This article or section does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. This article describes the My Little Pony toys. For the My Little Pony television series, see My Little Pony (TV series). For the second, unrelated TV series see My Little Pony Tales. For the feature film, see My Little Pony: The Movie. Fizzy and Galaxy the unicorns from the My Little Pony animated series My Little Pony is a product line of colorful toy ponies marketed to young girls, and is produced by Hasbro. The toys were first introduced in 1982, following the related "My Pretty Pony" toy which was introduced in 1981. They became enormously popular throughout that decade. In 1985 the first My Little Pony Cassette and 7" Vinyl picture disk (currently out of print) was recorded at AIR studios in Country Durham by vocalist Tony Markey. This went on to become very popular with My Little Pony fans in the UK. The original toy line inspired several animated specials, an animated feature length movie, and two animated television series. Redesigned toys have been introduced to the market twice since then, one near the end of 1997 and again in mid-2003. Collectors refer to each line as a "generation." All three My Little Pony lines consist of plastic ponies with brushable manes and tails. They are generally brightly-colored and can have multi-colored manes and tails. They have specific symbols on their hips that allow them to be identified. Some ponies have marks that stretch over their backs and sides or can be found on their cheeks and foreheads as well as hips. There are various types including Unicorns, Pegasus and seahorse-like Seaponies. My Little Pony was one of the most popular collectible toys of the 1980s and is enjoying a successful comeback on the current market. Due to the brand's recent return to stores the second hand market for the toys has boomed. However, many of the older Ponies are not worth a large amount of money, due to the fact that many were manufactured in large numbers and were purchased by many people. There are exceptions to this rule, such as in the case of Mountain Boys (not to be confused with the more common Big Brothers). The Mountain Boys were furry-footed male Ponies with weather themes and were only released in the United Kingdom. They were only available for a short time, making them highly desirable for foreign collectors and UK collectors alike. Other toy companies have chosen to mimic My Little Pony designs (and in some cases use actual My Little Pony molds) and create what are commonly known as "fakies" in the hopes of cashing in on Hasbro's success. Most fakie Ponies are easy to tell from the real thing as they are often made from cheaper materials. Hasbro has confirmed that they have not lost their rights to the G1 ponies. Any information saying otherwise is mere speculation.citation needed] Contents 1 Generations 1.1 Pre My Little Pony: My Pretty Pony 1.2 Generation One: Dream Valley 1.2.1 Animated Series 1.2.2 Mail Order Ponies 1.2.3 International Ponies 1.2.4 Related Lines 1.3 Generation Two: Friendship Garden 1.4 Generation Three: Ponyville 1.5 Other Items 2 Movies 3 My Little Pony Live 4 Collectors 5 Custom Ponies 6 Trivia 6.1 The Toys 6.2 Other Media 7 References 8 Further reading 9 See also 10 External links Generations Pre My Little Pony: My Pretty Pony My Pretty Ponies were produced in 1981 by Romper Room, which would become Hasbro the following year. They were around a foot in height with hard plastic bodies and brushable fabric manes and tails. Their eyes could be made to close and their ears to wiggle, and they came with brushes, ribbons, saddles and hats. The first My Pretty Pony was brown with yellow hair, resembling a real horse, while the second was peach with pink hair and a pattern of hearts on its rear, more resembling a typical My Little Pony. Generation One: Dream Valley The My Little Pony line started in 1982 with six Earth ponies: Minty, Snuzzle, Butterscotch, Bluebelle, Cotton Candy, and Blossom. As with the majority of ponies to follow, each was around six inches high with a soft plastic body, a brushable mane and tail made of synthetic hair and some kind of identifying symbol on the rear. The original ponies were all from the same mould and had a single colour in their body, mane and symbol - later ponies would introduce far more variety. Earth Ponies, as the toys which most resembled real horses came to be known, were soon accompanied by additional species. Pegasus Ponies had molded wings, while Unicorns had horns which purportedly gave them magic powers. Sea Ponies resembled real-life seahorses, apart from the colourful mane they shared with the original Little Ponies. Finally came the Flutter Ponies, who were smaller and thinner than Pegasus Ponies and had translucent wings more like those of an insect. Baby Ponies were also available in many forms, and were usually identical to their mothers apart from their smaller size. Many different sets of Little Ponies with striking aesthetic variations were produced, starting with the Rainbow Ponies (which all sported rainbow colored manes and tails) in 1983. Other notable variations include the So-Soft