1988: Sparkle Ponies

SKY ROCKET

Store release: Dark bluish glittered earth pony with red mane and tail streaked with dark blue tinsel. Blue and purple firework symbol, NO symbol on cheek.

As has already been mentioned, the Sparkle Ponies are a confusing breed, and keeping the store issue and the mail order release on the same page seems the easiest way of preventing further confusion about these releases!

Sky Rocket is the Sparkle Pony I probably remember best of all, because she was my childhood pony (yep, that poor pony above has survived almost 20 years with me and lived to tell the tale!). She was pitched as the firework queen, a successor and conspirator of Fizzy on Fizziwhizz night and able to fly thanks to her special firework magic. Her particular talent was to make balloons into fireworks - which is interesting, when you think about it!

I remember clearly that she got her sparkle from her fireworks, though I am not sure off hand whether that was from a comic story or her backcard which I have long since parted company with (sob). Certainly in one of the comics the story is told of a birthday party where moondust-filled balloons had turned into fireworks at midnight, covering her all over with sparkling dust and glitter.

I remember her most significant comic appearance being in the multi-part adventure in which Wizard Wantall decided to abduct her, mainly because he wanted to make use of her special gift. Tricked by a talking balloon that she believed was magic (yes, she was that stupid), the wizard managed to grab her and take her prisoner.

It's also worth mentioning that Sky Rocket suffers from Repetitive Name Syndrome, stealing as she does the identity of one of the Twinkle Eye Ponies from an earlier year. She is one of the few ponies to feature a repeated name in the UK release - though because of my childhood memories, I tend to think of the other as the imposter ;)

Mail Order Edition: Dark bluish glittered earth pony with red mane and tail streaked with dark blue tinsel. Blue and purple firework symbol. Small rocket symbol on cheek.

Officially, the mail order versions were not sold in the United Kingdom. Unofficially, there have been claims that some were found sealed onto cards both here and in North America, as if Hasbro were getting rid of surplus stock.

Such claims remain unverified, but may explain the small number of mail-order Sparkle Ponies that have been found in the United Kingdom.