Thanks for the reply Lillies_Mom.  Those Baby in My Pocket dolls are really cute!  They were one of the things I searched when I was trying to find what these dolls are, since they are sort of similar.

Zainin, thanks for the input, but I don't think they are diaper babies: I collect those, and they come with molded on diapers.  They're about the same size though.

I've been finding a lot of these little dolls:

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Could you please help me find out what they are?

Thanks!

I've introduced myself here before, way back in 2009 and since I haven't been around much in the last few years I've decided to re-introduce myself.

I'm a PhD student from South Africa, studying Biomedical Engineering.  I've been a pony collector for years, since the late 90s, but haven't had too much pony money or time recently.  I'm hoping to become a more active member of the community now that I have a bit more time.

So far I'm finding the arena really great.  Everyone is so friendly and helpful!

I'm from South Africa, so hopefully I'll be able to add something.

Here MLPs in general aren't easy to find at all.  In all my time looking in thrift stores, I've only ever found one.  But then, I must admit I don't get to go to them very often, as they are usually in unsafe areas, so I don't want to go alone and battling to find willing participants in my pony quest.  It seems as if markets are where they most commonly turn up, and a few people buy from markets and sell on the internet.  I think people more often give things away to other people, rather than taking them to a thrift store. 

But of the ponies that are found, it seems that quite a large proportion of them are South African ones (maybe 5%?)  I don't actually think they are that rare here in South Africa - but I just don't know where they are!  My guess is that a lot of people still have them.  I think they were the favorite toys of many people, and they're keeping them for their children.

My guess is that relatively few of them have been burned in fires.  Fires are a lot more common in poorer areas, where people use gas lamps, which often start the fires.  As far as I remember, MLPs were fairly expensive, and so there probably weren't too many of them originally in those areas.  In other parts of South Africa, fires aren't any more common than in any other country.