Unknown pony in old Mlp comic.

[Lilja]

Mm, honestly I don't think Hasbro UK/Europe as a rule cared much about the rules set down in the original line, because we see them messing around with glittery symbols on earth ponies (Snowflake), no stripe in the unicorn hair (Gypsy) and such very early on. That set also breaks the 2 of each pose rules that were floating around at that time, but still has 2 ponies in the CJ pose (CJ and Snowflake). Though that's another discussion that gets more complicated if you throw in different European releases - my point is that it's not odd to have 2 the same pose, but it's not odd not to

But that set was released before Hasbro stopped making new regular adult molds, and didn't have as many to choose from. It only uses molds copyrighted 1984.

From 1988 and forward the overwhelming majority of regular adult pony sets don't repeat poses within a set. I think Hasbro understood that it's more visually appealing if every pony within a set has a unique pose (when possible), and that it was a deliberate choice.

The only exceptions are:
Brush 'n Grow, because one pony was changed for the european market.
Tales seven characters, likely because there are so many in the set.
Family Friends, because the Shady pose was used to represent the daddies.
Nurse Ponies, possibly because the head was altered with holes to have the nurse hats.
Cookery Ponies, for no apparent reason.

So yeah, I think it sticks out.

[Taffeta]

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that. Frankly, and not to go off topic, but Twisty Tail is a lot weirder, because WHY make her in a walking pose? Especially because here in the UK Woolworths just imported the leftover US stock and we ended up with both versions. But then when you start prying into details like that, you realise how much apparently happened that seems illogical. Why did the UK have two versions of movie star buttons? Probably, it's to use up leftover SS bases that weren't flocked, but we don't know for sure.

And Hasbro UK has a particular affection for the CJ pose and the walking pose, because Magic Star was released in that pose. We had 2 versions of Cherries Jubilee. We had Snowflake. Hasbro chose to release the CJ pose and walking pose MGR ponies here, not the Love Melody ones. We also had the CJ pose and walking pose candy cane, but didn't get the Lemon Treats or Mint Dreams. Do I know why? No. But it happened.

You're also mistaken in context with the European and UK market. Years here don't match the US releases. The big brother ponies here are 1988 - repeat poses. The second set is 1989, repeat poses. Twisty Tail would be 1990, repeat pose. Playschool babies are 1990-1, repeat pose. The others you mention are all designated European releases, like the Cookery ponies. Originally, they intended making both Love in a Mist and Love Token the Crumpet pose, but in the end they changed L-I-A-M - to the CJ pose.

All three rollerskates ponies are walking pose,  for obvious reasons, however the Great Hair ponies are both...CJ pose.

The Pocket Friends ponies feature two poses. The SHS sets all feature duplicated poses, irrespective of where they were sold. Duplicate poses in one set are nothing odd or new. The odd thing is singling out the Cookery ponies. We don't actually know the reason why ANY of these poses did or didn't get chosen, nor can we prove how many other pose changes they went through before the inserts were made. This is just one we know about - but does that make it more important? Who knows.

Either way, none of this suggests any of the ponies were to be sold with the Kitchen.

[Lilja]

To make my point as clear as I can. The vast majority of regular adult pony sets (I'm not talking about Baby Ponies, Big Brothers, SHS, various gimmicky remolded ponies etc.) released between 1988-1994 (reusing molds copyrighted between 1983-1987) have the ponies in different poses within each set. This is a fact, there is nothing to disagree on there.

I think that was deliberate on Hasbro's part. Same as they wanted a variety of colors in each set, they also aimed to have a variety of poses. And once they had a library of molds to choose from, they could easily do it without extra cost. Sometimes they couldn't for one reason or another (such as lack of usable molds for baby ponies for example), but they tried to when they could. This is my own speculation, which can be disagreed with.

however the Great Hair ponies are both...CJ pose.

They're not though?

Frankly, and not to go off topic, but Twisty Tail is a lot weirder, because WHY make her in a walking pose?

I think they changed it because the Love Melody pose has balance issues. Hasbro US used this pose a couple of times in their later sets, but Hasbro UK only used it once in their own. And removed the ponies using it from their release of the Sweetberry and MGR sets. Suggesting Hasbro UK saw more of a problem with this pose than Hasbro US and at least wanted to reduce its use after the Princess and TAF/Party sets.

