The mythology of Ribbon and Lofty...

[Taffeta]

So I was going through my files earlier and tweaking stuff on the Scrapbook page when I realised that Megan and Sundance's box story in the UK mentions both Honeycomb (a UK release pony, pictured on the box) and "Ribbon the unicorn" pony. I never had Megan and Sundance as a kid so this is the first time I've really read their box story.
http://www.etherella.com/scrapbook2/megsunbox3.jpg
(large image)

Lofty, Ribbon and Paradise appeared in the UK stories but the reason that they were is still a little bit grey.

Paradise's mystery was really resolved for the most part with Hasbro's catalogue and list, placing her with Paradise Estate and then withdrawing her befor the playset hit the shops. She's listed in the fact file with the Estate, so it seems probable she ALMOST got to production, but didn't make it. My only estimation about that is cost, given how expensive Paradise Estate already was.

Lofty and Ribbon, on the other hand, are a bit more mysterious.

I have never seen anything which directly indicates they were ever planned for production in the UK. The UK comic must have got their information and images from somewhere, but this story is not the same as the North American story I've found online. Honeycomb's inclusion suggests it is a UK crafted story - so why do we have an appearance from "Ribbon the unicorn"? Common sense indicates it should have been Gypsy!

A lot of the early unicorns and pegasus ponies played prominent parts in UK ponylore and merchandising, but with the existence of the Fable Ponies in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, it seems likely that, like Paradise, these were once planned for here and therefore the images were sent to the comic people and they were included accordingly.

Ribbon and Lofty, though, have no such similar provenance as far as I know.

Some areas of the UK seem to have got So Soft ponies in small enough numbers to indicate maybe a store imported them...but store imports and Hasbro UK stuff are not the same thing.

So, this has me curious. I know the story of the Perfume Puff Palace in the UK features ponies not sold in the UK (Princess Dawn, TAF Buttons), but this is because it's just been taken from the North American release and not changed. The inclusion of Honeycomb in the Megan and Sundance story proves editing has happened if not a totally new story...

So why "Ribbon the unicorn"?

Does anyone have any ideas?

I would just blame the cartoon, but we never had the same kind of thing with Truly and Cupcake, even though the Pony Friends release in Scandinavia was a lot closer to UK shores (and UK packaging styles) than SS Ribbon or Lofty...

[LadyGuinevere]

No information on Ribbon, but Lofty appears on the VHS cover and the accompanying book for the DVD. Small, but it is there:

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Always wanted her based on that picture. Was terribly disappointed to find she was flocked and in a pose I dislike!

[LightingElectricDream]

Well as far as the VHS cover goes I think why they used lofty
Was beacuse of her color yellow catches ones eye and
And goes along with the same reason pokemon choese  pikachu
As a mascot beacuse he is yellow.
Yellow is gender nutral and or just a eye catching color.

That's my therory

But withought getting to much in depth behind the reason why.
The people behind the pencil and computer just choese that
Pony at random. Why beacuse they didn't watch the movie and it was
A quick buck in the bank.

[Taffeta]

She is on the advert for the movie too, but I don't think the animation can be blamed if we didn't have guest appearances from Truly and Cupcake. Why Ribbon, of all ponies, should be on Hasbro UK's own packaging story if they had no intention of releasing her here is the real confusion for me. Sge is a prominent character in Tambelon, but as a kid I don't remember MLP airing as such, more on vhs releases...

There were plenty of US things in the animation to confuse us British kids, and the movie was American anyway. I suspect that graphic also was from the US release, just with film instead of movie put onto it.

@LightningElectricDream -the issue is not why they chose Lofty, but why Lofty and Ribbon got promotion in a country where they - and their whole set - were never officially sold.

My theory at the moment is maybe Lofty and Ribbon were going to be Gypsy and Honeycomb but for some reason plans changed. Honeycomb is pictured on the box so they changed her name...but left Ribbon's in. The fact it says Ribbon the unicorn is key for me because Gypsy was the first nirmal unicorn we had here witjout a playset. Since we also had Baby Ribbon this year, it makes me think they were on the table but wound up taken off and replaced.

It is interesting that this set is in Hasbro catalogues to stores but not on the list sent to me...as if it was a late design decision maybe?

[LadyMoondancer]

What probably happened is Hasbro UK sent the comics people a set of model sheets without pulling out Ribbon, Baby Shady, etc.   I have part of a packet, they look like this:

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The comics people, not having any idea which toys were actually sold in the UK, dutifully included all the ponies on the model sheets in their comics.  As to why Hasbro sent them, it might be as simple as someone at the office not thinking of the implications, ha ha!  The sheets I have were sent to Brazil and include the BBE babies and TE ponies, despite Brazil seemingly not having the ability to produce ponies with specialized eyes.  (At least, they never did . . .)

The VHS tape is using a piece of stock art that was sent out to various media outlets to advertise MLP: The Movie.

