Scandinavian Gusty puffy sticker (for all you sticker obsessed collectors, like me)

[Taffeta]

Hrm. So in a sense, Scandinavia continued on with a set III of "My Little Pony" (as Pony Friends) that the UK line didn't really have. We had Groom & Style (I), My Little Pony 1986 (II) and then into Movie Stars. You guys, by contrast, had a weird mix of My Little Pony II on Groom & Style cards that didn't show them, and so you kinda invented your own My Little Pony III set to cope with the repetition.

Interesting how that card says Hopscotch on it but she's not pictured. A very definite design reusing an existing card style, probably to cut down on costs...almost certainly because they didn't want to have the Gypsy and Honeycomb card over there and have kids go "want those!"

I still think we were getting the Fable ones, right up until we didn't get them. A few North American boxes have the distributed in the UK tag on them. Some we got, some we didn't. Some happened through store imports. Fable ponies were close to here, in that the design of the card fit - but far away in that they never made it. Gypsy is a true blue UK pony, with her freckles and her lack of a streak breaking all the rules of unicorns. Honeycomb is more normal, I spose. I love the pair of them a lot - but one of each really isn't compensation for all the others.

So 1986 = 3 unique ponies and 3 not. One of which is dark tulip Posey, the other two Snowflake and Hopscotch, who both got Italian versions as well.

Time for bed.

[Ponyland]

Hrm. So in a sense, Scandinavia continued on with a set III of "My Little Pony" (as Pony Friends) that the UK line didn't really have. We had Groom & Style (I), My Little Pony 1986 (II) and then into Movie Stars. You guys, by contrast, had a weird mix of My Little Pony II on Groom & Style cards that didn't show them, and so you kinda invented your own My Little Pony III set to cope with the repetition.

Yes kind of. We got the Movie Stars the same year though, but they aren't like a new set of standard ponies for us, but more like a special set with mixed breeds that didn't happen before this set.

You could see it like this to:

1: You got the very first My Little Pony set in 1983, same as in the US, and on the same card.

2: The second My Little Pony set came in 1984 with the same poses that also was sold in the US, but on a card with different artwork.
    (lets call them "Standard Ponies" for now, I tell you why later)

3: The third My Little Pony "Standard Pony" set came in 1985 with the "groom & style ponies".
    The US got the same characters, but you had "Collectors Pose" Bow Tie and Applejack, and the artwork on the card was different from each other.

4: Your fourth My Little Pony "Standard Pony" set came in 1986 with Gypsy.
     In the US the So Soft ponies appeared instead of a new "Standard Pony" set for them.

Up to here it was always "keep two characters from the earlier set, and ad 4 new characters.
( 1984= Blossom+Cotton Candy, 1985= Applejack+Bow Tie, 1986= Posey+Cherries Jubilee)
The US So Soft pony set merged the previous Unicorn&Pegasus set with the "Standard Pony" set (they had kind of always been merged though with a shared back card) and reused 3 from each set in this huge new set.

5: You got the Movie Stars in 1987 as a new My Little Pony set, but this one broke the previous rules and can't really be called a new "Standard Pony" set,
as no characters where reused from the previous year. And also with the strong gimmick being characters from the movie they are special in a way that the other set's weren't.   

...

In Sweden we got our first ponies in 1986, so we skipped out on the first 2 "Standard Pony" set's and went straight for the third set, a year later than you guys. BUT our set was different from the rest of Europe that we also added Snowflake and Hopscotch + magenta tulip Posey (Yes she was a part of this set to) a year earlier. So we got 8 characters instead of the normal 6 that Germany and France got, they had set's that kept the "keep 2 characters and ad 4 new" line.

Our Second "Standard Pony" set was the Pony Friends set that introduced Snowflake and Hopscotch to the rest of Europe a year after you, as the standard was. But as you said in Sweden we needed to reinvent ours  a bit with new characters to cope with the repetition. Germany and France had a more "normal" release except instead of using the keep 2 and ad 4 characters it was the opposite. 4 old and 2 new.


So you could think of the Gypsy set as an early "Pony Friend's" set. And quite closely related with the Cupcake and Truly set in this way, (although a year apart, but that was common for all our ponies) and very much related with the other Pony Friends set in Germany and France.
When comparing these two set, they belong more with each other than with the Movie Star set that is so very different. (And here they where sold alongside the Pony Friend's set, but I think this standard pony set came out before them but wasn't available for as long as them, and in France they are not really seen as the standard set either. The Movie Stars- gimmick suites them better, hence the Cine Stars label on them.)


