1990:

SPARKLE BABY PONIES

As a native of the United Kingdom, I will always see these guys as the alternate versions of the Starlight Baby Ponies - though I'm sure that North American collectors will view the two sets in quite the opposite way! The Sparkle Baby Ponies were based on the earlier used theme of the Sparkle Ponies, but were different in at least one key respect - they lacked tinsel in their manes and tails.

Still, each of the four characters had translucent, glittered bodies and the set comprised one pegasus, one unicorn and two earth babies in the same style. Sadly, that is about where their originality ended. As with many ponies of later years in the North American release, these four characters featured recycled names. Called Baby Gusty, Baby Firefly, Baby North Star and Baby Starflower, you can imagine they cause confusion when listed by name alone on any sale website! Of course, Starflower had only been used previously for an adult pony - but it still shows a distinct lack of imagination on the part of the design team. (Or maybe they thought the kids who'd had the original ones would have outgrown the trend by now and would never know - who can tell??)

These ponies were never sold in the UK and I don't think they were sold in Europe either. Honestly...I'm actually glad we had the Starlight Babies, PVA glue and all!