1984 in North America

1984 is officially pre-inception in the UK, and so our market depended to some extent on what was going on across the Atlantic.

In 1984, Hasbro introduced new species of My Little Pony in North America - unicorns, winged ponies and sea ponies. This was a highly anticipated range, given that "within four months of introduction [in 1983], Toy and Hobby World ranked My Little Pony as the number one girl's toy in America." (Hasbro product catalogue, 1984).

These ponies are sometimes known as 'Year 2' ponies, and given a date range from 1983-4, but these dates are misleading. In fact, these sets were introduced as new products for the 1984 calendar year. Hasbro's US catalogue for 1984 states:

"Magical Unicorns, Winged Ponies, Sea Ponies and playsets are all making their debut in 1984. Special premium promotions will encourage collecting the My Little Pony products. Girls will clip and save the horseshoe points from each package and redeem them for a FREE Ember the Baby Pony."
                                       (Hasbro Store Catalogue, USA, 1984)

New species introduced to the My Little Pony Line in 1984

Pegasus Pony Wing

Unicorn Pony Horn

Adult Sea Pony Tail

1984 in the UK

When we talk about My Little Pony sets in the UK during 1984, it's with the blurred understanding that most of these set releases came out across 1984 and into 1985. Some of the sets were released very late into 1984, on 1984 style cards, but are officially counted by Hasbro as belonging to 1985.

The original UK insert for 1984 only features a limited range. It depicts the Show Stable, the Grooming Parlour and the set of new Earth Pony characters for the year ahead. Late in 1984, new sets like the Rainbow Ponies would add the first unicorn and pegasus ponies to be sold in the United Kingdom, and a set of Adult Sea Ponies would also follow. Because these sets belong to both 1984 and 1985, you will find them listed in both years. Rainbow Ponies are officially 1985, but I had Windy for Christmas 1984, so Rainbow Ponies were clearly on shelves by then.

The offer for Ember, mentioned in the above American catalogue quote, also made its debut here in the UK in 1984, although here she was not given a formal name.

Another pony that we can definitely root to 1984 is Bluebelle (Concave Hoof version). In 1984, she appeared in the Argos Catalogue as a stand-alone item. How she was sold and in what packaging is unknown. This the earliest concrete evidence surviving to show a concave foot Collector Pony being sold in the UK.

1984 also saw the introduction of two sitting down ponies in the 1984 Earth Pony set, Bubbles and Seashell. Both ponies also featured a white blaze on their noses. These features were exclusively held by these two ponies. Except in variant lines, no other ponies were ever made sitting down.