And as for the name "Standard Pony", i picked that up from a German insert folder for the "Groom & Style" set (but with italian ponies). I will try to find a pic of it since I don't have my collection in hand. But I find it quite handy to call them that instead of just "My Little Pony" as a set name. It explains it better how to think of those ponies as the very fundamental base of ponies, and the other set's (like rainbow's, babies, Twinkle eyes, Fable ponies) as a "spin off" from them. (They are also mentioned as "Standard ponny" in Swedish adverting while Movie Stars are "Film Ponny").

Like this:

My Little Pony
My Little Pony - Twinkle Eyes

VS:

Standard ponies
Twinkle Eyes

Interesting how that card says Hopscotch on it but she's not pictured. A very definite design reusing an existing card style, probably to cut down on costs...almost certainly because they didn't want to have the Gypsy and Honeycomb card over there and have kids go "want those!"

Yes it is the same as the Fable Pony card say's Powder, but she isn't pictured (same with Moondancer). I think that they originally wasn't supposed to be included. The german set indicates this anyway. But it fit's quite well that we got 8 standard ponies and 8 Fable Ponies while Germany got 6 standard (italian) ponies and 6 (italian) Fable ponies.

But here we also need to investigate where the CP Bow Tie on the UK Gypsy card fit's in. A true mystery, where the 

"want those!"

really apply!

There was an old rumor in Germany that Honeycomb was a part of their MLP range (probably fueled by the Baby Honeycomb pony). But it could also have been an assumption from backcards like this one.
I'm 100% sure that she wasn't included in this set, I think that Germany just got the 1986 standard pony card for a year earlier standard release of ponies, but with non-edited characters drawn on it. This must have changed quickly though (that's why so few exist) as they also had the italian standard ponies on the earlier card, and they are the ones pictured in folders/advertising!

This set must be separated from the later german Pony Friend's set as it included Bow Tie and probably Applejack. It's more in line with our first standard pony set in Sweden (except for Hopscotch and Snowflake). And thats one of the reasons I think that this set got issued in Germany in early 1986, same time as your set with Gyspy. But with the ponies you had in the Groom and style set. Stickers being present indicates this as well, as there weren't any stickers used in the 1987 set's of standard ponies. (And as we got the copyrighted 1985 stickers too in our Standard Pony set, it fit's quite well)

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[Taffeta]

Lol, that picture at the bottom just made the whole post (Surely there must be a picture somewhere of a detective pony?)

Standard Ponies
I actually disagree with you a bit on this one. I can see your point, and the logic of the links between the sets in the way you describe. The term is also fine, however, in the UK line, they are actively marketed as “My Little Pony”. This also includes the Movie Star Ponies, even though it’s not true for that set in other countries. I brought the term Groom & Style Pony in for the 1985 set based on the list Hasbro sent me…I don’t know if that name appears on other sources, possibly production booklets from Hasbro from that time. It’s not on the inserts or cards anywhere, although hair styling is clearly a theme. That set was a big deal set here. Lots of media and publicity and stories relating to it, so they were popular and consequently common second hand. (The infamous song tape being among them). I wonder whether Posey and Cherries Jubilee's continuation into 1986 can be explained by the fact (SS) Posey and Cherries Jubilee featured in the cartoon series, too, around this time, whereas Bow Tie and company did not. It would be a way to keep those ponies in the public eye even though they were not the flocked versions. (With animation, who would ever know?)

Movie Star ponies are the same kind of thing. All the ponies that were sold with just the rainbow and then their name on the card are collectively “My Little Pony” in terms of UK marketing, and this is really highlighted in 1987 when Hasbro collated them that way themselves:
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This is from my Factfile, sorry for the childhood scribbles, but as you can see from the names included, Hasbro UK differentiated all of these sets as one particular “original” type of My Little Pony, which was distinct from the ones in other sets with gimmicks. They segregated them not according to years, but according to “style”.
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The anomaly in the My Little Pony list, is, of course, Paradise, but enough publicity material exists to suggest she was coming here, but ultimately did not. Ribbon and Lofty are also included, even though they weren't sold here, though were in the comic, suggesting they were also planned but ultimately discarded. I have no firm evidence relating to them.

That aside, the overall grouping of these ponies together seems to fit (at least in the context of 1987) with particular features.

They did not have fancy eyes. (If they did, they would be Twinkle Eyed Ponies)

They did not have Rainbow hair (if they did, they would be Twinkle Eyed ponies)

They didn’t have jewelled symbols or tinselled hair (if they did, they would be Princess ponies)

They weren’t babies, sea ponies, or any of the other style types.



They were mostly Earth Ponies with single coloured mane and tail and simple symbols (Tutti Frutti is an exception, she has a stripe of colour), Unicorn ponies with a streak of colour in the mane and a glittery symbol (Gypsy was an exception, no streak of colour, also Gusty, with painted symbols), and Pegasus ponies who had a single colour mane and tail and a simple symbol, usually glittery. The hair wasn’t significantly long, sometimes it was curly. They also used poses which dated up to 1986. There are no new 1987 poses in any of this set grouping.

