Questions about G1 Ponies!

[HelloGoodbye]

Hello all!  Last month, I decided to start collecting G1 ponies in addition to G3 and G4.  I just recently got my first G1 pony (who I LOVE).  Now that I have been bitten by the G1 bug, and started hanging around on the arena, I have some random questions that I would love to know the answers to!

1.  Is a Nirvana just a pony from another country?
2.  What exactly are the G1 "piggy" (I think that's what they are called?) ponies?
3.  On a similar note, what are the squeaky butt ponies that I have heard people talking about?  Also, do they have tails, because in the pictures I've seen they don't look like they do (granted, I've only seen like 2 pictures!)
4.  Are the flat footed ponies or the concave ponies earlier?  Also, why do they come in concave or flat footed?
5.  How many movies/ tv specials are there?  (the only one I've seen is the Midnight Castle one)
6.  What exactly do the Dance and Prance ponies do?

Thanks in advance!  Sorry if any of these are silly questions!

[ValeofSpring]

Hello!  Welcome to G1 collecting:)  I can't help with everything, but I can answer a few:

1. I think of Nirvana as rare and non-US--I'm sure a Nirvana person could provide an exact answer.  I don't think of common UK releases as Nirvana.

4. Flat-foots are the earliest.  Sometime during Year 1, Hasbro corrected the pose to make the ponies stand more upright (and not tip over), and in the process they made the feet concave.  There are seven ponies that you can find FF--the original six + Peachy.  Lemon Drop apparently came out during the switch and does have some mold variations but was never FF.

5. There are two specials and a movie--My Little Pony (1984) (also known as Rescue from Midnight Castle or Firefly's Adventure), My Little Pony: Escape from Catrina (or Katrina) (1985), and My Little Pony: the Movie (1986).

[prancingstag]

I can answer most but not all of your questions, as I don't have any knowledge of TV shows and movies from the early MLP days.

1. Some ponies were released widely in lots of countries - US, UK, Europe, South America, Oceania, etc. Ponies released in the US and other countries are common. "Exclusive" ponies refers to ponies that were Non-US but available in a number of other countries, so rarer than the common pony but not impossible to find. "Nirvana" refers to a pony that was only released in one country and is considered very rare (because smaller distribution area means smaller numbers).

2. Piggy is a specific pose that I think was only released in Spain. You can look at them on their My Little Wiki page.

3. Squeaky butt ponies are bald all over, no mane or tail. In the tail hole there is a squeaker, so when you squeeze and squish the pony, it squeaks!

4. The flat footed ponies are the earliest ones made. Their mold had the head drooping rather low and they lean forwards quite a bit, so they're front-heavy and tend to fall over. Inside, they have been given two metal washers on their tail to try and weigh their rears down, but despite that they still have standing problems. The concave foot ponies were released later and look nearly the same, but were remolded to fix the FF problems. They have higher heads and better weight distribution. The concave foot is part of this design - think of wine/beer/soda bottles, they all tend to have concave areas on the bottom to support the weight of their contents.

6. Dance and Prance ponies... it's in the name! Wind them up and they vibrate in your hands, but put them down on a flat surface, and they dance a little jig and spin about. You can see them in action in this French advertisement.

[hathorcat]

There are no such thing as silly questions! Thats what the Corral is here for - to share knowledge and ask questions

For questions 2 and 3 though you will get much more information and pictures over in the Nirvana forum.

1.  Is a Nirvana just a pony from another country?
Kind of . Other than the main Fancy Pants babies [which are stamped Taiwan] all ponies which were made outside of Hong Kong/China are classed as Nirvana. However, for many people Nirvana also encompasses some Hong Kong/China made ponies which had very limited country releases [Alt Birthflower, Regenbogen etc] as well as variants/prototype ponies of regular released ponies [Princess variants, etc].

2.  What exactly are the G1 "piggy" (I think that's what they are called?) ponies?
Piggy is the commonly used term for a set of ponies which were released in Spain under the MLP brand. They are called such because of their slightly heavy weight and general piggy appearance.

3.  On a similar note, what are the squeaky butt ponies that I have heard people talking about?  Also, do they have tails, because in the pictures I've seen they don't look like they do (granted, I've only seen like 2 pictures!)
Nope no tails. Here is a great thread all about them - http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,340511.0.html

4.  Are the flat footed ponies or the concave ponies earlier?  Also, why do they come in concave or flat footed?
The flat foot ponies came before the concave. No one knows 100% for certain why the ponies moved from FF to CF but the best conjecture is that the FF versions are a little head heavy which causes them to topple forward. Clearly Hasbro decided to change the mould for them and at the same time they changed the mould to allow for a little better balance, hence the concave hoof base.

5.  How many movies/ tv specials are there?  (the only one I've seen is the Midnight Castle one)
There are technically 2 specials and 1 movie Here is a good list http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G1_TV_and_Movies

6.  What exactly do the Dance and Prance ponies do?
They dance!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have a knob on their chest which you wind up. Then put the pony on a flat surface. The tail spins wildly and that makes the pony "bounce" a little on the surface and move around...hence the dance.

[UrocyonFox]

6. Dance and Prance ponies... it's in the name! Wind them up and they vibrate in your hands, but put them down on a flat surface, and they dance a little jig and spin about. You can see them in action in this French advertisement.

WHAT?! eye opener right here...... i just thought they wiggled their tails..... mine are all broken so I assumes as you twist the know the tail twisted too. I had no idea these gals actually pranced. Great gasp I must see one in person.

[HelloGoodbye]

Thanks so much guys!  I'm loving all of this new information.

I seriously want a Squeaky Pony and a Dance and Prance Pony now