She's here and she's small! PJ Case Size Sweetberry Aussie Plush

[brighteyes]

EDIT: 2/18

She just arrived from Australia and she's the same size as the PJ case Pinkie Pie.  So does this mean she's a sample like the Rainbow Dash one?

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I love her!  She's so adorable!  She doesn't have a zipper like Pinkie Pie does and she doesn't have a tag that says sample. 


Is there a complete list with pictures anywhere of all the jumbo Aussie G3 plushies anywhere?  I know there were several iterations of these and different releases, slightly different sizes, fur textures etc.. some that were PJ cases (did these have a zipper in them to store the PJs or something?) and after looking at the MLP wiki and Strawberry Reef it seems like neither is really complete.  I'd want to eventually have all the ones that had a decent size release (the one of a kind, prize ones I'm sure I will have to appreciate from afar LOL) so I'd like to get a check list together and work on that collection goal.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[prancingstag]

There used to exist a complete site with photos of all the giants and information on release years and types, but it's since vanished into the ether. I have all of the photos saved so if you are curious I could PM them to you, but I won't publicly distribute them just in case.

The regular releases available in stores were:

Wave 1: Minty, Rainbow Dash, Sweetberry

Wave 2: Frilly Frocks, Minty, Twinkle Twirl

Wave 3: Minty, Wysteria, Pinkie Pie

Wave 4: Sweetie Belle, Minty, Wysteria, Pinkie Pie (these guys are the half-size PJ plush. They have a zipper along the back, and a small white fabric bag on the inside to store stuff.)

Here's a cut and paste from an older post I made on the subject, too.

Spoiler

The first wave of giant plush sold in stores were 3 feet tall, and were made out of a thicker, furry material. Their mouths were made with black string threaded along their muzzle. The wave included Minty, Sweetberry and Rainbow Dash. They have a "double" hoof heart on their leg - a large heart with a smaller heart accent in the top right.

The second wave came with butterfly backpacks. I'm unsure of height - I've never owned one, but always heard 33" for their height. They're made out of a thinner, non-furry material, and I believe still have the threaded string mouth. The wave included Minty, Twinkle Twirl and Frilly Frocks. Minty still has a double hoof heart, Twinkle Twirl has a single hoof heart with filigree decorations at the sides, and Frilly Frocks has a single hoof heart with no smaller accents.

The third wave came without accessories and were again taller at 3 feet. They were made out of the thinner material too, except their mouths are now embroidered detail in the style of their eyes and symbols. The wave included Minty, Wysteria and Pinkie Pie. They all have a single hoof heart.

The fourth wave was the "mini giants" or pyjama plush. They are half the size of the giants, roughly 22 inches. They are made out of the same materials and look exactly the same as the W3 giants except for height, slightly chubbier proportions, and they have a zipper on their back so that you can store pyjamas in there. The wave included Minty, Wysteria, Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle is sometimes erroneously said to be a giant, but she was only ever released in mini PJ form. The minis also have single hoof hearts.

I can no longer find the site that this photograph came from. It isn't mine and if anybody could re-source it that would be great, but it shows a nice comparison between the three giant Mintys. There's wave 1 on the left, wave 3 in the middle, and wave 2 on the right. Note the fuzzy fabric on W1, especially around the eyelashes. And the different mouths, and double/single hoof hearts - without height comparison or the presence of a butterfly backpack, the best way to distinguish between W2 and W3 are the hoof hearts and mouths.

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This is an old photograph from my personal collection, showing Wave 1 Sweetberry, Wave 3 Minty, and Wave 4 mini Wysteria. Again you can see the fuzzy fabric of the wave 1, particularly around the top of Sweetberry's symbol. The thicker fabric made them a good deal heavier than the thinner fabric plush, so I find wave 1s to be more prone to broken legs and drooping heads. They're also prone to having their mouth strings stretched out or broken - heard someone refer to them as "reins" at one point so children might have thought of them like that too.

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The wave 1s have thicker, softer fur but harder, heavier bodies. The wave 2/3s have thinner, smoother fur but softer, squishier bodies. So perhaps the later waves were lighter stuffed in addition to having thinner materials. I've never destuffed any so I can't accurately comment on the density of stuffing.

[brighteyes]

Thanks so much for the info Prancingstag!  I will definitely be PMing you for photos.  I have a onenote binder that I keep my collecting info in and I'd love to be able to have a complete list of the G3 Aussie plushes with photos for reference.  Part of the reason I'm really curious is that I recently purchased two of the smaller size plushes on eBay:

Sweetberry: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151970522078?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Tag:
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Pinkie Pie: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151970526774?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Pinkie Tag:
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The seller listed them both as 56cm but they look really different and were released at different times. The Sweetberry one looks like the larger 3ft plush with the thicker plush fabric and was released in 2004 but she does seem slightly different proportioned- like her legs are shorter.  The seller also told me she is heavier than Pinkie Pie even though they are the same size, so I paid extra to ship her.  But I don't see a Sweetberry listed as one of the PJ cases.  Were there different waves of PJ cases- one released in 2004 with Sweetberry?  The other thing that's strange is I can see what looks to be the zipper in the back of Pinkie Pie but not really in the back of Sweetberry.  The seller lists Pinkie Pie as being released in 2007.  I can't wait for them to arrive!