Ribbon being in the backcard story is more interesting, since the backcard stories were made by Hasbro.  It's possible that Ribbon was originally going to be one of the Movie Star ponies, but was replaced by a different pony.  Or it's possible that the person writing the backcard stories was not particularly involved in decisions with which products were released and, again, was simply given a set of model sheets that included Ribbon.  (Like, maybe the person writing the backcards did not work specifically for the MLP 'department', but might have been doing packaging for many of Hasbro's toylines.)

Very cute backcard story, it's much better than the US one.

[Taffeta]

The only real problem with that theory is that Megan and Sujdance are 1986, the same year Hasbro did Honeycomb's set. Movie Stars came out in 1987 and are on the marketing material.

With the comics, too, I admit that I don't know how early info was transmitted, but later sets were clearly drawn from prototype photos (Pocket Friends being one good example) . Of course it doesn't necessarily mean this was always the case.

SoSofts didn't properly happen here, so I do wonder why the comic would ever have known unless they were in some preproduction stage. Fifi and Bouncy never were, despite us having the babies, nor, as I said before, the pony friends of Scandinavia.

The more thought you give it, the more odd it is. I think if the backcard story writer knew enough to product place Honeycomb, then Gypsy would have been logical to use with her...

[LadyMoondancer]

I am positive that the later ponies, in the comics, have appearances based off Hasbro's annual Toy Fair Catalog.

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Baby Sunribbon's hairstyle looks familiar, right?   Similarly, those two Dance 'n Prance ponies are pegasi in the catalog.

The model sheets have a couple pages of generic, no-symbols ponies--like a page of unicorns, a page of pegasi, a page of flutter ponies, etc--that were meant to help third-party people (anyone making a MLP backpack or coin purse or stationary set or whatever) produce an image consistent with the MLP brand.  The comic ponies' poses match up perfectly with the model sheet poses most of the time.  (Exceptions being the most talented illustrators and the later ones whose pony drawings were, uhhh, interesting.)

Fifi and Bouncy were part of the "add-on" So-Soft set, thrown together halfway through the year.  (The earliest So-Soft backcards don't feature them.)  Perhaps they didn't have model sheets because of this timing issue?  I don't think Fifi ever turns up on 3rd party merch.  Not sure about Bouncy.

Edit:  So the cartoon was running by the time UK Megan & Sundance were released?  Ribbon was psychic in the cartoon, but not on her backcard.  Her cartoon abilities would have been written up in the Sunbow "bible", could they have had a copy of that on-hand?  Or maybe the UK backcard writer did just happen to catch an episode or two of the cartoon?

[Mermaid]

I wonder if it had anything to do with their sales in the U.S.? Hasbro has always looked at what color ponies sold and who sold more.

I wonder if lofty and ribbon didn't sell great and thus were pulled from the UK line release?

[Taffeta]

@LM, yep, that was what I was talking about. Those are the basis for a lot of comic issues, no doubt. Little Rattles also goes through a stage of funny yellowish hair in the comic which I am sure is from the lighting in that image.

Megan and Sundance were here in 1986 and 1987. As for the TV show, as I said, lots of VHS but I don't remember it airing until UK gold had it in the mid to late 1990s. I may be wrong though.

Ribbon's factfile entry has nothing to do with psychic abilities...just ribbons and trying to tie the rainbow together. I am fairly sure she didn't have psychic powers in the comic either. I know Hasbro went to the trouble of swapping out Taffy's name with Crimp &Curl in 1988, so you'd think they'd swap out Ribbon unless there were plans to sell her too, like Paradise.

I was about to say Truly and Cupcake never existed but actually I'm wrong, there is a UK sold alarm clock with Cupcake on from 1987ish.

@Mermaid - Lofty and Ribbon are quite common second hand though, and Ribbon was one of those reissued with set 2 (I forget about Lofty but I have one version of Ribbon MOC and the other version backcard loose with the pony so I am certain she must have sold well.

[katrine2309]

Do not know anything about the theory - but oh, wouldn't it be awesome if Ribbon was sold in the UK as a non-SS pony...

This got me dreaming about the impossible!

@LadyMoonDancer: Those model sheets are really awesome - I have never seen them before. Very interesting to see!

[Taffeta]

Do not know anything about the theory - but oh, wouldn't it be awesome if Ribbon was sold in the UK as a non-SS pony...

This got me dreaming about the impossible!

I wish they had been. I have a beautiful deflocked Ribbon and her colour deflocked is so close to Baby Ribbon, they make an attractive pair. One day I will have a Lofty as well I consider her the "UK Ribbon" that never existed xD even though I know she was once a So Soft Pony, she really doesn't look that way and I like Ribbon, and love So Softs, but she's just so beautiful in those colours!

