So, I thought it would be fun to rank the G1 playsets - at least the ones I am familiar with, so that means the ones I owned or played with because a friend had it. I will admit, while I still have *most* of my childhood ponies, I do not have any of my playsets I once owned as a child *boo*! So what I’m saying is that this is mostly through memory and nostalgia (and help from the Internet, of course, to remind me how awesome these play sets were!)
11.
Scrub-A-Dub-Tub - I don’t know if this *technically* counts as a playset, but I’m counting it because it was counted as a G1 playset on Wikipedia, so we’re going to rank it! Someone please tell me what possessed me to buy this? Yes, I bought this with my own money, my hard-earned allowance! It’s not like I got this as a gift. I guess I thought it was super cute and had to have it. I honestly don’t remember if I even filled it with water for a pony to take a bath. I remember putting the yellow shower cap on ponies and I remember putting ponies in the tub (sans water) and pulling the shower curtain around the tub, but I think this “playset” was pretty much forgotten and ignored.
10.
Pretty Parlor - I am pretty sure my friend owned this; I sort of have vague memories of playing with this. I did not own it, so that’s why it’s towards the bottom as I really don’t have any memories of this playset.
9.
Baby Bonnet School of Dance - So my friend (the same one who I think had the Pretty Parlor) definitely had this because I do remember playing with it. Again, I never had this, so that’s why it’s towards the bottom. I admit I am biased towards the ones I owned! This was cute, though. We had fun choosing three baby ponies and having them “perform” for the other ponies (while I don’t remember which baby ponies my friend had (well, obviously she must have had Baby Half-Note!) I do remember the adults in the audience included Wind Whistler, SS Gusty, SS Cherries Jubilee, Heart Throb, and Ribbon among a few others. I don’t remember the little bees and swans that came with it, but that’s probably not surprising since, again, I did not own this playset.
8.
Poof ’n Puff Perfume Palace - Boy, someone at Hasbro sure liked alliteration! I don’t blame them; I’m a big fan of alliteration too. This play set loses points because it did not come with its own pony. It also loses points because it wasn’t really big enough to fit ponies in. Naturally, when I played with this, Dainty Dahlia, the Perfume Puff pony I had was the “owner” of this place. I remember liking the atomizer and squeezing it often to smell that floral-scented perfume. It lasted quite awhile from what I can remember. I looked through all the accessories and I’m pretty sure I still have the aqua hat and purple boa. To be honest, I’m not really sure what the point of this playset was since there was the Perm Shoppe and they were pretty much the same thing. Well, the point is to make money, I get that, but it just seemed a bit redundant.
7.
Waterfall - I have fond memories of playing with this. However, it’s at the lower end of this ranking because it didn’t work quite as well after playing with it a few times. In fact, this may have unfortunately been tossed after it didn’t work anymore. It’s possible I still had it as part of my pony village, but I just don’t remember playing with it that much. When it did work, I had a blast giving Sprinkles (or whatever pony I chose) a shower. My mom always made me play with it either by the kitchen sink or in the bathroom! She would help me set it up, filling it with water and adding the solution that would make it bubble. I just remember being so delighted when I pushed those white buttons and making it rain from the cloud. I also remember putting in those purple curlers in my ponys’ hair (and I had some extra because I had the Pony Wear pajamas that came with curlers as well). I do remember one unfortunate moment where I decided Surprise (So Soft Surprise, that is!) needed a bath…and well, yeah, she was never the same after that! Sprinkles is my least favorite playset pony. I just don’t care for her beige color. Her name is cute, though.
6.
Perm Shoppe - One of the things I remember about this playset was that damn heart-shaped mirror would never stay on top of the building and would always fall off! In my pony village, this was always next to the Perfume Palace and basically functioned together. Curly Locks, my only brush and grow pony, was a frequent customer! It makes me cringe now thinking of all the ponies I “beautified” by putting on the lipstick, eye shadow, and nail polish that came with the Perm Shoppe. This was the last playset I ever got, so therefore I spent much more time playing with the others, except maybe the waterfall. The working shower head was quite clever, but you know what? I don’t even remember using it but I must have! I do remember using the crap out of that pony hair spray, though!
5.
Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe - Once again, fun with alliteration! So while the Perm Shoppe had more doo-dads and was more interactive, I have fond memories of getting this for my for 7th birthday from my friend, Meredith. It’s one of the few ponyplay sets I actually remember receiving. I knew I was getting it because Meredith decided to show me it in her closet before it was even wrapped, and boy, was I excited! Next to Majesty, Scoops is my favorite playset pony. She is just so cute with her ice cream sundae symbols and her striped apron and hat. Obviously she needed help with her bustling business, so Fizzy, Peppermint Crunch, and Sherbet all had shifts since they were the most fit to work there
. Megan and Molly visited there the most since they were the only ones who could actually sit at the table and chairs.
