includes a gold visor, gold knee pads (and, yes, I got both of them!), red plastic headphones (though they don’t technically go over the ears, they mostly stay right behind the eyes), and red plastic skateboard. The skateboard has rolling wheels which is really cool. Like the skis that come with Hit the Slopes, there’s a mold to place your pony’s hind leg in the skate, so they can ride on the skateboard. I have Lickety-Split riding the skateboard and her pose works very  well with it because it looks like she’s pushing off with her back leg.

How would you rank these? Or if that's too difficult a task (I would understand!),  which one is your favorite?

[Artemesia's Garden]

I think sidewalk surfer is my favourite, I have the skateboard but not the other items though. Plus, I don't own any of the other outfits! So I might have a different view if I saw them in person.

[FernMariposa919]

I think sidewalk surfer is my favourite, I have the skateboard but not the other items though. Plus, I don't own any of the other outfits! So I might have a different view if I saw them in person.

Seeing them in person really does make a huge difference! Like I said, I first had Pony Holiday ranked last, but that was before I owned it and now that I've seen it, I absolutely love it.

And even though I ranked Sidewalk Surfer last (another reason I would put it in last place is that the headphones and visor seem to be competing for the same area on the pony's head, so that can be a kind of nuisance!), I would still rank it higher than, say, Pony-Naut or Great Skates if we're talking all the outfits overall.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I love the dress in Pony Holiday, the flowers kind of remind me of the Mr Men books which although they are a bit dubious in places I did love the drawings. There is another pony straw hat in The Tea Party, wouldn't it be great to have both? Anyway, I will never own these sets because I don't think they were released here, so it's lovely to browse the wiki and read your ranked descriptions. I have never really thought about them so much. The idea of the different costumes really reminds me of Mr Benn, have you seen it? I'm sure there is an astronaught costume in the title sequence.

[LadyAmalthea]

I went back and read your previous ranking, and my own that I posted with it, and my rankings still stand, as I have not acquired any new outfits I hadn't had then (other than a second Get in the Groove outfit, which I bought pretty much to get ONE missing sock to complete the set I had; it was reasonably priced...so I now have a complete set plus some duplicate pieces, including that elusive hairclip, haha!). I find it interesting that your ranking of Pony Holiday changed so drastically, as I had ranked that one last as well, and I wonder if I would feel the same about it if I were to see one in mint condition! Mine is faded, missing its hat, and the latch is broken on the suitcase. I imagine it was quite vibrant at one time! Anyway...I know this post has been up for almost a month, but I took an online hiatus for a few weeks and I'm just now catching up on posts slowly...I always love reading your ponywear reviews!

[FernMariposa919]

I went back and read your previous ranking, and my own that I posted with it, and my rankings still stand, as I have not acquired any new outfits I hadn't had then (other than a second Get in the Groove outfit, which I bought pretty much to get ONE missing sock to complete the set I had; it was reasonably priced...so I now have a complete set plus some duplicate pieces, including that elusive hairclip, haha!). I find it interesting that your ranking of Pony Holiday changed so drastically, as I had ranked that one last as well, and I wonder if I would feel the same about it if I were to see one in mint condition! Mine is faded, missing its hat, and the latch is broken on the suitcase. I imagine it was quite vibrant at one time! Anyway...I know this post has been up for almost a month, but I took an online hiatus for a few weeks and I'm just now catching up on posts slowly...I always love reading your ponywear reviews!

Oh, thank you so much! Glad you like my pony wear reviews; I always have so much fun writing about them! Like I said, this is a collection I love and I think all the outfits are wonderful and super cute. In fact, if I ever did a ranking of the actual Pony Clothing lines (hmmm, future idea?), then the Play 'n Wear Collection would be ranked #1 for sure! Honestly, I had such a hard time deciding what would be #1. Pony Holiday is SO cute with the dress's print and the adorable hat (my favorite feature of the outfit), that I had to make it #1, but I also love Hit the Slopes and Get in the Groove. Even the three I ranked last are great outfits. But yes, seeing these outfits in person really changed my mind about how I viewed them before.