About My Little Pony
My Little Pony (MLP) is a toy line owned by Hasbro. First called My Pretty Pony (in 1981), and then later rebranded (in 1982), the toys were first developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno. My Little Pony is split into several different generations, consisting of toys/merchandise and corresponding animated tie-ins.
GENERATION ONE: (My Little Pony)
Generation One of MLP ran from 1982 to 1992 in the US, and 'till 1995 in some other countries. My Little Pony’s first venture into the world of TV was with their 1984 TV Special ‘Rescue at Midnight Castle’. It had a later re-release as a direct to VHS home video under the name ‘Firefly’s Adventure: My Little Pony Dreamland’. Rescue at Midnight Castle was released as the pilot to the proposed My Little Pony television series. A second TV Special ‘Escape from Catrina’, was released in 1985.
Image source: Yum Yum
The actual TV Show, just called My Little Pony, aired a year later in 1986. It aired as part of a TV segment called My Little Pony n’ Friends, which included episodes of other, unrelated Hasbro-owned TV Shows based on Hasbro toy properties, such as Potato Head Kids and MoonDreamers. The two previous TV Specials were edited into multi-part episodes of the new TV Show.
There were 2 seasons, consisting of 65 episodes total, and the show was produced in the US. 1986, the same year as the first season, G1 also released their feature-length film, My Little Pony: The Movie (this same name was also used for the Generation 4 feature-length film).
Image source: My Little Wiki
Image source: Pinterest
Image source: Pinterest
Generation one lore:
Generation one, right away, introduced the idea of there being three main ‘races’ of ponies - Unicorns, which have a horn that can be used to harness magic. Each unicorn in G1 can teleport with their horn, and also has an additional magic ability unique to the individual - pegasus ponies (pegasi), who have wings and can fly - and earth ponies, which are like normal horses.
There are also flutter ponies, which are scrawnier, taller ponies that have giant butterfly-like wings and are characterized as being shy but very powerful. They live separately from the other ponies, in an area of Ponyland called Flutter Valley. The sea ponies are seahorse-like creatures with pony-like heads that live underwater. It’s unclear if the flutter ponies and sea ponies actually qualify as ponies… But both got their own toy releases! There are also the twinkle-eyed ponies, which are the same as the other ponies, but have jewels for eyes.
In G1, unlike future generations (except technically G4, but that’s complicated), there are also humans. It is established that humans don’t live in Ponyland - The three human children, Megan, Danny, and Molly, fly across the rainbow into Ponyland to visit the ponies. There does seem to be human-like characters living in Ponyland, though, such as the witches. Other creatures in G1 MLP include the Bushwoolies, Furbobs, Stonebacks, and Grundles. Also the Smooze. As for not MLP-Invented creatures, there are also dragons, gnomes, ghosts, centaurs (sort of?), demons (sort of?), bunnies, birds, monkeys, dogs, and cats.
GENERATION ONE-POINT-FIVE: (My Little Pony Tales)
After the original My Little Pony stopped airing, My Little Pony Tales was released. It aired from August to December of 1992. My Little Pony Tales portrays a much less fantastical, much more anthropomorphized vision of Ponyland - Instead of a medieval-style fantasy, the ponies live a 1990s Slice of Life story - They attend school, go to the local ice cream parlor, have slumber parties, play in Battle of The Bands, enter the lottery, listen to cassette players, enter into the school play, host a lemonade stand, and go to the roller rink.
This series does not feature humans, and has less focus on non-pony creatures in general. It also has a more clear cast of specific main characters, instead of focusing plenty on the entire cast of ponies. The main characters of Pony Tales are Starlight, Sweetheart, Melody (not the same as G1’s Medley), Patch, Bright Eyes, Clover, and Bon Bon. It also heavily features male ponies as the main characters’ love interests, whereas the original series barely even acknowledged the concept that ponies could be men.
G1.5 had very little merchandise - The main characters and some of the side characters were released as toys, made in the previous G1 style. These toys were not actually sold in the US, despite the show being made there, and instead were only released in select European countries.
It’s debatable whether this really counts as a “point-five” iteration, but it is often referred to as one, so I’m including that information.
G1.5 is generally held in much lower regard by fans than the original G1, and often not acknowledged much. It only was around for a year, so wasn’t that impactful in the grand scheme of things. In this site, G1.5 toys will be listed as G1, although the posts themselves will differentiate them.
MLP Tales Main 7 Toys
Image source: MLP Forums
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GENERATION TWO: (My Little Pony: Friendship Garden)
Generation two spanned from 1997 to 2003, and was referred to by Hasbro as “Friendship Garden.” Generation two ponies are tall, slender, with heads that turn and eyes that have jewels in them, similar to the G1 Twinkle-eyed ponies. G2 ponies stopped being released inthe US in 1999, but was still released in other countries. It lasted until the launch of G3 in 2003, meaning G2 and G3 briefly shared the shelves during that year.
