What we knew then...and now

[Taffeta]

Going through my stuff the other day I found my old notebook from 1996-9. In it I kept a record of every pony, their set, their pose, their colour schemes and so on and so forth, based on the sources available to me (Hasbro's UK list, Dream Valley, and so on). I stopped updating the book in 1998-9, so it's a really interesting snapshot, digging it out, of what we did and what we didn't know about ponies all the way back then.

Most interesting to me is the references to variant ponies and oddballs, and some of the weird and wonderful things noted down along with things that, now, have an answer and an identity.

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

The first list is really just Italian and Macau ponies that were known about back then. The fact these were listed in my book under 'variations' kinda underscores for me the idea that, at that time, they were really the only ponies considered to be variants, and not much else had been discovered at that point. There's no mention I can find in my book of Indian ponies or Brazilian Peachy, both of which I had on my site fairly early, so that dates the book to, at the very latest, early 1999.

The second list, despite including many ponies that are not variations or oddballs, and others which are variants but not oddballs...is simply titled Miscellaneous. I guess it represents the fragments of information, some seen, some reported, some rumoured, that existed back in 1998. I'm a historian, so I find this kind of flashback interesting.

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

And what we know now, based on that list (and feel free to correct or supplement me on these details)

1.Chrissie - since identified and confirmed as Baby Ribbons & Hearts.

2. Originally unknown, updated with the magic of tippex to Li'l Tot xD.

3.Baby Snuzzle - really a faded out Purple Ember. Name suits her though

5.Baby Misty - proven later to be a fakie in a MLP mould.

6.Bobbie - my original note for her didn't give her a name; I added that after we got ours and it spread.

7. The first time the Alt birthflowers appeared, everyone was confused. Seems Lily of the Valley was the first to surface back in 1998.

8. Not really got a clue who this was. There is probably a Nirvana expert who can identify a likely candidate, though!

9. Ditto above. Suspect it was a rumour that never manifested, rather like...

10. This one was very odd. For a long while there used to be a belief that there was a finnish flutter pony called Tiny Wings, who was blue all over...I have no idea where that came from at all. I crossed it out when it couldn't be confirmed.

11. Muddled Cascade. A yellow pegasus with a green bow symbol. I actually think that this might be Argentinian Flutterbye, and the bows were butterflies, but someone else might know better.

The one with the beanies is probably Whizzer (Argentinian) although goldish yellow sounds odd to me...mine is very bright orange!

12.Seagull. This was later identified as German pony Himmelstanzer.

13. For some reason Raindrop's actual name appeared before Himmelstanzer's did. Her set was mysterious, however, so she went on the miscel page in my notebook.

13a. This is the Argentinian Christmas pony, I think. Felicidades?

14. Baby Cuddles (Brazil).

15. Pretty certain this is Peruvian Baby Cotton Candy. Also one of Helen's, brought over in her visit in 1998.

16. Argentinian peekaboo baby.

17. Another Argentinian peekaboo baby. I don't remember the source for this, maybe ebay.

Ponies 14, 15 and 16 were owned by Helen Kiker, and she brought them to show me them when she visited in May 1998. They are on the list for that reason. There were no discussions online at that time about Argentinian, Brazilian or Peruvian ponies, which a: put Helen ahead of the game and b: is probably why they went in miscellaneous and not in Variants.

I find this list amusing and interesting. First and foremost it shows how much more information we have now than we had then. Secondly, though, it shows that some of the Nirvana ponies were around and being discussed long before the term Nirvana existed.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of Nirvana ponies now, most of them documented, detailed and discussed (with records in the Gallery here and other places). I think, considering the beginnings of variant knowledge, ponypeople have come a HUGE way in knowledge in the past 16 or so years!

[moevelvet]

Wow!  That's really interesting...  I've been wondering what pony collecting was like back in the 'old days.'

[tikibirds]

That's pretty cool. Its like a pony time capsul.

[pinkkittywinks]

Thanks for sharing Taffeta

So many myths and stories have been dispelled in the last few years I started collecting 12-13 years ago and I remember some of the mysteries from that time.

I wonder if the grey unicorn with pink hair is a dirty or discoloured Argentina Moondancer?

Love pkw xxx

[Taffeta]

Thanks for sharing Taffeta

So many myths and stories have been dispelled in the last few years I started collecting 12-13 years ago and I remember some of the mysteries from that time.

I wonder if the grey unicorn with pink hair is a dirty or discoloured Argentina Moondancer?

Love pkw xxx

Do you mean this one?
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 (pic borrowed from wiki)

That's more than possible o.O. Or maybe a French one - isn't her hair quite light pink?

[pinkkittywinks]

That's the one! It could be the French one, her hair is a coral colour

Another thought - a faded Italy Skyflier or Peru Bowtie?

There is also Greek Moondancer and Glory who have darker pink hair?

I think I'm just making it worse

Love pkw xxx

[Taffeta]

I think I'm just making it worse

Love pkw xxx

But that's the thing with mysteries O.o. Unfortunately, I have zero images relating to this notebook. I didn't usually write them in unless I had seen them in some way myself, whether online or what, but with the Tiny Wings flutter (still clueless!) and the Baby Skydancer examples, I obviously had someone else's input or it was generally believed at the time. Tiny Wings may have been a Dream Valley rumour, but I can't remember. I know the Cascade one was, because at that time DV had that pony pictured as the pony who came with the waterfall in the UK, presumably because she'd been sent a pic and had been told that a yellow and green pony came with the waterfall.

