1985:

Twinkle Eye Ponies

"Twinkle Eye Ponies" were one of Hasbro's 'gimmick' sets for this year. They were obviously popular, as there were two following sets in 1986 and 1987. Combining the idea of multicoloured manes and tails with a new idea, each Twinkle Eye Pony was distinguishable by the jewels they had for eyes. (Sometimes this gave them a chameleonic look!)

It;s worth mentioning that all of the Generation 2 ponies had gems in their eyes, but none of these are actual "Twinkle Eye" ponies!

The first set included two unicorns, two pegasi and two earth ponies. It also saw the very first parting of the ways where UK and US naming was concerned - Sweetie was known as "Sweet Stuff" in North America. But, this is a UK website - so from hereon in she will be referred to as "Sweetie" :)

The Twinkle Eyes were introduced to kiddies in the UK via a story in one of the comics - edition eleven -where (so I'm told) they were enslaved by the Jewel Wizard in a mine called the Cave of Jewels, blinded by the constant darkness - where Applejack unwittingly stumbles upon their plight. Then, upon their escape, the jewel throne of their captor broke into several pieces (no prizes for guessing which little pony was responsible for THAT happening), becoming the gemstones that gave them back their sight. (Thanks to Lady Guinevere for this anecdote!). That's pretty intense stuff for a kid's comic!

MOC: FIZZY ON SUNSHOWER'S CARD

It's also worth mentioning that Hasbro got themselves a bit confused with this set. Though most of these mismatched creations have so far shown up in Germany or on German Ebay, the card and sticker of the pony are decidedly English in origin. Fizzy (above) for example is sealed with her correct comb, ribbon and round puffy sticker. However, her card not only belongs to the wrong pony, but entirely the wrong set! It's believed there are a batch of these out there (certainly I've seen a few) with adult Twinkle Eye Ponies sealed on UK Pearly Baby Sea Pony cards. Oh well - I guess you can't get everything right first time!