"Fable" ponies - do we have a definitive list?

[Taffeta]

Thanks for the link PKW I don't have IG so can't access everything, but I have seen that card before, in German for Italian ponies and in French for Spanish ones. Maybe also Italian ones because white Tootsie is part of that set. It's also on inserts for France and Germany in 1987 I think. I'm guessing on the France insert because I don't own it. I own part of the german one which is definitely 1987. I also have Hopscotch (Italian) on that card but in German.

As I understand it - and am willing to be corrected by anyone who knows better than me - the HK set that was sold in Scandinavia (including probably Norway? Katrine?) with white Tootsie and Snowflake and so on have the same assortment number as the Pony Friends set with Truly and Cupcake, and are basically the same extended release. So I think that this (the French and German cards and the Italian and Spain made ponies) are the equivalents of that release in these places. The Netherlands also had the HK set but on different cards, not sure if they also had the others.

As for pale Speedy, that's the standard European TE card for 1988. The UK had a different one because we had a set in 1987, and so we didn't get pale SPeedy. The European card has the updated rainbow for 1988, and it's the same in Germany and France, probably also Austria, Switzerland. And pale Speedy is a normal part of that set. That one is safer ground for me

@Katrine, Denmark fascinates me but unfortunately I have only that vague second hand information about it. Who else was sold on that card Sparkler was on...I don't know. But it fascinates me how the earth ponies are on her card and the pegasus and unicorns are on Tootsie's.  I mean, what happened there o.o.

Until I saw those I had assumed all the stuff in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, maybe Finland was in English, but that made me take a step back. And Leikin has shown me baby sleepy pie in a Swedish box, so even Sweden had some translation. It's interesting Norway had none.

I know Sparkler was definitely a Fable release in Sweden but if she's common in Norway as well, chances are she was a Fable there too.

I'm still annoyed that Hasbro didn't think the UK should catch up with these sets -.- but anyway. At least they gave me lots of fun muddles to babble around in. I do still think Fables were probably offered here but not taken up by the stores. It's the only explanation I have for why they were so much in the comics around 1986 - when Fables were sold - and yet not in stores.

I'm not guaranteeing my site will be absolutely accurate and complete for every single European release date or region but I am trying where I have information to make it as inclusive as possible. I've always known that the American release schedule doesn't make sense in the UK, what I'm learning is that the UK dates don't necessarily match the European ones either, and different European countries also have different dates from one another.

It's fun! But it's mad. And I really appreciate having multiple brains from multiple locations to pick on trying to get as close to right as possible.

Finally, on the Baby ponies from Germany discussion from the other thread.

Suggest you port this subject to my thread about Fables. I'm trying to work out how they would have ended up in Norway. End of line? Clearance? German stores? Any ideas? It's interesting that it's predominately Buttons and not the others. The frustrating thing is that Norwegian and Swedish promotional material seems very different from what's available for France, Germany, the UK and even sometimes Italy. It makes it harder to plug those gaps.

[katrine2309]

I don’t think anyone can have all info on European releases- it is a mess! Even with an overview from the stores I don’t think that would be possible because of both import releases, but also different stores buying different ponies. They sold ponies in a lot of places here. Not only toy stores, but also for instance at gas stations. Mapping that out is near impossible! But I do think we are going in the right direction with being open about the complexity and sharing what we do know. So I’m sure the scrapbook will be an excellent resource as it is today as well

About baby Buttons: The short answer - I don’t know. She is a little bit of a mystery, but I am inspired into digging more into her story here. I haven’t really asked about her specifically in our national pony group. I am inclined to think she might have been a pony from gas stations or other stores more than an official toy store release. But I’m not sure. And the other babies could have been sold here as well. I have one confirmation on baby Honeycomb. But they are not common. But the same is true for baby Ribbon’s set, and I know she and the other babies were sold here. As an official release. It would have been easier if ponies was a little bit more common to find in the wild.

Post Merge: July 07, 2024, 02:19:24 AM

Oh, and to answer your questions on the HK/pony friends set. We did have White Tootsie/Snowflake as well as Truly and Cupcake. They are quite common to find around here.

We also had green Tootsie, but she came with the CP pose Bow tie and AJ, right? We had both versions of Bow tie and AJ. CP and shy pose. 

[Taffeta]

Ok, so Norway may have had Groom & Style set then the 1986 set the same as Sweden. I am not sure we have tracked down how green Tootsie happened in Sweden yet, but it may be the same, just because the cards are like our UK ones, it's harder to prove it without a price tag. Especially now when so many ponies have moved countries over the years.

