Princess Ponies and Attendants

PRINCESS RUBY (Pink princess with blue mane and tail (dark pink tinsel), butterfly medallion) Sparks (pink dragon with red spines) Chumster (Yellow bushwoolie with aqua crown)	PRINCESS AQUAMARINE (Aqua princes with pale pink mane and tail (gold tinsel), heart medallion) Prickles (green dragon with green spines) Cheery (pink bushwoolie with purple crown)	PRINCESS SAPPHIRE (blue princess with dark pink mane and tail (dark pink tinsel), crescent moon medallion) Smokey (blue dragon with blue spines) Eager (pink bushwoolie with aqua crown)

Princess Ponies THIS SET: UK ISSUE MIB Mm well no fantasy land would be complete without princesses and dragons, would it? However, these dragons weren't holding the Princesses hostage. Far from it, they were the royal attendants, running around after their royal mistresses and making sure each of them was okay. And it was far from an easy job. Each Princess was given a distinct personality, and you can fully understand the frustrations of a baby dragon trying to keep up with his mistress' many whims! They were sold in the same year here as in the USA, since they appear on all three 1987 dated inserts. The scan I've used is from the insert I now believe to belong to LATE 1987, since on the first insert they appear on, Ruby and Amber's names are reversed, and so are those of their dragons. Although by this time, round puffy stickers were phased out in the United States, some of this year's earliest pony introductions still had them (Namely the princesses and the baby sea ponies - see Amethyst and Sapphire's stickers to the left and right. Strangely, Princess stickers did not have "Princess" on them, only the jewel that the pony was named for.) All of the princesses are pictured here with their corresponding United Kingdom issue hats (Except Amethyst, whose we don't have.) The wands seem to have been very random. As a child, I got Sapphire as the only princess pony I ever had. The only wand I had as a kid was an aqua wand, so my Sapphire must have come with an aqua wand. However, I have been told by another UK collector that their Sapphire had a different wand....I have seen Amethyst boxed in European packaging with a dark blue wand, but I have no way of knowing for sure the wands they came with. ANYONE who has a UK boxed Princess Pony, and can take a picture, PLEASE get in touch and help us out!! The general consensus about UK princess accessories appears to be that they were prone to variation and change - so whether it is possible to work out precisely what colour accessories each came with, I don't know for sure... Princess Pearl was probably the sweetest natured princess. She was extremely popular with the baby ponies, and when she cried happy tears they would turn into wishing pearls. In contrast, her dragon, Fiery, was a fairly tough little dragon who saw to it that his Princess was never put in harm's way. Princess Ruby was the restless one - restless rubies became her catchphrase, ans Sparks was often at his wits end trying to keep up with her. Princess Aquamarine was a daydreamer, and Prickles was left to make sure she didn't daydream herself into danger, since, of course, royal daydreams in ponyland often had a magical quality. Princess Amethyst was the scatterbrain, always trying to help (and Spiny was clumsy as heck in trying to undo the unneeded help...a hopeless pair!). Princess Amber became known for tempting fate and jinxing the rest by saying 'That's no bother'..(when things inevitably became a bother, especially for poor Flash), whilst Princess Sapphire, as the oldest and wisest of the Princesses had the youngest and meekest dragon of all for her attendant; Smokey. In the United States the Princesses famously turned themselves into airheads to fight over who should be queen. They were sold with Bushwoolies, not dragons, who also appeared in the animated episode. Their American names were also decidedly less colour co-ordinated, and were as follows: Princess Pearl: Princess Tiffany Princess Amber: Princess Starburst Princess Ruby: Princess Primrose Princess Amethyst: Princess Sparkle (or Lilac as she is called in the cartoon, for some reason...) Princess Sapphire: Princess Royal Blue Princess Aquamarine: Princess Serena Thanks to Pranceatron for the UK catalogue picture (left). Note that in her prototype edition, Princess Amethyst's hair is green, not aqua. In Germany, there were also issues of these princesses with different colour manes and tails. The princess hats in the UK were different from the release in America and were as follows: Ruby: Yellow hat with pink ribbons, butterflies and flowers motifs. Aquamarine: pinkish purple hat with yellow ribbons, hearts and teardrops motifs. Sapphire: purple hat with yellow ribbons, moons and stars motifs. Pearl: Blue hat with pink ribbons, hearts and teardrops motifs. Amber: Aqua hat with pink ribbons, moons and stars motifs. Amethyst: pink hat with aqua ribbons, butterflies and flowers motifs. PLEASE NOTE that some Amethysts were also sold with Sapphire's hat, suggesting that the pink hat went out of production quickly and the purple hat was a replacement. Therefore both hats are correct for Amethyst! (I told you Hasbro UK mixed their accessories!)

