Why do some G1 heads move?

[Khoufu]

Every Firefly I see has a movable head. Who else has a moving head? Why did they stop doing it? Or is it just that she had bad clue? I also noticed that Y3 pegasus ponies onward have less pointy wings. Afraid a kid would poke their eye out on such a dangerous plastic wing?

[Baby Sugarberry]

The glue gets weaker with age.  It's possible, but far less likely, that some missed being glued at all at the factory, but virtually always loose heads are due to ponies being pulled apart or the glue simply failing overtime.  The wing changes were probably more stylistic or production based (possibly they had problems getting them cleanly out of the moulds) than a safety concern, if I had to make an educated guess.

[Khayman81]

Some of my ponies have loose heads cause I unglued them. I don't mind them like that as long as the head doesn't drop...

[Khoufu]

Interesting. I have a few ponies with loose heads, and as a kid I always preferred those. Every Firefly I've seen always has had a loose head so I was curious.

[brightberry]

As a kid, I deliberately removed my ponies heads so I could turn them.  Then ponies could look at each other.   

[Khayman81]

As a kid, I deliberately removed my ponies heads so I could turn them.  Then ponies could look at each other.   

That's true, they look more alive like that 

[LadyMoondancer]

All the G1s had glued heads, with the exception of ponies who belonged to gimmicks that specifically involved moving heads. (For example: the Brush 'n Grows, the Ballerinas / Baby Ballerinas, the Peek-a-Boo Babies, etc.)

When you see ponies like Firefly who have turning heads, it's because the glue weakened enough for a child to break the glue and turn the head.  Which was pretty easy to do on a lot of G1s.  (Not like the G3s where you needed a chainsaw to get the head off for customizing, lol.)

The wings changes were just stylistic. 

[Taffeta]

These days as well a lot of collectors will unseal the head to clean out a pony if they have rust or other internal issues. I'm not a practical person and I don't dare go near such things for fear of ruining a pony, but there are many more skilled people than me who can and will do this without leaving major damage on the pony. Leaving the head unglued after this does indicate it has been opened up. That starts to matter when authenticating variants and whether ponies have been rerooted, but otherwise it's a really minor flaw.

Although kids did it too, I can't really figure out how. None of my ponies ever had a loose head, and I was pretty tough on them. Loose tails, yes. Loose head? Never.

[KarentheUnicorn]

I actually think the head was glued for shipping purposes because the way the pony head and body are designed it was intended to move and be turned, etc.

A majority of my USA pony collection was either bought from store or came directly from hasbro (Mail order) - the amount of glue varied the way I remember it. Some of them had less and were easy to move and some were glued with what seemed like superglue.

But looking at them on the inside the internal design suggests the intention was for us to be able to turn the ponies heads during play. I think they had to glue them because during shipping without glue there would have probably been ponies in package with heads falling off.

[LadyMoondancer]

I think the heads were glued into place for aesthetics.  Unlike G2s or G4s, G1 heads were designed to be viewed in one specific position. 

What I mean by this is . . . you can take a G2 and turn her head any amount and it still looks "natural".  Even if you turn it 180 degrees, it just looks like she's looking over her shoulder.

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Okay, but now look at Fizzy and imagine her head turned 180 degrees.

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(pic from Ponyology)

Her head would be upside down.    Same with the collector ponies and many others.

[Taffeta]

On Uni's point, child safety probanly also came into it, as a loosened washer would be a choking hazard.

LM, I think we can all do without Exorcist Fizzy in our mind's eye...lol

[Taxel]

Weren't some nirvana heads unglued too?

I love when necks are loose. It makes cleaning so much easier plus the posing is fun

[Khayman81]

I actually think the head was glued for shipping purposes because the way the pony head and body are designed it was intended to move and be turned, etc.

But looking at them on the inside the internal design suggests the intention was for us to be able to turn the ponies heads during play. I think they had to glue them because during shipping without glue there would have probably been ponies in package with heads falling off.

"Look girls! The new Hasbro toys are here: headless ponies!"
 
That could work today but 30 years ago I don't think so...

And thinking about a possessed Fizzy made my laugh out my breakfast. Must try that on my customed Fizzy since her head is loose.

[LadyPinwheel]

I did this gif some years ago...

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[Shaiyeh]

lady pinwheel that gif is amazing xD