Sundae Best Ponies - Alt Poses. Why?

[sweetstuff85]

I’ve always wondered why 3 of the 6 Sundae Best ponies had slightly different pose molds that were never used again.

Anyone know why Peppermint Crunch, Banana Surprise and Swirly Whirly were made with slightly alternative poses?

If you didn’t notice: Peppermint Crunch is Original Firefly without the open mouth, Banana surprise is Applejack with a different head and Swirly Whirly is the Collectors pose but both the body and the head are bigger with slight changes. (I do prefer Swirly’s pose from the original pose, as she looks forward rather than down.)

I thought someone would have some further insight/intel into this or maybe not, curious to hear.

[Ponyfan]

I could be wrong but I thought that Hasbro modified the molds to accommodate the 3D symbols. 

Also for fun this  catalog page is from the Wiki.  It shows the prototype ponies from this set.  Some of them have different molds and names.

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:213.jpg


Ponyfan

[Purpleglasses]

Princess Tiffany uses the same slightly different Applejack mold, so it must just be for ponies with 3D symbols like Ponyfan said, though honestly I’m not certain. Her face is…long! It looks like the sculpts of some of the other princes ponies are subtly different as well.

I prefer some of the 3D symbol sculpts. I’m not fond of Moondancer’s pose with her overly short torso, (though you can tell her proportions seem based on the collector’s pose, which also has a shorter torso than most g1s) but Princess Misty’s revamped version of that sculpt evens her proportions out! If HQG1C made a version of Princess Misty’s pose without a 3D cutie mark, I’d love it, and I’d commission custom versions of Moondancer and Sugar Sweet right away.

[Taffeta]

They are all different. And it is indeed because of the symbols.

If you look at the hooves, the mould date is later than the original moulds on which they are based.

...I don't really think it works in most of the cases. Sundae Best are an odd set for me. Some of them have decidedly froggy faces.

 But it is also the case for some of those princess ones as PurpleGlasses mentions. I think the reason we don't see it in the original princess set is because they came out the same year the moulds did, so they just made ones for gems and ones without. But the 2nd princesses use older moulds that had to be remade to accommodate the gems.

@PurpleGlasses, you mean Taffeta, not Pearl/Tiffany. The latter is a pegasus and uses the same 1987 mould as Dancing Butterflies etc, only with the symbol cut away.

Taffeta is in a modified AJ pose.

Going back to the Sundae Best and their names. There are a lot of weird things with the names for this set.

The UK set has 4 different names from the US set IIRC. But one of those apparently UK names is on the MOC pony in the image Ponyfan posted, which comes from the US catalogue. "Cherry Berry". The name was also used in G4 which suggests it was still in Hasbro US's files somewhere.

Not to mention the names are often switched around to different ponies in promotional material, like the above posted link. The carded "Cherry Berry" is Sorbet Surprise in the UK and Sherbet in the US. The name Cherry Berry was used here for Crunch Berry.

I don't have a clue what was going on with this release. I don't really like the set, but I find all these weird things interesting. It feels like even if the UK changed a couple of names (Sherbet/Sorbet Surprise for example, as Sherbet is not ice cream in the UK), the US was also changing names right up to production, to the point the card names got formatted differently. If you look at US Sundae Best backcards, some have the names on the front in block capitals and some don't. Now why would they do that unless there was a last minute change somewhere in the naming department?

[Ponyfan]

It amuses me that the US ad for the Sundae Best ponies says "ponies smell like ice cream" complete with a little girl sniffing a pony and then sticking her nose in her ice cream and nodding her head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FcpORaORYg


Ponyfan

[sweetstuff85]

Thanks for all the info, everyone! Loved looking at the prototypes, wonder who has them all. Or if Hasbro keeps them in storage.

Interesting set, indeed. I didn’t realize they all had new mold years, but that would make sense with the addition of the ice cream on their butts.

I forgot they used the same mold for Princess Taffeta, but I don’t think the other two were reused ever.

I do love that they remade Moondancer’s mold for Princess Misty. They did a good job with the revamp I find it odd though the next year (year 7) they used the original Moondancer pose again, for Sugar Sweet (Candy Cane Pony)instead of the revamp. I guess Misty’s pose would of had a hole in it and it would cost them to resculpt over the jewel holes. Probably a cost issue.

[Taffeta]

If they genuinely smell like US ice cream, remind me if I ever go over there to avoid your ice cream like the plague.

[Ponyfan]

If they genuinely smell like US ice cream, remind me if I ever go over there to avoid your ice cream like the plague.

Don't worry.   The only Sundae Best pony in my childhood herd was Coco Berry/Chocolate Chip.  Even then I don't remember thinking that she smelled like ice cream.  I have Sherbet/Sorbet Surprise now also and although she seems to still be slightly scented it's more of a vanilla/general sweet scent to me. 


Ponyfan

[Purpleglasses]

If they genuinely smell like US ice cream, remind me if I ever go over there to avoid your ice cream like the plague.

Don't worry.   The only Sundae Best pony in my childhood herd was Coco Berry/Chocolate Chip.  Even then I don't remember thinking that she smelled like ice cream.  I have Sherbet/Sorbet Surprise now also and although she seems to still be slightly scented it's more of a vanilla/general sweet scent to me. 


Ponyfan

I mean, to avoid it melting under hot set lights, prop ice cream can be made of things like silicone squeezed through a piping tip…so that kid in the ad comparing the two could be onto something. Don’t worry about US ice cream. I grew up with a scented pony (Sugar Apple, still faintly scented after all these years!) and I have to say she smells more like shampoo, though I don’t know if they used the same scent on all ponies.

[Taffeta]

Phew xD That's a relief xD.

Of course, the kid was also paid to agree

For some reason I have a memory of something in which they used mashed potato as ice cream to prevent the melting thing...but that's completely off topic now.

I can more or less handle the sweet smells of the sweetberry and candy canes, but the Sundae Best are something else.

Back on the name subject, when they first appeared in the UK comic, the names were also messed around. And they are on at least one UK insert as well.