In 1990, Hasbro decided to go back to a tried and tested gimmick -
the glitter in the plastic model, which had served them so well
with the adult Sparkle Ponies in the years before. Unlike the
adult set, the babies did not get the privilege of mane and tail
tinsel, but in other ways, their bodies are similar (if more on
the cloudy side), suggesting they were based on the same
technique.
They were sold on small, square, yellow cards, with a collective
story (as per all releases in North America in this year), and
either a shooting star brush, or shooting stars comb, accessory.
They were not sold with ribbons.
In lots of ways, this is an odd set, made odder by the way in
which the theme was changed up for the European release in the
following year. (We'll come back to that shortly!). The four
characters all had names that had already been used for other
ponies - all but one, Starflower, had been used for Baby Ponies
specifically. For some unknown reason, Starflower and North Star
are the same colour, which means they can be easily confused. The
lack of tinsel is another sign that this was not a very high
profile set in the line - there were far more intricate and ornate
releases in 1990.
Perhaps these things factored into the thinking of Hasbro
promoters in Europe and the UK in 1991, for the set released over
here had tinsel, had four unique colours, and used brand new names
for each of the characters (even if they couldn't quite decide which name
should be which!). Although the name 'Sparkle Babies' was used
briefly to promote the European set, this was soon abandoned for
the more genteel 'Starlight Babies'.
In official terms, these two sets are alternates of one another.
But in reality, they are two very different products - one which
feels a bit like a budget catch-up line, and one that feels like
an experiment into doing something new.
