Firefly (Classic + Italian, French)
- Caden Dickinson
- May 9
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 1
CHARACTER(S): Firefly
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1983, 1984 (both stamped with 1983)
PLACE OF PRODUCTION: Hong Kong, Italy, France
The Italian and French variations of Firefly are condensed into this post, not having enough info for their own, and being similar to the Standard Hong-Kong-made release
MANUFACTURING COMPANY: Hasbro
TYPICAL PRICE ONLINE: $15 - $25 USD
OTHER COMMENTS/INFO:
Released in Year Two (1983-1984) as part of the Pegasi Set
This version came with a pink ribbon and a purple brush
There were only two pegasi released this year - The Unicorn and Pegasi sets were sort of combined (both having the same backcard, but different titles underneath), and there were 4 unicorns released that year, adding up to the standard 6 ponies per wave
Released again in the second wave of the Pegasus Series, in Year Three (1984-1985).
This version came with a purple ribbon and yellow comb
She is basically the same as the original release, but has longer hair and factory curls. Note that factory curls can come undone, so the best indicator is hair length
Firefly had a third Standard release - With a different pose! She will get her own post
Had a re-release for MLPs 35th Anniversary
Firefly appears in quite a lot of additional merchandise, and is considered one of the more iconic and famous G1 characters, despite not appearing in the TV Show
Media:
She was in the first MLP TV Special, Rescue at Midnight Castle, and played the most prominent role in the special - So much so that they later re-released it under the name "Firefly's Adventure"
She also appears in the UK G1 Comics
She is featured in several G1 Picture Books
Firefly is one of the inspirations for G4's Rainbow Dash
Personality: Firefly is depicted as rambunctious, daring, brave, and adventurous. She does a whole lot of flying, and not a whole lot of sitting still.
Her US Backcard writes: Firefly jumped on the wind and, soaring higher and higher, thought she might look for the rainbow. She knew it loved to play hide and seek. “I wonder where it’s hiding today?” she thought. The wind whispered the answer in her ear. “Thanks for the ride!” Firefly said as she jumped off. She danced across the sky, sailing from cloud to cloud. Finally she saw the snow-crested mountain peaks. Nestled in the deep mountain valley was the rainbow. Firefly laughed because under the rainbow was Blossom, sound asleep!
Her UK Fact File says: Firefly loves to race across the sky. Moving gracefully from cloud to cloud, she dances on her graceful hooves and sails on the wind. She often chases the rain and searches among the clouds for the pony's special friend, the rainbow.
Her French-Canadian Backcard writes: Firefly sautait dans le vent et montait de plus en plus haut croyant qu’elle pourrait trouver l’arc-en-ciel. Elle savait qu’il aimait jouer à cache-cache. < Je me demande bien où il se cache aujourd’hui? > pensa-t-elle. Le vent lui siffla la réponse à l’oreille. < Merci pour la balade > lui répondit Firefly en quittant le vent. Elle dansait dans le ciel sautant d’un nuage à l’autre. Finalement elle aperçut la cime des montagnes couverte de neige. L’arc-en-ciel était là, blotti dans la vallée. Firefly se mit à rire en apervevant Blossom endormi sous l’arc-en-ciel!
Year 2 Firefly:
Short hair with a forelock, styled like Year 1 ponies
Image sources:
Year 3 Firefly:
Longer hair w/ factory curls
She appears to be less common than Year 2 Firefly - or at least harder to find photos of!
Image sources:
Outside of the US:
Firefly was released in Canada with French-Canadian packaging, using the US backcard design
Firefly never had a UK release, but was released in many other European countries
Image sources:
Italian & French Firefly
If there's not a ton of variants, and they look similar enough to the Hong-Kong-made version, I include the Italian variant in the main post, because many countries outside of Italy had their ponies imported from there!
Firefly just had two Italian versions - One for her first, short-haired release, and one for her second, long-haired release
One place that we know had Italian Firefly was France
The blue-eyed Firefly sold in France appears to be Italian, but there is also a purple-eyed version that is a French Nirvana
Italian Firefly has a painted symbol, instead of a glittery one
Italian Firefly appears to either be a lighter shade of pink than Hong Kong firefly, or perhaps her paint is just more prone to fading
I'm inclined to think the second one, because the range in pinks is pretty wide, but perhaps there are just multiple variants - There would be at least two, because a lot of Italian Fireflys appear more peach-toned
Image sources:
Fable Pony Firefly
Scandinavia, Germany, Norway, Australia & South Africa had Firefly brushables sold on a particular backcard, sometimes without a series title, and sometimes titled a variation on the phrase "Fable Ponies"
This backcard was used for the Unicorn and Pegasus sets. Instead of having the same back card for both, but different titles, both unicorns and pegasi in the Fable set are just labelled "Fable Ponies", if given a title at all
It is confirmed that Germany's "Fable Ponies" were made in Italy
It is unclear if it was standard for the Fable Ponies to be made in Italy. They probably weren't for all countries, but the importing of Italian MLP production out to other European countries was not uncommon, so she may have been sold in more than just Germany. It is unclear if she was ever actually with this backcard design in Italy.
Image sources:
See also:
Baby Firefly
Firefly's Adventure Brushable
Firefly Figurines
Firefly - Dolly Mix Doll (G1 Retro)
Firefly Basic Fun Blind Box Figure (G1 Retro)
Other Merch with Firefly
She's in a lot of the more weird/obscure merch!
[You can also look at her tag for more Firefly merch]
Other Ponies in the G1 Pegasus Series
Surprise
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