My Little Ponies and Friends (U.S.) (Q-Z)
Year 4 (1985)
Year 4 was a huge year for the My Little Pony line, having some of the most famous and most infamous characters. The launch of My Little Pony: The Movie was nearing and Dream Valley was all ablaze.
Probably some of the most remembered characters were the Flutter Ponies, starring in the pony movie. They are lovely petite bodied ponies with thin, delicate wings (the bane of every child's existence; I believe all of mine were broken within the first week). Following the fame of the Flutter Ponies are the less popular Beddy Bye Eyes Ponies (most people either love them or hate them). These ponies came with many accessories and were the babies that could actually sleep and wake.
Another version of Megan and Sundance were released, and also now Molly and Baby Sundance. A special Party Gift Pack was also released, with five ponies and so many accessories. Another issue of Baby Sea Ponies would be issued, but they would be the only second edition (except Megan and Sundance).
Two new innovations came along this year (and would be released the next year as well): So Soft Ponies and Twinkle Eyed Ponies. One pony had was soft like real ponies and one had big sparkly eyes.
Also, perhaps one of the most famous playsets released, the Paradise Estate. This also had a relation to the movie, being where the ponies moved after the Dream Castle was destroyed. The fascination with the Paradise Estate lays partly in the hundreds of little accessories that came with the playset.
Click here to see the So Soft Ponies mint in the original packages!
The idea for a plastic pony that was actually soft was a smart one. The So Soft Ponies were covered in this velvet like fur. The cartoon insert below doesn't do very much to show the actual pony flocking. People who do not know MLP terms commonly refer to So Softs as Fuzzy, Furry, or Flocked. Hasbro opted to make a lot of these in Year 4, more ponies in one set than ever before.
Here is an example of a So Soft Pony's body; she is
covered in flocking.
The only body part left uncovered is the eyes. The So Soft
Ponies are actually made of the same plastic that regular ponies are made of,
except covered in fuzz. They look slightly bulkier than the standard pony;
also the eyes appear smaller because of the overlapping flocking.
Also the symbols are
often much harder to discern due to flocking; especially certain deeper colors.
Thanks to Joanne for the group photographs below!
Buttons (unicorn) is lavender (looks pink) with blue hair with dark pink
streak and pink buttons.
There are three pink buttons total, each having two tiny holes in it. She
has blue eyes and curly hair. There are two different International
versions of Buttons, one is a Non So Soft version with three buttons and
another has buttons and stars.
Cherries Jubilee (earth
pony) is peach with
peachy pink hair and dark pink
cherries. There are five cherry stems total each a picturing two cherries
with a green stem. She has green eyes and curly hair. She returned as a so soft from an Earth
Pony Year 3.
Cupcake (earth pony) is white with aqua hair and five pink cupcakes with
orange wrappers. She has lavender (may appear pink) eyes and curly
hair. There is a rare Non
So Soft International version of her.
Gusty (unicorn) is white with green hair and a
red streak in the
mane. Her symbol is five purple maple leaves. She has green eyes. She returned as a so
soft after being a Unicorn
Year 3. There is a Non
So Soft International version of her. There is also a Baby
Gusty.
Heart Throb (Pegasus) is lavender (may appear pink) with pink hair and
four pink
hearts. The So Soft version, unlike the regular version, has no
wings. The reason being the wings were glitter and not painted. So
they
apparently took Heart Throb before adding glitter and gave her flocking.
She has blue eyes and curly hair. She returned as a so soft after being a Pegasus
Year 3. There is also a Baby
Heart Throb.
Lofty (Pegasus) is all yellow with a pink hot air balloon surrounded by
several pink stars. She has dark purple eyes and curly hair. There
is also a Baby Lofty.
Lickety Split (earth pony) is lavender (may appear pink) with pink hair and six white ice
cream with lavender cones. They are various sizes. She has purple
eyes and curly hair. She returned as a
so soft from an Earth
Pony Year 3. There is a Non
So Soft version of Lickety Split. There is also a Baby
Lickety Split.