Ponies (which were entirely covered in fleece), Twinkled-Eyed Ponies (with a small jewel in place of the eyes), Twice As Fancy Ponies (with symbols covering most of the body) and Brush 'n' Grow Ponies (which had a longer-than-usual tail stored inside the head that could be drawn out through brushing). The line ran for ten years, ending in the US in 1992. Oddly, this year was touted as the celebration year of My Little Pony. Apart from the ponies themselves, merchandise included bed and room decorations, plush toys, puzzles, and books. There were also more unusual items, such as pomanders and toy sewing machines. Animated Series Two animated television series were aired during this generation. The first, My Little Pony, was set in Dream Valley, a land inhabited by witches, goblins and other magical creatures whom the Little Ponies and their human friend Megan would often do battle. The series promoted a great many of the toys available in 1986-1987, featuring a large regular cast of Earth, Pegasus and Unicorn Ponies with guest appearances by new lines such as Flutter Ponies and Princess Ponies. A later program, My Little Pony Tales, anthropomorphised the Ponies - they lived in a human-like town, going to school, fretting about relationships, running businesses, going on vacation and exchanging currency for goods. In 2004, the first season of the My Little Pony television series was released on DVD. The four DVD collection features two television specials, "Rescue at Midnight Castle" ( later retitled "Firefly's Adventure" when sold as part of a VHS and pony set ) and "Escape from Catrina," as well as fifty episodes from the original series. However, some songs from the original airing of the episodes have been cut. The packaging on the DVD features ponies from both the series, and the 1997-1999 line. 2005 featured a release of the ten episode miniseries "The End of Flutter Valley" on a single disc DVD. 2006 brought the release of episodes from the second season, with two single-disc DVD releases: "Flight to Cloud Castle and Other Stories" and "Quest of the Princess Ponies and Other Stories", in addition to a DVD of "Two Great Pony Tales", with "The Glass Coins" and "The Glass Princess" available as 8 episodes. Mail Order Ponies All packaging (mostly a bubble attached to a backcard) came with Pony Points, which could be used to obtain discounts on special ponies available only through mail order. Mail order ponies were generally reissues (such as a rerelease of Majesty, first available only with the Dream Castle Playset or unique ponies (such as the first boy pony, Lucky). Many of the mail orders are hard to find, and a select few are considered quite valuable - one, Rapunzel, sells regularly for above US$400 and has sold for over US$800. International Ponies In many parts of Europe, there were European exclusives. These were produced by factories in France, Greece, Italy and Spain. European ponies generally fetch more than their respective counterparts made in Hong Kong or China (where the vast majority of ponies were made). Some are fairly easy to find (for example: a Peachy made in Italy) whereas some are much harder to find (for example: Happy Birthday, a Greek exclusive pony made in the sitting pose with candles as a symbol). Most ponies released in the United States could be found in Western Europe as well. The majority of domestic mail-order ponies never appeared overseas, though many countries had their own mail-order systems (covered below). Some of the ponies (and even playsets) were given different names abroad (for example: the Big Brothers were known as Adventure Boys in the UK). Some variations came from different countries and were variations on US or UK released ponies. Some, however, were unique to their country or region. Related Lines Petite Ponies Petite Ponies are tiny pony figures. Each came in sets, some with different traits such as combable hair, shimmery bodies, or glow in the dark bodies. Under the base of each is an engraved hoof. This is so the pony can act as a key to the petite playsets. None of these smaller ponies had official names and many shared symbols. These were sold from 1989 to 1991. Dream Beauties Larger figures, made of hard plastic, that were advertised as "grown up" ponies. Unlike the main line, they looked more like horses. All of them were earth ponies except for the three Highflying Beauties, who had large multicolored wings. They were sold from 1989 to 1990 and were often confused with Fashion Star Fillies and Barbie horses. One way to tell the difference is that Dream Beauties have a line of plastic "beads" along the base of their manes. My Little Kitty/Puppy/Bunny Kitty, puppy, and bunny sets sold under the Hasbro MLP logo in 1990-1991. Each set consists of a mom, 2 babies and a plastic comb. All the moms were flocked and all the babies were mini plastic figures. Kitty moms had cottony tails. Puppy moms had either silky or cottony ears. Bunny moms had cottony tails and silky forelocks. The Bad Guys.. The mean characters in My Little Ponies were called the Flurries and the Crab Nasties. Generation Two: Friendship Garden The second line of My