Most G2 ponies were earth ponies, though there were a few unicorns. There were no proper pegasi, although some ponies had clip-on wings. Baby Ponies were introduced, with three poses and forty-one individual Baby characters.
Generation two is unique in that it did not have a tie-in TV show, unlike all other generations.
Generation two did not go over well; it was much less popular than the original, and even Pony Tales. It went over better in Europe than the Americas. Hasbro scrapped the idea pretty quickly, and moved on to Generation 3.
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Image source: Derpibooru
Image source: eBay
GENERATION THREE: (No Iteration Name)
Generation three went from 2003 to 2009, officially - Although G3 and G3.5 ponies were still released as event exclusives well into 2011. It was targeted towards a slightly younger audience than the previous generations, and much more overtly girly. Still, it went over far better than G1.5 and G2, including with adult collectors who liked the original G1 toys. From 2003 to 2005 all the ponies released were earth ponies. Unicorns and pegasi were introduced in 2005 and 2006 [respectively].
The first piece of G3 TV released was ‘A Charming Birthday’, in December of 2003. It was a direct to VHS home video and was packaged alongside some G3 ponies, rather than sold separately. The VHS could also be acquired through the mail order program. G3 never got a proper TV Show, just multiple VHS and DvD short-film tie-ins, in the vein of animated TV Specials. Most of these were about 50 minutes long, with the exception of the 2008 DVD box set, which contained three 15-minute episodes.
In 2008 and 2009, Hasbro made a weird marketing choice - They reduced the ponies in the toy line down to the 'Core Seven’, and only released toys of those seven ponies. These ponies were Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Toola-Roola, Sweetie Belle, Cheerilee, and Starsong (Minty was also given one release during 2008). Subsequently, these ponies all have more toys than the other G3s, and so are easier to find.
Image source: eBay
Image source: Pinterest
Image source: Pinterest
GENERATION THREE-POINT-FIVE: (Newborn Cuties)
G3 had a major rebrand in 2009. The Core Seven idea continued with the toy line, but the style of toys changed to something much more childlike, exaggerated, and cutesy. They are considered G3.5 by collectors because they include the exact same characters, but are given such a drastic style makeover that they might as well be a whole nother generation. G3.5 was phased out in 2010, alongside the release of G4. G3.5 was still sold in some stores in 2011, alongside G4, quote My Little Wiki, ‘pushed to the side by their extremely more popular replacements.’
The first piece of G3.5 TV media was ‘Twinkle Wish Adventure’ an 81 minute straight to DVD movie released in October of 2009. There was an additional movie, a prequel to this one, called ‘Waiting For The Winter Wishes Festival’. After that there were four five-to-ten-minute G3.5 webisodes, and a “Meet The Ponies” DVD that came with some of the toys.
Generation 3.5 is often disliked by fans, especially fans of the original G3. This is in part because of the exaggerated proportions, more ‘childish’ appearance, and marketing surrounding the idea of the ponies all being ‘babies’ and/or ‘little girls’. Back in the day there used to be much more hostility towards it, but nowadays it seems people have largely chilled out.
Image source: My Little Wiki
Image source: Pinterest
Image source: Reddit
Image source: Pinterest
GENERATION FOUR: (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Generation four started out with the flash-animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FiM), developed by Lauren Faust, an artist who worked on series such as the Power Puff Girls and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. Lauren Faust played with Generation One ponies growing up, and aimed to create a story that emulated the ways she played with her toys as a kid. She was approached by Hasbro to develop the show, but was reluctant at first - She was worried about making a show of this nature, aimed at little girls to sell toys - Worried it would be derivative and soulless. But as Hasbro kept approving her more unconventional ideas, she became more and more excited. The final pitch bible for the show (originally titled My Little Pony Adventures) was over 40 pages long.
Faust left part way through Season Two due a lack of creative control. Lauren Faust’s distinct, cartoony art style and the fun world, interesting characters, well-made music, and comedy led it to becoming one of the highest rated and most popular shows to ever air on the Hub Network. My Little Pony already had a fanbase, but it’s Friendship is Magic that really skyrocketed it into extreme popularity.
Above: Lauren Faust's early art of Twilight and Sparkler from G1 - Which would later be used as the basis for G4 characters Twilight Sparkle and Rarity
Generation four lore:
Once again, there are three races of ponies - Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. FiM adds the additional lore that earth ponies are stronger than the other ponies, and more connected to nature. They also introduce alicorns, a mixture of all three types of ponies. All alicorns in FiM are royalty, and are considered Godlike to the other ponies. Princess Celestia is the primary ruler of Equestria (originally meant to be the Queen, but this was dismissed by Hasbro because ‘Queens are seen as evil in little girls’ media’), and uses her magic to raise and lower the sun. Princess Luna, her sister, raises and lowers the moon. Related to this, a big conceit of FiM is that the My Little Ponies control the world they live in - The earth ponies grow the plants, the pegasi control the weather, and the unicorns used to raise the sun and moon - before Celestia and Luna appeared.