It used to be that online sales gave a clue to what was sold where. Now it's pointless. I have a Firefly in my trade box and two baby sweet stuffs. Neither were sold here :/

On Baby Buttons - if you find anything conclusive, let me know and I'll add a note to their page. I already ripped up the rulebook by pushing them into 1988. I had to redo all my links (lol) but I realised nothing else made sense. So I would imagine if they were in Norway it would've been 1988 or 1989 if they turned up there as clearance. The UK certainly had a lot of German packaged ponies (mostly Rockin' Beats but also Birthday Pony) as clearance in 1993-4ish, so this is a possibility.

Another note, quite annoyed this morning to discover that Ghost of the Doll has not only been using information from my site without crediting it, they've also been using some pictures of mine, including some from my collection. One from Chrissytree's site that Chrissytree watermarked with my name, yet somehow it's still on their site being credited to "ebay sellers."

I haven't ever been through this site in so much detail before - it's just always been etiquette of all pony ID sites to ask permission before using images and then credit when permission has been given. I have pony pictures from my collection on the wiki and Chrissytree's site but they're credited and appear with consent. Ghost in the Doll does not have permission to use anything from my website, and I do not like seeing ponies from my collection being used in this way.

Stuff like that makes me think twice about my website. I mean, if you're even going to borrow a watermarked and named image, nothing is safe. I'm debating whether to contact them or if it's even worth it in this modern age of take and use and ignore the origin. But I just wanted to give a heads up that this is happening and other people's images may also appear there. I think that a couple of pictures donated to me by other collectors have also been edited and used on the site (some backcards and at least one variant princess, unless JLM gave them consent).

Back on topic - a while back someone posted the 1986 commercial for Gypsy's set. I know it was a facebook link but I can't find it now. Does anyone remember where this came from? I'll only link to it if it's on YT and I can direct link to the person who uploaded it, but I would like to transcribe it if possible.

[katrine2309]

I find that incredibly rude to do. I’m not often on Ghost of Doll, but I do use it for other 80/90’s toys beside ponies. I hope this doesn’t discourage you and I would probably send them a message. Maybe that will at least get them to re-think how they do things…

I know for sure we had the Groom and style set. Ponies from this set were me and my sisters first ponies I also remember the UK card ( I collected them before my mom burned them). Also, I had the UK clothes like the raincoat and the sleepwear. Still have the raincoat actually. The sets I know we had for sure in the early years are these:

Groom and Style set
PnC babies (set 1)
My Little Pony set w/Snowflake, Hopscotch and white Tootsie
2nd set rainbows with re-release of Moonstone, Windy and Starshine (US card) - again I had this card, I remember it well.
Fable Ponies
PnC babies (set 2)
Movie Star pony set
Pony Friends
My Little pony- Baby Pony (baby ponies on card)
Pearlized baby seaponies - US card (Ripple head up)
Flutters first set
First tooth babies
Summer Wing
Windy Wing
NB twins first set - UK versions
Baby Splashes set (UK version)
BnG
NB baby ponies on card
Family ponies (Apple Delight etc)


We probably also had BBEs (found baby Shady’s and several others). First set of TAF ponies and UK Family ponies.

And we had more of course, but this is around the time I fell out of interest. We also had most of the US playsets. This is just on top of my mind, so I might have forgotten something😅

Post Merge: July 07, 2024, 04:09:55 AM

Update on Buttons: One Norwegian collector states that she bought baby Buttons in her local toy store in Norway. It’s not a lot, but it does strengthen the theory that she actually was sold here. I have no confirmation on card or year yet.

[Taffeta]

I'll probably add a note to the main page of the baby ponies that childhood collector memory suggests Baby Buttons etc was sold in Norway. But any detail you can glean about how/when would be great

I didn't keep any of my childhood packages until 1992 T_T. I did keep Sky Rocket's (sparkle) but cut it up to make paper doll ponies out of the ponies. Somewhere a tailless Napper is still lurking in my room! I don't know what happened to her story. I have had to replace all my childhood cards and some I'm sadly still missing. Thankfully other UK people were less silly and have helped to fill in some gaps

It sounds like with a few exceptions, you had a very similar release range to us. But things that stand out to me are the baby sea ponies (pearly) being the looking up pose set. I'm wondering if you just had US carded or if there was a card you had that was different, since the UK release didn't have that.

Also flutters. I may be hallucinating but I think someone once told me flutters didn't happen in Sweden. So that may be a difference between Sweden and Norway? Do you know if you had both sets?

