1983-5:PLAYSETS

The Waterfall remains, for me, the most confusing and enigmatic playset released as part of the My Little Pony line. I have pictured above the most easy to explain difference between the UK and the US editions of this playset - you can clearly see that the Waterfall on the left has a green (grass) base, and the one on the right has a white (cloud) base. The one on the left was sold in the UK, and the one on the right was sold in North America. Though no accessories are pictured in my photo above, the accessories are the same for each version (I believe) and are shown in the catalogue image at the top.

Duck Soup and accessories

The small duck character you can see in the images is Duck Soup. Duck Soup was sold with all versions of the Waterfall. According to the UK publicity material, Duck Soup is a SHE. The above image shows the actual accessories from the playset (ribbons missing).

The playset is fragile and easily damaged, especially the clips that hold the cloud to the rainbow and the rainbow to the base. There is a basic mechanism in place - you should be able to fill the pool of the base with water and there should be a pipe fixed up the back of the rainbow to the cloud. When you press the white button at the base of the rainbow, the cloud is meant to 'rain'.

The Waterfall in North America

THE WATERFALL (NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE BOX)

The white based playset was always sold with the same pony - Sprinkles - who was shown in an odd teal colour on the American box, but was actually in lavender. Sprinkles had a re-release in America through a Mail Offer later in the line, when she appeared pink instead of lavender, but all Sprinkles' sold with the US playset were lavender.

Many European countries, including France and Italy, are also known to have had a white based waterfall release with Sprinkles the pony.

The Waterfall in the UK: Cascade (1985)

My photograph above shows Cascade sitting on the Waterfall playset for the UK, and this, on the surface of it, seems to make a lot of sense. We have a lot of evidence that connects Cascade's release with the Waterfall to the UK in 1985, and therefore this is pretty concrete. She even appeared on the insert in 1985 with the playset:

1985 UK Insert: Waterfall

Hasbro's list records the Waterfall with Cascade Pony, and she was sold in this box, which is also clearly dated 1985 (I have enhanced the date image to make the writing clearer to read):

WATERFALL: BOX FEATURING CASCADE
(Hasbro UK, 1985)

The playset box also states that the playset was "Made in the UK", although the base of the green waterfall is stamped inside with Hasbro Inc Pawtucket RI, which is the American Hasbro. It seems that maybe Hasbro UK inherited the mould from the North American line and went on to produce their own version in green for the UK market, which may explain why the change in colour.

If it was to end here, then everything would seem very clear cut. Cascade is the ONLY pony to ever appear on promotional material relating to the Waterfall in the UK (admittedly there is not much). She is, however, a ghost in the pony comic and appears in one pony annual story (also in 1985). By contrast, there are many stories which utilise the pony character "Sprinkles" and put her with Duck Soup. Now, it would be easy to assume that this was another case of ponies appearing in the comic without being sold here, as this was quite common during this year. BUT, it is really not that simple.

Sprinkles was also sold with the Waterfall in the UK. The UK box with Sprinkles is also dated 1985, and shows the green base, rather than the white one. Interestingly, the date stamp inside this box in my collection is October 1985, whereas Cascade's is at some point in the Summer. The best theory I have, therefore, is that the Waterfall was originally sold in the UK with Cascade. However, when the North American release ended, there was a surfeit of Sprinkles' available. It's probable they were shipped to the UK and marketed with the waterfall playset instead of placing a new order for Cascade to be manufactured. If this is so, Hasbro UK didn't originally intend to sell Sprinkles with the playset - or weren't able to - because they went to the trouble of making their own green playset, it suggests they also decided on their own pony. However, if there were loose ponies available to put with the playset, the Sprinkles waterfall suddenly makes sense. How long it was sold for is unclear, as it has not appeared in the insert material for any year, but the October date suggests it ran on into 1986, as most UK pony lines seem to have run from Summer to Summer, or Autumn to Summer.

Instructions

Because of this double release, instructions for the Waterfall exist in the UK in two forms, one for Sprinkles and one for Cascade. Both are dated 1985, Hasbro UK, and both are almost identical except that the graphic for Cascade lacks wings and the names have been changed. Even the story is the same, with the names substituted.

EXAMPLES OF MODIFIED ARTWORK ON INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE WATERFALL
(HASBRO UK, 1985)

The one difference of significance on the instructions is the production number - Cascade's Waterfall is 4880/0002 and Sprinkles' is 4880/0029. This also indicates maybe that Sprinkles came later, but it does not totally explain the fact she had all the media attention but none of the promotional material. It also doesn't explain why the artwork looks like it was designed to meet Sprinkles' design (based on pose, and open mouth), although there is a high possibility the images might have come from the American instructions (of which I do not have a copy), in which case te Sprinkles art would have been the original.

Of the two ponies, it is Sprinkles who is by far and away the more common pony to find loose, and Cascade's box and instructions are very seldom seen up for sale.