Flutter Pony Lily Variations?

[kissthethunder]

I'm kinda confused.

I have been spending the past week or so packing up all of my ponies for a move down to mississippi and as I was about to pack my two Lilies (one from childhood and another a gift from a friend) I noticed they both looked different. From the plastic color to the molding of their face they were just different from each other. Both of them are stamped 'made in China' but the stamping looks different. One is deeper and clearer and the other is thinner and less deeply indented.

I am aware of differences between hong kong and china molds but this is new to me. Does anyone have any information about what happened to the molds for the flutters during this time that would cause these subtle differences?

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It seems impossible to get a proper shot of the stamps on thier hooves atm, but I can try again if it's needed.

[LadyMoondancer]

Those are the "big-head" and "small-head" variations!    (Or big-eye / small-eye.) Each of the store-sold flutters has variations like that.  I'm not sure about Hollywood or Yum Yum and Pink Dreams.

Here's a thread with more pictures!

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,359277.0.html

I had all small-eye flutters as a kid (Honeysuckle, Peach Blossom, and Forget-Me-Not).  I remember the first time I got a big-eyed Honeysuckle in a lot of ponies I was sooo confused.

Both variations were sold in the US, but I'm not sure about other countries.

[kissthethunder]

That's so weird O_O I've been in the collecting community for well over  decade and this is the first I've heard of it!

[Taffeta]

My sister has the same for Lily, a big head and small head one. There are also variations in colour, hair and wing attachments for some of the set, but I'm not sure I've seen big headed ones for the other poses. I'd need to check my sister's box to see for sure, but I remember this coming up a while ago and Lily seems to be the most commonly found one (in my recollection?)

Naynie found both of hers here in the UK, but loose at carboot sales, so their origins...who knows..?

Edit to add: I don't have a big head one in front of me to compare, since my Lily is small and I don't have an extra, but is that head mould the same as the head mould for Cloud Puff/Wind Drifter...?

[LadyMoondancer]

IMO Wind Drifter has more neck.

Here's LittleHoneyPie's picture from the other thread:

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[Taffeta]

Hrm. This even spreads to second set O.O. I had no idea - that's first time I've seen one of the 2nd set with the variation.

I shall be digging through boxes later, I can see...

[MorningGlorysParadise82]

Is it possible that the variant is the difference between the First Edition and Second Edition Flutters? Or were all of them released this way?

[Taffeta]

Technically, Wind Drifter should only have been Second Year...so...mind you, I've paper proof that Honeysuckle was still being sold in the UK in 1987 even though she's not on the box for the UK that year, and both she and Forget Me Not were both released with 2nd year wing fixings even though they weren't officially in the re-release, so who knows what actually happened. I always think US years are a bit more structured than UK ones, but that's not necessarily the case.

Rosedust and Lily are the 2 re-issued in the States, right? (Here it was Rosedust & Morning Glory)

[LadyMoondancer]

All six of the "flower flutters" have the variation, and both 2nd set poses also have it, so apparently it's not related to the year they were sold in. 

BTW, I was googling for "MIB flutter pony" and look what I found:

Edit:  Scratch that, I thought I found big-head and small-head in UK packaging, but they were both small-head.  Big head might still exist, though.

(UK pics from this lovely Photobucket album.)

Here's a look at the striding flutter poses variations.  It's REALLY dramatic if you have them side by side.  Big-head pose looks like the pony is posing daintily, small-head pose has muuuch longer legs and looks like she's speed walking.  Also the head is at an angle on the small-head pose.

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(Pics from My Little Wiki.)

[Taffeta]

If I'm right, at that time, ONLY the Flutters were Made in China? maybe they had several sources for it and that's why so many variations?

Pretty sure they are probably around here as well as in the States. I am fairly sure Naynie's Lily came from here.

It;s late here now, but tomorrow I'll examine my winged ones. They're behind glass so getting at them isa bit more awkward and I already caused a MIP landslide tonight looking for Cine Star Shady

[daffodil101]

I wonder how there would come to be body-shape variations though.  To make two different moulds, wouldn't someone have to make two different sculptures?  Why would you make more than one sculpture?  You don't see these differences with regular adult ponies-- presumably the same scuplture / mould used to make Posey in year 3 was used all the way through to ponies like Melody and Starlight at the very end of the line.

[Haruna]

I wonder how there would come to be body-shape variations though.  To make two different moulds, wouldn't someone have to make two different sculptures?  Why would you make more than one sculpture?  You don't see these differences with regular adult ponies-- presumably the same scuplture / mould used to make Posey in year 3 was used all the way through to ponies like Melody and Starlight at the very end of the line.

My theory has been that the big-headed ones fell down on their heads too easily (just like the flat-foot ponies v. concave-foot ponies) and so Hasbro reworked the mold. (I'm not sure why the second set of flutters would still have big and small heads, though, if that's true.)

[MorningGlorysParadise82]

Rosedust and Lily are the 2 re-issued in the States, right? (Here it was Rosedust & Morning Glory)

Yes the States got Lily and Rosedust.

[hathorcat]

For a long time I had thought it was only the first set as well, its only recently all 4 of the second set had this confirmed completely - so cool to find new things out. Hasbro were using 2 to 3 sites by the time they were making MLP in China (depending on time), so its no doubt minor mould differences between manufacturing locations. Or moulds cast from multiple original casts which for some reason were slightly different.

[ringwraith10]

She got a face lift!

Personal note: this thread depresses me a little because when I was a teen (and my twin cousins were little kids), I gave my duplicate copy of this flutter to them. Of course, after they grew up I asked for the pony back and they didn't know where she was or didn't have her anymore. Bleh. I just hope I didn't have one of each variant!