Magic Star (earth pony) is yellow with green hair and pink and a green
star wand, pink ribbon dangling from wand (stands only on hind legs). She
has curly hair. She
has green eyes and is a rearing pose (this pose is shared only between three
ponies: Truly, Magic Star, and Skippety Doo. All three are So Softs
in the U. S. There is a Non
So Soft version of Magic Star in a different pose.
North Star (Pegasus) is pink with purple hair and purple and blue
compass with a
blue North Star.
She has purple eyes. Pictured right is the
International Non So Soft version. North Star seems to be one of the
harder symbols to see under the flocking. There is a Non
So Soft version of North Star. There is also a Baby
North Star.
Paradise (Pegasus) is white with neon orange hair and two green palm trees with
a orange moon over them. She has green eyes and curly hair. There is
a Brazilian
version of Paradise.
Posey (earth pony) is yellow with pink hair and six magenta tulips with
green steams. She has green eyes. Hair may be prone to fade to
white. She returned as a so soft from an Earth
Pony Year 3; The regular U. S. earth pony has medium pink flowers.
There is a Non So
Soft version of Posey with magenta flowers.
Ribbon (unicorn) is blue (may almost appear to be a gray color) with chartreuse hair with a red streak and white
bow. She has yellow green or green eyes and curly hair. There is
also a Baby Ribbon.
Shady (earth pony) is dark pink with chartreuse hair and white and blue
sunglasses. There are five pairs of sunglasses total on each side.
She has green eyes and curly hair. There is a Non
So Soft version of Shady. There is also a Baby
Shady.
Surprise (Pegasus) is white with chartreuse hair and five purple
balloons with pink strings. She has purple eyes and curly hair. She returned as a so soft after being a Pegasus
Year 3. There is also a Baby
Surprise.
Truly (earth pony) is white with dark pink hair and aqua dove with pink
hearts (stood only on hind legs). She has blue eyes and curly hair. She has blue eyes and is a rearing pose
(this pose is shared only between three ponies: Truly, Magic Star, and
Skippety Doo. All three are So Softs in the U. S. There is a
rare Non So Soft
International version of her.
Wind Whistler (Pegasus) is blue with pink hair and pink whistles.
Hair is prone to fade to white. She has pink eyes. Pictured right is
the
Non So Soft
version of Wind Whistler, which has both pink and blue
whistles. Still, it gives you a better idea of what the actual whistles
look like.
Click here to see the So Soft Ponies mint in the original packages!
The idea for a plastic pony that was actually soft was a smart one. The So Soft Ponies were covered in this velvet like fur. People who do not know MLP terms commonly refer to So Softs as Fuzzy, Furry, or Flocked. Hasbro opted to make a lot of these in Year 4, more ponies in one set than ever before. In additional to the first sixteen that were released, these were also released in the same year, but in a different set.
A So Soft Pony's body is covered in flocking. The only body part left uncovered is the eyes. The So Soft Ponies are actually made of the same plastic that regular ponies are made of, except covered in fuzz. They look slightly bulkier than the standard pony; also the eyes appear smaller because of the overlapping flocking. Also the symbols are often much harder to discern due to flocking; especially certain deeper colors.
Each of these So Softs were unique and generally are
harder to find than the earlier editions. Four of the ponies never were
produced again or had babies produced similar to them. Only Bouncy and
Fifi had babies come back after them, both were first tooth ponies: Baby Fifi
and Baby Bouncy.
These were not sold in the U. K. Another set of So Soft
Ponies were released in Year
5. Thanks to Joanne for use of this photograph.
Bouncy (Pegasus) is yellow
with blue hair and a colorful (blue, pink
and yellow) ball. She has blue eyes and curly hair. There is a Baby
Bouncy also; First Tooth Baby Pony.
Hippity Hop (Pegasus) is purple with pink hair and three white
rabbits. She has blue eyes. Her hair is very prone to fade form pink
to white.
Scrumptious (earth pony) is white with green hair and a watermelon slice.
She green eyes and curly hair.
Fifi (unicorn) is blue with white hair with a magenta streak in her
mane. Her symbol is three pink poodles. She has curly hair and blue
eyes. her symbol is easily confused with other things, like horses.
There is a rare Non
So Soft International version of her. There is a Baby
Fifi also; First Tooth Baby Pony.
