My Little Pony Accessories
The picture above shows some of the accessories given as free
gifts with the
My Little Pony and
My Little Pony and
Friends Comic between 1985 and 1994.
Most of these are accessories from known pony releases - the
christmas comb came originally with
Merry Treat, the mirror comb with
Hairdo Pony
Starlight
(it is possible that the yellow and lavender versions of this
comb were also available with the comic, which was probably
#211). The pendant originated with the Birthday Pony, and the
Best Friends
Baby pets were gifts right at the end of the line (Bunny
and Spot may also have been available). The flower pick shown
still on the comic (MLP&Friends 16) belongs to
Flutter Pony
Forget-Me-Not
(the ribbon is too generic to identify; it is possible other
flutter pony combs were also available through this release).
The exception is the blue glittery pick, which seems to have
been a comic exclusive. I am 99% sure that
Princess
Sparkle's raspberry star pick (not pictured) also came
with the comic in one of the later releases. Other examples of
pony accessories given away with the comic include a newborn
feeding bottle (white, not pictured), and possibly a regular
baby feeding bottle (but this I am less sure of).
The accessory giveaways can muddle attempts to identify
childhood collection pieces - I had Merry Treat's comb but not
the pony as a child, as well as all three Best Friend Baby pets,
despite only having two of the ponies!
Plastic Bits
As well as the accessories, there were also other plastic
giveaway items, icluding as stationery pieces like the red
stencil shown above (from comic 182). School-related items
appeared around the time the
Schoolhouse and school-themed
ponies were on sale, although there was also a later
Patch-themed
vertical shape stencil as well (I don't own this, so no
picture).
There were also odd things like the above plastic
Melody, which
came with one of the later My Little Pony comics. Not sure what
it's for, but my sister and I both have one from childhood.
Another accessory, also from a later release, is a unique yellow
comb (not a pony accessory) featuring two pony heads facing one
another (again, I don't own this).
Paper Bits
The most common types of gift with the comics
were probably paper-based. They included games, activity
books, pullout booklets featuring a newly released set, as
well as cards for different occasions. Some examples include a
Valentine's Day card from
Love Melody,
Princess
Aquamarine (#149),
Love In A Mist (#175) or
Butter Kiss,
various Christmas cards, and so on. There were set booklets
promoting the
Perfume Puff Ponies,
Brush and Grow
Ponies and
Magic Message Ponies (the
individual pages from this last booklet can be found on
individual Magic Message Pony pages). Some were card and some
just paper that the child could cut and fold to create the
book. Some of these gifts connected to story themes, for
example, the Slitherwigs and Ladders game card released with
comic 122.
Another kind of paper-based gift were posters. In 1987,
comics #35 and #36 had red-framed pullouts for Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter (2 seasons per comic), to create
that year's calendar. Later comics would feature Pony of the
Month and calendar pages, but these were less a free gift
and more part of the comic's composition.
The ultimate paper-based free gift came with comic #114,
which came with a whole additional comic issue freebie
featuring the Perfume Puff Palace on the front.
Unsurprisingly, but unfortunately, the sticker
free gifts are the ones which have survived the least from my
childhood. While I remember a sheet of dragon stickers coming
with one comic, I can't find any traces of these surviving in
my collection paraphernalia. While there were a few sticker
releases, I have no examples to show here.
There were also a few badges sold with the comic - these were
metal with a proper pin. The one I have managed to find
features Bon Bon, and came with comic 221.