In FiM, Ponyland is renamed to Equestria, and established as a country, with neighboring countries around it being ruled by different species. Equestria’s Capital is Canterlot, a mostly unicorn-filled city where Princess Celestia and Luna live. The show is mainly set in Ponyville, a town founded by earth ponies, with a name taken from G3.
The G1 creatures of The Smooze, centaurs (Tirek), and sea ponies are brought back (although the sea ponies look very different). Breezies, from G3, which are somewhat similar to G1’s Flutter Ponies, but much more fairy-like, also return. Dragons, cats, bunnies, and dogs also appear just as they did in Generation One. Additionally, griffins, hippogriffs, sea serpents, manticores, cockatrices, Cerberus, chimeras, and many other fun fantasy creatures are introduced - along with some other new creatures unique to FiM. The show plays into the idea of an adventurous fantasy world that was established in G1, although it often focuses on slice of life stories within said world.
The Mane Six:
Generation Four has a clear set of main characters, nicknamed the ‘Mane 6’ by fans. Lauren Faust originally wanted them all to be revamped Generation One characters, but they ended up taking more from Generation Three than she first intended.
The Mane Six are:
Twilight Sparkle - The primary main character. A combination of G1’s ‘Twilight’ and G3s ‘Twilight Twinkle’, but with a new last name. In the original pitch bible for the series, she is still called Twilight Twinkle. She starts out as a unicorn, but later is granted wings, turning her into an alicorn and making her into a princess. Early drafts of Twilight also draw inspiration from G1's Moondancer.
Applejack - Who also appeared in G1 and G3. Her design in G4 is taken directly from Generation 1 Applejack. Like both other iterations of Applejack, she is an earth pony.
Rainbow Dash - Based on the rambunctious Firefly from Gen 1, with her personality and her lightning-shaped cutie mark, but taking the name and certain design aspects from G3’s Rainbow Dash, who’s personality does not at all resemble G4’s Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash is a pegasus, like Firefly from G1. G3 Rainbow Dash was an earth pony.
Rarity - A combination of Sparkler from G1 and Rarity from G3. Her design also heavily resembles Glory from G1, and at first I thought her being based on Glory was unconfirmed, but recently I did find a tweet by Lauren Faust confirming it - featuring pictures of Faust’s childhood toys! I like to call her Rarity Belle, because she’s sisters with Sweetie Belle, and I like when the ponies have last names. She is a unicorn, as were Sparkler, Glory, and G3 Rarity.
Fluttershy - A combination of Posey from G1 and Fluttershy from G3. She might also be inspired by some of the G1 Flutter Ponies, particularly Rosedust. I like to call her Fluttershy Breeze because her brother’s name is Zephyr Breeze, and I like it when the ponies have last names. She also somewhat resembles Sky Shimmer from G2, though this may not be international. Neither Posey nor G3 Fluttershy have wings, but G4 Fluttershy does. In turn, G4 Fluttershy is depicted as being afraid of heights and as struggling to fly - often in ways that could be seen as a metaphor for disability. She grew up in the pegasus city of Cloudsdale, in the sky, but moved to Ponyville, to live on the ground, when older.
Pinkie Pie - A combination of Surprise from G1 and Pinkie Pie from G3. She is an earth pony, same as G3 Pinkie Pie, although early drafts depicted her as a pegasus, like Surprise. Her color palette is swapped somewhat from G3 Pinkie - Instead of darker pink fur and lighter pink hair, she has lighter pink fur and darker pink hair.
Additionally, Spike the baby dragon from G1 is brought back in G4, and is in many respects a main character, even if not part of the mane 6. His design stays relatively the same, just translated into the new art style - Similar to Applejack.
[Early drafts depict Fluttershy as an earth pony, and Pinkie Pie as a pegasus]
GENERATION FOUR-POINT-FIVE: (My Little Pony: Pony Life)
After the end of Friendship is Magic, in a similar vein to the situation with G3.5, Hasbro briefly put out a spin off series and connected toy line, featuring smaller, more cutesy designs based off the previous series, which seemed to be aimed at a younger audience than the original. People consider pony life to be G4.5. The show, “My Little Pony: Pony Life” aired from November 2020 to May 2021 in the USA. The original actors for the Mane 6 reprised their roles, but characters like Spike and Discord did not get their original actors (in Discord’s case it’s obvious why; John De Lance is not cheap to hire).