Hasbro UK’s list refers to the sets in 1986 and 1987 as My Little Ponies. The Movie star tag is an obvious one given their packaging and promotion, but it didn’t happen in the UK as such. While I agree that this set are different in terms of no repeated characters, they can also be seen as a hurried attempt to bridge the gap with the movie to put ponies out that the kids would want to buy after seeing the film. There’s a high chance that Buttons with the 3 buttons symbol may even have been left over ponies not yet flocked rather than the true “Buttons” design – but we’ll never know. The Fact File does not include a Buttons with this symbol, only the buttons and stars version.

The Fact File is obviously not perfect. It does have some errors, significantly from 1982-3’s line. I don’t actually know 100% what we had here that year. I only know that the Parlour was around, the Show Stable was about to come out, and the Flat Foots were here in some capacity, but what is unknown. The first publicity material I have is 1984, which is Blossom and company. So while I agree that Standard Pony makes sense, in another way, from a UK perspective, I also feel there’s a risk in moving too far from what they were originally marketed as here (which isn’t necessarily the same as other places).

I almost feel like in the early years ponies like the Rainbow Ponies weren't actually the same as My Little Pony. I have this recollection of something saying something like My Little Ponies and Rainbow Ponies sold separately, or some such...certainly that is the way the Fact File presents them.

The “My Little Pony” tag is also often used in the UK marketing for a specific pony in place of a name. The one surviving UK TV commercial that I know of from 1985 uses it in advertising Ponywear:
http://www.etherella.com/scrapbook2/1985media.htm
(link at the bottom).

The only other UK advert that I have digitalised at the moment is the Party Pony ad, and this uses the term Party Ponies throughout, but never once does it say My Little Pony. It's 1988, so probably at this point for Hasbro UK there's a distinct difference. The Party Ponies are from the My Little Pony line, but they are not officially "My Little Pony" ponies, they are "Party Ponies". If that makes sense.

Germany,Baby Bienchen etc

There was an old rumor in Germany that Honeycomb was a part of their MLP range (probably fueled by the Baby Honeycomb pony). But it could also have been an assumption from backcards like this one.

I remember that, and the confusion. But having the baby doesn’t mean having the mummy. We had Baby Ribbon, don't forget, and Baby Heart Throb, but no Mummy versions in the Play and Care Sets here in the UK. We also had Quackers and Baby Fifi, but not the parent ponies, although Quackers was used to advertise Pretty Ups, I think, with Twilight and Crumpet and Angel (ponies as a kid I thought were made up xD)
It’s also possible that the fact Baby Bienchen is so different from Honeycomb in colour scheme actually implies she was designed based on drawings of a pony, rather than on a pony actually released. With Hopsi, Bloemen and Kirschbluete so accurate really to their mother’s features, Bienchen being the odd one out would make sense if she was a baby for an adult not released there.

I also think it’s interesting how the German publicity for that Baby Pony set showed Baby Zitroenchen in the Ember pose, possibly meaning they used the one we had with the stroller or the Spanish one for photos but actually released a different one instead.
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The fact of the matter is that the more we know, the more we need to know

[Ponyland]

I almost feel like in the early years ponies like the Rainbow Ponies weren't actually the same as My Little Pony. I have this recollection of something saying something like My Little Ponies and Rainbow Ponies sold separately, or some such...certainly that is the way the Fact File presents them.

This I can maybe ad something to, in the swedish story books with tapes the "Little ponies" aka My Little Pony referred to the Earth ponies. (They didn't use the term Earth pony when talking about them) and the other gimmicked ponies was an other category of pony. something like: "The pegasus ponies was soaring trough the sky and observed the Little ponies playing on the ground".
For me this has always been a way of distinguish the earth ponies from other set's. (as the Little ponies first and foremost was earth ponies in 1983, and later spin offs added pegasi and unicorns and rainbow ponies) And that's why I have picked up the already used therm for them: "Standard Ponies" to describe them as the original style sort of in the first years. This standard set of ponies disappeared after the Pony Friends though, and everything became mixed set's with special gimmicks. (The Movie Stars is kind of in the middle of this transformation. In UK you could see them as a new standard set, although very different, but here they where not according to advertising and the fact that we had the Pony Friends along side them).

in the UK line, they are actively marketed as “My Little Pony”. This also includes the Movie Star Ponies, even though it’s not true for that set in other countries.

Yes that is correct, since they didn't have any "label" on them like in France, neither did they in Sweden (although advertising used the "movie Pony" term.

In the US the set of Pegasus ponies and Unicorn  ponies got distinguished from the standard set of My Little Pony with a label, although they shared the same backside of the card and was closely associated with each other.
But the Fable Pony set in Sweden didn't have any label, only the german one had it. But still there were a need of separate them from other set's in advertising.

