Baby Moondancer (Classic + Spanish)

Caden Dickinson
Jul 23
5 min read

CHARACTER(S): Baby Moondancer

YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1984

Year 3 (late 1984 - early 1985)

PLACE OF PRODUCTION: Hong Kong

MANUFACTURING COMPANY: Hasbro

TYPICAL PRICE ONLINE: ?

OTHER COMMENTS/INFO:

The baby version of Moondancer

Release Info:

She was part of the first baby pony series, from 1984
- These were sold under the name Baby Pony Play And Care Set, or just Baby Pony
- The USA introduced 6 ponies for their initial wave - Baby Moondancer, Baby Blossom, Baby Cotton Candy, Baby Firefly, Baby Glory, and Baby Surprise.
- All of these ponies were baby versions of ponies who had already been released - with two earth ponies from the Year 1 original pony set, two ponies from the Year 2 Unicorn series, and two pegasi - Both from the Pegasus series, one from Year 2 (Firefly) and one from Year 3 (Surprise)
- Note: All the non earth ponies in this series had glittery symbols
Baby Moondancer was not released in the UK - Likely because Moondancer herself wasn't. The UK only got three Baby Ponies in their first Baby Pony wave (which was in 1985 instead of 1984 like the US) - Baby Blossom, Baby Cotton Candy, and Baby Applejack. Baby Applejack was not released in the USA
- Certain parts of Europe got Baby Moondancer, Glory, Firefly, and Surprise
- Holland, Germany and Belgium all seem to have gotten the full set - These countries got differently packaged versions with less accessories, and without glitter on the cutie marks
- She was released in Greece, but as a Nirvana

Accessories:

The Baby Pony Play And Care Sets included a large number of accessories. Each one included a necklace for the pony to wear, a diaper and diaper box, a teddy bear plush, a bottle, the classic ribbon, and three additional accessories that differed between ponies.
- For Baby Moondancer, her additional accessories were a bib, rocker, and duck pull toy. Accessory list with photos can be found on MLW
- In the US, the Year 3 Baby Ponies also came with a mail order pamphlet for the Birthflower Ponies

Additional Info:

Baby Moondancer's hair is pink and light purple, appearing as a pastel version of Moondancer's red-toned, darker hair
- This may be done because the ponies were marketed as the daughters of their grown-up counterparts, so making them slightly different could help to slightly differentiate them, seeing as they have the same names. I think it sort of accidently implies that pony hair can darken with age like human hair sometimes does.
Baby Moondancer appears in the second MLP animated Special, "Escape from Catrina"

Character: Her primary character trait in the one and only piece of animated media she appears in seems to be biting and kicking people. Her established interests are dancing, playing ball, and pretending to be a princess.

Her US Backcard writes: Dusk was falling over the forest when Baby Moondancer donned her tutu and ballet slippers to practice her dance steps. "Extend and stretch," she remembered, just like her mother, Moondancer, taught her. Suddenly, she lost her balance and fell onto a bed of soft moss. "I'll never learn to dance like a real ballerina," she sighed. Mr. Moon was watching Baby Moondancer pull herself to her feet. "Don't stop because of a little fall," the Moon urged. "I'll help you dance by casting my shadow on the ground where you should take each step." Baby Moondancer followed Mr. Moon's instructions. Soon she was pirouetting and swaying with ease. While she danced, the wind quietly called Mother Moondancer to the forest. She was very proud indeed of her little ballerina.

USA Release (Standard release)

Image sources:

European Releases: Non-Nirvana European variants - wherein the only notable change is lack of glitter on the cutie mark and minor color pallete changes & the pony was still made in Hong Kong

Holland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark are all believed to have gotten Baby Moondancer releases, packaged in the simpler packaging with the card instead of a full box
France got releases in the style of the US packages, even though they got all 6 ponies

Image Sources:

Spanish Nirvana: Nirvana from Spain - Her differences in appearance are minor, but she was made in Spain. I don't think she looks different enough to get her own entire post.

Her Spanish name was Rayo-de-Luna
Cutie mark is non glittery, same as other European releases
Her hoof is marked 1984. Unsure if she was released in Spain in 1984, or in 1985 like how the Wave 1 Baby Ponies were released a year late in the UK.
According to MLP Arena, her accessories in Spain included a rattle and duckling comb
- This database of Spanish ponies assigns her a purple duckling comb, and this listing on eBay has her sold with the same purple duckling comb

Image Sources:

My Little Wiki
eBay - Toys of The World
Toy Sisters

Baby Moondreamer

In Year 7 (1988-1898), Mail Order Ponies included pearlized versions of each of the Baby Ponies from the first wave in 1984 - For some reason though, even though everypony else got to keep their names, Baby Moondancer was renamed to Baby Moondreamer!
The Pearlized Baby Ponies could be bought individually or as a set. They each came with a ribbon
A lot of the color palletes have some alterations in this set, Moond̶a̶n̶c̶e̶r̶ dreamer included - She has dark pink hair, with no purple streaks.
She is not to be confused with Baby Moondream, a Newborn Baby Pony from 1992
The Pearlized Baby Ponies were mostly made in China, but people have found ones marked with Hong Kong
- There are slight differences in the ponies depending on where they were made. In the case of Baby Moondreamer, the Hong Kong version is slightly bigger and has darker, more yellow-toned fur
- It's worth noting that it seemed there were sometimes size differences in the ponies even if they were from the same place; The size differences aren't totally consistent with region, there's just been multiple cases where a differences has been noted
Baby Moondreamer often is listed in the $50 to $70 range