Ponies you thought existed, but don't

[Lilja]

Through your years as a collector, have you ever been under the assumption that a certain pony/variation totally existed, only to later learn it was a figment of your imagination? I know this happened a lot before or in the early days of the internet, when everything couldn't be as easily fact-checked.

A lot of it can be attributed to the old "Dream Valley - A Collector's Guide to My Little Pony" (which I still LOVE to browse the old version of through the internet archive), a site that back in the late '90s/early '00s more or less accepted any information that was submitted, and there weren't many knowledgeable non-US collectors around to dispute the information so a lot of it was accepted as true by the community. One of my favorites is that it mentions a BBE version of Baby Lemon Drop, sold only in Finland. It's so random and nonsensical, but at the time I totally believed that this pony existed.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


And then there's of course the classic "Prettybow", which is great to look back at now that we know of her actual origin.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Not every imaginary pony is a product of the Dream Valley site of course. As a young child I was certain I had seen a Molly and non-BBE Baby Sundance in a toy store, and that Baby Sundance was in the Ember-pose. Molly and Baby Sundance were not even sold in my country, so obviously this was wrong. What I saw was probably a regular Megan & Sundance next to a Twice as Fancy Megan & Sundance (both were sold in Sweden). The shy pose Sundance must have appeared smaller than the TAF one, which is why I interpreted it as a Baby (I was likely around 5 years old at the time, and only knew of Molly and Baby Sundance from a book I had).

I'd love to hear if anyone has similar stories. Whether it was a pony you heard about on the internet, or something you unknowingly dreamt up yourself!

[Einhornbaby]

Lol yeah, I know what kind of stories you mean

As a kid the first real MLP toys I saw in a store were the Twinkle Eye ponies. I remember I was daaaaazed by Fizzy but also by TicTacToe and for years (!) I was 100% sure that Locket, which was there too, was a soft blue instead of pink. I "knew" that she was You can surely imagine how surprised I was to find out that she was actually pink o.0

[Wardah]

The dolls that went with the pony friends. I know that catalog images existed but they were never actually produced and Dream Valley had them listed as though they were actually produced. Then again it seems there was a time that it was believed if catalog images existed the MUST have been made. Unfortunately now it's common knowledge that that isn't always the case.

[Miniature Sheep]

Not 100% sure if it counts but I harboured the impression that the ERTL My Little Angel pets and one of the She-Ra books (something to the tune of one of the horses being kidnapped) were part of the My Little Pony universe. Suffice to say that is when I was very young (too young to be able to read properly, evidently!)

[Taffeta]

I have a list of odd stories in my old notebook, some of which are now identified. Most of them came from discussion with collectors - ponies like peruvian baby Cotton Candy, and so on, who we now know much more about, but at the time we didn't have information on.

As a child I stopped believing in Baby Glory and Baby Moondancer and so on as myths, as I never found them here. So coming online told me the opposite - that ponies I thought didn't exist actually did!

In the case of the DV examples and errors, though, the material was available. I know this because I spent most of 1998 trying to get that material up on DV, and I wasn't alone. Most corrective information was ignored despite multiple attempts from me and from other collectors at the time to send her inserts, and other actual tangible proof, like photos of ponies, pony backcards, etc.  That print screen is actually better than what was there originally. I have all of 1997 DV printed out in a folder somewhere. ><.

I actually started my website in 1998 because of DV's inaccuracy. Back then I was dealing with variant ponies too, since nobody else was, and nobody really knew where they came into the equation.So at that time I got lots of rumours about ponies that may or may not exist, and then random weird ponies  that people described as fakies, and turned out to be ponies like yellow Minty. So again, it was ponies I didn't know existed that did, rather than the other way around.

When I came online, I too was enthralled by DV as my first ever pony information website. But my affection for it soured a lot because of the amount of hassle it created in perpetuating these myths.

[Lilja]

As a kid the first real MLP toys I saw in a store were the Twinkle Eye ponies. I remember I was daaaaazed by Fizzy but also by TicTacToe and for years (!) I was 100% sure that Locket, which was there too, was a soft blue instead of pink. I "knew" that she was You can surely imagine how surprised I was to find out that she was actually pink o.0

I think she would have been really pretty like that! I originally had a different vision of Whizzer, because in the cartoon and book illustrations she often appeared more lavender than pink, and had a red streak in her hair instead of purple. The produced pony is pretty, but doesn't match the image of her I've had since childhood.