G4.5 Only released toys for the two years that Pony Life aired. They released brushables and blind-bag minifigures, and nothing else. These toys are not highly regarded by the fan base, but also not often mentioned. People who don't usually actively engage in the MLP fan base sure did say a lot of mean things about them unprompted when I made a post that included them. They are still on sale new on some sites, such as Amazon, even while G4 Merch is typically not.
Image source: Mercari
MLP AROUND THE WORLD
USA - My Little Pony
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My Little Pony is based in the USA. This means, for brushables, their USA release is considered their “Standard Edition” release, with other versions being variants, or “Nirvanas”.
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Most G1 Brushables sold in the USA were produced in Hong Kong. Later on in G1’s run, Brushables began being produced in China as well. The USA did not get any brushables imported from countries outside of Hong Kong or China, although they did sometimes get Playsets and merchandise made elsewhere (including some made in the US).
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During G1, there were a lot of variations of pony brushables between countries. Nowadays it’s a lot more homogenized. So Nirvana (International variants of Standard Edition ponies, typically referring to those made outside of Hong Kong and China) are really only a G1 thing - Although later generations do have plenty of merch, including sometimes brushables, that are International Exclusives (sold only outside of the US).
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Following G1, MLP switched to having their Standard Edition Brushables made only in China, and the amount of Nirvanas in other countries soon dried up as well. Up until late G4 all Brushables were produced only in China. Later on in the G4 run & during G5, some Brushables were made in Taiwan as well.
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Because of this, most of this International section will focus on G1.
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G3 did have a few brushables or brushable variants that were exclusively sold outside of the US, primarily in Europe and Australia, but they were all made in China. The same goes for G4.
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There is also a decent amount of non-brushable G4 (and to a lesser extent G3) merchandise that was never sold in the States. For G4, a lot of merch was released only in Japan and/or China.
Canada - My Little Pony / Ma Petite Pouliche
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Canada’s G1 Ponies were sold in French-Canadian packaging, with writing in both English and French. Otherwise they were the same as US ponies.
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They used the title "Ma Petite Pouliche" as their French subtitle, even though in France MLP is called Mon Petit Poney. This confused me greatly for a very long time.
The UK - My Little Pony
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The UK releases are usually treated as the “default” European releases (for G1), with many ponies who were sold in the UK and other European companies being referred to as “UK Exclusives”. As far as I’m aware there’s no real reason for this, other than there just seeming to be more coverage/public knowledge of UK pony variants than other European companies - Or perhaps that knowledge being shared earlier on and so being treated as default. Or… it could be a more complex social issue regarding what countries and cultures we see as “default” and which ones we see as “deviating” (not helped the MLP actually being based in the US)
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There was a long-running G1 MLP Comic Series that was written/sold in the UK, which is the most prolific and extensive piece of G1 media outside of the Television series. (The prevalence of the UK comics may actually be part of why UK releases may be considered the “default” European releases?)
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The UK did not get the G1 Unicorn and Pegasus Series, even though some other European countries did, and even though the characters sold in them were featured in the UK Comics. They eventually got some of the ponies originally sold in this series - but only the characters who were given a second Standard release as So Soft Ponies.
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The UK (and many other countries as well) did not actually get the So Soft Ponies. They got deflocked versions, nicknamed by fans as “Non-So-Soft” or “NSS” ponies.
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Similarly, the UK (and others) did not get the Beddy-Bye-Eye (BBE) pony line, and instead got normal-eyed (Non-Beddy-Bye-Eye/NBBE) counterparts to the Earth ponies from that line, along with some exclusive Baby Ponies. In all honesty, they got the way better deal.
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Admittedly, following the UK releases as a European default is helpful, because it’s all very hard to keep track of, and it helps to have one, better-documented line to treat at a default to then remark on where the other countries diverge… Generally speaking though, it appears that the UK, France, Spain, and Germany all tended to have a lot of overlapping consistencies in packaging art, series titles, and which ponies they did-or-did-not-get. Scandinavian countries and Belgium tended to overlap with each other - and often overlap with the non-European countries of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. This is not always the case, though - Plenty of countries in these two groups overlapped with the other group or weren’t consistent with the other countries in their group. Phew! It’s kind of a lot.
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... There’s also often some notable overlaps with European and South American countries’ releases - Particularly when it comes to Brazil.
NBBE & BBE Baby Heart Throb
Source: Heck Yeah Pony Scans
So-Soft Shady - Sold in US
Source: MLPCollection
Mexico - Mi Pequeño Pony
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Hasbro originally licensed the production of G1 Ponies for the Mexican market to a company based in Mexico called Lili Ledy. Lili Ledy manufactured the first set of Brushables...before their factory burnt down in 1985, and Hasbro switched over to the company Auriken (also in Mexico)
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(Lili Ledy was actually an established and well regarded Toy Company, which had worked with brands like Barbie and Star Wars. Lili Ledy toys are highly sought after even outside of the MLP community.
