UK Club Newborns
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1991
1990-2There are officially four exclusive UK release newborn ponies, but only three of them really made it to an official Club related release.
The Mystery of Baby Ribbons & Hearts
Collectors have always theorised thatthe last pony, Baby Ribbons 'n' Hearts, was intended for a 1992 pony club, which never actually happened. She was sold in unmarked bags for a discount price in local toy stores and other stores - we actually got ours in a stationery store (now defunct) called Partners!
It took a while to identify her real name, but now we know that this is what Hasbro intended to call her.
The Mail In Offer: 1990-1
Her original issue was actually much earlier, although through such an obscure offer that few pieces of information relating to it survive. In 1990 she was apparently offered through Mail Order with proof of purchase and p&p. How the leaflet for this was distributed is unknown but it is suspected it was in the packaging with the ponies whose purchase barcodes were valid for the offer.
The argument against that fact is that although ponies (including MIP ponies) from this time period are many, the insert that advertised Baby Ribbons & Hearts is almost impossible to find. Moreover, unlike all the other UK newborn ponies, Baby Ribbons & Hearts' offer was not in the pony comic.
By contrast, Baby Fun & Games had a leaflet and a comic advert for the 1991 Pony Club. This begs the suggestion as to whether or not this offer ever officially ran in any quantity, as it may well have been sabotaged by the fact certain of the sets involved in the offer were also being imported from the US and sold as store exclusives alongside the European packaging (the Candy Cane Ponies were a good example). The distribution on other sets this year was poor across parts of the UK. These factors would've made a proof-of-purchase based offer a complicated affair, and, with the distinct absence of Baby Ribbons & Hearts fliers as opposed to those pertaining to other offers, it seems possible that the idea was largely unsuccessful. The other possibility is that it was replaced quickly in packaging with the flier advertising the 1991 Pony Club, and so never took off.
All this is supposition, but I have yet to speak to a UK collector who obtained her via this offer, and more, if it had been successful, then there would not have been a need to disperse her through the Club and then through discount at local stores. There are far more Baby Ribbons & Hearts ponies available on the second hand market still MIP than any official Club Newborn, which I think speaks for itself about the success of the original Mail In idea. Nonetheless, a flier does exist offering her in 1990. Without more evidence, it is impossible to know for sure whether this offer ever came to proper fruition.
The My Little Pony Club Mail In Offer
Hasbro tried again, therefore, in 1992, and this is where the link to the Club has stemmed from. It is also the best known release of Baby Ribbons & Hearts, because every Club member in 1991 were offered the chance to send off for this pony. That implies a large stock remained. She was offered in exchange for horseshoe points in 1991,along with other ponies (including the eternal Magical Breeze). Clearly Hasbro overestimated the order, or not many took up the offer at this point, either, leading to her stationery store dispersal. (Thanks to TicTacToe and LadyGuinevere for the information about Ribbons & Hearts' provenance)
Club Newborn?
Baby Ribbons & Hearts existed as early as 1990-1, but that doesn't mean she was never going to be a Club Newborn. Early artwork of the Baby Pony that came with the 1989 club shows a baby with red hair, which indicates that Hasbro were going through a variety of design concepts as they devised their exclusives. The red hair did not appear on a Club pony until Baby Fun & Games in 1991.
There are a lot of different factors and all of them are circumstantial, but there are no offer-unique ponies in the UK line after Baby Lucky except for the Newborn ponies, three of which were released through the Club. Baby Ribbons and Hearts fits the feature profile of the Club Newborn - she is white, an earth pony, with a simple symbol in one colour and single coloured hair. Bearing this in mind, it seems likely she was originally a Club Newborn concept, but that that concept may have been replaced (depending on timescale) by Baby Bridesmaid or Fun & Games in order to make the Club themed. (1991 was game-themed, 1990 was wedding-themed, 1989 was adoption-themed).
If this was the case, Baby Ribbons & Hearts may already have entered production, and so the mail offer could have been a late change of plan. This would also be supported by the haphazard artwork on the flier (Lemon Treats is shown with a horn, and Blackberry Pie without, and Lemon Treats was only available in the UK through US import, she was not part of the official UK set). The style of the flier is also very similar to that used for the offer for Baby Fun & Games and the 1991 Club, which makes it possible it was planned for this purpose and then was amended later. No other ponies appear on the offer flier, although Magical Breeze was being offered for Mail Order both before and after this flier came out.
It is just as possible Hasbro devised her intentionally to be offered through this Mail Offer, but the distinct lack of publicity through the normal UK methods makes it seem a bit unlikely to me. The third possibility is that she was devised for Mail Order abroad (eg America) but for some reason Hasbro US rejected using her, and so she got exported to the UK where she was offered for release. This seems very coincidental, however, considering the fact she greatly resembles the UK exclusive newborns, rather than the many ponies offered though the North American mail offer line.
I think there is a genuine possibility that Ribbons & Hearts was originally a Club Newborn design, but for whatever reason, she never got to be released through this method.
For this reason, and the fact she was offered to members in 1991, I think that, had the Pony Club continued into 1992, and, given the amount of stock they still had remaining, Baby Ribbons & Hearts probably would have become the 1992 Club Newborn.
But none of this can be proven, as she never saw an official Club Release.
In spite of that fact, and because of the ease of associating her with the Club, I am keeping her here, as a sort of bootleg Club newborn.
The Official Newborns and the Pony Club
The other Club Newborns had a more normal release. All were advertised in comics and pamphlets the year before as part of the pony club promotion.
The Pony Club ran in the UK for several years before they issued any ponies, and the first one seemed a bit experimental. She was all white all over, with no symbol, and the idea was to give her an identity yourself. She was promoted with the tagline, "I'd Love To Be Yours", emotional blackmail that kids everywhere fell for (including me!). When receiving the club pamphlet, there was a graphic of the pony with a speech bubble saying, "I'm yours!". Happy kids everywhere!
It's not uncommon to find them second hand with a symbol drawn on. I didn't draw a symbol, but mine was known by the name "Beauty." ;) She was originally advertised with red hair, she actually ended up with white. Her hair should be curly, but mine has seen a bit of wear over the years ;).
In 1990 and 1991, Hasbro had their act together a little better. The ponies had names, themes and proper symbols and colouring. I was not a member of the club for these years, so I do not know how they were presented on receipt of the club pamphlet.
Some of the Club advertising paraphernalia can be found by clicking the links below.
1989: Baby Pony "I'd Love To Be Yours"
1990: Baby Bridesmaid
1991: Baby Fun And Games