[Taffeta]

Yeah, I shouldn't write posts after 5 hours straight of editing *LOL* You're right about Ringlets, but the point about using the CJ pose a lot still stands.

I don't think the LM pose was withdrawn from the BnG set for balance issues. If it was, then Hasbro would've not made Love Letter that pose. They changed the pose of L-I-A-M, but not Love Letter. They also didn't change the poses of Skylark or Pretty Beat, which, if they went to the trouble of changing Twisty Tail, they would surely also have done.

When you look at one example in isolation, you can come up with all kinds of 'theories', but they have to make sense in the bigger picture.

It's true that ember and blossom's pose get used a lot, but at the same time, we see new/amended poses for babies as late as 1993.

Baby Schoolbag has 3 different versions, 2 in insert/backcard material and the real pony. All the poses he's shown in existed. If they were using the library of moulds you mention, there's no reason to change so many times. Why they did, I don't know, but they did. You could argue that they shifted the first tooth versions of him and Countalot to blossom pose to eradicate the tooth - but then you have to explain why they didn't do that for Baby Splashes or Baby Dots & Hearts. Both of those were made in China for the European market, not Thailand like the US, so they were consciously kept in those poses, even where colours changed.

There is always an exception that breaks your rule, thus I can't see it as a rule.

It's interesting looking at sets that were reduced for release in Europe and the UK, it suggests an acknowledgement of a smaller market compared to the US. What'd be great to know would be why they chose certain ponies over others.

I still think the most likely change from gingerbread pegasus to the Sweet Delight we know relates to the phasing out of pegasus ponies generally. I can't explain her symbol change, but I don't want to put too much emphasis on it simply because it's not an isolated example. Some of the US prototypes are also really interesting in terms of how they change prior to release. The UK and European releases are often a step behind, so we see fewer such changes in globally available sets. It's logical to see them in European sets, though, since all the adjustments were happening 'in house', as it were.

It's also likely there were multiple made even of the ones that got changed. I have Baby Susie in baby blossom's pose, and she's pictured in one of the Hasbro books. I'm not 100% that's my pony, though. It would make more sense to have multiple samples floating around for promotional purposes...mine is just the sole survivor. In her case, they switched her from baby blossom to baby ember pose. Both common poses. There seems no reason to do it, but there must've been one somewhere in the office. LadyG has Baby Billie in ember's pose, she was changed in the opposite direction. For some reason hasbro preferred it that way around. We won't ever explain why, but it does give us an insight into how design decisions continued to change all the way up to release.

[Lilja]

I don't think the LM pose was withdrawn from the BnG set for balance issues. If it was, then Hasbro would've not made Love Letter that pose. They changed the pose of L-I-A-M, but not Love Letter. They also didn't change the poses of Skylark or Pretty Beat, which, if they went to the trouble of changing Twisty Tail, they would surely also have done.

Just because Hasbro UK didn't take every opportunity to eradicate the pose from their lineup, doesn't mean it's not possible they saw some issue with it. The fact remains that they only used it once themselves. And had it removed from four sets they imported from the US. One time by changing a pony, the other times by cutting them out of the sets (the main objective was to reduce the number of ponies, but it's still noteworthy this pose was removed in every instance).

It's important to keep in mind that these decisions are generally not made for a single reason, but for a variety of factors. Also that it can be different people at different times making the decisions. Hasbro might pay the extra cost to have a pony revised in one instance, if they think it will make the pony sell better in their market. In another instance they might not consider the extra cost worth it and just release the set as is.

[Taffeta]

I don't rule out possibilities, I just don't consider them valid in this kind of discussion, because they're 100% speculation. It goes back to that line I mentioned before.

Hasbro UK did use the LM pose for Love Letter, so they still could use it. They made an active choice to use it, and one not to change it when they changed LIAM. That means they didn't consider it problematic during production. They also used it twice, essentially, since the Pretty Beat most common in the UK/Euro market has a different enough palette to indicate separate production.

People always glue themselves to DV's silly ten year framework when it comes to pony releases, but the releases here were often staggered, meaning by the time a pony was released here, it was out of production over in the US.

It's interesting that the princess set, which has 2 ponies in the LM pose, was sold here two years running - meaning production continued after it ended in the US - but the princess set with the CJ pose and walking pose was never sold here*

(*It was sold in the Netherlands).

I do think Twisty Tail is a Hasbro nonsense, though. Somewhere in the same bin as lavender woosie...