What are "Fable" Ponies?

This set was sold in Scandinavia, Finland, and Australia. I have some bitterness about the release, because the cards are in the UK style, and it seems likely they were also at one point intended for the UK market. This set included ponies that appeared in the comics in the UK around 1986, so the intention to sell them here must have existed at some point. They never actually got here, however, and our evidence for the set is constantly being amended and updated.

You will notice from the image above (donated by the lovely Ponyland/Norrskensljus), that the term "Fable" does not appear on the card. There are good reasons to choose this as a correct set name, however. Firstly, this card was used in Germany for unicorn and pegasus ponies made in Italy.

Italian Surprise on Fabelponys Card (German issue)
Image from Shivhae

The banner on this card reads "Fabelponys" - Fable Ponies. The word 'Fabelpony' is also used to describe Rainbow pony Hummelchen in her backcard story (the term is used instead of 'pegasus', as appears in the English story.) Clearly 'Fabel' (Fable) is synonymous with fantasy breeds, fairytales and, well, unicorns and pegasus ponies.

Adding to that, a pamphlet in Sweden from 1986 referred to the unicorn and pegasus set as "Sagoponnys" (Which can be translated as Fable Ponies!). So this seems to be a pretty good name for the set. I think it was first coined by Norrskensljus, but I like it, and it works, so let's make it official.

Defining "Scandinavia"

I feel the need to do this here because we are all (even those of us who dabble in European ponies, and sometimes even those who dabble in these specificities) are guilty of using this term as a shorthand. In fact, things are never quite that simple. With regards to this set, we know for a fact that they were sold in Sweden on these cards, and seem to also have been so in Norway and probably Finland (which is not technically in Scandinavia, but is another Nordic country). I am not sure about Denmark, because they did also have their own releases of some of these ponies on cards in Danish. Many of these used American artwork, with translated text. I do not have permission to share any images of Danish carded ponies for comparison, but they are quite distinctive in comparison to the card pictured above.

While most of the discussion around this set is linked to "Scandinavia", we also have indication these existed in Australia, and they were also in South Africa. Then there's the question of Germany. While I currently have no evidence that this set made in Hong Kong were released there, this style of card (featuring ponies made in Italy) was sold over there (as I mentioned, the Fabelponys is from them). So while we are talking "Scandinavia", please be aware that this is a generalisation at best, and only an overview of roughly where these ponies were sold.

The Fable Set In Action.

The most notable variations in this set are Moondancer, who appears in yellow (she looks a bit like cheese!) and Gusty, who has green eyes and glittery symbols. It is not clear whether there are minor variations between other ponies in the set and the North American year 3 release, although this could relate to batch given their slightly later production date. The stickers from this set are different from the American release versions because they are on yellow backing, rather than white. Gusty's sticker is dated 1985, while the others are not date-stamped. (Credit to Norrskensljus for the research on stickers and Fables).

While I believe there are eight ponies overall in the Fable set, the fact that two ponies were sold on this card without being illustrated on it does raise some questions about this. I do not know if Glory or Medley were ever part of this set. Anecdotal evidence suggests some straight haired Medleys and Fireflys have been found in childhood collections in Norway (thanks to Katrine for this information). This may indicate an earlier import release in Norway of the original pegasus and unicorn set, or that different ponies were sold in the Fable set in different areas.

To date, there is little information/evidence that Glory was sold in any of these countries.

Surprise, Sparkler and Firefly appear on the front of the Fable Pony card; the back features Surprise, Heart Throb, Skyflier, Sparkler, Gusty, and Firefly. Although Yellow Moondancer is known to be a part of this set, she is not depicted on the card, and nor is Powder (despite the mint on card image above).

I am always interested in new or corrective information about this set, so if you have any information to impart, please get in touch. I am also interested in obtaining a Fable Pony backcard (any pony) for my backcard files.

It appears that this set was only sold in 1986, and was replaced by the Movie Stars set in 1987.