On the fact file though they are all grouped together, and that sort of make sense when you are talking about characters rather than toys that appears in movies and comics (ponies that was just a normal earth,peg or unicorn just as you described) even if they aren't present as toys they will still be there in the "pony universe" just as Lofty and Ribbon and they are not divided in their set's. The fact file is more a extended part of the comic's in that way, and not a folder to promote ponies from the same year and range.

But when we are talking about the actual toys and releases of them in set's, they are grouped after the year of release (as they are in the Hasbro UK catalogues sent out to dealers) . And there is some logic behind having a standard set each year as a basic supply of ponies (all the countries got them, even if they missed out on other set's) and match them with other "spin off" set's  depending on what suited the marked in each country.

The first publicity material I have is 1984, which is Blossom and company. So while I agree that Standard Pony makes sense, in another way, from a UK perspective, I also feel there’s a risk in moving too far from what they were originally marketed as here (which isn’t necessarily the same as other places).

I have UK advertising for the first set of 6 from 1983. It is veeery British! (sorry no pictures available atm.)
Yes there is a bit of a difference from the UK marketing and the Swedish/German marketing. But you did at least have the argos catalog with the "Movie Pony" label to it. I haven't found any UK advertising yet with a "standard pony" label, but I do get a feeling that this Standard pony- thing comes from Hasbro UK originally in some way. I don't know why two different countries, associated with the company but not with each other, would use it otherwise.

But I will keep on digging for information to puzzle it all together!
(I love mysteries!)   

I remember that, and the confusion. But having the baby doesn’t mean having the mummy.

Yes, and I totally agree with you. I'm sure that they never had the mummy! But if they had the backccard with her present on the artwork she must have been known of, and recognized when the baby appeared in 1988. I think that is why the rumor started.

I also think it’s interesting how the German publicity for that Baby Pony set showed Baby Zitroenchen in the Ember pose, possibly meaning they used the one we had with the stroller or the Spanish one for photos but actually released a different one instead.

I have that folder to, and it is the spanish version of Baby Lemon Drop pictured. The funny thing is that the first advertising we got for our baby it was actually the UK baby pictured in a pink stroller!  , the second ad showed her as the spanish version though that is the official one that we got.
But there is a swedish rumor that the UK version actually got sold here (as a small quantity/left over perhaps) but packed with the pink stroller. Some collectors have her since childhood.

I found the second ad on my photobucket from 1987: (here you can see Gusty as the "filmponny" -movie pony)
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I don't have a picture of the first ad, but there you se the UK version in a pink stroller, and also they mention the "standard ponies".

[Taffeta]

I'm on the tablet, so can't write a long response, but I am still inclined to disagree with it being a Hasbro UK term, rather than a European one used in various places. For the whole of my childhood they were My Little Pony, and I have found nothing as an adult collector to challenge that terminology. Much as I am fascinsted by different European lines, my focus has always been to classify what was sold here by the terms used here. Otherwise there is no difference from conforming to US set names, so, for me, until there is evidence to the contrary, in release here they remain 'My Little Pony' or simply just 'Ponies'.

The fact file also came from Hasbro UK with horseshoe points, so the way it wanted to present its products to its audience is also implicit. Remember, the actual backcard stories for many of the ponies appeared in this, especially for the year of production. It should not be thought of other than commercial advertising at the child's level, and the classifications used tie in directly with Hasbro's UK's own classifications and trademarks. In this regard, because it is direct from Hasbro, it is not the same as the comic. It is more like a glorified collectafile advertising the line so far.

I feel that if Hasbro had intended a different term, my list would also record it. I don't think there is a need to make European lines with different characters and marketing strategies conform to one interpretation, anyway.

I would love to see the 1983 UK material if and when you have a chance!

Edit to add, just looking at my Hasbro list and I realise Gypsy's set are entirely absent O.o. Gusty's set are under 1987 with the tag My Little Ponies.

Some other interesting set names include Rainbow Familt Ponies for the Sunbrights etc, Glittering Ponies (also in comics) for the glittery shs and the playschool babies written as Playskool...

[Ponyland]

I went home today and managed to snap some pictures of a few moc's.

I couldn't get to the UK advertising folder that I have, it was to much stuff in front of it (the whole room was temporarily  flooded of things from the garage). I will try later when everything is in order again.

But I managed to find my Hasbro UK toy catalog from 1986 (sent out to retail dealers to order the supply from)

The My Little Pony set with Gypsy is referred to the "original set" of My Little Ponies. (as a contrary to the other set's available) So they don't use the name "standard pony", although it is quite close (the meaning behind it is the same).
(I'm not saying you should use it because of this or any reason, just that it is a way to talk about them and include them in the "earth pony" - category without upsetting Gyspy and Honeycomb).

