The My Little Pony Scrapbook: G1 in the UK and Europe

1993

Best Friends Babies



Best Friends Babies

The Best Friends Babies and pals

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Ponies Sold in 1993 in the UK

Bedtime Newborns | Best Friends Babies | Hairdo Ponies | Rainbow Family Babies and Adults (Family Friends and Family Babies) | Rollerskates Ponies | Secret Surprise Ponies | Seven Characters (My Little Pony Tales) | Sweet Kisses Ponies (UK/Europe)| Princess Sparkle | Bridal Beauty | Birthday/Anniversary Pony  |Bridal Beauty | Cookery Ponies | Kitchen | Schoolhouse
Other 1993 Ponies Nesthäckchen-Baby-Ponys/Bébé-Nurserie


Best Friends Babies

The Best Friends Babies were sold in 1993, as a set of three baby ponies, each with a small animal friend as a pet. They were sold in the UK and across Europe - they were probably also available in Australia. No ponies from this year were sold in North America.

The Best Friend Babies were relatively simple in design, and all of them, weirdly, had human girl's names instead of what we normally think of as 'ponyish' names. They were called Billie, Susie and Katie. (In Germany, Billy was Betty).

They appeared on the insert with some pose and colour variations, with only Baby Susie being shown in her correct pose and colouring. I find this a bit ironic ;) But never mind. The insert does show the pets correctly - Spot the puppy, Kitty the kitten and Bunny the bunny. Not very imaginative children, these baby ponies :)

Best Friends Insert
Best Friends Babies (Katie in wrong pose, Billie the wrong colour)
UK insert, 1993

These are some of the more common ponies from the 1993 line. They seem to have been quite popular second-hand, but German language carded versions also ended up in the UK at the end of the line. I bought all three ponies from this set mint on German card from a market stall in around 1997 - they cost me £2 for all three ponies. This gives some idea as to how available they were at the end of the pony line.

MOC Best Friends
            Ponies
Best Friends Babies Mint on Card (German edition)
1993


The pets are a little different - they are more difficult to find, as they are tiny and made of a rubbery texture that means they sometimes get confused with stationery or with other toylines. They use moulds from another related Hasbro line, which also adds to this confusion. Spare versions of these pets were released as a free gift with My Little Pony Comic #222 - for this reason, my childhood collection includes Susie and Billie, but all three pets!
Best Friends Baby Pet
              Gift
My Little Pony Comic advertises the pets as free gifts
Issue #221, UK 1993
The babies were sold on the same card, with stickers on each card to denote which one had which name. The ponies were also named on the back, helping to sort out identification. These cards were translated into multiple languages - English, German, French, Dutch/French, Spanish - but were the same in all other respects. The ponies had one collective story between them, and each baby came only with their small pet friend.

Variations - Promotional Models?

Two unexplained variations exist from this set. When I say "two", I mean two examples, total, not two variations produced en masse. There survives one known example of Baby Susie in the Baby Blossom Pose and one (possibly two) known examples of Baby Billie in the Ember pose. Aside the pose, these babies are the same as their standard versions in every respect. You can find out more about these babies on Billie and Susie's respective pages.

Baby Susie
Baby Susie, Alternate pose
Circa 1992-3


Ponies in this Set: UK and most of Europe, 1993