Mail Order Ponies
(1982-1994)

I admit it, there is a certain amount of regret and bitterness when I come to write this section. Although Hasbro reps explained to us the conundrum of why mail order in the UK never really took off, the Mail Order line include some of the most sought after ponies in the entire collection. They were obtained through Horseshoe points from a Hasbro-linked dispatcher, and continued through the whole time the North American line was running.

Of course, there were some ponies from this line sold in the UK. Baby Lucky was offered through the horseshoe point offer here. Magical Breeze, Pony Bride and a handful of other ponies also sold in stores were released through the same channels, too. There were also other offers - at least two carrycases were released via horseshoe point offer (in 1986 and 1987), as well as playmat. You can see some scans of paperwork/images relating to these on this page.

At the close of the line, some of the Mail Order Ponies surplus from the US did come across the Atlantic to be sold in oddly marked bags at market stalls and carboot sales. These were fastened at the top with a grey band of cardboard featuring a rainbow, but nothing else...and they were sold at cheap prices. So far, collectors here have found Twice as Fancy Baby Ponies, Tux and Tails and several Birthflower Ponies.

TUX & TAILS - Clearance release, UK
(Thanks to Babydoll for this image)

It is worth mentioning that some of the store-sold ponies were reoffered via Mail Offer in North America. These included the Collector Ponies and the early playset ponies such as Majesty and Baby Half Note. I have disincluded them from this section. The simple reason is that, by doing so, I want to discourage the existing craze of identifying any minor body tone variation as a "mail order" version. Since there are so many batches of many of these ponies, it is a fallacy, and in truth the Mail Order versions are scarcely different from the original one. The exception to this is Sprinkles - which you can find on her page.

On this section also are the four My Little Pony club affiliated Newborns. These were offered in the UK and, I think, in Australia with the Pony Club or through some other similar offer. They were never sold in North America...or through the horseshoe point offer.