Spoiler

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Here is my Water Fall (Sprinkles) MOC. Compared to the Baby MOC. Both sold in Sweden during 1987-88. The card is the same for them, (just adapted for each set. It is clearly a way to distribute left over ponies on a cheap card with no artwork in the back of it).
The Sprinkles MOC is the only know that has been preserved. I bought it last year from the swedish collector who owned it before me.

Spoiler

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Here are my swedish standard ponies. And my german bow-tie moc I checked the stickers for Applejack and Bow Tie, and they are both copyright 1985. The sticker for my german one is hidden quite well so I can't see if there is any copyright. Lucky we were able to spot it at your MOC!

Spoiler

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(The swedish applejack has a green ribbon, and not a yellow).
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German Bow-Tie
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My two Pony Friends. The only two of these 2 characters that exists MOC what we know of, so I'm really happy that I was able to buy them!

Spoiler

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Funny thing is that the package mentions a sticker, but there isn't one included. But this goes with the idea that this was an early 1987 set, and that the movie stars was introduced later this year. The sticker must have been discontinued late in the process of this set, as Cupcake and Truly is featured on the card, but the sticker- text isn't removed.
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My swedish sold Movie Stars.

Spoiler

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Here the sticker isn't included in the text, and no sticker is present in the moc.
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[LadyGuinevere]

Fascinating conversation! I do think I prefer the term 'Original' over 'Standard' myself

I have a MOC Wind Whistler on UK card (style at least, I think the information on it is also) that I think I bought from a Swedish collector. Though on second thoughts I'm not sure on that since I know I got her from ebay. Could be still. Anyway, she also has no sticker.

That PE advertising picture seems very familar to me, but I don't think it would have been in the UK comic, since Trickles wasn't sold here (although I got one second hand as a child). Could be in the German comic though?

Post Merge: August 22, 2015, 01:38:25 PM

Or I do also have Swedish and Finnish comics. Could be in there (though I've had the German comics longer and the memory feels a bit older)

[Ponyland]

That PE advertising picture seems very familar to me, but I don't think it would have been in the UK comic, since Trickles wasn't sold here (although I got one second hand as a child). Could be in the German comic though?

Post Merge: August 22, 2015, 01:38:25 PM

Or I do also have Swedish and Finnish comics. Could be in there (though I've had the German comics longer and the memory feels a bit older)

I't wasn't used in Germany. The photograph was taken in Sweden for the distributor PLAYMIX by the swedish photographer that I acquired the stickers from. So it most likely comes from the swedish comics that you have.

[Taffeta]

But I managed to find my Hasbro UK toy catalog from 1986 (sent out to retail dealers to order the supply from)

The My Little Pony set with Gypsy is referred to the "original set" of My Little Ponies. (as a contrary to the other set's available) So they don't use the name "standard pony", although it is quite close (the meaning behind it is the same).
(I'm not saying you should use it because of this or any reason, just that it is a way to talk about them and include them in the "earth pony" - category without upsetting Gyspy and Honeycomb).

I was thinking on this a bit more last night, actually, and realising that we're looking at this in two different ways based on the ponies that we actually did and didn't have here.

Your scan is reassuring to me actually, because it confirms what I said - the set was called "My Little Pony" by Hasbro in 1986. The word original is included but not capitalised - it's adjectival, but it isn't the name of the set itself. (Although I will own now that through all of my childhood I differentiated the early ponies by calling them "Originals", and I have card file entries from pre-internet collecting where carboot sale ponies were classified under that collective name).

Either way, the reason I think we differ on this is that for Sweden - and Germany - the concept of "My Little Pony" and Standard Ponies is really applied to Earth Ponies, because in Germany and in Sweden there were other ponies than Earth Ponies available in early sets. That isn't the case in the UK. The first original style My Little Ponies (outside of playsets) with a horn or wings are Gypsy and Honeycomb. Majesty is in the fact file section, true enough, and so is Sprinkles, but Majesty is promoted in the comic advert as the "Royal Unicorn Pony", and in Hasbro's list she's catalogued only as "Dream Castle with Majesty Pony" so the "My Little Pony" tag isn't officially attached. Sprinkles is a different problem, as she doesn't even appear in the Hasbro list, and Hasbro UK appear to have gone with their own earth style pony first, before conforming to the global pegasus. I am curious to find any marketing material for the UK that includes her rather than Cascade, as I have not yet seen any even though I know she was sold here because I have both UK-release boxes.

My point is that, although all the early unicorns and pegasus ponies were included in our comics and on our merchandise, their lack of release here means they didn't really have a "name". It also allowed ponies like Paradise, Ribbon and Lofty to sneak in from the SS set, without any real knowledge why. These also didn't have or need a "name" because they weren't being marketed here.