Little Ponies (referred to as "Generation Two" (G2) or 'Friendship Garden Ponies') lived in Friendship Garden, and were almost entirely limited to Earth Ponies, although a few Pegasus and Unicorn Ponies were made. They were fairly small, slim, long-legged poses. This line was largely popular in Europe, where it continued for several years after it had been discontinued in the United States due to a lack of popularity. There were no television spin-offs for the G2 Ponies, although they did have their own video game on the PC which involved taking care of a Pony and playing games along the way. In Europe, the ponies lived in Ponyland, rather than Friendship Gardens. The line was much more successful. Unlike the USA, it ran until late 2003, where the introduction of Generation Three ponies brought out the end of the line. A lot of the ponies released in later years are hard to find. Many more playsets were introduced, including a mansion and a castle. There was more merchandise to be found, including beanie ponies (though those were released in the USA), magazines, clothing, perfume, wrapping paper and colouring books. Generation Three: Ponyville This article or section needs to be updated. Parts of this article or section have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished. The current line of My Little Ponies is referred to as "Generation Three" (G3) by collectors. This has been attributed to it being the third release of ponies, which started in 2003. The G3 line is very similar to the G1 line in construction and design, although they are smaller. For their first few years they have been almost exclusively earth ponies, but now a few Pegasus ponies and even a unicorn are also in the line. The ponies live in Ponyville in the shadow of the Celebration Castle. Until the recent release of "The Princess Promenade" (Jan.2006), there appeared to be no distinct ruler (like the G1 line), however the discovery of Spike the dragon brought a new princess to the G3 line - Princess Wysteria. Most ponies in the G3 line have shiny or pearly bodies and matte symbols on one side, now referred to as "Cutie Marks". G3 Ponies also have a magnet in one hoof that is used to activate playset items. These magnets are fairly strong and can ruin computer equipment and TVs if prolonged contact is made. The foot where the magnet is found is marked with a small symbol, often a heart. In some early ponies, the heart and magnet were mismatched and the heart was on the wrong foot; this has since been corrected. The first year was the "Year of The Celebration", heralding the return of the My Little Pony Line. The years following have been the Friendship Ball and Butterfly Island, with the most recent being Crystal Princess, and each year has had video and DVD cartoons starring the new ponies. Packages were shaped like plastic purses with white cords at the top, and the background was of Ponyville's meadows. Some of the earlier Ponies came with a shiny cord called a "Friendship Ribbon" and a small pony shaped charm that matched the pony's body color; these were phased out quite early. Also, some of the earlier packaging came with Pony Points that were later used for exclusive mail orders. Unlike the G1 line, the pony points had to be sent in to order; a customer could not just pay a flat fee and add points to it to lower the price. Single ponies were of two main types. Rainbow Ponies had hair that had three or more colors in their mane or tail. The first four were Wysteria, Sunny Daze, Sweetberry, and Rainbow Dash. Glitter ponies had one or two colors in their manes or tails, which were interlaced with iridescent tinsel. The first four were Kimono, Pinkie Pie, Minty, and Sparkleworks. Sparkleworks, Pinkie Pie, Sunny Daze and Rainbow Dash have since become the trademarks of the line, having been re-released in different poses and/or outfits at least three times each. Later in the year two new Glitter and Rainbow ponies were released, and the four were released in new poses. While the line was simultaneously released in the US and Europe there has been only one non-US pony, a green pony with white hair named Winter Snow. A current release in Europe, a super long haired pony (twice the amount of hair) named Petite Petunia has been found. 2 Breezies (small fairy-like ponies) have been found in certain stores attached as a bonus with the ponies Precious Gem and Cupcake in 2006. Similarly 3 extra breezies (different to the ones with Precious Gem and Cupcake) have been found in certain marked packages of Sweet Breeze in Canada. Both the bonus breezies and Petite Petunia have not at present, turned up in the United States and are thought to be European and Canadian exclusives, respectively. One of the rarest G3 ponies so far was released unintentionally in 2004. A Pinkie Pie with "2003 Licensing Show" integrated into her symbol was used to promote My Little Pony at the 2003 spring Licensing Show. Only three hundred were supposed to be given out at the show alone, but due to packaging error a few were packaged as regular ponies and sold in stores. Because of this, she has quickly risen in value and can go for as much as $400. Other limited edition ponies have been the Pony Project promotional pony and Rosey Posey, who was given at a benefit dinner by Hasbro. Hasbro's handling of the G3 points program had some problems, the largest being the Frilly Frocks plush situation. An offer for a three foot plush Frilly Frocks pony was put up in exchange for 150 points and 2.50 in shipping in December 2004. The shipping cost for the 3' foot Frilly Frocks ended up being an error and was edited to a more correct amount of $25. But by then the demand had outgrown the supply and the stock was quickly depleted. The plush was removed from the site to prevent additional orders. Those who ordered the plush before January 18th had their offers honored; any after had their points returned. Most customers received a postcard in the mail detailing the understock situation and prompting a toll free call to the Young America Company. A customer could agree to wait and have a plush sent later (but no later than July 15, 2005). Those who either decline the wait or did not call had their orders cancelled and the points returned. The points program ended on January 31, 2006. Other Items A lot of licensed merchandise has been released for the newest generation. The main characters can be found on items ranging from bedding and home decor to clothing and dishware and school supplies. Plush ponies have been given away as theme park prizes and used in crane machines. The most noted of the plush is probably the 3' plush pony which was first available for sale in Australia (characters including Rainbow Dash, Minty, Sweetberry, and the special Kimono, which was used as a prize by Red Rooster Restaurants and Target). In the United States and Canada, the 3' Frilly Frocks was offered in the points program as a redeemable item and a special Star Shimmer was used by the Starlight Foundation to help special children and their families celebrate the magic of My Little Pony. McDonald's has also featured ponies in its Happy Meal promotions. Eight characters were used in the US promotion, while other countries had only four. Hasbro sold the digital gaming rights various properties (including Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Tonka, Playskool, and Transformers) to Infogrames for USD$100 million in 2000, buying back the rights for USD$65 million in June 2005.[1] Movies In 1986, the Ponies appeared in their first film, My Little Pony: The Movie. Directed by Michael Joens, it starred the voices of Rhea Perlman, Madeline Kahn and Danny Devito, among others. It was a failure, both at the box-office and with critics. (This was one of many unsuccessful releases from its distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, who went out of business several years afterward.) The Ponies would not appear in another movie of any kind until the 2005 direct-to-DVD release of A Very Minty Christmas. Once again, it gained little response from critics. However, both movies (like the TV series) have largely proved to be popular among fans of the toy line. Another direct-to-DVD movie, The Princess Promenade [1], was released on February 7, 2006. It featured the G3 debut of the re-designed Spike the dragon, who first appeared in the G1 line. It also included Breezies, small, fairy-like ponies. The animated feature A Charming Birthday was packaged on the same DVD. In fall of 2006, a new direct-to-DVD movie will be released, 'My Little Pony: The Runaway Rainbow'. It will feature the new G3 unicorn, Rarity, as well as Spike and the Breezies. My Little Pony Live On 19 June 2006, Hasbro and VEE Corporation announced a live touring production of My Little Pony. VEE is famed for its long-running Sesame Street Live production. Collectors Over the past decade, a large number of My Little Pony collectors has emerged. Once a small and relatively unknown market, the numbers of collectors have skyrocketed into the thousands during recent years. Such interest has sparked a rise in regional "pony meets". Recently, such conventions have morphed into large gatherings on an international scale, such as the My Little Pony Fair, which hosts hundreds of collectors from all over the world for one weekend every summer. Custom Ponies Another feature of the recent pony collecting scene is the making and selling of custom ponies. This is an art form in which common or poor condition ponies (called bait) are redesigned according to the vision of an aftermarket manufacturer. Customizers may paint new symbols on the pony, change their body color, paint their eyes, and re-thread their manes and tails with an interesting color or texture of hair. Some customs can become very elaborate, using sculpted parts, specially made wings, or detailed painting all over the pony. Customs have found a sizeable market on ebay alongside regular pony sales (because of the large amount of detailed work, many customs sell for $50-100), and each year a number of custom swaps and contests take place at pony meets and over the internet. Several prominent customizers now maintain customizing galleries and tutorials, such as "Lady Minty" of Minty's Custom Persuasion and Aikarin. Trivia The Toys Many