White Tootsie made in Hong Kong and not Italy.

[Taffeta]

Another vote for confusing us here!

I can understand that retailers might blink at white Tootsie when they already had a green one to sell...but considering the comics and the bulk of merchandise back then centred around Powder's set etc, there would be no logic not to sell them here. Groom n Style ponies sold really well in 85 judging by the quantity second hand...so I really believe stores and maybe Hasbro UK had no say.

The Hasbro rep who sent me the list said Hasbro UK began handling ponies etc in 1985...so it is possible they didn't get as much say as they did later on...

[LadyMoondancer]

Did I sell that MOC CP Bow Tie to you, Taffeta?  I know I used to have one and I'm straining my memory to remember who was on the back of the card.

[Taffeta]

I don't remember...it is possible O.o. I am pretty sure one of my Dutch ponies I got from you but I honestly don't remember who Bow Tie came from. I assumed Ebay. She has Gypsy's set on the back but on the front, instead of her name it says Mein kleines Pony....

[Miss_Pompon]

Very true Taff, although that could show the Italian version too (since Snowflake and Hopscotch had Italian versions, but Gypsy and Honeycomb did not)

It's probably the italian one since I'm pretty sure we didn't get the HK one in France. For this set, in France we got mostly italian ponies, with the exception of Snowflake and Hopscotch which are mostly HK or NC/Spain.

[Taffeta]

Ah, that's interesting to know Thanks for that, we really needed some native insighT to say for sure!

So maybe the HK one was the Benelux countries and Scandinavia then? Lieneke, who I got mine from years back, said Holland definitely had both, but the UK carded one is definitely from Scandinavia and Lady G, am I right in thinking the one in Holland came on a more US card instead (just in Dutch and French)?

[Miss_Pompon]

Maybe in Belgium they got the HK one, since they had some ponies we didn't get in France and their cards were likely to be in French and in Dutch.

[Moonbreeze]

Hmm I'm not sure. I've found quite some Italian white Tootsies here. But also HK white ones... so eh?  *shrug*  We've had both Italian and HK ponies here in general.

[Taffeta]

That agrees with what Lieneke told me years ago. I am pretty sure both my white Tootsies came from her since at that time (1999 ish) there weren't many continental Europeand online trading and interest in Italian stuff was just really taking off. I remember when I found Surprise and Peachy here and raised it online the community didn't know about them so it must have been really early on. Lieneke (Netherlands)Locket (Austria) and Cookie (France) were pretty much the only info sources for mainland Europe I knew at that time so a lot of stuff got lumped together instead of separated into what was properly where, even though it seems each Euro country was quite unique.

I remember the person I got yellow Minty from thought she was a fakie and didn't understand why I wanted to trade with her, so...She was really surprised when I told her it was a real pony and she could pick what she wanted from my trade box for her, since there were no pics like that online at that time. I think she thought I was mad.. xD.

[LadyGuinevere]

So I'm back home now and I checked my other HK Tootsie, who is on a Belgian/Dutch card and we have more Hasbro anachronisms! The card is more US style, but on the back it says Made in Italy for [companies in Belgium and Holland], but the pony is most definitely HK! So maybe Benelux countries did indeed get both, but on the same card.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I bought a white HK Tootsie for a swap partner across the pond and had to get her from a Dutch or German ebay seller. Sorry I can't remember more details.  I've never seen one in the wild in the UK as a kid or through adult collecting.

[Taffeta]

"In the wild" xD I love that terminology!

I don't think I have either. I've seen some odd ponies here (Mimic, Diamond Dreams, Italian Surprise, etc) but not White Tootsie in either form.

[LadyGuinevere]

Took some pictures of the Benelux carded Tootsie.

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[DashyMomma]

Wow- I knew there were lots of variants and possibilities but to see so many from one pony/ set of ponies is pretty amazing!! Thank you for sharing so freely your years of pony-perience.