Pony Knowledge...

UNDER THE HOOVES - What the writing under the pony's hooves means

CUTIE MARKS - The symbols on the ponies

WHAT ARE PONIES MADE OF?

WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO TELL A PONY'S GENERATION?

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PONIES?

WHERE ARE GENERATIONS 2 & 5?

TERMS ACRONYMS

UNDER THE HOOVES:

The copyright info is usually molded beneath one or more of a pony’s hooves. If not, it is usually on the belly.

This will almost always include the name ‘Hasbro’ because they own the copyright to MLP(very few licensed products don’t have this; some G1 Nirvana ponies do not. Most of the time if a pony does not have ‘Hasbro’ written on them, they are unlicensed/a fakie). If Hasbro did not manufacture the pony themselves, the hooves typically will also say the name of the manufacturing company.

There will also be a year included - this is not necessarily the year the pony was made. It will be the year that the mold the pony uses was copyrighted. Often, molds are used more than once - Sometimes they are not even released to the public the year they were copyrighted. It is not uncommon for a pony’s markings to not match the year they were actually introduced. I follow information from other pony sleuths, and trust them over the date printed underneath the hooves. If there is no information on other pony sites about when the horse was made, I will assume that the printed year is correct until further notice.

CUTIE MARKS:

“Cutie Marks” are the symbol on the flank of the ponies. The term ‘cutie mark’ originated from G3, whereas previous generations had no name for them, and collectors just called them symbols. This site will use the term cutie mark, even for older generations.

One way to identify pony generations is by cutie mark. Generation one ponies had cutie marks on both sides (with the exception of Petite Ponies), whereas generations 3 and 4 almost always have them on only one side. The side of a pony toy with a cutie mark is called the “display side” by collectors. In FiM the ponies have cutie marks on both sides, so the lack of inclusion of this in merchandise is a frustration for many fans.

Generation one also usually included a large number of little symbols clustered together for the cutie mark, while G3 and G4 notably almost always had just one symbol, or three grouped together.

WHAT ARE PONIES MADE OF?

Pony brushables are primarily made out of polyvinyl chloride, aka PVC plastic. This plastic can be treated a variety of different ways, often using heat or plasticizers to make it softer and more bendable.

G1 brushables have a softer, almost rubbery-like texture, which is especially noticeable because they are pretty much entirely hollow inside.

G3 brushables usually have a hard, solid feeling plastic, and are not hollow inside. There is quite a bit of variety in the texture of G3 plastic compared to the others - some G3 ponies are a lot more rubbery than others.

G4 classic brushables are only partially hollow, and have a somewhat soft and rubbery texture, though not as soft as G1. G4 reboot brushables have a harder texture, feeling more like G3. They are more hollow than classic G4s, especially inside the head.

Pony hair is made of a combination of nylon plastic and polypropylene. G1 hair is almost all nylon. After 2012, G4 started making the tails from entirely polypropylene, while still keeping the manes mostly nylon. Some Styling Size brushables also use more polypropylene. Nylon is much better quality than polypropylene - Polypropylene is less porous, and so harder to wash. It also frizzes more, and loses color faster. Some pony hair also incorporates tinsel.

WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO TELL A PONY'S GENERATION?

Well, after a certain point, you can figure it out easily by just looking at them! But here’s some basic tips:

SIZE: G1 ponies are usually about 5-6 inches tall - The babies are about 2 ½ to 3 inches tall. G3 ponies are just a little bit shorter. G4 ponies are typically 3 inches tall, though alicorns (ponies with horns and wings) are usually molded to be taller. Baby G4 ponies are 2 ½ inches tall.

CUTIE MARK: See above section - In summary: G1’s have cutie marks on both sides; G3 and G4 have them on only one (at least for brushables). For G3 and G4, they usually have one symbol or three symbols grouped together.

EYES: G4 eyes are bigger in proportion to their face, and usually very round. They often have gradients of multiple colors in the irises. If the ponies have plastic rhinestones in their eyes, they are either G1 or G2.

NOSE: G1 and G3 ponies have larger noses, and more horse-like faces. G2, G3.5, G4, G4.5, and G5 all have much smaller noses, and bigger, more prominent foreheads.

HOOVES: Ponies marked with dates from the 80s and early 90s are either G1 or G2. Ponies marked with dates pre-2011 are G3. Most G4 ponies are just marked ‘2010’. Anything after 2010 is either G4, G5, or an earlier generation reproduction. G3 ponies often have a magnet under one hoof, or a hole in one hoof - the hoof with this feature will usually have a tiny heart on it. G4 ponies also sometimes have a hole in one hoof.

PONY SPECIES: The only generations with alicorns (ponies with wings and horns) are G4 (& G4.5) and G5. G4 ponies have a lot of variety in the amount of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. Pegasi are usually molded with open wings, but not always. G1 has a pretty high amount of unicorns and pegasi, but all pegasi have closed wings, molded to their sides. G3 ponies are by far mostly earth ponies. The pegasi they do have always have open wings, which are usually particularly tiny in proportion to the horse.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PONIES?