Ponies from the G1 line were manufactured with pink hair that faded to white easily. Ponies with this problem tend to sell for a lot less. Ponies that suffered from this include Wind Whistler (pale blue Pegasus Pony), Tornado (dark blue Mountain Boy Pony) and Posey (yellow earth Pony). This was not changed in the G3 line; ponies such as Minty, Pinkie Pie, and others with pale pink hair also fade under prolonged sunlight. Belonging to the same company, some My Little Ponies shared names with two other popular toy lines of the 80s, Transformers and G.I. Joe. For example, Beachcomber, Cosmos, and Seaspray were both My Little Ponies and Transformers characters, and Firefly was both a My Little Pony and a G.I. Joe character. The poor box office performances of My Little Pony: The Movie and Transformers: The Movie were the primary reason why the big screen release of G.I. Joe: The Movie was cancelled. During year four of G1 production, Hasbro began using "regrind" plastic. This is where old plastic is ground up finely and mixed in with new plastic. It reduces waste, but the old plastic does not hold the dye as well as the new plastic, and can lose its colour over time. If too much regrind is used then the quality of a toy can suffer. As a result there are now some Ponies with bright pink spots in the plastic where the plastic has deteriorated over the years. Other Media In 2005, when US President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States, political cartoonist Steve Sack drew a cartoon depicting Bush brushing a pony toy with false eyelashes under the title "My Little Crony", since it was recently after the dismissal of Michael D. Brown for failing to handle the Hurricane Katrina crisis. My Little Pony has had "cameo" appearances in several other comics as well as some TV shows. (The OC debut of Princess Sparkle from the G1 line is a prominent example.) Robot Chicken did a skit called Apocalypse Ponies which featured pestilence pony, war pony, famine pony, and death pony. Another skit involved the winged horse Pegasus having his wings severed and turned into a My Little Pony by a demented little girl, who whipped him into accepting his fate. The Backyard Sports series has a parody called "My Precious Pony." In the series, Maria Luna says that she collects My Precious Pony dolls. Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, released an April Fool's joke revealing that the newest d20 RPG setting would be an adaptation of the My Little Pony setting to a tabletop roleplaying game ("d20 MLP") [2]. For April Fool's day in 2006, the front page on Slashdot.org (a popular news site) was redesigned in the fashion of My Little Ponies. [3] A parody/homage of the ponies has made multiple appearances in the Cartoon Network animated series Dexter's Laboratory, as the Pony Puff Princess and the Pony Puff ponies, idolized by Dee Dee and her friends. Except for the unicorn horn, they bear remarkable resemblance to the ponies of My Little Pony. References ^ "HASBRO REACQUIRES DIGITAL GAMING RIGHTS FROM INFOGRAMES FOR $65 MILLION", Hasbro press release, 9 June 2005. ^ Here Come the Ponies. Wizard.com (April 1, 2006). ^ Slashdot's Ponies (April 1, 2006). Further reading Hillary DePiano (2005) The My Little Pony Collector's Inventory: A Complete Checklist of All US Ponies, Playsets and Accessories from 1981 to 1992. Priced Nostalgia Press. ISBN 1-4116-2165-4 Summer Hayes (2006) The My Little Pony G3 Collector's Resource. Purple Pajama Press. ISBN 1-4116-7590-8 See also My Little Pony (TV series) My Little Pony: The Movie My Little Pony Tales My Little Pony: Crystal Princess Runaway Rainbow External links My Little Pony on Hasbro.com The official site Dream Valley - A fansite with comprehensive information on the 1982-1992 toys My Little Pony Collector's Website - A fansite with comprehensive information on the 1982-1992 toys, including many photos of mint in package ponies My Little Pony Fair Collector's Convention & Expo - Website of the annual My Little Pony collectors fair & convention Lady Twilight's My Little Pony Website - A fansite with extensive information on, and photos of, accessories that came with the 1982-1992 toys Rainbow Forest - A fansite with comprehensive information on the 1997-1999 toys Ponytopia's Resource for G3 ponies! - A fansite with comprehensive information on the toys from 2003-present My Little Pony Trading Post - A My Little Pony fan community My Little Pony Arena - A My Little Pony fan community Where the Rainbow Ends - A My Little Pony Resource site full of information and images of all generations of MLP, including a large foreign pony ID section. MLP Land / My Little Ponyland - A My Little Pony website with identification pages of all G1 + G2 + G3 ponies (US ponies & International Ponies), including a search engine. World Collectors Net My Little Pony Pages and Message Board Search Term: "My_Little_Pony" Categories: Articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements | Wikipedia articles in need of updating | My Little Pony | 1980s fads | Fictional horses | Toys of the 1980s | 1982 introductions

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