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(Also, while MLP collectors say the factory burning down was the reason for Hasbro transferring licensing, which it may very well be, the actual destruction of the company, while this was a contributing factor, mostly had to do with the economy and worker payment and Unions and other such things)
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Auriken-produced ponies had no hoof markings, and so identifying them can be complicated. Lily Ledy brushables have very clearly marked hooves, though.
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By G3, Brushables were all being made in China, and so was most merch. There wasn’t any Mexico-made G3 merch, but there was some merchandise that was made in China and seemingly sold exclusively in Mexico - There was a series of small hard-plastic G3 figurines with brushable hair that were sold in Mexico (and possibly also in parts of South America?)
Lili Ledy Logo on Hooves
Source: My Little Wiki
Lili Ledy Cotton Candy
Source: My Little Wiki
Argentina - Mi Pequeño Pony
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Some G1 Brushables were produced in Argentina for an Argentinian audience. A lot of them are Nirvana variants of ponies with standard US releases.
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Argentinian Nirvana Ponies tend to have bright, unique color palettes. Often they have color palettes very different from the originals. Many characters have multiple Argentinian variants. They were typically sold on packaging that does not include a set title or even character name.
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Multiple Baby Pony versions of established characters were sold in Argentina but in few or no other countries.
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A very large number of exclusive non-brushable G1 merchandise was made and sold in Argentina, such as party supplies, bags, games, puzzles, and stationery.
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G1 Nirvanas made in Argentina were all produced by the toy company Top Toys, as was much of the other G1 merch from there.
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“Argie” is often used as a term by MLP collectors to describe Argentinian exclusive merch or characters
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Argentinian ponies are some of the more sought-after and famous Nirvanas.
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There are a lot of Argentinian Nirvana variants - Perhaps even more than a hundred! They are believed to be the Nirvana group with the most variants - although the Country with the biggest total number of Nirvanas produced is most likely Italy, based on how "common" Italian ponies appear to be compared to other Nirvanas, and the frequent exporting of Italian ponies to other countries.
Argie Sugarberry has a unique design, with a fully repainted cutie mark and bright blue hair
Source: My Little Wiki
Despite this, merch of Sugarberry made & sold in Argentina uses her USA design
Source: MadToyz
Peru - Mi Pequeño Pony
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Two companies produced G1 Brushables in Peru - Basa and Novi.
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Peruvian Nirvanas are described as having a waxy, crayon-like smell - Perhaps indicating a specific type of plastic treatment
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It appears that the Lily Ledy ponies, while made in Mexico, may have also been distributed/sold in Peru.
Brazil - Meu Quêrido Pônei
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Brazilian Nirvanas were produced by the toy factory Estrela. There are 38 documented Brazilian-made brushables.
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Brazilian ponies are made of a softer, shinier plastic, and often are a little smaller than Standard Edition ponies. Their hair is made differently, with a thicker, drier texture that frizzes particularly easily.
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Brazil did not often get ponies imported from elsewhere; Most ponies sold in Brazil were made in Brazil. The Playsets, as well, were typically made in Brazil.
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Brazil, like many parts of Europe, did not have the So-Soft or Beddy-Bye-Eye lines, and instead had directly parallel lines that used many of the same characters but did not include the gimmicks.
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There was a Brazil-exclusive series of miniature pony plushies, called Os Fofinhos. They are sometimes considered an equivalent to the So-Soft Pony sets.
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A large number of non-Brushable G1 merch was made and sold in Brazil, similar to Argentina. This includes party supplies, bags, and stationary. These typically featured the Brazilian variants of the characters, whereas Argentinian G1 merch often used the likeness of the US toys in their non-toy merch.
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G1 Pony brushables and merchandise were being produced in Brazil at least up until 1988.
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There was quite a bit of Brazil exclusive G1 Pony Wear
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During G3, there were at least four Brazil exclusive ponies. These ponies were Styling Size / Styling Head (but full-body) ponies.
Columbia - ?
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Some Brushable ponies produced in Columbia used molds important from Italy, meaning they have ‘Made in Italy’ stamped on their hooves, despite being made in Columbian factories.
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Only a few characters had brushables produced in Columbia (as far as the MLP community knows, at least), but each had many variants - Some even having over ten, which is very unusual!
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Not much is known about Columbia's ponies! They are one of the Nirvana variants most lacking in info!
France- Mon Petit Poney
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During G1, there were Brushables produced in France, though not many, and only for a limited time. France also got ponies imported from Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, and eventually China... But ponies made in France were only ever distributed in France.