Basically, then, "My Little Pony" applied officially to the original ponies sold here, and by extension, unofficially to the ones not sold here, which also comprised the unicorns and the pegasus ponies.

In our stories, the earth ponies were sometimes referred to as "little ponies", but the term was also used collectively to include the unicorns and the pegasus ponies as well. Again, the words were not capitalised - they weren't "classification names" so much as descriptions - they were ponies and they were little, as opposed to being "My Little Pony" in the sense of the Ponywear advert or (I believe) the box to the original Grooming Parlour which talks about grooming My Little Pony's hair or some such thing.

To the UK market, then,  My Little Pony didn't = Earth Pony. My Little Pony = all the ponies that Hasbro shoved in the fact file, official releases and those used for merchandise and stories only, and that's kinda where it's all come from.

 The list I have from Hasbro calls the 1987 set My Little Ponies as well, because to Hasbro UK - and to most of the UK kids, probably - they're an extension of the same. I think most UK collectors, if you asked them about their childhood, would probably think of these ponies in conjuction with one another back then, even if now they know all the differences in distribution and such.

I think the fact that the Fable Ponies happened in Germany (and in Sweden, and other places) means that there was more distinction between Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus pony before the Gypsy/Honeycomb/etc set came out. They were sold on different cards to the Earth ponies, and even the North American cards state "Unicorn" and "Pegasus" on them, as opposed to just the My Little Pony rainbow. Because the only original unicorns in the UK are Gypsy and Gusty, this differentiation never happened. Gusty, North Star, Wind Whistler, Honeycomb and Gypsy just became part of the same set of "My Little Pony". Also, within your definitions of Standard My Little Pony, you include only Earth pony sets, and by this same token, separate the Movie Stars. In the UK, though, Hasbro proved there was no distinction by INCLUDING a pegasus and a unicorn in the same set as the earth ponies. This didn't happen in other places, which again suggests "Standard Pony" in parts of Europe was a term applied to Earth ponies to separate them from the Fable/unicorn and pegasus ponies also on release, whereas in the UK the mixed species meant they were not "standard".

Nuances like that are interesting, but I think it's probably why both Germany and Sweden approached it from a different angle than here. You had ponies we never had. Hasbro UK didn't need to differentiate here because there was nothing to differentiate until 1986. Hasbro could have separated Gypsy and Honeycomb, but they didn't, because there was no precedent to do so. Therefore they were just My Little Pony, and so it went on to 1987's set as well.

Ironically, the only sets on my website that I catalogue that way are the sets from 1986 and 1987. This is because they are mixed species sets, and therefore can't be defined as Earth, Pegasus or Unicorn.

On another note, that photo was definitely taken using Groom & Style Posey and Cherries Jubilee as models, rather than what was actually sold. The UK pony comic didn't really ever include Posey and CJ with these four, as in one comic there was a competition to win one of the four new characters, and then they were used as a foursome to advertise ponywear:
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CJ and Posey are part of the set because they're on the card and we know they are - but the emphasis was on the new four. I forget how the comic competition was worded, and I can't get at my comics easily right now.

Here is my Water Fall (Sprinkles) MOC. Compared to the Baby MOC. Both sold in Sweden during 1987-88. The card is the same for them, (just adapted for each set. It is clearly a way to distribute left over ponies on a cheap card with no artwork in the back of it).
The Sprinkles MOC is the only know that has been preserved. I bought it last year from the swedish collector who owned it before me.

Spoiler

That Sprinkles is quite awesome. I haven't seen one like it before, but it does add credence to the idea of the overpopulation of global Sprinkles ponies! As I mentioned before, the Waterfall here had Cascade and then Sprinkles. I've the three different English language boxes I know of - the North American (white base), the Cascade box and the Sprinkles (green base) box, and the stamps inside the Cascade and Sprinkles boxes are months apart (but Sprinkles has a different, later product number). The instructions inside are the same and both dated 1985 except for names of ponies being changed and the artwork for Cascade has no wings. I don't have instructions for the North American release waterfall, but I tend to assume the artwork was taken from that to ours, because it looks like it was originally Sprinkles but was modified to fit Cascade.

My Cascade box is earlier in terms of date than my Sprinkles one, but it's possible they were sold simultaneously here. I really think, though, that Hasbro produced too many Sprinkles', and they got distributed around the world. Your Swedish carded Sprinkles ("Waterfall!" with Duck Soup and stuff was maybe one way of selling some of those ponies - it's worth mentioning that the waterfall with the green base is stated on the box as having been made in the UK. I know that the green base didn't travel very much - France had the white base, I believe, and so did Italy. Possibly that's why Sprinkles here had the waterfall - because it was already in production with Cascade before that point.

The Waterfall is one of my points of UK intrigue even now.

