G1 Butterscotsch question

[hathorcat]

I mean that the difference in the number of plugs for her forelock and the lack of plugs at the base of her neck are not something which indicates a mail order. These ponies were made in massive numbers and some variety in production should be expected.

Seeing her side by side the MO Cotton Candy, at her front height, I think that confirms her MO for you.

[Rowan Badart]

Thank you for your reply;) MO she is;)

My cotton candy is MO too? She's a little bit smaller than Butterscotch seen from the back, and her legs are a bit more closer tighter that those of Butterscotch...

[Buffy]

You should ask shelt-i, she is verygood with the Collector Pose ponies ;-)

[hathorcat]

Yes, unless the camera is enhancing her colour Cotton Candy is a mail order as well. She is the easiest to tell [along with Blossom] due to the quite drastic colour differences. CCs mail order version is a bright bubblegum pink colour.

[Rowan Badart]

Thanks! i like that!
So the fact that she's not the same size as Butterscotch doesn't matter in seeing her as a MO? i was thinking....year 2 Cotton Candy has this same darker pink color right?

[SeashellnBubbles]

I've found the carded ponies with CC feet are a little brighter than the MO versions, but the mO's are drastically pinker...yours I would peg as MO due to how vivid she is the CP ponies are so interesting for their varity of releases...even within ponies released the same year and the same way you're going to find variation! Are you looking to get ponies from each of the MO and carded ponies? Then you'll have to get all the ones released from other countries, too and there's # of stamps on the feet (2 vs 4) color variations, pat pend and non-pat pend...that's quite the challenge! Thankfully most of them are fairly inexpensive, but not so much when it comes to alternate hair and body colors from places like Italy and Columbia

[Rowan Badart]

@Seashellnbubbles,

Thank you for looking them up;)
So the difference between Year 2 cotton candy and MO cotton candy is that the MO one is even pinker? is the purple color of  her eyes also darker?
I'm just looking to get a nice set of 6 ponies only, i am totally oke with a mix of MO and store ones, i just like to have a complet set of 6 collector ponies in conditions etc i like, to display them in rainbow order.
When i rediscovered MLP i was inspired by  a photo of www.ponyology.com of this cool collector pony rainbow , so i started looking around the internet.
I was told Italian ones where those who were sold most here in The Netherlands so i started to buy dose, not knowing there where so many different variations in them.
My first buy was a lot of 4 ponies (cotton candy, butterscotch, blossom and snuzzle) not knowing i just bought 3 different variations! after a LONG search i decided to get them all in this 4 stamped variation.
When i was almost done, just needed to get blossom and cotton candy in this variation, i got tired of looking and asking around:P so i decided to get these two in US variant (they are almost the same size)
Now i like the US ones better cause they are the original ones, instead of a Italian interpretation of the original 6, i think they also look better than the Italian ones.
I have 2 Italians left, thinking to keep Minty and maybe, just maybe trade Bleu belle....but im not sure yet.
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[hathorcat]

Thanks! i like that!
So the fact that she's not the same size as Butterscotch doesn't matter in seeing her as a MO? i was thinking....year 2 Cotton Candy has this same darker pink color right?

She is not that far off in size. So yes I think your CC is MO as well.

Its something I know I have mentioned in your other threads and its something you need to remember; these ponies were mass produced in very very large numbers, on multiple productions, across many years and into multiple countries. They were designed to be relatively inexpensive and as such they are not collector quality - you have to allow for minor differences in colour and size due to batches. They were made in the 80s when moulds were cast from hand sculpted wax casts. There would have been dozens [probably more] moulds of the same pose, each created from the sculpted models. While the regularity of the moulds is great the fact they were created this way simply means there is the odd difference small difference in size, even of ponies released in the same way.

[SeashellnBubbles]

Oh, your ponies are lovely! Blue Belle and Minty juped all over me and screamed "ITALIA FOREVER" into my face yup...like we said, if you see a CP pony and you like its coloration enough to bring her into your group to represent all of her kind, your choices are pretty much unlimited. Price doesn't vary too much, though sometimes when you think you're getting a normal one, *POW* a nirvana will jump in there just for giggles! Ah buying ponies is a lot like a box of chocolates...ya never know whatcher gonna get.

[Gizmo]

I have the entire set MIP and also purchased them loose and complete from an original owner on eBay and previously bought them separately though out the years. Comparing them there are definitely some slight variations such as hair length, symbol shades, etc..which I believe is mostly due to different batches manufactured in different factories.

Some of the later batches can be identified by the shorter and thinner forelock (fewer hair plugs) whereas earlier productions had the same hair as your Cotton Candy. Here's a comparison where you can clearly see the difference in forelock between two MO Blue Belle ponies (photos by Spoosh):

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[Rowan Badart]

Thank you all for answering my questions;)

Now i understand completely (and try to remember) how it works with all of those minor differences and quality expectations, thank you for making it clear to me;)

I do think it's a bit odd, i automatically expected Hasbro to have some sort of quality control making sure all ponies of a set/line would look the same, meeting up with a set standard in size, color and hair etc, no matter which factory or batch they came from.
But maybe that's a difference in manufacturing processes between the 80's and today?

@Gizmo, thank you for posting those photos! the first one looks just like my butterscotch, same forelock and manes so i seems, giving me a more clearer picture;)

[SeashellnBubbles]

For the most part, yes, their quality control is pretty good, but the machines would have to be calibrated by hand, mostly. The very early ponies had exceedingly thick manes and tails in the Hong Kong factory, but I think to save money, they spaced out the plugs a little more and a little more. Some workers who calibrated the spacing made mistakes and set the needle too far apart, and some of the sparsely haired ponies got through (as they do now) by making the plugs further apart Hasbro would have saved money, and therefore their profit margin would have been higher, making the shareholders happy while keeping the consumer satisfied as well..

[Rowan Badart]

So like Gizmo was saying earlier, the ones with lesser plugs are the ones from a later batch? (The first of his posted pics looks just like my butterscotch, same mane, same forelock)
Am i  right when i say the mail order collector ponies came out  in a time when MLP  lost some of her popularity? (I  saw that mentioned  on some website)
When income  trough lower sales drop, you have to save some  money so the spacing would be a way to do so.

Just curious why mine has lesser hair, and if that's because they made the later ones this way, that's totaly fine with me and im happy;)

[pilarsworld]

What a fantastic thread.Ive learnt so much..had to check my ff Butterscotch and yes 6 one side and 7 the other...I never even knew.Beautiful poniestoo.

[Gizmo]

So like Gizmo was saying earlier, the ones with lesser plugs are the ones from a later batch? (The first of his posted pics looks just like my butterscotch, same mane, same forelock)
Am i  right when i say the mail order collector ponies came out  in a time when MLP  lost some of her popularity? (I  saw that mentioned  on some website)
When income  trough lower sales drop, you have to save some  money so the spacing would be a way to do so.

Just curious why mine has lesser hair, and if that's because they made the later ones this way, that's totaly fine with me and im happy;)

I believe mail orders with shorter and fewer hair plugs were manufactured in 1987 cause other regular ponies from that year also had shorter manes and thin forelocks - here are some examples:

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All three ponies above were from the same year and if you notice they all had a similar haircut which indicates they were produced under the same guidelines or in the same factory as SeashellnBubbles suggested.

Mail order Rainbow ponies also had similar variations, they remained available till 1990 or 1991 and there were some obvious differences among different batches:

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