1985: Rainbow Ponies
CONFETTI
White earth pony with melon/pink/blue/neon yellow mane and tail, glittering purple and green confetti symbol
Confetti has the most complicated release plan of any of the second set Rainbow Ponies. I'm still somewhat confused by the fact that, despite designing a pony in white with confetti for a name and symbol, Hasbro in North America seemed to make absolutely no connection between this and the idea of a bride.
Well, not so the UK - and, so it happened, Europe in general. Confetti was sold in the United Kingdom, but in a completely different pose from the one shown above (the one pictured at the top of the page is the North American release from 1985)
Wedding Bells Confetti
(UK and Europe, 1986)
"Wedding Bells" Confetti was made in the Bow Tie "shy" pose, and dressed out in her finest white dress, with veil, white shoes, ring and lacy garter to show that it was her special day. It seems not to have been important to Hasbro that, as yet, they had not bothered to release an adult boy pony (and indeed, Confetti never would have a groom. Poor girl!) She was sold as part of the 1986 UK line. I am unsure what other parts of Europe she was sold in but have definitely seen her mint in French box, so it seems probable she did a general sweep of much of Western Europe. Almost certainly she was sold in Scandinavia, where many UK boxed ponies were sold (in English).
The wedding connection was a logical choice, given her name and her symbol - she is the original "Bridal Pony", although the release only happened in the UK. Her outfit, I have been told, is very similar if not the same as the second release of the ponywear outfit Something Old, Something New, which was released in the North American line. I cannot confirm this for sure, but it seems likely.
Although the set was marketed as "Wedding Bells" (and I have occasionally seen the loose pony referred to by this name, as it is the name at the top of the box), the UK package does state explicitly that the pony is called Confetti. This mistake is rare, however, due to the fact there was already a North American release of Confetti, making her familiar.
CONFETTI's name from the WEDDING BELLS box
The UK comic explained this problem of the lack of groom by stating that the outfit was a special gift from some fairies to Confetti, as a tradition to attend one of their parties. Confetti herself named the outfit "Wedding Bells."
CONFETTI AND WEDDING BELLS (UK PONY COMIC)
The backcard story for the set implied that Confetti was the bride herself, however. The fact there were no adult boy ponies around in ponyland at the time doesn't seem to have bothered Hasbro's design team or creative process one bit, but the comic people apparently gave it a bit more reasoned thought! The box does also imply that her full name was "Confetti Pony", but I guess marriage changed all that, as she was only ever known in the comics by the name "Confetti". It is interesting to note that there is no "tm" sign by Confetti's name on her UK box.
CONFETTI'S STORY (WEDDING BELLS, UK box, 1986)