[lunar_scythe]

I think Sweetberry has had her leg supports broken is all.   her legs are splayed out, that's why they look so oddly proportioned; the leg supports were chop stick type things, if I remember correctly, and with some rough handling, they might have broken.

Or she may have been de stuffed and had her leg supports removed, if the current seller is not in Australia; the full size plushes could only be shipped for a few years, then they were too big to be mailed.  I have a wave 1 Rainbow Dash that was destuffed and just the skin was mailed to me; she looks like that, because restuffing means it's hard to get them stuffed as solidly as they were to start with.

[brighteyes]

I don't think she's been unstuffed as the seller is in Australia.  I wonder about the leg supports but wouldn't she be much much heavier than Pinkie if she were the 3ft one?  She only cost an additional 10$ to ship.  I thought those 3ft ones had to be unstuffed to be shipped out of Australia.  I saw from a thread on the old TP that there were smaller samples of the original 3ft plushies- Rainbow Dash was the one that was found.  Apparently the plush makers had wanted to make a line of smaller ones as well and made some samples but Hasbro had denied them the license for the smaller size.  However, the rainbowdash had a tag that said "sample" and this one clearly doesn't.  Here's the thread: http://www.mlptp.net/index.php?threads/hunting-for-info-on-giant-plush-ponies.18354/ 


 I did message the seller and ask her if they were really the same size and she said they were, but one was just heavier.   Hmmmm it's most likely a 3ft Sweetberry, but it will be neat to see what she is when she turns up.

[prancingstag]

Copying over from the PM I sent brighteyes - I do remember that wave 1 mini-giant Rainbow Dash prototype, and I believe your Sweetberry is a wave 1 mini-giant too. In the thread linked, AusMLP mentions there being five characters produced in small size. As RD and SB are the ones come up for sale so far, I would hesitate a guess that the characters would be the three Wave 1 characters and possibly 2 of the unproduced giant prototype characters. Little Sweetberry actually came up on eBay earlier last year and I didn't have any pony funds with which to grab her, but I did save the auction photos.

Spoiler

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I know how small she is both because of her look and her proportions compared to giants and mini-giants, but also because she's standing on top of a central heating vent. We have that exact model in our house, and it's 35cm (14 inches or so) across - a true giant would dwarf it, she's definitely mini size. SB shouldn't have a zipper in her back because wave 1s were regular plush, and I'm unsure why she doesn't have a sample tag. Her tag is almost identical to the tag on my giant Sweetberry, except the MLP/Hasbro logos are on the opposite sides, and yours says 2004 whereas mine says 2005. When you receive SB you'll be able to see the reverse side of the tag, it should say Just Premium toys, Melbourne.

[ponycake]

I saw that auction and was tempted by Sweetberry but saw the measurement wasn't the 3' one (as far as what the auction stated anyway). She is SO cute though!! Congrats on her!

[brighteyes]

Wow thanks for all the info Prancingstag!  Now I am super excited to get her.  I will post photos of her next to a meter stick when she gets here. 

[lunar_scythe]

wow, in that pic with the floor grate, it's really obvious she *isn't* just a squishy big one, lol!

I can't quite tell from the RD pics, did she have *only* a sample tag, or would she have had a regular tag too?  If she had both, it's possible the 'sample' tag was just removed from Sweetberry?  after all, they are 10 years old, that kind of thing happens...especially if it's been owned by a child, you know?

[brighteyes]

Bump!  She's Here and is the same size as PJ case Pinkie Pie.

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[achab1984]

WOW! Your very luck to have her! I love that she has the thicker hair! 

[northstar3184]

I never knew these existed! I'll have to see if I can track some down when I have a little more cash on hand.

[brighteyes]

Thanks!  I cannot find evidence of where a sample tag would have been, as with the Rainbow Dash, but it almost looks like part of the fur around the existing tag has been cut so it's possible there was a sample tag next to the MLP tag and it was carefully snipped away.  When AusMLP called the company about the sample the rep she talked to seemed really upset that she had found a sample for sale.  It's possible if someone had the other samples they made sure to get rid of any tags identifying them as such.  She is definitely not full size though and as far as I know is the only Sweetberry of that size and may therefore be considered a prototype. 

I do love how thick her fur is and how cute it looks on a pony of her size.  She is the most cuddly pony ever!

[Skeen]

Gorgeous!  I love that her hoof heart is more detailed than Pinkie's.   

[prancingstag]

Woo-hoo for Tinyberry existing! I'm kinda jealous, she's so adorably fluffy, the thick fur really stands out on the smaller design. It is certainly possible that whoever smuggled her out of the warehouse would have cut off the tag identifying her as not being for sale. Congrats on the pickup anyway!