I know France had both sets but a year delayed from the UK because they have the same box art for the second set as the UK but the rainbow is different (1988 font instead of 1987). So it would be interesting to know if you remember anything more about that release. I will need to double check on the Sweden thing but I think it was something like TEs and Flutters not being sold over there.

You didn't mention TEs so I'm assuming that's a no for Norway too?

Final question - Waterfall. Did you have it? Was it too early a release for Norway? If you did, was it white or green? I'm curious because you mentioned some other earlier US packaged stuff and that you had the US playsets but most of europe had a white waterfall with Sprinkles in various packaging...so I'm just wondering if you did as well.

Pearly Baby sea Ponies, Megan and Sundance, Waterfall all seem different in continental Europe from the UK, which is interesting for me...

[katrine2309]

So good that you ask these questions! Because flutters first set is a question mark. My neighbour had flutters, but I can’t guarantee she did not by them outside of Norway. I will Edit my post! I’m not sure how they got in there as a certainty. They are not.

TE, as well as so soft ponies were not sold here (or at least I have no confirmation on either). Most likely not flutters as I have not found them second hand. Only in my neighbours collection. But for the longest time I didn’t think we had BBEs either, but we clearly did. Quite a lot of them actually. I have confirmation on baby Shady and her set and baby Sleepy Pie (?) in the purse.

Baby seaponies was the US release. Ripple is my childhood pony (I still have her) and I remember her card and her sticker. Unfortunately, I dont have them anymore.

It is the same reason I know we had UK versions of the newborn twins and Baby Splashes. Baby Splashes, Tuggles and Toddles are all my childhood ponies. I remembered their names so I was totally confused getting back into ponies and reading about Sticky and Sniffles

The Waterfall is still a little bit of a mystery to me. I haven’t seen it for sale, but one of my neihbours had it. With Sprinkles. It was the white one. I’m still looking for confirmation on this outside my memory, although I remember it well I can not be sure it sold here. But if we did we would probably have the US version.

Megan and Sundance was the US set. I have them;) I’ll go through the list again and update more on it, because I did forget a few things:) And also because we did have a lot of the later releases too (like baby Splish, Splash and Splosh). Those are more common to find, together with baby Katie, candy babies and jewellery babies as they were later releases.

[Taffeta]

It's hard trying to figure out where imports/holiday purchases ended and real supply begins. Have the same issue here I found Himmelstanzer, Diamond Dreams, Mimic and Baby Leaper here. Also Night Glider and Sand Dollar but I ignore those because they came from a collector locally who may have bought stuff online.

It's possible Woolworths imported the mgr ponies as well as the candy canes but if so I would've expected to see more Diamond Dreams and Sparklers here, and I haven't. Mimic probably came from Italy, she's probably a one off. ONe UK collector once told me she'd bought baby countdown new over here, but I can't corroborate this at the moment except with my finding Leaper. And...Himmelstanzer must've come from Germany or Austria *lol* no evidence of those here.

Ponies travel :/ Fact.

Also happytails. I haven't found tons, but I have found three or four. I assume they came via the same import route as other stuff - Woolworths - but I don't 100% know. And the colour change baby sea ponies I was sure we didn't have until someone popped up with a card in English. I have never found one here. :/

So I totally understand the question marks over the flutters. It is very easy for me to fall into the same trap all the American sites do, as well, and assume because we had one thing Europe must have done. I've learned over the last several years to be more cautious about that (I think that is why I can only redo this site now, when I feel relatively confident about some of the broad strokes).

Like yesterday I realised that the reason the UK's Sweet Clover is pink is probably because we had the set a whole year after other parts of Europe. It's also the reason the box has Mainsail and not Rainbow Rider under the rainbow. Usually it's the other way around, and the UK has something and then it's either at the same time or at a delay in Europe but...not this time. This time we're the ones playing catch up and that's probably why the variations. Still learning things even now.

On the newborn twins names, while I was digging around ghost of the doll looking for more images of mine that had been used, I saw a catalogue image which included all six of that set of twins, but with the UK names for three of the pairs. It also used different names for the other sets, and I remember someone saying Puddles and Peeps were used as names in Canada (I've seen a box which supports that as well). So maybe these names weren't just UK names. Maybe it's another example of them being changed at the last minute in the US and not in the UK. There are a few sets I'm suspicious of that happening.

On the sea ponies and the waterfall - so far you're confirming my hunch that our sea pony set and our waterfall were UK exclusive (unless the weird Hungarian import thing sent them there as well).

