1987-9:PLAYSETS

KISS CURL's GROOMING PARLOUR

Kiss Curl was the last pony to be sold with any form of the Grooming Parlour, though the shell exterior would be recycled yet again in future years for the My Little Pony Kitchen. Instead of the blue and white parlour, however, Kiss Curl's was purple with an aqua-green base. Unlike earlier year releases, Kiss Curl's parlour simply came with a tag that said Grooming Parlour (mine is missing, sadly, so is not photographed). Kiss Curl's parlour is dated 1987, hence my including it here, but it is probably more accurate to say that it came out in early 1988, as Kiss Curl has no sticker, and does not feature in the Fact File. Kiss Curl's parlour continued to be sold into 1989.

KISS CURL:Yellow earth pony with pale pink mane and tail, aqua and pink bows and curls symbol

The accessories shown above are the ones sold with this set with one variation. I have included both Grooming Parlour brushes in the picture, because both the box art and my own Kiss Curl parlour came with the paler brush associated with Peachy or Snuzzle. The darker pink brush is also confirmed for Kiss Curl's release. It may be that the earlier ones had the paler brush as a leftover, but the later ones had darker. It also could be random, as the box art also pictures a paler kitten basket, but the one with Kiss Curl is generally dark pink.

KISS CURL & SNOWBALL label (Kiss Curl's Box, 1987, UK)

Probably on account of the fact the playset continued to be released over more than one year, there are variations in the release. The playset I have, with the box shown above, states that the Grooming Parlour was made in Spain, but the pony was made in Hong Kong. There is also a version of Kiss Curl made in China, who almost certainly came out with the 1989 release of the parlour. There are also some key symbol variations with Kiss Curl, but this does not relate necessarily to where she was made. The more common symbol version is green bows and pink curls, but the reverse also exists. My Kiss Curl, who came with the boxed playset above, has the reversed symbol, but I am not sure whether that implies this version is older or younger than the other.

SYMBOL VARIATIONS: Pink bows and aqua curls and aqua bows and pink curls.

Kiss Curl has the same fading pink hair colour that many ponies have, and so is often found second hand with white hair. This is not a variation, but damage from the sun. Kiss Curl is similar in design to Posey, but her shade of body tone is not the same.

KISS CURL's GROOMING PARLOUR: 1987-8 insert

There are some variations on Snowball the kitten as well. Both the ones shown below came from the UK.

SNOWBALL: KITTEN VARIATIONS (UK RELEASE)

The version shown on the left (which is the more damaged, apologies) is the more common version to find loose in the UK in my experience. She is very white, with her paint in a lighter teal colour. The one on the right is the one that came with my playset (with the box and pony above) which may mean she was made in Spain like the playset apparently was. Her body is more cream in colour, she has much darker stripes and eye paint, and has a definitely different expression. There's no evidence her nose was ever painted, though the one on the left definitely had a painted nose. I do not know whether it is a coincidence that she came with the pony with the rarer reversed symbols or not. I also do not have any North American release "Catnip" kittens to compare with.

North American Equivalent


Brush Me Beautiful Boutique, Year 6 Insert, United States.

The basic playset - or a very similar one - was sold in North America as the Brush Me Beautiful Boutique, and there, the kitten was called Catnip. It is easy to tell loose Grooming Parlours from Brush Me Beautiful Boutiques because of the labels on the back. The Grooming Parlour explicitly states what it is!

Kiss Curl's Grooming Parlour: Back

Kiss Curl was never sold with the playset in North America, but she is one of the more common ponies on the UK second hand market, especially with sundamaged hair.