Seven Characters (My Little Pony Tales)

The Seven Characters were new ponies for 1993, and were sold through to the end of the UK line in 1994.

In their first release, they came with combs that were styled to their individual characters (some were reused in the 1995 Dutch release, but they were all new combs for this year), and standard ribbons which were a little shiny in texture. In 1994, they came with a heart-shaped panel of stickers instead of a comb.

MOC Patch (1993 - Benelux)
Image from Shivhae


MOC Patch (1994, UK)
Image from Babydoll


MOC Sweetheart (Spain)
Image from Shivhae

In the UK and Spanish 1993 releases, the ponies had their own name, not the set name, on the front under the rainbow. In 1994, it was the set name instead. Benelux cards had names in the corner, with a little graphic. German cards had "TV Star Ponys" on the front instead of the name. Despite all these small regional differences, the basic cards were the same and the art did not change between 1993 and 1994.

Promotion

The Seven Characters are also known online as the My Little Pony Tales (or just Tales) ponies, because they were the star cast of the 1992 animated series My Little Pony Tales.

My Little Pony Tales Title Screen
Circa 1992

This aired in the US but the ponies were not sold there. I'm not sure if the series aired in the UK before the ponies went on sale here - it helpfully did air in 1995, after My Little Pony had ended! Based on existing documentation from the end of the American line, it is possible that Tales ponies were intended to be sold in the US, as part of a refresh, but that never happened. Instead, the ponies appeared here in 1993.

Their correct English production names (as toys) are Seven Characters (1993) and Seven Pony Friends (1994) according to the Hasbro inserts. Hasbro's list also refers to them as "Seven Ponies". In German they were known as "TV Star Ponys" in 1994. Although I believe they were sold in France, Benelux and Spain in 1994, I have not seen an insert so cannot be certain. It is likely that Nordic countries had versions packaged in English.

Seven Pony Friends
UK/German combined insert, 1994

The French set name for these in 1993 were Les Sept Copains (7 friends). Interesting about this is that the word is Copains not Copines - implying there may have been a mix of genders in the French release.

Some people confuse the "Seven Characters" and "My Little Pony Tales" and refer to them as Seven Tales Ponies, but they were never called this or sold under this name.

But wait, aren't these Generation 2?

Erm. No. In fact, one of the quickest ways to alienate yourself from G1 collectors is to try and persuade them that these characters are G2. I don't recommend it - it makes people cranky.

In seriousness, the idea that My Little Pony Tales is G2 was a strange myth invented after the introduction of Friendship is Magic/Generation 4, by some fans of that franchise. It is based on the fact that the Tales animated series is very different from the animated series in the 1980s. While that is true, the terms "G1" "G2" and "G3", were defined by the collecting community, not Hasbro or any official outlet. They were defined in 2003, long before Generation 4 was even thought of - and they were created to differentiate toylines, NOT animated series.

If we were to consider G1 in terms of animation, we would have to acknowledge the rolling cast of characters between the first specials and My Little Pony & Friends. There is no 'core cast' in Generation 1 animation, thus the same argument could be made for any of these iterations as "Tales". We would also have to consider how to classify all the ponies that were never in any animated series - including the large number of ponies not sold in North America.

Unlike Generation 4, which lacks international variety, Generation 1 lines were diverse across several regions, especially during the 1980s, but also during the 1990s. It is not possible to categorise the whole line based on a couple of years of American animation which were, ultimately, made to sell toys - not underpin the franchise. In fact, the comic had a longer continuous run in the UK than any animated series did during Generation 1.

Another major issue with the mislabelling of Tales is that G2 exists. The idea that Tales is G2 pushes a whole generation of My Little Pony, produced between 1997 and 2003, out of existence. The real G2 did not have an animated series, but that is not a reason to erase it.

Actual Generation 2 Ponies Berry Bright, Clever Clover and Sky Skimmer
Bought new in the UK, circa 1998

The Seven Characters featured in the UK comic, but every Tales-themed comic edition also included at least one story "From the Scrapbook" featuring other ponies previously or simultaneously available. The set used some of the older, generic and traditional G1 poses, and they appeared on promotional fliers with ponies sold in earlier releases in the US and in the UK, or with older style accessories, as shown on the insert below.

My Little Pony Insert
UK, 1993
Showing 7 Characters in context with other products available

The fact they feature older, standard poses also indicates that they are G1, not a 1.5.

In fact, My Little Pony in G1 is not subdivided at all. This is because when G1 ended and G2 began, collectors thought in terms of "old ponies" (1982-1995) and "new ponies" (1997-2003). The term G3 happened to explain the new new pony release in 2003, but there was no intent to subdivide because everyone knew what was G1, what was G2 and what was G3.

G1 has so many diverse lines and shifts that it would be difficult to subdivide it anyway. Dream Beauties and Petite Ponies are more realistic subdivisions, but nobody has ever attempted it, because it just isn't needed.

So, in summation, if it was sold in or before 1995, it is G1 - irrespective of what animation or other media it appears in.