1989 in the UK

After all the wild experimentation and exclusives from earlier years, 1989 was a relatively quiet release year in the UK. Almost everything sold this year was available in North America, and some of it had already been on store shelves the year before over there. There was little in the way of name changes, either in sets or ponies - the most notable being the Big Brother Ponies, who had been sold in the UK previously as Adventure Boy Ponies. These boys were not the only continuing style from 1988, as the Windy Wing ponies comprised six new butterfly-style ponies, this time with symbols based on space, weather or tropical destinations.

Cards for 1989 also reflected this return to conformity. Although boxes in 1988 had generally resembled those sold in North America (with the only real difference slight spelling amendments and how the box hole/hook was punched), this year almost all of the cards featured artwork which originated in North America.

Although the basic artwork and stories were the same as those in North America, there were small differences. Many cards in the UK this year still had a coloured border, which did not exist on the American cards. Other card differences include colours of name bubbles - the Sparkle Pony cards in the UK featured yellow name cloud/bubbles for pony and set, whereas in North America, these were pink.

Napper
Mint on UK card, 1989

Sparkle Ponies made an appearance in the UK for the first time in 1989 - but they were the store-amended versions, and the Mail Order versions with small symbols on the cheek were not sold here. The Mail Order programme was stepping up to supersonic levels across the Atlantic, but none of that was replicated here. The one exception was the My Little Pony Club, which released its first unique pony in 1989 - an all white newborn pony who had no official name.

The scented Sundae Best monstrosities were heavily promoted and sold during 1989, and were joined by a second scented release, the Perfume Puff Ponies, along with their perfume bottle shaped Palace. While other scented ponies were already available over the atlantic, they did not come to the UK until 1990, and then in limited form. These two sets were unadulterated, and all six characters were sold in the UK from both releases.

Hair styling was also still on the agenda. The Crimp & Curl Hair Salon entered its final release year in 1989, and was probably kept on the market because this year saw the introduction of ten hair-styling divas known as Brush & Grow Ponies.

Brush and Grow Ponies at the Crimp & Curl Hair Salon
My Little Pony Comic Free Booklet, 1989

Although the first six of these had been sold in North America in 1988, they did not appear on UK shelves until 1989, and were sold alongside the second, more glamorous Princess Brush & Grow Ponies. These characters had extra hair and the ability to 'grow' and 'shrink' their tails via a winding mechanism.