That page I probably have printed out, actually, BUT it's at the bottom of my wardrobe in my ancient 1997 DV printout folder AND I'm in London, which is not remotely near where it is...

[LadyGuinevere]

No, I was thinking it could have been an Argentina Powder with coloured in hair! (or bad lighting). The French one does have pink hair as well, but I don't think I have ever seen her discoloured.

Also pretty sure that 15 is Peru baby Cotton Candy. Her symbol does look rather like clouds!

The gradual discovery of new ponies is one of the things I love most about variant collecting The term 'Nirvana' didn't appear until 2003, so there was a lot known before then too (even if we do know more now)

[Taffeta]

The gradual discovery of new ponies is one of the things I love most about variant collecting The term 'Nirvana' didn't appear until 2003, so there was a lot known before then too (even if we do know more now)

It's what I loved about it too. And, honestly, it's what I still love about discovering odd random bits of UK promotional material or information/data now I've left the Nirvana stuff behind. I still find it really interesting reading threads on here, though, and finding out all the stuff I've missed in the last 10+ years. It never fails to amaze me...

I have a very bad photo of Helen's three ponies on our coffee table and I am 100% certain that's who she was.  It's pretty telling that I didn't record a pose for her on my list, as Peruvian baby poses are just a shade original and so she wouldn't have fit my pose list. (By contrast, Baby Cuddles has Baby Blossom's pose noted and the Peekaboo has Baby Graffiti's pose noted). I often wonder what other wonderful things she had in her collection even then, since she brought just those three to show me as examples of odd stuff she'd found. I remember staring at the peekaboo baby's foot and seeing how Argentina was too long a word to fit on one line on such a tiny hoof xD. We identified that one and the Brazilian one within a few years of Helen coming to see us, but the Peruvian one was still a mystery...at least then xD. I'm really glad it's not now.

[LadyGuinevere]

Yeah, the Peruvian babies have blank feet, which wouldn't have helped! I know she had some true gems in her collection, even before we knew just how vast the variations were.

[kellyponyfeathers]

I think a lot of the weird ponies that were considered very rare back then have turned out to be fairly common foreign ponies now that those markets have opened up.  Of course, that's not always the case; some variants are still very rare.  But yes, a lot of the mysteries have been solved now that we have more information, better networking, and toy dealers in other countries.

I've been collecting since the beginning, but back in the day I didn't like computers and sort of lurked on the edges of the pony community.  My friend Amy was better with computers than I was and set up most of my trades for me, and the only other person who really knew me was Sebby6.  But I remember being fascinated - and confused! - by all the foreign ponies that were being discovered.  Even UK ponies were pretty new and different back then (like Cascade).

[kitkatvintage]

I have a similar handwritten notebook of all the weird things I saw or heard about online. This is such a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thank you Taffeta!! It's also a bit sad since Helen first showed me some of those amazing odd ponies, too. For years my biggest "never going to find it in a million years" grail was Argentina Baby Graffiti... until all of the Argies hit the market & I finally bought her for rather cheap. I do have one happy memory for those of us who knew Helen: when I visited her before she passed, I had recently bought my yellow Venezuelan Cherries Jubilee (one of the very first confirmed Venezuelan ponies from a knowledgeable Venezuelan toy seller) and Helen asked if I would bring it so she could see it. While visiting her, we compared my Ven CJ to her white Tootsie that had been a mystery pony for years and confirmed that her white Tootsie was also a Venezuelan pony. She was happy to have finally identified one of her remaining mystery ponies. Tootsie now lives with CJ in my pony room, next to a picture of Helen & I holding those 2 ponies (and that picture is very likely the most special thing in my whole pony room).

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I have a similar handwritten notebook of all the weird things I saw or heard about online. This is such a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thank you Taffeta!! It's also a bit sad since Helen first showed me some of those amazing odd ponies, too. For years my biggest "never going to find it in a million years" grail was Argentina Baby Graffiti... until all of the Argies hit the market & I finally bought her for rather cheap. I do have one happy memory for those of us who knew Helen: when I visited her before she passed, I had recently bought my yellow Venezuelan Cherries Jubilee (one of the very first confirmed Venezuelan ponies from a knowledgeable Venezuelan toy seller) and Helen asked if I would bring it so she could see it. While visiting her, we compared my Ven CJ to her white Tootsie that had been a mystery pony for years and confirmed that her white Tootsie was also a Venezuelan pony. She was happy to have finally identified one of her remaining mystery ponies. Tootsie now lives with CJ in my pony room, next to a picture of Helen & I holding those 2 ponies (and that picture is very likely the most special thing in my whole pony room).

AWWW Pony sisters they were meant to be!

[Princess Sparkle]

Amazing Taffeta, that note book you kept is such a gem and it's so interesting to see how far everything has come. When I stopped collecting 12 years ago the princess variants, Italians and argies had just started to come out on eBay. I still can't believe hasbro made different ponies in SO many different countries  I'm glad they did but, it's given me a second wind of collecting now!

And KitKatVintage that is truly one of the most touching things I've ever read 

[Chi]

OMG Kit Kat ... That's so sad and so sweet.

I hope we never stop discovering things in this mystery-filled pony world of ours. I have friends in various countries around the world and they're always keeping me in mind when they go to stores where a gem might be found. I've had a friend in Asia find a few little oddities that I may have to post soon.