Skippety-Doo (earth pony) is an aqua green with bright red hair and a
pink jump rope (stands only on her hind legs). The jump rope symbol is
often very hard to see, sometimes almost non existent. I had to find a
Skippety Doo that had been de-flocked to see the symbol clearly. Her eyes
are a similar color as her body with flocking. Her hair is curly.
Twist is dark purple (appears gray or blue) and neon red hair with a
white streak. She has three white pretzels as her symbol. Her eyes
are a similar color as her body with flocking. Her hair is curly. Thanks
to Joanne for use of this photograph.
Twinkle-Eyed Ponies
(First Edition)
Click here to see
the Twinkle Eye Ponies mint in the original packages!
Twinkle-Eyed Ponies are very well remembered, even from non
collectors. Most people can recall these sparkly eyed ponies from
childhood. They have the standard My Little Pony adult eye shape (with two
lashes on top and bottom) but instead of painted eyes they have a jewel set in
the eye socket.
Instead of the regular My Little Pony eye mold these ponies have
jewel
twinkle eyes. The
twinkle eyes themselves came in various colors: pink, purple, green, yellow,
etc. Also Twinkle Eye Ponies had special multicolored hair: four different colors in the
mane and in the tail. There are two unicorns,
Pegasus, and two earth ponies.
These would become the first installment of Twinkle Eyed Ponies, along with three others issued later in the same year (see below). Also, there is a second set of Twinkle-Eyed Ponies released the following year. In additional there is Twinkle-Eyed Party Time from the Party Pack. These were sold in the U. K. and abroad.
Thanks to Aquarius Moon for use of the below group
photograph.
Fizzy (unicorn) is green with pink,
white, dark pink and green hair and five pink and white ice
cream sodas. She has pink eyes.
Galaxy (unicorn) is light purple with orange, red, pink, white hair and a
purple big dipper constellation (grouping of stars). She has pink eyes.
Gingerbread (earth pony) is white with blue, purple, pink and lavender hair and
five blue
gingerbread men. She has blue eyes.
Masquerade (Pegasus) is yellow with chartreuse, green, aqua, green hair
and pink and green masks. There are two pink masks and three green masks.
She has green eyes.
Sweet Stuff (earth pony) is light blue or pale aqua with purple, pink, white hair and
six pink and purple gumdrops. She has purple eyes. Strangely, she
was the only Twinkle Eye Pony to undergo a name change in the United
Kingdom. Her UK name is Sweetie.
Whizzer (Pegasus) is pink with dark purple, blue, green hair and aqua and pink
and purple beanies. She has blue eyes. Her symbol is often mistaken
for other items, such as gumdrops.
Twinkle-eyed ponies (First Edition, released separately)
Click here to see the Twinkle Eye Ponies mint in the original packages!
Please note that this set was released in Year 4, but were sold separately from the above set.
Twinkle-Eyed Ponies are very well remembered, even from non collectors. Most people can recall these sparkly eyed ponies from childhood. They have the standard My Little Pony adult eye shape (with two lashes on top and bottom) but instead of painted eyes they have a jewel set in the eye socket.
Instead of the regular My Little Pony eye mold these ponies have
jewel twinkle eyes. The
twinkle eyes themselves came in various colors: pink, purple, green, yellow,
etc. Also Twinkle Eye Ponies had special multicolored hair: three
different colors in the mail and in the tail. However, this set has four
colors instead. Of the below set, there is one unicorn, one Pegasus, and
one earth pony.
Also, there is a second set of Twinkle-Eyed
Ponies released the following year. In additional there is
Twinkle-Eyed Party Time from the Party
Pack. These were sold in the U. K. and abroad.
Sky Rocket (earth pony) is purple with red, gold, white, pink hair and
three red fireworks. She has pale blue eyes; they are an odd color.
Speedy (unicorn) is dark orange with blue, pink, orange, dark
pink hair and
two white and blue roller skates. She has pink eyes.
Sweet Pop (Pegasus) is blue with dark pink, yellow, purple, white hair
and three dark pink double Popsicles with a yellow sticks. She has pink eyes.
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© 2001-2007 Lavonia Martin. My Little Pony
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