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All (G1) ponies made in France have non-glittery cutie marks, though some used metallic paint
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Cotton Candy is often wrongly depicted with blue hair in merchandise - Interestingly, a France-made variant of her does actually have blue hair. The Blue-haired Cotton Candy merch is not exclusive to France - In fact, I'm unsure if any was even sold there.
Prototype of Minty, in French Catolog
Source: My Little Wiki
Germany - Mein Kleins Pony
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No G1 ponies were actually produced in Germany - although some were only sold in Germany. Germany got Brushables imported from Hong Kong, China, Italy, and Macau
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There were two entirely new G1 characters sold only in Germany - Nachtlicht (whose name translates to ‘Nightlight’) and Regentropfen (whose name translates to ‘Raindrop’). These ponies were both sold in the German equivalent to the “Rainbow Ponies” set. While they were (supposedly) only sold in Germany, these ponies were made in Hong Kong.
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It is possible that ponies typically said to be German exclusive may have been sold in other neighboring countries as well - but ponies in Germany are well documented compared to those from other nearby countries, so often that’s just what people have to go off of.
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There were several variants of Standard Edition ponies - some very different from the originals - that were sold (but not made!) in Germany, and seemingly not elsewhere. This includes but is not limited to the Macau Ponies.
Macau
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Macau is a territory previously considered part of Portugal, and now officially “owned” by China, as of 1999. Because of complex politics, ponies made there were just marked ‘Macau’ with no indication towards Portugal or China. Ponies made in Macau were not sold there - They were manufactured for the German market by a company called Arxon.
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The first ponies released in Germany were Macau ponies, but it appears Macau stopped manufacturing ponies pretty soon after (possibly in Year 2?)
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All Macau ponies were made using the Collector’s Pose mold. There are Macau ponies that are directly comparable and seemingly equivalents to Peachy, Lemon Drop, Cotton Candy, and Minty - But there are also Macau ponies that appear to be mismatched versions of the original characters (such as Rosy, who has Snuzzle’s color palette with Lemon Drop’s cutie mark), or who could be reasonably treated as a uniquely colored variant or even their own character (i.e., Jenny, who is argued to be the Macau equivalent to Snuzzle, but often labeled as a Peachy variant, and also often treated as her own character)
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Versions of the Show Stable and Pretty Parlor were manufactured in Macau - but Hong Kong produced versions were also sold in Germany.
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Macau ponies may have also been distributed in neighboring countries to Germany.
Jenny's Copyright Info
Source: Vetten's Collection
Like the UK, Germany got NBBE Versions of the BBE Ponies
Source: MLP Accessories
Regentropfen the Rainbow Pony
Source: My Little Wiki
Spain - Mi Pequeño Pony
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The first set of ponies sold in Spain have a unique design with small legs, rounded features, extra-long hair, and mechanical blinking eyes (in the vein of the original My Pretty Ponies, pre-MLP). These ponies are nicknamed “Piggy Ponies” by fans.
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The Piggy Ponies were manufactured in Spain, and all used the same molds. Some Piggy Ponies were made by the company Brekar, and others by Milton Bradley (despite MB being a US-based company? It appears they also had factories in Spain? Or perhaps it’s more complicated than that…)
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Milton Bradley produced more Piggy Ponies than Brekar, and they also produced the Pretty Parlor that came with the Piggy Pony variant of Peachy
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The “Spanish Walk” is a pose that horses can be trained to perform, which involves lifting one front leg. The Piggy Pony pose sort of resembles this, which many believe to be intentional.
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A surprisingly large number of Piggy Ponies were produced (12, released in two waves + the Play Set piggy ponies!) with some being their own Spain-exclusive characters, not sold elsewhere.
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Back in the day, Piggy Ponies were believed to be Fakies, and largely ignored - Until people found them MOC, and realized they were provably liscened. Nowadays, they are often listed online for $1,000+ USD!
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Eventually, Spain switched into using molds that resembled the Standard Edition ponies.
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Many ponies sold in Spain do not have any country marked, and so people need to figure out their origins through context clues... All the Piggy Ponies have marked hooves, though.
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Most ponies sold in Spain were manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley, with the MB logo on the packaging. This was even before the brief “Hasbro Bradley” phase
Algodoncete, a character unique to Spain
Source: Etsy, My Little Ponyville
Spanish Flutterbye Nirvana
Source: Worthpoint
Italy - Mio Mini Pony / Mio Piccolo Pony
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Italian ponies are the most relatively “common” Nirvana ponies - This is because ponies made in Italy were often imported to and distributed in countries outside of Italy.
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Three Brushables were produced by the Italian company Furga, under the name Mio Piccolo Pony - outside of this, Italian G1s were made by the company DAG under the name Mio Mini Pony.