Here are my swedish standard ponies. And my german bow-tie moc I checked the stickers for Applejack and Bow Tie, and they are both copyright 1985. The sticker for my german one is hidden quite well so I can't see if there is any copyright. Lucky we were able to spot it at your MOC!

Spoiler

It's probably under her tail or beneath her legs. I had to really look for mine - I didn't think she had one until I started really looking closely, so I'm glad that information was of loose.

Hopscotch aside, your earth ponies look the same as the Groom & Style were here (except you mentioned sticker variations). Certainly the cards appear to match exactly the ones I have for Applejack and Bow Tie. Applejack's ribbon is very green, though...I wonder what the reason behind that was or if it was just a one off batch with a different colour. Guess we'll never know.

My two Pony Friends. The only two of these 2 characters that exists MOC what we know of, so I'm really happy that I was able to buy them!

In a sense I actually think that more interesting than Truly and Cupcake; certainly more useful in determining which Cherries Jubilee and Posey were part of that set. Definitely no doubt that your Cherries Jubilee had curls, even though ours didn't. I really feel that Hasbro UK did that on purpose, because the entirety of the set in the UK had straight hair, and dove brushes. They were really made to seem like they belonged as a release - they were separate from the curly/straight variations of the Groom & Style before them and Cherries Jubilee was modified to conform. Even SS Cherries Jubilee has curly hair, so it's an interesting design choice. I'm sure CJ and Posey remained in the set because of the animation.Otherwise, keeping Tootsie would have made more sense, because she already had straight hair. (Unless, of course, it stemmed from the fact Cherries Jubilee and Posey were still in basic production because of the So Soft set, and so it saved production money to keep these two rather than Tootsie. Maybe that could also explain white Tootsie, as she is a unique green colour, but white was a commonly used colour and would probably have saved dying costs.)

My swedish sold Movie Stars.

Spoiler

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Here the sticker isn't included in the text, and no sticker is present in the moc.
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Hrm. By comparison, and it's not a great picture, but my Shady...
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You can't actually see in this image the sticker she has, but it's behind her hooves - it's featuring North Star and says cinestars, which I think is usual. It's interesting that the French release got the stickers, the Scandinavian one didn't, and the UK one seems to have done but it's not certain whether they all did. It really depends where my Wind Whistler came from. The card she was on doesn't mention a sticker either, indicating it's the same card probably as yours:

Spoiler

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As I mentioned, she came from overseas. I don't have my original Shady's card any more, and I don't have a UK release card therefore to compare it with. The stickers do exist, but it is possible they were only present for a short time. The ponies themselves are fairly common in comparison, so it would make sense. Other release packages from 1987 over here do specify a sticker, even if other language releases do not...so I think there's more to be done on that subject before we know entirely what the situation was. Going back to the Argos catalogue picture that I showed before, it's telling that, while other pony images from this year and this store catalogue showed stickers int he advert, this one does not:
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Nor does it mention it in Argos' description. Compare with the descriptions for Flutter Ponies from the same catalogue:
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Maybe they really didn't have stickers in the UK for the full run. I have seen stickers for this set - namely Gusty - on ebay from the UK on playsets and things sold here, so they must have had them for a while - but for how long is the key question.

[Ponyland]

Hopscotch aside, your earth ponies look the same as the Groom & Style were here (except you mentioned sticker variations). Certainly the cards appear to match exactly the ones I have for Applejack and Bow Tie. Applejack's ribbon is very green, though...I wonder what the reason behind that was or if it was just a one off batch with a different colour. Guess we'll never know.

Just a quick reply before bed, will cover more later.

The cards are the same, but the accessories differ. The ribbon is actually different for bow-tie as well, but it isn't the color but the fabric type. It's the same type that was used for SS ponies. (A silky version, the groom & style ponies had a wider and not as silky type that was used for mostly all ponies before 1986). Applejack has the same type, so thats why I can see that they both are later releases (and with the sticker confirms it as well).

I think they just needed to go with the ribbon types available for 1986, and they just decide to give her a green while at it. I don't think it has anything to do with just a batch difference in this case.

I'm a real accessory nerd so I have studied ribbon types closely as I want to match all ponies and document them.

Another interesting thing is that I actually have a shy-pose curly haired applejack that is most likely swedish sold too ( she comes from childhood collection). She is significantly darker orange than the US release. And her symbols have a different shade of red, this makes her look like a totally different batch. (I have never seen another noel like her in the US). The swedish collector poster sent to Club members shows her as a curly shy pose as well next to CP Bow-Tie. She is a real mystery pony! I think she might have been mixed in with CP applejack in the beginning maybe, but I have never sen another one here in Sweden so that must have been a very limited number.

edit with picture of the Swedish Ponnyklubben poster from 1987.
This poster cover the full range of ponies sold in 1987 up to the point that it got sent out.