In the case of the DV examples and errors, though, the material was available. I know this because I spent most of 1998 trying to get that material up on DV, and I wasn't alone. Most corrective information was ignored despite multiple attempts from me and from other collectors at the time to send her inserts, and other actual tangible proof, like photos of ponies, pony backcards, etc.  That print screen is actually better than what was there originally. I have all of 1997 DV printed out in a folder somewhere. ><.

I actually started my website in 1998 because of DV's inaccuracy. Back then I was dealing with variant ponies too, since nobody else was, and nobody really knew where they came into the equation.So at that time I got lots of rumours about ponies that may or may not exist, and then random weird ponies  that people described as fakies, and turned out to be ponies like yellow Minty. So again, it was ponies I didn't know existed that did, rather than the other way around.

Thanks for this information! I was sure she just accepted whatever info she was told due to the amount of errors on the site. Then again, as more non-US collectors got on the internet and noticed the errors, maybe she started receiving a lot more e-mails about it. Maybe it got too overwhelming for her, and she couldn't be bothered to sort through it all and just left it as is. I'm thankful for her contribution in any case. Her site must have played a really big part in forming the early online MLP community.

That said, I'd love to hear about what might have been claimed on your printouts from '97. I can only view the site as far back as 2001.

It's also interesting how the reverse happened for you due to Moondancer, Glory & company not being sold in the UK, yet featuring heavily in UK books/comics. The same could have happened to me with Twinkle Eyes and Flutter Ponies, which were not sold here in Sweden, but were prominent on the cartoon. I was born in the mid 80s though, so I just assumed all the characters I'd never seen in stores must've been from before I was born. Although I do remember seeing Baby Buttons in the episode "Crunch the Rockdog", and even as a child I was sure she was an animation error and that Buttons did not have a baby. Probably because Baby Buttons did not appear in any other episode or book. And her animation appearance likely was an error, but I was surprised to learn she did exist in Germany/Austria. 

Another pony I remember DV speculating if it existed was Megan's regular pony from the first special, TJ. Supposedly they would have come with the "Megan's Place" playset. Over the years I've seen several instances of people claiming this character really did exist as a toy. Which is pretty silly since it's such a minor character, more like a prop created for the cartoon to contrast regular real-life ponies with MLPs. I guess stuff like My Pretty Pony and Macau Jenny might have added to the confusion.

[Taffeta]

Thanks for this information! I was sure she just accepted whatever info she was told due to the amount of errors on the site. Then again, as more non-US collectors got on the internet and noticed the errors, maybe she started receiving a lot more e-mails about it. Maybe it got too overwhelming for her, and she couldn't be bothered to sort through it all and just left it as is.

I think she was busy, and that's why I helped her out at one point when we were on reasonable terms, by fixing the UK section for her...but she decided a few months later to revert some of the information. There were times when people would challenge DV on a mailing list and she would be quick to respond to that, but when anyone tried to send her info offlist or tried to give her correction information, she didn't reply and didn't do anything to change it.

Unfortunately it led to people claiming to have non-existent ponies to trade, thus scamming, and people doubting those who had real ponies not on DV to trade = unlike now, only a few people were receptive to ponies not in the mainstream and if it wasn't on DV it didn't exist, basically. So innocent people got hurt by things that should have been avoided, and I really don't understand why if she was so busy, she didn't just let us help and take our help and fix the site for everyone's benefit.

Oh well. Water under the bridge.

The folder is at the bottom of my wardrobe, I probably can't get at it, and I don't remember all the things it says - but I do remember that the prototype dolls, despite coming from a US catalogue, are given as being UK exclusive dolls. So is blueheart Dazzleglow, although she's on the US commercial. So was Baby Cherries Jubilee. I have a feeling there was some confusion about Pretty Bow coming with a waterfall...and that she was a form of Cascade, but I'm not sure. There were a ton of wrong names, too...

Can;t remember about BBE baby Lemon Drop. I think the rumour of the Finnish exclusive flutter pony may NOT have come from DV though I'm not 100% sure.

I think that when you first realise there's ponies other than the ones you were able to find and get as a child, its kinda weird and fascinating to get your head around. I remember my mind going a bit boggly over some of the US ponies, and I didn't even know what a So Soft was. We called plushes SoSoft here, so I thought they were plushies. Until I saw one. And then I knew they weren't...

Oh, I also remember that Baby Schoolbag shouldve been a boy, and was drawn as a boy, and I remember seeing him in the shop in the girl pose and going, that's not him, and so not buying him. I wanted a boy one xD. Not a girl!