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DAG also produced quite a bit of additional G1 merchandise.
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DAG stopped making ponies in 1987. Following this, all ponies sold in Italy were imported from Hong Kong or China.
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The Italian dub of ‘My Little Pony ‘n Friends’ was titled Vola Mio Mini Pony (which translates to ‘Fly My Mini Pony’) and aired in 1984.
Greece - Mikǫό ųou Πόvυ
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A pretty decent amount of G1 Brushables and merch were produced in Greece, by the company El Greco. There have been at least 35 documented Greek Brushables.
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There were several Greek Nirvana variants of existing characters, as well as two Greece-exclusive characters, Paschalitsa (translates to Ladybug or Ladybird) and Lambaditsa (variation on Lambada candles). These ponies didn't actually have canon names, and were instead named by Greek collectors based on their cutie marks. Lambaditsa is sometimes referred to as "Birthday" or "Greek Birthday Pony" - This is because in the early days some collectors mistook her cutie mark as portraying Birthday candles.
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El Greco produced an especially large amount of Baby Ponies, including some that were produced in few (or no) other places, similar to Argentina. None of the Greek Baby Ponies were given names on their cards/boxes, but clear resemblance to existing characters indicates they are Baby versions - such as with the case of Minty. I mean, who else could that be!
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There was quite a bit of Greece exclusive G1 Pony Wear
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El Greco mostly produced Brushables and Pony Wear, but they also made Play Sets and some additional merchandise.
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During G1, Greece had a points-system, similar to the US and UK. “Greek Pony Coins” are what people call the tickets that came with Brushables in Greece, which could be exchanged for pony merchandise (I assume in a Mail Order Program?)
Paschalitsa
Source: Worthpoint
Baby Minty
Source: MLP Merch
Sweden, Finland, and Denmark - My Little Pony / Mon Petit Poney / Mein Kleins Pony
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Scandinavian G1 pony releases can be pretty confusing and inconsistent. Generally the packaging style and art often overlaps with that of Belgium, South Africa, and Australia. It less often (but still) overlaps with Germany and France, and a good amount of MOC G1s from Scandinavia show multilingual packaging with some mixture of writing in English, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, French or German.
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No ponies were produced in any Scandinavian countries. G1 MLPs in Scandinavia were typically imported from Hong Kong or Italy, occasionally Spain, and later, China.
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The Finish Dub of FiM translates My Little Pony to Ystävyyden Taikaa, and the Swedish Dub calls it Vänskap är magisk, though I'm not sure if either of these appear on any merchandise.
Belgium/the Netherlands - My Little Pony / Mon Petit Poney / Mein Kleins Pony
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Belgium got releases of most ponies, typically having them imported from Hong Kong or Italy.
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There were also ponies sold in Dutch-German multi-language packaging, confirmed to have been sold in Belgium, and most likely sold in Germany as well, which are nicknamed “Dutch Ponies” by fans. There were twelve Dutch Ponies, including both babies and grown-up ponies. Each of them were unique characters with no Standard Release.
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A lot of the packaging used for G1 ponies in Belgium used the same art as packaging in Scandinavia, Australia, and South Africa.
South Africa - My Little Pony / Mon Petit Poney
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There are at least 17 G1 Brushables that were produced in South Africa. These ponies use unique molds with a distinct painting style.
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A lot of the packaging used for G1 ponies in South Africa used the same art as packaging in Scandinavia, Australia, and Belgium. Like Belgium and Scandinavia, the packaging was often multilingual.
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South African Nirvanas are some of the most poorly documented Nirvanas, with not much known about them.
India - maee litil ponee / माई लिटिल पोनी
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The Indian company Funskool produced the first six ponies released in India (each equivalent to the Original Six ponies first released in the US). After this, ponies sold in India were produced out of the country.
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FiM did not air on Television in India until September of 2017, when a Hindu dub of the series began airing on the TV Channel Pogo. It was then transferred to Nick Jr in 2019, where it aired until Season 8. There was never a dub made of Season 9, so it never aired on Television in India.
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A lot of MLP merchandise sold in India uses English, but still, the English version was never aired on TV there - India was relegated to the unfinished Hindu dub.
Japan - Mai Ritoru Ponii / Mairitoruponī / マイリトルポニー
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G1 Brushables were not sold in Japan - Instead, Hasbro briefly licensed the My Little Pony brand to a company called Takura Tomy, in return for sharing the licensing for Transformers.
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In 1985, Takura Tomy launched their version of My Little Pony - Mai Ritoru Ponii: Osharena Ponii (which translates to My Little Pony: Stylish Pony). Takura Tomy had a level of brand control not given to the toy companies in other companies that had MLP production privileges - They essentially launched their own toy line under the MLP brand.