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Tootise is pictured as green, posey doesn't have magenta tulips. Applejack is in the shy pose. Moondancer is white. Surprise name is missspelled to Surprice (acctually quite common misstake, I do it all the time.. Maybe a swedish thing..  ) and Fabel Pony Gusty has jumped down to the Movie Star row. (They didn't think there was a need to picture two Gusty's).

The Pony Friends ponies are missing though. And Sprinkles, Baby Lemon Drop and the Play and Care Babies. And Playset ponies

I have a vague memory of another poster like this, but with a green-ish background. Maybe they are on that poster. I hope that I will find it someday!

[LadyGuinevere]

Your rainbow set is interesting - two from year 1 and four from year 2! Is the card noticeably different for them?

[Taffeta]

Not to mention Megan in North American release costume...

[Ponyland]

Your rainbow set is interesting - two from year 1 and four from year 2! Is the card noticeably different for them?

We got them in 2 rounds. On the US released card and on a different "standing" card that looks similar to the german card but with HK ponies and english text. I Bought Tickle from an old toy store here on the US card, and I have Flutterby on the standing card from a original swedish collection.

So we did get more characters in the end (I have Windy as a childhood pony). I will have to see if there was anyone we missed out on though, its a bit murky right now from my memory.
But the toy advertising catalog that I have from the old toy store (where I bought Tickle on the american card) do mention a range of 6 different characters, so I think the poster is correct on that for 1987. And I think that the 6 different characters you see there on the club poster was sold on the US released card, and it isn't different in the artwork. So they just picked out half the available characters on that card then for our release.

Not to mention Megan in North American release costume...

Yes she was an official part of our pony range, the one you got is an UK exclusive.  I will dig out more advertising for you.

[Taffeta]

I find it interesting how those characters appeared all across Europe and in our comics and merchandise but not in UK stores. Aside from Confetti's Wedding Bells, none of set 2 were ever sold here, which makes me wonder what Hasbro UK's decision processes were for ponies in this country. First set Rainbows are quite common and almost certainly did 1984 and 1985 because their UK release card style is 1984ish without a story...so why did Hasbro UK only sell Confetti and not try for any of the others?

Another of those last minute budget decisions maybe? Who knows...add it to the mystery pile. I think about 50% of the characters kids in the UK in 1983-6 grew up with officially didn't get a release here.

I recently acquired a Sunlight card from a collector here who said she got it in Sheffield as a child. All her other Rainbow cards were the normal release for the UK (Moonstone, Windy, Starshine) but this Sunlight's was what I would call a US release style Rainbow Pony card. She is certain it didn't come from anywhere outside the UK, and nobody sent it to her. First time I've seen what I would call US style cards associated with Rainbow ponies already on sale here...

[Ponyland]

This is how the toy catalogs look like from our official distributor in Sweden.
Left one is for spring 1987 and right is for autumn 1987
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Here is the content:

1987 Spring toy catalog:
Features Shady mentioned as a "Standard Pony" (should be from Pony Friends), Magic Star as a Movie Pony.
Baby Blossom from Play and Care I, Baby Firefly from Baby ponies with bottle, and baby Lemon Drop (UK version but with pink stroller). And Flutterbye, probably from the standing type of card that I got.
Also Megan & Sundance in box, Pretty and Pearly baby Sea ponies, the Pony Purse and Lullabye Nursery.

This is the advertising that introduce Ponnyklubben (it was PLAYMIX that managed it). After sign up to it the
poster was sent out.
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The 1987 autumn catalog I posted earlier.
Movie ponies, Rainbow ponies, Baby Lemon Drop as Spainsh with pink stroller, Megan & Sundance, Pretty and Pearly baby sea ponies, and Baby Buggy. Also first introduction of Paradise Estate.
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An ad for December introduce the Adventure Boys and the dance school (incorrect pony though, should be a regular baby Half Note, not a BBE). Also mentions Paradise estate again, and lot's of ponies are standing in it. I think the picture of it was taken at the same time as the introduction of it in the autumn catalog.
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I find it interesting how those characters appeared all across Europe and in our comics and merchandise but not in UK stores. Aside from Confetti's Wedding Bells, none of set 2 were ever sold here, which makes me wonder what Hasbro UK's decision processes were for ponies in this country. First set Rainbows are quite common and almost certainly did 1984 and 1985 because their UK release card style is 1984ish without a story...so why did Hasbro UK only sell Confetti and not try for any of the others?

It could be just as with the Fable Ponies, I think that it was probably planned that you should get the standing card's too that we got here. They look very similar to your version of the first set of Rainbow Ponies and is made by Hasbru UK.

We got Confetti in 1986 too, and she kind of introduced the whole pony range with her big wedding that every pony was invited to at the Dream castle. I don't have the ad avaliable (it's stuffed with my other ads that I can't reach). And along side her the other rainbow ponies were sold (probably on the standing card).