The My Little Pony Scrapbook: 1990

1990 in the UK

The beginning of a new decade marked a shift in how My Little Pony was handled not just in the UK but across Europe. Packaging styles became much more uniform between countries - even Italy, which had previously designed its own cards, now used the same basic format as other countries for their set releases. This did not mean that all ponies were sold in the same places - but it did mean that there was now a 'style' to European pony packaging which would endure until 1992.

All cards in the UK in 1990 had the following features:

A coloured border featuring small patterns that associated with the specific set
A pastel cloud-patterned backdrop, also in the same colour scheme as the border (each set had its own colour palette)
A photograph on the back, featuring either the full set or an image of the various assortment styles for this year
A small graphic of Mainsail, the Sunshine Pony, under the rainbow (all sets, not just Sunshine Ponies)

Mainsail Logo, beneath the rainbow, as seen on all 1990 European and UK cards

A large drawing of one of the ponies from the set being sold, on front and back of the card (irrespective of which pony was being sold)
A name tag on the left side of the card, with the name of the pony in blue text (above the bubble on carded ponies, below the window on boxed ponies)

Name label, border and cloud backdrop
Playtime baby palette (orange)
1990, UK and Europe

A list of other ponies in the set on the bottom strip of the backcard, underneath the story.

Ponies in the UK and Europe still had individual backcard stories in 1990, these were translated into the relevant languages. Cards are not known to have been translated in Nordic countries - these were mostly in English. But French, German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish versions of most cards exist.

1990 had no official insert. The promotion for this set was largely contained in comic adverts like that listed above, which is the first good indication of what was sold in this year's release. Fortunately, this is the one year for which I have Hasbro's toy catalogue, and so it is easy to corroborate what lines were included. We can also tell that these were new lines for 1990 thanks to the Activity Club, which explicitly told kids at the end of 1989 what new delights the fresh year would bring to toy shop shelves.

1989 UK Activity Club Newsletter
Introducing ponies for 1990

One notable absence from both the above picture and the Hasbro catalogue are the Watercolor Baby Sea Ponies, or "Colour Change Baby Sea Ponies", as they were marketed in the UK. Their existence in the UK has been proven because of surviving backcards, and their cards feature Mainsail under the rainbow, putting them into 1990's release group. Why they did not appear in Hasbro's catalogue is unclear - perhaps they were a later addition - but Foamy is included on "assortment" card pictures for baby ponies this year.

1990 "Baby" assortment
(UK Newborn Card)

These pictures were not exhaustive, but they do help to prove that this set was sold here during this year.

There were some hangovers from 1989 in the year's release as well. The Loving Family Ponies were still around, as were the Brush & Grows, now sold as Woolworths Exclusives, in boxes from North America. Several sets that were new to the UK and Europe had been on sale already in North America in the previous year, making 1990 a year in transition, moving gradually into the new decade. 1990 also saw us catch up with the final two sets of scented ponies - Candy Canes and Sweetberries, as well as the latest new 'style' of ponies, Sweetheart Sisters.

One noticeable characteristic of sets this year (albeit not all of them) was that sets that had previously been sold in North America with six ponies ended up as four pony releases in the UK and European issue. This meant ponies that never made it here (although some snuck through via Woolworth's lucrative end of line importation arrangement, which saw a number of US packaged ponies appear on UK shelves outside of the normal channels).

Two American sets were also merged together - the Fancy Pants and Playtime Baby Brother releases were split up and combined to create a set of six babies (four girls, two boys) known as the Playtime Baby Ponies.

There were few name or set variations in the UK release this year, with most ponies sold under the same set name as that in North America. One noteable exception was the Candy Cane Pony Gingerbread, who had the dubious honour of being sold in the UK under two names - her actual UK name (which was Gingerbread) and her US name, Molasses, because of Woolworths' import offers.

This is the only time in the whole G1 line where a UK pony uses a recycled name where the American release does not.

1990 also saw the introduction to the line of some additional types of My Little Pony. While the Dream Beauties never made it to the UK (despite being promoted in Hasbro's catalogue, the Petite Ponies were a different matter. By the end of 1990, we not only had a bevy of tiny equine critters to play with, but also a castle, a carousel and a number of shops for them to engage with.

At the same time, North America also had a new range of My Little Ponies to look forward to in the calendar year of 1990, as was seen on this flier. Some (but not all) of these sets would arrive in the UK in 1991.

My Little Pony projected range for 1990
USA insert, end 1989

1990

Transition

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1990 in the UK

Some Highlights of 1990