German ponies

[pinjalinnea]

I'm still a bit lost on the nirvana stuff. I have some Italy ponies, but I really adore some of the German ponies, like Princess variants and the rainbow ponies. And now I have a couple of questions, and I'd love if someone would answer a noob, heh. What price range is say German Princess Tiffany?
And I gather that the normal ponies released in Germany were a little diffrent from the US releases as well? What's the deal with them, I gather that they don't have the "pat pend" stamped on their hooves... But why is that? Are they just as valuable as their US counterparts?

[Sternenstaub]

Hiya!
 
It's sad - but mostly the german Princess varaints as well as the german Rainbow ponies are in the same price range like the the US.
 
The market is hard and when you want to get them in Germany it's mostly the same hard way for us german collectors, too.
 
You can only have luck to find them at a flea market or in a private sale for a few Euros - but at ebay they are always higher priced.
 
For example:
I'd luck to find german Princess Primrose with yellow hair last year at a flea market for only 2,- Euros. I was totally happy, because at ebay I'd spent at least 20,- - 30,- Euros for her.
 
And I got a very minty Raindrop a while back from a friends childhood collection.
 
But these was only luck.
 
Maybe it would work for you when you find someone in Germany who like to do a trade with you - rarer german ponies for rarer US/Mail Order ponies - that's always a way to get them without spending a bunch of money.
Often is it easier to help out each other then buying them for a high price.
 
Hope that helps you a bit!
Good luck with your pony hunt!

[LadyGuinevere]

German Princess Tiffany (with yellow hair) tends to be about $50-60 I think. Germany had 'normal' looking versions as well as the variant ones from what I understand. Only some of the sets have German versions that come without the pat pend that were produced during a set period. They tend to be a bit more expensive than their US counterparts, though not as much as the 'full' variants.

[hokuspokus]

I love German ponies!

I think, like ladyG said, they are a bit more worth then US counterparts. For example, the German babies without glitter symbol (Firefly, Moondancer etc.) are a bit more than US ones

[cloud_weaver]

Hrm...let's see.  I can't shed a lot of light on Princess ponies or other German variants, but the Twinkle Eyed ponies have German releases as well.  The most notable one is Speedy, as she's got a different (lighter) body color.  But otherwise, there aren't huge differences.  There is a slight difference in the color of the eye gems, the German releases have a 'greyer', clearer look to them.  Also, they don't have "pat pend" on their hooves.


visitors can't see pics , please register or login
              visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Regular release in back, German release in front




The problem I find with them, is while I don't think they're terribly rare, most collectors and sellers don't catch the missing hoof mark - so trying to find them is very difficult.  On average, I'm willing to spend about $15-$20 on a German version of a twinkle eyed pony - but that's probably just me. 

[Endocat]

German Rainbows are my favourites!  Just got Moonstone and she is a little 'weathered' but love her non glittery symbols.

[pinjalinnea]

Thank you everyone! I'm really starting to think I need to hunt down a german Princess Tiffany for myself... And maybe some rainbow ponies after her.
I'm also pretty sure I managed to get a german Salty. His hoof is filled in where it should say pat pend. but as he is my only Salty I can't compare to see if there are more differences.

[pinkkittywinks]

the pat pend thing ~
pat pend stands for "patent pending" and the patent for MLP was granted in around 1987 and this happened at the same time as the move of manufacture of MLP from hong kong to china. once the patent for an object has been granted the patent is not longer pending so the stamp is no longer required
 
why do "german" ponies not have a pat pend mark?
simply because germany was behind with the releases they got their ponies later than everyone else in europe (i think they were about a year behind) so their ponies got made later so they are missing the pat pend mark as they were manufactured after the patent was granted
 
my pony has no pat pend mark is she german?
ALL ponies made after 1987 don't have the pat pend stamp so the lack of a pat pend mark does not always mean a pony is german. for example the second set princess ponies with the tinsel forelock don't have a pat pend mark and they were never released in germany
hasbro also re-released some ponies and a few got re-released a good number of times. and if a pony has its first releaset early in the line and is then re-released later in the line AFTER the patent was granted this will account for a different hoof mark china marked lemondrop is a good example of this!
we know some ponies lacking a pat pend mark are truly german release though, but it has been through careful observation of where ponies have been found, MOC ponies and collectors information that we have been able to form a picture of just which ponies are german issue and which aren't.
 
crazy year 6 and 7 hoof marks!
the ponies made in years six and seven all have interesting hoof marks, with them being marked china, hong kong, thailand and some with pat pend some with out pat pend and every combination of all those things!
 
princess ponies ~
all german princess ponies have no pat pend mark. the first set of princess ponies got released twice in germany, once with the alternate hair colours and once with the normal hair colours BOTH are lacking the pat pend simply because they were a later release and so made after the patent was granted.
 
boy ponies ~
there are some of the big brothers who lack the pat pend mark, they are considered to be german issue, but they are not nirvana ponies  they have a few small difference compaired to their "pat pend" marked brothers, but this is just becuase they were made in a different factory at a later date!
 
love pkw xxx
 
 
 
 

[pinjalinnea]

Thanks PKW! I knew about the patent being granted and that's why later ponies don't have it. But I didn't know that Germany got their ponies later than the rest of Europe.
I really need to find a summer job so I can afford some nice german nirvanas!

[hokuspokus]

Great info, PKW! Thanks!

[cloud_weaver]

Fabulous info PKW!  You are a wealth of knowledge!

[zora]

whoa pkkw - that brings light to a lot of things!