Cascade may be one of a very small handful of actually UK exclusive ponies. Everyone in Europe I've asked has always said white waterfall and Sprinkles. We had both Cascade and Sprinkles (Cascade first) and boxes for each of them, but always a green waterfall.

[aria_elwen]

Oh! I can answer the question (?) On colour change baby sea ponies and where they could be bought. As always the answer was Woolworths.    I had Wavedancer from new and can remember having a choice between her and one of the others, I might still have her card in the attic. (I know this wasn't really a question). I also remember that they sold out really quickly and it would have been in February 1991 or 1992 as one was bought for my birthday and another for a friend whose birthday was 1st March. It couldn't have been earlier as I only met this girl in reception class. It might even have been as late as 1993 but is most likely 1992.
I genuinely wish I could get up into the attic easily as I know I have a veritable treasure trove of boxes and backcards filling a dream castle box in a whole array of languages but all sold in the UK. Most are from 1989/1990 onwards right through to 1996/1997 when I was buying end of line stock.
I'll hush now and just go back to lingering in the background as although I wish I could offer info on the Fable's as they fascinate me, I have nothing.

[Taffeta]

Oh! I can answer the question (?) On colour change baby sea ponies and where they could be bought. As always the answer was Woolworths.    I had Wavedancer from new and can remember having a choice between her and one of the others, I might still have her card in the attic. (I know this wasn't really a question). I also remember that they sold out really quickly and it would have been in February 1991 or 1992 as one was bought for my birthday and another for a friend whose birthday was 1st March. It couldn't have been earlier as I only met this girl in reception class. It might even have been as late as 1993 but is most likely 1992.
I genuinely wish I could get up into the attic easily as I know I have a veritable treasure trove of boxes and backcards filling a dream castle box in a whole array of languages but all sold in the UK. Most are from 1989/1990 onwards right through to 1996/1997 when I was buying end of line stock.
I'll hush now and just go back to lingering in the background as although I wish I could offer info on the Fable's as they fascinate me, I have nothing.

No, that is useful and interesting and if you ever do find the cards and can scan or photo them then I'd love to see Especially the colour changing ones. Do you remember what language it was in?

I know the UK was used as a dumping ground for a lot of stuff; Hasbro also cleared out their warehouse to at least one major toy store in London from where we got a lot of ponies in the years after (between 95 and 98 basically). From Baby Applejack through to the Surprise Twins pony. Unfortunately most of those came before online collecting, before either sister or I were old enough to think about carded ponies and such, so I have the cards but most of them came out of package. Those bought after 97 or 98 are still on card but by that point there weren't many left *lol*.

I do remember seeing German carded Rockin' Beats and German and French Birthday Pony and Princess Sparkle, also random stuff at markets and so on. If in doubt dump it in the UK seemed to be the motto

I think Hasbro Uk were coordinating a lot of the import export stuff so that may be why.

Back on the Fables and such, the more pieces to the European puzzle I have the more pieces seem to push themselves forward. But I can't prove them at present. One day maybe.

Not so much the Fables themselves, they seem quite stable now with eight of them overall.

But the earth ponies and the rainbow ponies start to make a lot more sense now...

[Xara]

I didn't know they're called Fable ponies. Fun to know! I have the Gusty from my childhood at least. This site lists ponies that were available in Finland. It's in Finnish but maybe you can figure it out.
https://myrskyttaren.webnode.fi/suomessa-myydyt-g1-ponit/

[Taffeta]

Fable is a kind of unofficial name but also not. It's because of how they were promoted in various places. Germany had Italian versions with Fabelpony on the card, and I think Leikin and Ponyland mentioned Swedish leaflets calling them the Swedish equivalent so we just kind of termed them that and went with it I don't think there's an English card with that name on it but it works nicely for them as a separate release.

I didn't know they're called Fable ponies. Fun to know! I have the Gusty from my childhood at least. This site lists ponies that were available in Finland. It's in Finnish but maybe you can figure it out.
https://myrskyttaren.webnode.fi/suomessa-myydyt-g1-ponit/

Ahah! Thank you I will definitely plough through this and see what I can figure out. Maybe I'll learn some Finnish in the meantime xD.

If you have a moment to clarify this line for me I'd appreciate it:

"Tätä settiä myytiin myös ilman lohareita, jolloin se oli halvempi."
My online translator either translates it as not being sold with boulders or with salmon (LOL)! I am guessing that maybe it's a release without dragons/bushwoolies/attendants but I don't know for sure!

