Year 2 Hasbro catalog scans

[achab1984]

I love looking at these!

[Mermaid]

Interesting info on the liscense pack...buddy l and Tara toys held liscense and they made their own lines of fakies?!

[Lilja]

I also wonder whether that prototype image was somehow inspiration for the Italian production when they were looking at what they were making....

I wonder if early US prototypes were the basis for some international variations.

Euro Movie Star Wind Whistler and Buttons have the same symbols as the prototype So Softs shown in the Hasbro 86 toy fair catalog, while the actual produced so softs have different ones. Although this could have been done mainly to make the euro editions look more like the animated counterparts.

But then there's Spanish TE Masquerade who's in the Whizzer pose just like the prototype.

Brazilian Truly with an aqua streak in her mane just like the So Soft prototype Even if the pose changed. But maybe Truly was originally conceived as Pegasus or had this pose at some point during development.

In addition to the Italian rainbow ponies just mentioned who resemble the prototypes.

I really love seeing these early prototypes that differ from the final product. It gives us some insight in the design process of MLPs. Wish there was a way to see all the rejected designs.

[ValeofSpring]

I used to have the Year 2 sellers page with the regular Unicorns/Pegasi (sadly did not scan it!) and what was so odd was that the prototypes for the unicorns had some of the head molds switched . . . I can't recall which ones, but basically Twilight, Sunbeam, Glory, and Moondancer were all a bit different from each other b/c they used the Glory-type head mold on the Moondancer-type body mold and vice versa for two of them. So odd! Wish I had the pic to share.

I also remember that the packing numbers were uneven for this group, with Moondancer being the most short-packed one (only two per box) whereas I think Twilight had six. This makes me a bit suspicious of these numbers b/c Moondancer clearly sold better than Twilight and Sunbeam (even if you count out the Year 3 reissue).

It is completely believable that there were more Cotton Candys than other ponies in the packs.

[Taffeta]

I also wonder whether that prototype image was somehow inspiration for the Italian production when they were looking at what they were making....

I wonder if early US prototypes were the basis for some international variations.

Euro Movie Star Wind Whistler and Buttons have the same symbols as the prototype So Softs shown in the Hasbro 86 toy fair catalog, while the actual produced so softs have different ones. Although this could have been done mainly to make the euro editions look more like the animated counterparts.

The UK catalogue photo prototypes for this set have the US symbols, and Buttons here had both big buttons and buttons and stars symbols. The backcard of the US card has the European buttons and stars symbol, whilst the card of the European release has the US big buttons symbol. There is so much WRONGness in the relationship between the SS and Movie Star sets that it makes my head hurt. I really, honestly don't know what happened with the Buttons thing, either. It would make sense that the Euro ones were designed after original images from North America, but it doesn't explain why we had two versions of Buttons...and nothing, probably, ever will...

I know that US prototype photos and images appear a lot here in inserts and stuff, which sometimes leads to them being "wrong". For example, the blue heart Dazzleglow was originally touted by DV as a UK exclusive because she's on the UK insert for 1991-2, but that photo comes from US media, and the blueheart was never sold here. She was just represented here.

And these images also influenced comic depictions, which, if the SS Buttons prototype had buttons and stars...probably explains why Buttons in the comic had buttons and stars...

Gah .

[Baby Sugarberry]

I also remember that the packing numbers were uneven for this group, with Moondancer being the most short-packed one (only two per box) whereas I think Twilight had six. This makes me a bit suspicious of these numbers b/c Moondancer clearly sold better than Twilight and Sunbeam (even if you count out the Year 3 reissue).

It is completely believable that there were more Cotton Candys than other ponies in the packs.

Maybe they flipped the names by accident?  Just going by what I've found over the years, Moondancer is more common than Twilight - while neither is rare, I've seen more or as many Moondancers as Glorys, and more of either one than Twilight.  Which is odd, given she's pink and we know how much Hasbro loved offering pink ponies.

[ValeofSpring]

I also remember that the packing numbers were uneven for this group, with Moondancer being the most short-packed one (only two per box) whereas I think Twilight had six. This makes me a bit suspicious of these numbers b/c Moondancer clearly sold better than Twilight and Sunbeam (even if you count out the Year 3 reissue).

It is completely believable that there were more Cotton Candys than other ponies in the packs.

Maybe they flipped the names by accident?  Just going by what I've found over the years, Moondancer is more common than Twilight - while neither is rare, I've seen more or as many Moondancers as Glorys, and more of either one than Twilight.  Which is odd, given she's pink and we know how much Hasbro loved offering pink ponies.

