1985: Unicorn and Pegasus Ponies

GUSTY

White unicorn with dark green mane and tail (red streak in mane) and GLITTERING purple maple leaves symbol. AQUA EYES.

Gusty - what to say about Gusty. In the cartoon series, the So Soft version was incarnated as a snarky, bitchy young lady with plenty to say for herself (and not all of it nice!). She also had the gift of being able to blow gusts of wind with her horn, which came in quite useful!

In the UK, she was quite a different pony. She was the Ponyland Nurse, looking after all the sick ponies and also playing guardian to the many Baby Ponies that lived at the Lullabye Nursery. Gusty was really quite a sweetheart and, by dint of her important role, she appeared in stories quite a lot.

Gusty is therefore probably one of the better known and more popular ponies from her year.

The UK release of Gusty didn't come until 1987, when she was sold as part of the set sometimes called Movie Star Ponies (on account of their French set name Cine Stars). The actual UK set did not have a name, but has often been coined with the awkwardly negative term "Non So Soft" ponies. (Hasbro would never have given them a name so ugly!) In fact, Hasbro labelled the set simply as "My Little Pony", a nametag generally given in the UK to any pony that fit into an 'original' style category without a gimmick.

The "Movie Star" Gusty had painted symbols instead of glittery ones, and her eyes were green. Her plastic tends to be a more vivid white than her earlier counterpart. Whether she came always with a sticker or not is still under debate - though current belief is that she did, at least in the UK.

When she was released as a So Soft Pony in 1985-6, Gusty had all the traits of the UK edition of 1987, but was flocked all over in a soft, velvety substance. She was one of the stars of My Little Pony the Movie, but despite that she was not included in the re-release the following year.

Movie Star Gusty Mint On Card
(Thanks to ROSSE for this picture)

SO SOFT GUSTY (USA and Canada, 1985-6)