1985: Earth Ponies
CHERRIES JUBILEE
Peach earth pony with coral mane and tail, green and pinkish cherries symbol
(ABOVE PICTURED: FIRST EDITION (GROOM & STYLE/YEAR 3 EARTH PONY)
Cherries Jubilee was the carnival queen, mistress of the cherry blossom and the exorbitant parade. Like Posey, she was a popular character who would see releases again in 1986 and as part of the So Soft Pony line.
Her Groom and Style (1985, original) edition is distinctive because of the naturally curly hair. Even those Cherries Jubilees who have lost their original curl tend to have very long, roughish hair and these are identifiable as original set Cherries Jubilees. In North America, this set of ponies are simply known as Year 3 Earth Ponies.
This version of Cherries Jubilee is extremely common. Pretty much every kid must have had one in the 1980s. (I definitely did!)
Although till recently I was sure she had a light green ribbon, the MOC pony pictured is from my own collection and she definitely has a yellow ribbon. I am therefore assuming that in the UK the first release had a yellow ribbon while the second had the light yellow green.
CHERRIES JUBILEE: SECOND EDITION (UK, 1986)
Because of the overwhelming number of Groom n Style Cherries Jubilees on the second hand market, the second release of Cherries Jubilee has been rather cast in shadow. She is a lot harder to find (relative terms, Cherries Jubilee is not a rare pony exactly), probably on account of the popularity of Groom n Style Cherries Jubilee.
EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE:
Sold in the UK in 1986, this version of Cherries Jubilee had legitimately straight, silky hair and bolder symbols than her previous year counterpart.
Her symbol was almost certainly the same shade of bold that was required for the So Soft Pony, to make her symbol show through the flocking. Nevertheless, Second Edition Cherries Jubilee is not a "NSS" pony that forgot her flocking. She has been redesigned to fit the conventions of the 1986 Earth Pony set. So Soft Cherries Jubilee retained her curly hair, but Second Edition Cherries Jubilee has been given silky, straight hair to match the other five members of the 1986 release. She is no longer "Groom and Style" Cherries Jubilee and has been modified accordingly. Her hair is the same style as all the other ponies from this set.
It is not clear whether or not she was sold outside the UK, as different combinations and variations on the 1986 Earth Pony set have been found across Europe.
Cherries Jubilee's accessories for this release also changed, again to match the convention of the 1986 set. Like all the others from this release, she was sold with a dove brush and matching ribbon.
BACKCARD ART: CHERRIES JUBILEE (UK EDITIONS)
The images above are taken from the loose backcard of Groom n Style Cherries Jubilee, 1985, and My MOC 'My Little Pony' Cherries Jubilee, 1986 (apologies for the large tick >.>). From this image comparison, it is clear to see that, whilst the First Edition of Cherries Jubilee is drawn with curly hair, the second edition is drawn with straight hair.
SYMBOL VARIATIONS
With that said, Groom n Style Cherries Jubilees can lose their curl and have straight, long hair when sold second hand. Some Groom n Style Cherries Jubilees have darker symbols, too, since there are a lot of variations in batch colour.
COMPARING PONIES
The above picture shows the three loose Cherries Jubilee I have - the first is my childhood pony, included to show an example of what a loose Groom & Style pony's hair looks like when it has lost all its curl! The second is a proper curly Groom & Style pony, and the third is the Second Edition. The difference between them is quite clear I think!
If you are looking for a Second Edition Cherries Jubilee, it's worth comparing how her hair looks alongside Tootsie or Posey to make sure it is the same style of silky before you buy!
To add to the confusion, the European second edition of Cherries Jubilee retained the curly hair:
CHERRIES JUBILEE
(Second Edition: Europe)
She also has the darker symbol and is confirmed to have been released in places such as the Netherlands.
SO SOFT CHERRIES JUBILEE
So Soft Cherries Jubilee - sold principally in north America and never through official Hasbro channels in the UK - is much like her original curly haired counterpart, with just the velvety flocking covering her body to make her distinctive. She would play an active role in the cartoon series as time went on :)
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