Flutterbye in North America
Flutterbye was sold in North America as part of the second release
of Rainbow Ponies, issued in around 1985. She used one of the new
poses for the year, as well as having the updated, more daring
colours in her hair. These Rainbow Ponies still had four colours,
but were generally bolder in shade than the first six ponies had
been. Flutterbye was sold on the same kind of horizontal card as
those from the first set, but now there were ten ponies pictured
instead of six. Flutterbye was also offered several times as a
mail order pony in North America.
Flutterbye Mint on US Card
(Thanks to Shivhae for the image)
Flutterbye was not sold in the United Kingdom,
although she did appear in stories around 1986-7.
Flutterbye in Other Places
Flutterbye was part of several European releases, where she was
often found made in Italy or Spain, sometimes with alternate
colouring. Spanish versions are more prevalent in Spain and in
France, Italian versions are commonly found in Germany and the
Netherlands, among other places. The below examples relate to
versions of Flutterbye made in Kong Kong.
"Hummelchen" - Flutterbye in Germany
"Hummelchen" circa 1987, with large painted symbol print
Additional to the above mentioned releases is a version of
Flutterbye with painted, rather than glittery symbols. She was
sold in Germany and probably in other German speaking countries.
Her release name here was Hummelchen. There are two distinct
Hong Kong releases of Hummelchen, both with painted symbols and
no pat pending stamp on the hoof. You can find out more about
these releases on this page - the pony pictured above
was probably released in 1987. Versions of Flutterbye made in
Italy were also widely sold in German speaking countries,
probably in 1986. These were also named "Hummelchen".
The Nordic/Australian/South African Rainbow Flutterbye
Flutterbye was sold in at least one of the Rainbow Pony
releases in Scandinavia (at least, Sweden and Norway), Finland,
South Africa and probably also Australia. This release happened
probably around 1986-7, based on the design of the card. These
cards were in English and the pony was made in Hong Kong. The
ponies sold on these cards were probably in production during
the time frame that the mail order ponies were available in
North America, and it is highly likely they are from the same or
similar batches. There is otherwise no major difference between
this version of Flutterbye and that sold in North America in
1985. Anecdotal evidence suggests imported versions on US card
were also sold in Norway and Sweden.
Flutterbye, mint on UK style card
(Release not sold in the UK)
Thanks to Shivhae for this image.
This release of Flutterbye has different accessories to the
above pictured US release in 1985. This suggests that there was
no automatic correlation between accessories in the North
American release and this one in Europe and South Africa - aside
the sticker.
Flutterbye's story in this release was based very heavily on
the North American story, but was abridged and rearranged into a
more concise version.
Flutterbye's story
European release UK-style card
Flutterbye's Character
Flutterbye's backcard stories, both in North America and
Europe, suggest she was a bit ditzy and exciteable, and that she
liked flowers and bees. My strongest recollection of her in the
UK stories was an encounter between her and a spider, of whom,
at first, she was afraid. Although she liked pretty things and
pretty insects, she did not like spiders. But Flutterbye hurt
her wing, and the spider, Septimus, wove a web first to stop her
from crashing and secondly to bandage her wing. From that point
Flutterbye learned not to judge based on appearances. This story
featured in the Big Book of Pony Stories, but probably
originated in the comic.
Flutterbye's Fact File entry took things one step further,
claiming that when Flutterbye shook her mane, 'dozens of
beautiful butterflies' would magically appear. (I guess that
trick is probably great in some scenarios, but not ideal in
others!)