Mm well no fantasy land would be complete without princesses and dragons, would it?
However, these dragons weren't holding the Princesses hostage. Far from it, they were the royal attendants, running around after their royal mistresses and making sure each of them was okay.
And it was far from an easy job. Each Princess was given a distinct personality, and you can fully understand the frustrations of a baby dragon trying to keep up with his mistress' many whims! They were sold in the same year here as in the USA, since they appear on all three 1987 dated inserts. The scan I've used is from the insert I now believe to belong to LATE 1987, since on the first insert they appear on, Ruby and Amber's names are reversed, and so are those of their dragons. Although by this time, round puffy stickers were phased out in the United States, some of this year's earliest pony introductions still had them (Namely the princesses and the baby sea ponies - see Amethyst and Sapphire's stickers to the left and right. Strangely, Princess stickers did not have "Princess" on them, only the jewel that the pony was named for.) All of the princesses are pictured here with their corresponding United Kingdom issue hats (Except Amethyst, whose we don't have.) The wands seem to have been very random. As a child, I got Sapphire as the only princess pony I ever had. The only wand I had as a kid was an aqua wand, so my Sapphire must have come with an aqua wand. However, I have been told by another UK collector that their Sapphire had a different wand....I have seen Amethyst boxed in European packaging with a dark blue wand, but I have no way of knowing for sure the wands they came with. ANYONE who has a UK

boxed Princess Pony, and can take a picture, PLEASE get in touch and help us out!! The general consensus about UK princess accessories appears to be that they were prone to variation and change - so whether it is possible to work out precisely what colour accessories each came with, I don't know for sure...
Princess Pearl was probably the sweetest natured princess. She was extremely popular with the baby ponies, and when she cried happy tears they would turn into wishing pearls. In contrast, her dragon, Fiery, was a fairly tough little dragon who saw to it that his Princess was never put in harm's way.
Princess Ruby was the restless one - restless rubies became her catchphrase, ans Sparks was often at his wits end trying to keep up with her. Princess Aquamarine was a daydreamer, and Prickles was left to make sure she didn't daydream herself into danger, since, of course, royal daydreams in ponyland often had a magical quality. Princess Amethyst was the scatterbrain, always trying to help (and Spiny was clumsy as heck in trying to undo the unneeded help...a hopeless pair!). Princess Amber became known for tempting fate and jinxing the rest by saying 'That's no bother'..(when things inevitably became a bother, especially for poor Flash), whilst Princess Sapphire, as the oldest and wisest of the Princesses had the youngest and meekest dragon of all for her attendant; Smokey.
In the United States the Princesses famously turned themselves into airheads to fight over who should be queen. They were sold with Bushwoolies, not dragons, who also appeared in the animated episode. Their American names were also decidedly *less* colour co-ordinated, and were as follows:

Princess Pearl: Princess Tiffany
Princess Amber: Princess Starburst
Princess Ruby: Princess Primrose
Princess Amethyst: Princess Sparkle (or Lilac as she is called in the cartoon, for some reason...)
Princess Sapphire: Princess Royal Blue
Princess Aquamarine: Princess Serena

Thanks to Pranceatron for the UK catalogue picture (left). Note that in her prototype edition, Princess Amethyst's hair is green, not aqua. In Germany, there were also issues of these princesses with different colour manes and tails.
The princess hats in the UK were different from the release in America and were as follows:
Ruby: Yellow hat with pink ribbons, butterflies and flowers motifs.
Aquamarine: pinkish purple hat with yellow ribbons, hearts and teardrops motifs.
Sapphire: purple hat with yellow ribbons, moons and stars motifs.
Pearl: Blue hat with pink ribbons, hearts and teardrops motifs.
Amber: Aqua hat with pink ribbons, moons and stars motifs.
Amethyst: pink hat with aqua ribbons, butterflies and flowers motifs.
PLEASE NOTE that some Amethysts were also sold with Sapphire's hat, suggesting that the pink hat went out of production quickly and the purple hat was a replacement. Therefore both hats are correct for Amethyst! (I told you Hasbro UK mixed their accessories!)