The United Kingdom:
Debunking The Mythology
What happens when a pony has an identity crisis...
Since the community has evolved a lot since I first wrote out this page, I have decided to tackle it afresh, taking into consideration the things that have and haven't been added to general pony knowledge in the last 20 years or so. Most especially because the UK line is enigmatic and not very logical, although people seem to think it is - Honeyflake at the top of the page begs to differ!
Unfortunately, a lot of people still don't know a lot of these things. Attention has jumped from US ponies to Nirvana and sometimes the stuff in the middle gets forgotten. So, in a nutshell, here are ten MYTHS about UK ponies crushed into little pebbly cookie-dust!
1. Different name means different pony.
Many ponies released worldwide had different names in the UK and the US, despite the language being more or less the same. A different name doesn't mean a different pony. Iit is a good idea to know ANY name variations for a pony before you buy/sell it, so you know what you are getting. On this site, the UK names are given priority.
There are also some ponies for whom false names exist. These names were either invented or lost in translation in the early days of the online community. Names such as Art Time (real name Paintingtime) or Baby Pearl (real name, Baby Diamond) have thankfully more or less been stamped out of the collecting community now, while Baby Abacus (UK name Baby Count-a-lot), is only correct if talking about the pony in Spanish/mint on Spanish card, as it is her name in Spain.
2. A pony found at a carboot sale/second hand sale/toy fair in the UK must be a UK pony.
Seriously, not. Ponies travel. I have found a lot of ponies here who were not ever part of official UK issue. There are a number of reasons why this can happen. The most common are:
-Ponies travelling when kids buy them on holiday or are sent them by relatives abroad
-Ponies sent to the UK as end of stock (this is very common with some specific ponies)
3. A European variant/issue pony is automatically a UK pony.
I wish this was the case, but it isn't ;). Ponies with ITALY stamped on their hooves do quite often find their way here, but they weren't ever sold here. There are whole sets which are unique to continental Europe (such as the Nesthaekchen Baby Ponies) which were never sold in the UK. There are also UK ponies who were never sold in continental Europe. Sometimes, sets are similar, but not the same, between countries. UK and Europe are not interchangeable terms (and in fact, Europe is a bad term too, as different European countries often had variated releases)
4. A pony sealed on a card marked Hasbro UK must be a UK release.
Again, nope. Hasbro are not that simple. There exist some specific sets of ponies which were produced on UK marked card but which were never released here. Instead they became exported, largely to places like Scandinavia and even South Africa. Ponies observed in this kind of release include Powder, Skyflier, white Tootsie, and the unflocked versions of Truly and Cupcake. Although some ID sites incorrectly call some of these UK ponies, none of them were ever sold in the UK.
5. Blue hearted Dazzleglow comes from the UK.
This rumour was begun by a reputable pony ID site a long time ago. Unfortunately, such sites have long reaching influences, and therefore it's hard to stamp them out. Blue heart Dazzleglow was probably NOT sold in the UK, although she was photographed in the UK pamphlet. She also appears in the US commercial, and US carded Blue Heart Dazzleglow has been well documented. She was definitely sold in North America. You can find out more detailed information about this myth by clicking on Dazzleglow's name.
6. White haired Posey/Kiss Curl/Lickety Split etc are UK variations.
This may seem obvious, but people used to sell these as UK variants, and people paid money for them, so I have included it here just in case. All white haired examples of Posey/Kiss Curl/Lickety Split have faded. Yes, even in the lacklustre UK sun, this happens! I have tried to note on pony pages where a pony is or is not prone to fading in the hair department, but these are three of the most common offenders.
7. Ponies shown in inserts indicate pose/actual release items.
US inserts often show poses. UK ones often show pretty pictures that bear little or no pose resemblance to what Hasbro actually sold, even sometimes in photographs! Sometimes, they also have colour or symbol variations. One well known pictured prototype that never existed (but can be easily faked) is a Non So Soft version of Paradise, since she was photographed in the UK Hasbro booklet for 1987.If you're not sure, ask a collector or do some research on your pony before you buy it.
8. All ponies sold in the UK came in properly marked packages.
Definitely not. Though most of them did, and most of them on well UK marked boxes or cards, there are some incidences of European/American carded ponies being sold over here. There are also cases of ponies in unmarked packages, or ones with simple grey cardboard strips folded over with a rainbow, showing no name. Many of these are also end of line ponies. Some weird Princess Ponies and hybrid ponies got sold in the wrong boxes or boxes belonging to American versions of the set. Sometimes the card will say a pony is made in one place, but the pony is actually made somewhere else. There are also incidences of ponies sealed on the wrong card, like Honeyflake, above. Beware of the box.
9. All ponies sold in the US and the UK are identical to one another.
Nope. There are some significant pose variations between some of the sets, in particular ponies such as the Pretty n Pearly Baby Sea Ponies, as well as Confetti and Twisty Tail, to name a couple of others. The names and colours and accessories may look the same, but the pony pose is completely different and this can really only be seen by looking at photos of both. A pose variation is not automatically a UK pony or exclusive, and be aware that people who make customs sometimes make pose variations. Most custom sellers are honest, but there have been incidents of fraud, so be careful when buying.
10. We know everything about My Little Pony in the UK.
We absolutely don't, but if you have information and evidence of a release or something that is not on the site, I would love to hear from you. This site is about UK ponies and its existence is thanks to and for the benefit of the hundreds of UK pony collectors that now populate the community. Any tiny detail that can add to the archive is always gratefully received!
