Who do you think are the most popular G1 ponies?

[InkyMilk]

If you had to pick 5 (ish) G1 ponies as the most popular, who would it be? This includes the show, toys, comic, etc. Just like...to the general public, who would you say the masses flock to? I know there's a lot of ponies that are very common and absolutely everywhere (Glory, BlueBelle, etc.) but are they actually the most popular?

For me, Gusty and Fizzy instantly come to mind, but after that, I'm not really sure. Maybe Wind Whistler?

[LadyAmalthea]

Firefly, Cotton Candy, Glory, Gusty, Minty...those are probably the most iconic if I had to guess!

(I'm trying to answer the question from a non-collector point of view...my answer would be different if I had to say collector favorites!)

[lalalei2001]

My personal favorites are Baby Cuddles, Gusty, Wind Whistler, Fizzy, Surprise, North Star, and Shady.

[applejackbunny]

Mimic, Firefly, Fizzy, Applejack, Peachy, Majesty, Gusty, Nightglider (sorry - that's more than 5!  )

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Mimic, Firefly, Fizzy...beyond that I'm not sure. Majesty and Gusty probably.

[BlackCurtains]

To the general public? Probably Cotton Candy or Applejack. I don't think a person who isn't a collector would know very many by name.

[Taffeta]

If we were talking about here, in the UK, and people who might recognise a pony...

Applejack for sure. She was iconic back then and Stranger Things was popular here so.

Other than that, it's hard to know. Majesty, probably.

Maybe Cotton Candy or Blossom, but NONE of the other flatfoots as they basically were invisible here.

Surprise often appeared on pony comic fronts, and Firefly was often in/'on things but whether that would count or not I don't know.

Fizzy, etc would depend a lot on whether these were people who ever read or watched MLP. BUT...looking at current merchandise, I'm going to say Starshine. Because although other ponies have appeared as well, she's the one primark keeps coming back to.

So Applejack - helped by Stranger things and G4
Starshine - helped by Primark
Surprise or Firefly - because of frequent past exposure
Cotton Candy or Blossom - because of being extreeeeemely common
Majesty - because her cultural presence and constant rereleases would have made her stand out (and because white unicorns have recently been a thing).

[LNS]

Between the toys, merchandise and cartoon I'd say the ones that people know who don't collet are Applejack, Cotton Candy, Firefly, Whizzer and Gusty. Family and friends all recognize those, many of which knew those ones before they knew I collected them.

The ones I consider the most iconic would be Firefly, Gusty, Whizzer, Fizzy and Wind Whistler. Mainly due to the cartoon. They all made a lasting impression for one reason or another.

[Carrehz]

Firefly and Applejack for sure. When I was just casually collecting ponies, I didn't know a lot of pony names (in general :p not just G1) but I knew those two, I saw them around a lot. Those two immediately came to mind when I read the thread title. Glory's a popular pick too, she doesn't come to mind as quickly as the other two but I think I'd still peg her as the most popular/recognizable/etc G1 unicorn.

Agree w/ Starshine, at least here in the UK. Primark LOVE her and I've seen some other retro merch featuring her, too. I think it's because she's white and rainbow, that's a pretty classic and popular colour combo for fantasy ponies. The first wave of rainbow ponies in general are very popular for retro merch.

Other than that, not sure. Cotton Candy, maybe - to me she's definitely a quintessential G1 design, but I'm not sure if the general public would see her as such. They do seem to gravitate towards her specifically though, whenever they bring out the collector ponies but only use one or two of them. (I.e. she's the only one of the collectors to have a Hallmark ornament, Funko made POP keyrings of her and Blossom but not the other 4 - off the top of my head) So I'd tentatively add her to my list too, but I may be biased - she's one of my favourites. :p

Oh, and Minty if we're looking at it from a fan/collector POV, she's always seemed very popular to me. (G3 Minty too, but I've seen plenty of G1 Minty fans too who loved her before G3 was a thing) Not sure if she'd be that recognizable to a non-fan though.

[caseysealia]

mimic

[LadyMoondancer]

Applejack, Cotton Candy, Blossom, Moondancer, Glory, Firefly, Parasol, Moonstone, and Starshine.

[Gator]

Firefly, Moondancer, Bowtie, Applejack, Twilight. 

[honor_h]

I'd say Glory as she's popular for recent retro merch as well as original merch although as mentioned before with these ponies general public might not know the names. The other ones I would say are Applejack, Starshine and Firefly. Cotton Candy, Peachy and possibly Moondancer for original merch.