I don't know what set she would've been sold in, though. Either My Little Pony 1986 (based on the mention on Megan and Sundance's card) or Movie Star/My Little Pony 1987, I suppose...but Buttons was given preference in 1987 (in 2 versions for some reason). Which has more prominence in the movie, Ribbon or Buttons? Buttons is at the start, isn't she? I don't really remember Buttons being that prominent otherwise, and Ribbon had more of a role in other episodes, but it's been a while since I saw it. I don't like the movie as much as some of the others.

Baby Buttons is also in the animation, mind you, so *shrug* go figure.

I really don't like the term NSS, have to be honest. We're talking about ponies from several different sets sold in different places, and many of the ponies are not the same as unflocked SS ponies, so they're not really "NSS". THe term NSS did a job at the time but it does imply the sets are only deviations from the North American SS set, when actually they're unique sets in their own right.

I think Movie Star, Pony Friend etc set names are much nicer now we know for sure that's what they actually are

On a completely different note, and going off topic (but it's my thread and I'm fine with it, cos it's interesting!)! I just read the text on the Masquerade model sheet. That character bio is interesting for me because it's not the same as Masquerade in the UK, and yet it resonates quite familiarly even so! Masquerade in the comics here was a mistress of disguise, but had no magic that I remember. She was a clever pony, and often features in costume in the comics. She was Pony Christmas one year, I remember her as a clown, a dragon ,and various other things through the series.

The magic glasses, however, they belonged to Shady. She could see other worlds and different scenes through her magic glasses, and sometimes things happened or came to life because of them. This model sheet bio seems a cross between the bios that were used here.

Does it bear a resemblance to the American backcard story? I have Masquerade MOC but it's the UK version.

[Mermaid]

I always thought that when ponies were re released, they just took the old stock or left over ponies and repackaged them and such. I'm probably wrong, but it makes sense to me!

I'd die for a nss ribbon or lofty!

[Taffeta]

Both the Scandinavian Pony Friend Cherries J and the UK 1986 one are different from the 1985 Groom & Style one, so nope, Hasbro not that logical. It isn't even an accident with the UK one as they changed the hair on the artwork too to indicate she no longer had curls.

Edit to add: I discovered something else which may or may not add to the mythology of Ribbon and the UK. The 1987 Club leaflet shows all of the Movie Star Ponies. Well, almost. It shows Shady and Magic Star, together on the grass. Buttons is in the top corner of one page, and North Star has lost her wings, but is around on the ground below. Wind Whistler is in flight...and Ribbon is in the far corner opposite North Star.

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There is no Gusty.

Ribbon and Buttons are the same pose, so that in some ways would make sense (although it's by no means a rule since Magic Star and Shady are not the same pose and nor are North Star and Wind Whistler, this pattern was used with the 1986 release of the Twinkle Eye Ponies with Fizzy and Galaxy, so there was a precedent.

Gusty also technically belongs to the 1984 Unicorn set, or the Fable Ponies in Scandinavia. She's the odd one out with the Movie Stars, because she's the only one from that release who was both a SS pony and a unicorn pony before that point. Ribbon by that token makes a lot more sense.

Ultimately, though, they chose Gusty.

Maybe this is the answer. Maybe Ribbon was swapped out for Gusty, and that's why her name was left in Megan and Sundance's story.

Either way, Ribbon is the only pony featured on the 1987 club material who was not sold here.

[LadyMoondancer]

It seems like Gusty or Ribbon would be the logical go-to ponies if you had to turn a large set (the So-Soft line up) into a small set (the Movie Stars), as both of them had baby pony releases.  So kids could get Mommy and Baby.

Kind of surprising they went with Gusty and Buttons rather than Gusty and Ribbon.  But then again it was a movie themed set and Ribbon didn't really play a big part in the movie.  (Did she even have any speaking lines?)

[Taffeta]

If Hasbro cared about that we'd also have had Heart Throb xD. Clearly Hasbro didn't care at all about orphaned baby ponies or confused kids this side of the pond xD.

You're right, though, and the thing is for me that Gusty was *such* a key character in the comics. She was the pony nurse, looking after the baby ponies, treating injured ponies...up until Lollipop took over. Maybe it had nothing to do with the film, in the end. Maybe it was because Gusty was already a prominent character in the stories and they thought she would sell better.

Maybe it was only at that point they realised "whoops, we forgot to actually release any unicorns or pegasus ponies in the UK".

Let's not forget that they didn't just release Buttons, but two versions of Buttons. There are rumours that the different versions were sold in different European countries but back when I was carbooting I would find both in more or less equal number here, so I don't think so. Promotional material shows the three large buttons pony, but all the depictions of her in the UK show buttons and stars, so go figure. They really liked Buttons a whole lot...

I don't remember the movie well enough to remember if Ribbon played any part. I remember her reading Sweetie's mind in Sweet Stuff & The Treasure Hunt and I remember her role in Tambelon and that's about it.