I don't use the year system because it means a lot of European ponies have been misdated, but if I know roughly what was available in countries I can try and figure out what was where, even if when isn't quite clear. And that's a good place to start.

I'm trying to pick out European stuff more prominently for my site revamp but as a UK person I am very reliant on the help of other European collectors to try and get things organised correctly. All the help is much appreciated. I don't imagine I can get a 100% perfect result but I'd like there to be at least one ID site that tries to put Europe in context with the US and the UK rather than just here's the US line and everything else is 'other'.

[Xara]

"Tätä settiä myytiin myös ilman lohareita, jolloin se oli halvempi."

Hehe no worries, I'll translate anything you want to be sure about. "This set was also sold without dragons for a cheaper price." We had the dragons only (no bushwoolies) but they are pretty rare here too, so I guess many went with the cheaper princesses... (Lohari = lohikäärme = dragon; lohi = salmon; lohkare = boulder, so I guess it made some sense as lohari is a spoken language word!)

I'm very impressed with your project! I love stuff like that about collecting. Nowadays I'm not active at all with any of my toy collections, but I've had a similar project with Forest Families (flocked animals like Sylvanian Families). Myrskytär's list has been gathered together maybe 10 years ago by a community of collectors, so I think it's pretty accurate. The prices mean that much of the information should be from toy ads, I think. I used to have a Finnish pony discussion forum and I think we had a project about which ponies were sold in Finland, back in the day...

Edited to add: I also found an ad I've saved with the following prices.
Princess pony and dragon 79 mk
Baby Newborn Twins 98 mk
First Tooth Baby 79 mk
Wedding Confetti 79 mk
Princess Sparkle 139 mk
Baby Katie etc 39 mk
And more...

[Taffeta]

Thank you! That's what I thought, though the idea of Finnish princesses coming with salmon or boulders is quite appealing Germany and France had them on cards without dragons, so I wonder if it was one of those releases (I am assuming most stuff in Finland was on English packaging but there's no real reason why it had to be). I know there are some Finnish cards like Danish ones? But I don't know much about that overall

With the Princesses, it's interesting because this is the first time I've heard of them being released like that, with dragons then without.

Also, no Mountain Boys in Finland? Is that for sure?

I appreciate all this information. It's a big minefield, any adverts you find that you can share here (even if I can't use the images on the site) please do. It doesn't matter that the thread started about fables, I'm open to any information that helps fill in gaps.

[cola]

I'm very impressed with your project! I love stuff like that about collecting. Nowadays I'm not active at all with any of my toy collections, but I've had a similar project with Forest Families (flocked animals like Sylvanian Families). Myrskytär's list has been gathered together maybe 10 years ago by a community of collectors, so I think it's pretty accurate. The prices mean that much of the information should be from toy ads, I think. I used to have a Finnish pony discussion forum and I think we had a project about which ponies were sold in Finland, back in the day...

I would love to see the list some time, I like Sylvanian Families and Forest Families too (I don't collect them very often, I would like to add Forest Families to my collection though.)

Also, I don't have anything to add on Fable Ponies, sorry! Very interesting read though

[Xara]

I appreciate all this information. It's a big minefield, any adverts you find that you can share here (even if I can't use the images on the site) please do. It doesn't matter that the thread started about fables, I'm open to any information that helps fill in gaps.

I don't think we had any Finnish packaging for MLP. Definitely some 80's toy brands had local boxes, but I don't think ponies were one of them. We had the magazines translated as well as some books, the playing cards and the famous Finnish bubblegum stickers (those were in English though, but I think they were only available here).

We didn't have the Mountain Boys here, sadly! I guess there may have been an independent toy store that imported a small batch or something like that. I've found that with Forest Families, that some very strange packaging and outfit combinations were sold in some independent unique toy stores. But as a general rule we didn't have the Mountain Boys and they don't make an appearance in any toy ads from back in the day. Mind you, a lot of people traveled to Sweden and brought them as souvenirs, as well as Greek ponies from Greece etc. Even I found two Mountain Boys from the flea market when I was a kid.

I don't think I can upload pictures directly onto the forums, but I can see what I find online to link to you, or I can e-mail you what I have saved.

I would love to see the list some time, I like Sylvanian Families and Forest Families too (I don't collect them very often, I would like to add Forest Families to my collection though.)

Also, I don't have anything to add on Fable Ponies, sorry! Very interesting read though

If you don't mind that it functions poorly, here's my website: https://www.forestfamilies.net/

One day I'll update it again, but we'll see when that day comes.