[Karebearcntdwn]

When I was younger I had a set of petite ponies that I could have sworn had an all white Pegasus in a rearing pose. I have recently found a MIB set of the same ponies but this white petite was not inside. In fact I have yet to see a petite that even resembles this pony. There is a very semi long but weird story that goes with my memory of this but now I don't know if that was even real. It is all very strange lol 

[Broken Irishwoman]

A girl I used to play with had Princess Tiffany, but I was convinced that she was in the Surprise pose, like ABSOLUTELY sure.  Maybe because I wasn't familiar with the Tiffany pose at all until I discovered the whole online pony community, so it "translated" to the Surprise pose in my head?

I was also convinced that I once saw a really dark (brown?) pony at the store. Now I think it must have been Caramel Crunch, because she's quite dark, and she always rings a bell even though I don't remember knowing her as a child. Weird. 

[princessluna11706]

The dolls that went with the pony friends. I know that catalog images existed but they were never actually produced and Dream Valley had them listed as though they were actually produced. Then again it seems there was a time that it was believed if catalog images existed the MUST have been made. Unfortunately now it's common knowledge that that isn't always the case.

These!  I saw them in the pamphlet as a kid and believed they existed, as well as the Sweet Ice Delight Cottage.  Surprised when I learned both were never made.

I actually met Kimberly Shriner at a pony meet a few years back.  She was really nice, a bit quiet but friendly. 

[Mermaid]

When I was a kid, I swore there was a blue baby unicorn sparkle pony with a bird for her symbol. I was so convinced that when I started online collecting in 97 I searched for her for a good four years!

[Lilja]

The folder is at the bottom of my wardrobe, I probably can't get at it, and I don't remember all the things it says - but I do remember that the prototype dolls, despite coming from a US catalogue, are given as being UK exclusive dolls. So is blueheart Dazzleglow, although she's on the US commercial. So was Baby Cherries Jubilee. I have a feeling there was some confusion about Pretty Bow coming with a waterfall...and that she was a form of Cascade, but I'm not sure. There were a ton of wrong names, too...

Can;t remember about BBE baby Lemon Drop. I think the rumour of the Finnish exclusive flutter pony may NOT have come from DV though I'm not 100% sure.

I think that when you first realise there's ponies other than the ones you were able to find and get as a child, its kinda weird and fascinating to get your head around. I remember my mind going a bit boggly over some of the US ponies, and I didn't even know what a So Soft was. We called plushes SoSoft here, so I thought they were plushies. Until I saw one. And then I knew th

Haha, Prettybow is such a mess! I can somewhat understand how one would connect her with the waterfall, since she kind of looks like a combination of Sprinkles and Cascade. But I have no idea how one would deduct that she came with the German pretty parlor, yet had an English name. Perhaps she was found together with a parlor in Germany? (But that still doesn't explain the name)

I don't think I've heard about a Finnish exclusive flutter pony before. I wonder if Flutter Ponies were even sold in Finland.

I never knew about So Soft ponies as a child either, but I had the book "Picnic at Paradise Estate", where the ponies were referred to as "softie ponies" in the Swedish translation (obviously translated from the US edition). That was confusing until I found out about their US release.

[octocorn]

Not me, but last year coming back from pony fair I got into a conversation with the hotel clerk about one of her childhood ponies, and for the life of me I can't figure out who she was talking about.  She said it was a white pony with a rainbow symbol and a rainbow mane.  She almost has to be thinking of Raincurl, but I showed her a picture and she said that wasn't it, because "it had all the colors of the rainbow in it."

[Wardah]

Not me, but last year coming back from pony fair I got into a conversation with the hotel clerk about one of her childhood ponies, and for the life of me I can't figure out who she was talking about.  She said it was a white pony with a rainbow symbol and a rainbow mane.  She almost has to be thinking of Raincurl, but I showed her a picture and she said that wasn't it, because "it had all the colors of the rainbow in it."

Maybe she mixed up Raincurl with Starlight.

[Carrehz]

Not me, but last year coming back from pony fair I got into a conversation with the hotel clerk about one of her childhood ponies, and for the life of me I can't figure out who she was talking about.  She said it was a white pony with a rainbow symbol and a rainbow mane.  She almost has to be thinking of Raincurl, but I showed her a picture and she said that wasn't it, because "it had all the colors of the rainbow in it."

Huh, almost sounds like the mystery pony from Rescue at Midnight Castle, except she wasn't released as a toy o_O

visitors can't see pics , please register or login