While most Party Ponies are made in Hong Kong,
there do exist some which are made in China. Most of the
Chinese made Party Ponies are found in continental Europe,
possibly suggesting production continued there later than it
did here in the UK. With that said, Hong Kong versions of all
these ponies are also not uncommon on the continent.
Dancing Butterflies Made in China
The only Chinese Party Pony I have is
Dancing Butterflies, who I bought from a seller in
Germany. She has no pat pending on the hoof, suggesting a
later production, and is made of a much softer plastic.
She seems taller than my
Starglow (another pony from
this pose made in China), and there is a definite
difference in head angle/expression compared to the Hong
Kong standard.
Hong Kong (curly, UK origin) and China Dancing
Butterflies
There are also sometimes manufacturing batch differences even
among those made in Hong Kong. One such variation has reversed
symbols, though this is quite unusual. More common are
variations on the hair. Dancing Butterflies is normally sold
with curly hair, but sometimes she can be found with straight
hair as well. This is not the same as curls being brushed out
- the texture of hair used on straight haired ponies and those
which have gone straight after play tends to be different.
Dancing Butterflies made in Hong Kong - curly and
straight hair versions
(Both UK origin)
One reason why I can be sure about this
variation is that the pony on the right belonged to a
childhood friend of mine, and so I know her whole
provenance. She always had straight hair - this is how she
and I told our ponies apart. While this is an unusual
difference, it does not change the value of the pony. The
curly haired pony pictured also originated from the UK, as
I got her complete with her UK card and accessories.
A similar straight/curly hair variation can also be seen
on
Baby
Half Note, who was also on sale around the same time
as Dancing Butterflies.
