German pony questions

[LuckyTwirlerina]

I was thinking earlier about how G1 ran through the 1980s and realized, wait, were these German ponies only West German, or was MLP sold in East Germany as well? It sounds unlikely but I cant help but wonder if anyone happens to know or sure??

Also, I wonder how many ponies saw the fall of the Berlin wall. I SO wish ponies could talk. 

[Einhornbaby]

I am not 100% sure but I think before the fall of the Berlin Wall it was difficult to get your hands on ponies. I remember summer of 1989, before the final opening of the wall, when I was 7 and we visited my best friends family in east germany. Me and my friend brought our ponies and the family´s kids told us they had never had or seen such toys. Im not sure if it was because they werent able to get them or if it was just a coincident. Hopyfully an east german arena member will clear us up

[pinkkittywinks]

This is a very interesting question Lucky

I am interested to hear what our members have to say.

Love pkw xxx

[LuckyTwirlerina]

I am not 100% sure but I think before the fall of the Berlin Wall it was difficult to get your hands on ponies. I remember summer of 1989, before the final opening of the wall, when I was 7 and we visited my best friends family in east germany. Me and my friend brought our ponies and the family´s kids told us they had never had or seen such toys. Im not sure if it was because they werent able to get them or if it was just a coincident. Hopyfully an east german arena member will clear us up

Gosh I'm such a sucker for little stories like this. Thanks for sharing! 

I also wonder if there was a difference in product between the American, British, and French sectors. It seems unlikely that the Soviet sector would have allowed for an American toy brand, but I'm so curious if any made it over. Some ponies must have seen some serious stuff. Or how many little kids brought their toy ponies to the celebrations when the wall fell, or what kind of Cold War era stories children had their ponies act out, or or or... I have so many questions!! Someone talk to me about Cold War nirvana ponies!

[hathorcat]

I have a Lullabye Nursery which says "made in W Germany" on the box and I know their are releases of the Show Stable which are the same. Of course the whole thing is not necessarily made there just that some components will have been and then it was sold within that market. 

I think, although I am far from certain, that the releases would very much have been Western Europe focused. For the reasons you mention and because Hasbro was very much a western/US commercial brand. Western products could of course be found in GDR/East Germany but they would typically be very very expensive in comparison to comparable eastern made products so perhaps it put them out of the reach of many people. If they were there, they would probably only be found at Intershops which stocked Western products - they did carry western toy lines so perhaps if MLP was available that is the one place it would have been found.

[Buffy]

Western products could of course be found in GDR/East Germany but they would typically be very very expensive in comparison to comparable eastern made products so perhaps it put them out of the reach of many people.

I'm sure you mean DDR/East Germany ;-)
I will ask my friend, she is living in east Germany and I will let you know, when I have any news(I'm sure she has ponies from her childhood)

[LuckyTwirlerina]

Thanks for the replies!! This is such an interesting topic to me. 

Western products could of course be found in GDR/East Germany but they would typically be very very expensive in comparison to comparable eastern made products so perhaps it put them out of the reach of many people.

I'm sure you mean DDR/East Germany ;-)
I will ask my friend, she is living in east Germany and I will let you know, when I have any news(I'm sure she has ponies from her childhood)

GDR is the English (German Democratic Republic) and DDR is the German (Deutche Demoktratische Republik) c:

And thank you! I really look forward to hearing some info from someone from that area!! 

[LadyGuinevere]

I would have thought that there would not be many MLP sold in East Germany at the time due to the political situations, however of all of the Communist countries, East Germany is the most likely to have some at that time due to the close proximity and ties with West Germany, who did. I just can't equate in my head any Communist based countries selling capitalist-made/licensed products. Doesn't exclude fakies though.

It wouldn't be pony-specific, but I could ask my mum about the likelihood, as she was in East Berlin for several months in the late 1970s (as a student of German and Russian). I do know that as Westerners they were able to cross more or less whenever they wanted, so I presume that some people could have brought things like MLP with them.

Of course, remember that childhood ponies could still be post-1989!

[Mirnyj]

Such an interesting topic!

[hathorcat]

Western products could of course be found in GDR/East Germany but they would typically be very very expensive in comparison to comparable eastern made products so perhaps it put them out of the reach of many people.

I'm sure you mean DDR/East Germany ;-)
I will ask my friend, she is living in east Germany and I will let you know, when I have any news(I'm sure she has ponies from her childhood)

Yup - sorry I should have included the German as well

[Raindrop]

I am pretty sure mlp were not available in East Germany before the Wall came down
I lived near Giessen 1986-1996, and had family visit the east both before and after things opened up.  The people in the east had access to only a limited range of communist factory-made goods.  Anything American or capitalistic wasn't allowed.  People would be on a waiting list for four years to be able to buy these sorry little Trabi cars (I think that's how it was spelled).  When the Berlin Wall fell people poured into West Germany, visiting long-lost relatives and devouring Western-made goods.  We forget how repressive the Soviet-bloc governments were during the Cold War.

We were visited by an East German family who were lucky enough to be allowed across the border into West Germany for a visit before everything opened up.  Their little girl was amazed by my and my sister's mlp collection.  We gave her SS Gusty and BBE Baby Gusty since she never had such toys back home.  I still wonder what happened to her and her ponies.

[Bibinettepony]

  this is such an interesting and lovely topic, oh yes if ponies could talked!! A lot of them have travelled and I am sure they have seen a lot of interesting things!

Thanks all for sharing your ideas and stories