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The Takura Tomy ponies are little Moomin-like horse people with brushable hair and flocked plastic.
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It’s unclear how long Takura ponies were made for, but it sounds like they were not sold for very long - They definitely didn’t make it to the end of the G1 run.
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Takara ponies are by far the rarest and hardest to find G1 “variant”. Their prices can range to upwards of $3,000.
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Unlicensed Takura fakies were produced by competing companies, and many were still sold after the Takura ponies ceased production.
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Japan did not get G2 ponies either - But during the time that G2 was being produced, Takura Tomi produced a small handful of what may be the earliest G1 Retro Merch - Some keychains, cellphone straps, and plush purses using G1 designs but with G2 art on the packaging.
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I am unsure if G3 Brushable ponies were ever sold in Japan, but they most likely were, considering there is a handful of Japanese-made-and-exclusive merchandise for G3 - namely plushies and small figurines.
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Japan absolutely did get G4 brushables though - along with other G4 merch imported from China (and later Vietnam), the same stuff released in the US!
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FiM aired in Japan under the name マイリトルポニー〜トモダチは魔法〜 (That is: Mairitoruponī 〜 tomodachi wa mahō). It debuted in 2013 on Tokyo TV, where it aired for two seasons, until March 2014, where the dub production entered a hiatus and Japan only received re-runs until 2019, when a dub of the third season finally aired, now on DLife. After the fourth season aired in March 2020, another hiatus began, before it was transferred to Disney Channel, which aired the fifth season in December of 2021.
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In the era of G4, Japan is one of the only countries that has produced their own country-exclusive licensed merchandise, with permission from Hasbro. While there aren't Japan-made G4 brushables, there are plushies, resin and vinyl figures, and other merchandise such as dishware, clothes, bags, and stationary. It appears some of the Japan-made MLP Merch may be distributed in other countries in Asia, but very little of it has made it over to Europe or the North America, and I'm unsure if any is sold in other places, such as South America and Africa.
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After G4 has officially ended, various Japanese companies with permission from Hasbro, continue to produce G4 merch alongside G5 merch both produced in Japan and imported from China and Vietnam.
China - 小马宝莉
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小马宝莉 is the Chinese name for My Little Pony - It is sometimes shortened to 小马 by the fandom. 彩虹小馬 is the name for Friendship is Magic.
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China began to produce Brushables and merchandise for My Little Pony in late 1988 (Year 7 of G1). This means there are less G1s made in China than made in Hong Kong. Despite this, people do sometimes see the Chinese G1s as less interesting, seeing as it is uncommon for the US to import goods from Hong Kong nowadays.
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China continued to make all the MLP Brushables and the vast majority of MLP merch until late G4, when Hasbro started outsources some of the mainline pony merch from Vietnam. As mentioned before, there is also MLP Merch made in Japan, but it appears to mostly be exclusive to Japan and sometimes other parts of Asia, with very little being imported outside of Asian countries.
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Like Japan, China continues to produce G4 merch even after G4 has ended. While G4 merch pops up occasionally in the US, things have largely switched to G5 (and some G1 Retro), and in general pony merch is far less prominent than it once was. To the contrary, the FiM brand is still going very strong in China and Japan, with almost all new G4 merch being Asia-exclusive after the end of FiM and Pony Life.
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Resin and Vinyl MLP blind bag figures are particularly popular in Japan and China, with several companies making deals with Hasbro to produce beautifully-sculpted figurines that you unfortunately have to select at random.
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Currently most MLP fakies still being produced seem to be knockoffs of these Japanese and Chinese Blind Bag series, usually originating in China and only being found by Western MLP Collectors through sites like Ali-Express. The quality of these fakies varies considerably - Some are actually very nice!
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Several large and impressive My Little Pony themed live stage shows have taken place in China, although information them online in English is a bit scarce.
Russia - Мой Маленький Пони / Маленькие пони
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My Little Pony ‘n Friends did not air in Russia until 1993, when it aired under the name Маленькие пони
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There appears to have been a Russian G1 pony comic series, but it is not well documented.
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Friendship is Magic first aired in Russia in 2012, two years after its American release. A Russian dub was made under the name Дружба это чудо, which translates to “Friendship is a Miracle" on the TV channel Karusel. The dub officially completed its run on December 26, 2019.
Poland - Mój mały kucyk
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My Little Pony n’ Friends and the 1986 movie both aired in Poland in the 80s
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G3 Ponies were sold in Poland, and most likely G1s as well
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Friendship is Magic aired in Poland with a Polish dub by the name of Przyjaźń to magia, which began airing in 2011 on the channel MiniMini. Later on it also began airing on TVP ABC and Polsat JimJam, but MiniMini remained the home channel of the dub. It ended on December 25th, 2019.