1987: Newborn Twin Ponies

NIBBLES & DIBBLES

NIBBLES

DIBBLES

NIBBLES: Pink newborn pegasus with goldish yellow mane and tail, yellow swan with aqua bowtie symbol
DIBBLES: Goldish newborn pegasus pony with pale pink mane and tail, pink swan with aqua bowtie symbol

Nibbles and Dibbles are perhaps among the best known of the original set of Newborn Twins. They are - oddly enough - the only set of Newborn Pegasus ponies released in 1987 and, for no apparent reason, they are also the only ponies to use this particular pose. (I think that's a shame, because it's one of the cutest newborn poses Hasbro made).

Nibbles and Dibbles were one of the only two twin sets sold this year in the UK - and of course, they had a pretty global release. They were introduced in the My Little Pony comic in a story with Baby Lucky and they came from drawings that, with help from his Happy Go Lucky magic, came to life. Another original way of avoiding the issue of natural ponyland birthing, we assume! Newborn Ponies never had any mother or father and were always the wards of the Lullabye Nursery, in the care of whichever Nurse pony was currently in residence.


DIMPLES & RUFFLES STICKER
(Scan courtesy of Lady Guinevere)

There appears to have been some indecision over the names given to these two ponies when they were first released. It's a well known fact among UK collectors that their puffy sticker did not come with their own names on, but the names "Dimples and Ruffles", suggesting that they might have had their own special UK names over here. In the end, though, it wasn't to be - and the ponies themselves retained the same identity as the North American release. All publicity material refers to them as Nibbles and Dibbles.

I do not know if there exists a sticker with their correct names on - so far the only ones I have heard about have been labelled Dimples and Ruffles.

Two other things are important to note. There is a rumour that Nibbles and Dibbles may have had a different bassinett in the UK from the one sold with them in North America. As I understand it, both the North American and the UK release were sold with an aqua and yellow bassinett - and the only variation between accessories regarding this set were the addition of the puffy stickers and the UK-language nappy boxes. Publicity material shows either a completely yellow bassinett (Hasbro catalogue) or an aqua and yellow one; I'm fairly sure that this latter was drawn in the comic, too, when they were introduced.

The Italian boxed release of this set also has an aqua and yellow bassinett, see below:

NIBBLES & DIBBLES: ITALIAN STYLE BOX

Since this packaging shows a "snugfit" nappy box which was the standard in UK baby releases, too, I think it can be hypothesised that the accessories in my Italian boxed set are *probably* the same as the UK - but as yet this remains unconfirmed.

Dibbles' hair should be a vibrant pale pink but often fades -as my loose pony has somewhat above. White-haired Dibbleses are not variations, but simply victims of sundamage!