A lot of them are from my childhood. The ones that aren’t are mostly from online. If not, they're mainly from antique/vintage stores. I haven’t found much MLP stuff in regular second hand stores/thrift stores - it’s always places advertised as for antique or vintage stuff. For online shopping, I use Etsy, eBay, and Mercari. My big tip for looking for ponies online is that if you want a specific pony, looking up that exact pony is going to usually get you higher prices than if you just scroll through the ‘My Little Pony’ search aimlessly. The best deals are titled just ‘My Little Pony’, with blurry, fuzzy pictures taken in somebody’s basement of an incredibly rare pony, listed for 5 bucks. Godspeed.

WHERE ARE GENERATIONS 2 AND 5?

They’re not real. Just kidding! But they’re not on this site. I’m just personally not a fan of them. They did nothing wrong, I just don’t care nearly enough about either of them to put in the sort of effort into documenting them that I’m putting in for this site. It’s a lot of work! At first I considered it, at least for G2, but it’s just too much… There are sites out there that document G2 and G5 though, if that’s what you’re looking for! MLP Merch and My Little Wiki both include all generations!

TERMS

Terms used by the MLP community - Some more relevant to this site than others

Fakie: Unlicensed imitation MLP merchandise

G1 Retro: Term used for G1 ponies made after the original G1 ended - Can be either direct reproductions of G1 or new merchandise

Custom ponies: When artists repaint and rehair MLPs in order to give them an updated, customized design or turn them into an entirely different pony

Bait / Project ponies: MLPs that are in too poor quality to be displayed, and so can be used instead for restorations or customs. Different people have different ideas of at what point a pony is considered “bait”.

Collectors Pose: The first pose the ponies ever came in - The default G1 pose

Factory curls: The original curls in the hair of many G1 ponies. The quality of factory curls increases the value of the pony. It is said that nobody knows how they made that type of curl, and that people can’t figure out how to emulate it. It is also said that we will never know, because the factory that produced them burned down. It is up to you to decide the validity of these claims, particularly the last one. But the point is, if your G1 pony has perfect curls, be careful with them!

Flocking: Tiny, fuzzy fibers applied to the surface of plastic to create a fur-like texture. This was used for the G1 So-Soft Ponies, and some of the G1 cats and dogs. It is not common in later generations.

Pony cancer: Term used for when mold grows on ponies. I don’t know if I support the use of the word cancer here, but if you see people saying this, that’s what they’re talking about. Mold is most likely to grow on G1 ponies, because they are hollow (and old)

G1 'Years': A confusing situation - MLPs were first copyrighted halfway through 1982, and first released in the start of 1983. This is “Year 1” of MLP. Yeah, that’s confusing… There are ten “Years” of G1 - with it ending partway through 1992.

Flat-footed ponies: Most G1 ponies have concave hooves, but the first 6 ponies ever released, in 1983, had flat hooves (not the individual first 6 ponies, but the first 6 brushable releases). The “flat feet” of these ponies are often mentioned by collectors when talking about identifying ponies.

Core 7: Term for the main characters of the G3 toy line - Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Cheerilee, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Toola-Roola

Mane 6: Term for the main characters of FiM and the corresponding G4 toy line - Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity

Fashion Style Brushables: G3 and G4 brushables made to be larger than the typical pony brushable size (usually 6" for G4), in order to encourage hair styling. Hair quality is often worse.

Nirvana Ponies: G1 ponies or variations of G1 ponies that were sold only outside of the US. Usually refers to ponies made in the place they were sold in. Accidental changes to pony color palletes, etc. qualify as Nirvana if they were only available outside of the USA.

Classic/Common: In reference to G1 brushables, the original USA (sometimes UK) release. The MLP brand is based in the US, so brushables were released in the US first, and the default brushable designs were the ones released in the US. ‘Common’ doesn't necessarily mean the pony is easy to find - It means it’s not Nirvana.

ACRONYMS

Acronyms used by the MLP community - Some more relevant to this site than others

MLP: My Little Pony

FiM: Friendship is Magic (The G4 TV Show - Most popular piece of MLP media)

TAF: Twice as Fancy ponies - G1 ponies where the cutie mark goes across more than just the flank

GOH: Guardians of Harmony - A particularly popular and well-liked series of G4 action figures and vinyl sculptures, marketed more towards collectors

HTF: "Hard to find" - Label on some pony listings to indicate that they are rare. Sometimes people lie about this though.

ISO: “In search of” - Some people put up eBay or Mercari listings asking for ponies that they want to find

MIB/MIP/MIC: Mint in box / mint in package / mint in container

OOAK: One of a kind - Usually used for customized ponies

RD: Nickname for Rainbow Dash

AJ: Nickname for Applejack

SDCC: San Diego Comic Con - A lot of MLP toys are exclusive to, or first released at this convention