4.
Show Stable - This holds a dear place in my heart because it was my first pony playset. I got it along with my first four My Little Ponies - Applejack, Bow Tie, Cotton Candy, and, of course Lemon Drop, who all lived in the stable, naturally! This was the most realistic of the pony playsets, as most horses I know of don’t usually live in mansions or castles! I remember there were grooves in the stable where you could place the green gates (which there were six of), but I never knew why you would want to place the gates in the stable, so I had them form a perimeter outside my stable. The troughs were cute and I usually had my ponies “eating” from them. I remember the yellow trophy cups and the first, second, and third place plastic ribbons, but I’m pretty sure one or more of mine broke. I also remember the pink saddle and bridle, and the bridle definitely broke! It wasn’t until very recently that I discovered there was a little hole in the saddle where you could place one of the flags! I guess that explains why there were four flags! I also didn’t know you could attach the plastic ribbons to the bridle! I feel like my parents were keeping things from me! I couldn’t read the instructions when I got this!! You know what I don’t remember having in this set? The dog, Brandy! I remember Duck Soup with the Waterfall and I remember Spike with the Dream Castle, but I do not ever remember playing with Brandy, so I must have lost him pretty fast! Also, looking at the Show Stable accessories on its Wikipedia page, I don’t remember the white jump with the yellow rail, so I must have lost that pretty quickly too! Back then, I never thought it was weird there was a bed where your pony could sleep, but now it just seems weird that a pony would sleep on a human bed when horses sleep standing up! It may not be the most exciting pony playset, but there is a charm to it.
3.
Paradise Estate - So you might think the big pony mansion being only #3 is pretty low and while I do love this playset, it is only four rooms…what kind of mansion only has four rooms? I think it’s the pool and patio area that really make it. Those were the areas I played with the most. I remember my parents buying this for me, probably when I was in second grade because I had either gotten a good report card or I did my chores for a month; I can’t exactly remember, but it was a reward for something. This came out in 1986, but I didn’t get it until at least a couple years later, so it had to be on sale. I’m guessing this retailed for around $100? I’m not really sure; but this had to be on sale because there’s no way my parents would have gotten this for me otherwise! It’s pretty funny because whenever the subject of MLP comes up, my mom will bring up how she remembers putting this together and putting all the little decals on everything! I remember my Paradise Estate only had three fans, so I think the nursery was the one room that didn’t get a fan…poor baby ponies! Luckily they had a pool to keep cool. Speaking of the pool, that’s was where I kept my two sea ponies (Ripples and Celebrate). They just sort of laid there. I would sometimes fill the pool with water and have pool parties…no so soft ponies were invited, though! I learned my lesson with So Soft Surprise and the waterfall! I owned Paradise, so naturally she was the landlord. While I would place ponies in the Paradise Estate rooms or outside on the patio, it was really Molly and Megan who could use the furniture because it was kinda awkward when you tried to put a pony on the couch or that narrow bed.
2.
Dream Castle - Ah, yes, I actually preferred the Dream Castle to Paradise Estate. It just made more sense that the ponies lived in a castle than a mansion (actually, it probably makes the most sense for ponies to live in a stable!) Sure, there was more room for your ponies in the estate, but the castle had cooler stuff: the golden hoops your ponies could jump through, the golden horseshoes you could put on Majesty (mine never stayed on though!), the blue throne (pretty sure mine broke in half!), the little basket you could put Spike in and pull up and down (yeah, this definitely broke after using it one too many times), the felt banners to decorate the castle with, and last, but not least, it had a drawbridge! Probably my favorite detail of the castle; I also loved the detail of the bricks on the outside.
1.
Lullabye Nursery - I had to put this as #1 because I remember playing with it the most! I had about sixteen baby ponies and I remember rearranging them in this play set (of course, three or four of them would be in the nursery room of the Paradise Estate which was nowhere near as exciting (or cute!) as this place! I could place Baby Tiddlywinks in the swing; Baby Tic Tac Toe and Baby Sundance by the bottles and food dish; Baby North Star in the bath; Baby Ribbon in the crib (obviously, since she had beddy-bye eyes); Baby Moondancer on the rocker; Baby Glory looking in the mirror; Baby Yo-Yo playing with the blocks, Baby Snookums getting ready to be changed (of course), etc. My nursery came with beddy-bye eyes Baby Tiddlywinks. I remember being super confused about her name and my mom had to explain to me that tiddlywinks was a game. There were so many fun and cute accessories that came with this, my favorite being the swing that you could hang up on the lower level next to the feeding area with the bottles or outside on the back where a pink canopy was attached (I usually hung it up in the nursery). It was super cute on the inside and on the outside when you closed it. The safety pin handle at the top with the gingham ribbon was a cute touch.
So that’s my ranking of all the G1 play sets I was familiar with. What would your rankings be?
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