It's possible! I think it makes sense they would short pack Moondancer b/c she's the one of the four you'd imagine on the surface would sell least well, with Twilight (or maybe Glory) selling best. But there is just something about white unicorns . . . I see more of Sunbeam than Twilight, so based on numbers (keeping in mind that Glory and Moondancer got at least a small bump from continued sales in Year 3 US), I agree that Twilight would seem to be the short packed one. In "the wild" (what I've seen over the years in lots, etc) I'd guess Glory and Moondancer outnumber Sunbeam by at least 5:1 and Twilight 10:1 or more. Although Twilight was definitely promoted by the TV special . . . hmmm.

[princessluna11706]

I like Sunlight's symbol so much better that way. A gold sun makes more sense! Thank you for sharing

[LadyMoondancer]

Hmm, interesting! Could Hasbro have switched things up partway through the run after seeing how well Moondancer was selling?  It would make sense that they wanted Twilight to be well represented, because she is "the pink one" of the unicorns, but she's also the one I come across the least.

Moondancer and Glory were also sold in Year 3, which would also explain why there are more of them, but at the same time I also see a lot more Sunbeams than Twilights.

I don't think the script writers knew which ponies were shortpacked.  I think Hasbro was like "So, these are the ponies for the year" and they were able to choose whichever ones they wanted to use.

[tootie_tails]

Shortpacking strikes again. No wonder there was always a Cotton Candy in every pony lot I bought on ebay.

That is also the reason the dads in the loving family ponies are so uncommon. (the families with horisontally striped hair).

And Sunlight is interesting. I was just comparing versions of her yesterday and noticed how some nirvana versions of her have her symbol the "better" way, with gold/yellow sun, while the common version has silver sun.
If the common versions prototype had gold sun, why did they change it? I wish they hadn't..

[Honeycomb]

So pretty! Imagine those prototypes turning up somewhere .... so long ago ... I hope they survived somewhere unharmed.

[Lilja]

The UK catalogue photo prototypes for this set have the US symbols, and Buttons here had both big buttons and buttons and stars symbols. The backcard of the US card has the European buttons and stars symbol, whilst the card of the European release has the US big buttons symbol. There is so much WRONGness in the relationship between the SS and Movie Star sets that it makes my head hurt. I really, honestly don't know what happened with the Buttons thing, either. It would make sense that the Euro ones were designed after original images from North America, but it doesn't explain why we had two versions of Buttons...and nothing, probably, ever will...

I think you've mentioned in another thread, the theory that the UK 1987 line was thrown together quickly in order to coincide with the release of the movie in the UK? To me that sounds like a likely explanation for all the discrepancies and odd decisions (more than usual) during that year. There was clearly some legit effort to adapt the line for the UK market and tie it into the movie (as seen in the "Movie Star" ponies card art), but time constraints might have led to some things being overlooked. It's interesting that Buttons (well, some of them) and Wind Whistler were made to be more screen accurate than their US counterparts, yet Shady is hot pink which does not match her screen appearance.

I used to have the Year 2 sellers page with the regular Unicorns/Pegasi (sadly did not scan it!) and what was so odd was that the prototypes for the unicorns had some of the head molds switched . . . I can't recall which ones, but basically Twilight, Sunbeam, Glory, and Moondancer were all a bit different from each other b/c they used the Glory-type head mold on the Moondancer-type body mold and vice versa for two of them. So odd! Wish I had the pic to share.

This I'd love to see! The insert for this year also indicates that there was some indecisiveness about which unicorn should have which pose, as all unicorns have their poses switched.

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Logically, if the art was made, there should have existed at least one prototype unicorn of each in the opposite pose. And judging by the picture in the toy fair catalog mentioned, we know that at least the head molds existed.

[mskittylovesrobin]

I just want them all and wish I had a toy shop then so I could order everything lol X

[TwinkleEye]

I love watching this and reading all thoughts about the prototypes. The drawing is lovely. Thanks for sharing!

[Taffeta]

I think you've mentioned in another thread, the theory that the UK 1987 line was thrown together quickly in order to coincide with the release of the movie in the UK?

Not the whole of the 1987 year, as some ponies, like Mountain Boys and Princesses, had nothing to do with the movie, but definitely the characters we didn't have already from the movie, and Megan and Sundance seem to have been to cover those gaps. So probably you're right. They didn't even give them backcard stories, just movie promotion in the case of Shady's set. That said, they do appear in the same catalogue as the MBs and co - I just assume they were done first and out first, as their cards are dated 1986, not 1987.

The switched poses on that Y2 insert is also really curious, because the US line pays much more attention to that in drawing marketing than the UK one. The mismatched poses imply that, maybe, there were prototypes in the opposite poses before things went to production, from which those were drawn. Either that or someone got genuinely confused.

I find it interesting that Twilight should have been more commonly available, yet it was Moondancer which survived through till the next year of release...