Hopscotch in the United Kingdom
Hopscotch was only sold in the UK in 1986. While not as much of
a trailblazer as some of her set-mates, her symbol is pretty
detailed for an early earth pony of her vintage. She was also
sold across European countries, sometimes made in Hong Kong and
sometimes made in other places. She was not sold in North
America.
Hopscotch was sold with a dark pink dove brush and matching
ribbon. All ponies in this set came with dove brushes, so this
was in keeping with the rest of the range. She also had a puffy
sticker. In 1986, North American and some European releases
switched to flat scented stickers instead of the round, puffy
ones, but in the UK, puffy stickers reigned supreme until 1987.
Comparing MOC Versions: UK (1986) vs Europe (Made in Italy,
1986)
MOC Hopscotch
(UK, 1986)
Hopscotch was one of the ponies from
1986 who had multiple releases in different formats across
Europe. She could be made in Spain or Italy, and in those
releases was sold on a different style of card (often in
French or German language) and with different accessories (See
MOC on the right for a German example of Italian Hopscotch). A
version made in Hong Kong was also sold (probably in 1987) in
places like Sweden and possibly the Netherlands, on the earth
pony card for 1985, on which Hopscotch is not pictured.
This page does not deal with Nirvana (variant) ponies, but
it should be noted that ponies made in Italy were commonly
available in many European countries other than Italy,
including Germany. Hopscotch's name is also not printed on
the ribbon - in European countries, it was common for the
basic pony sets to have actual names, even when in the UK
they did not.
Thanks to StraightDealsToys for the MOC image of UK carded
Hopscotch.
MOC Hopser (Italian Hopscotch, German Card)
(Germany, 1986)
Hopscotch also featured on the 1987 Pony Friends set card.
1987 "Pony Friends" backcard featuring
Posey
(Scandinavia & South Africa, scans courtesy of Inger &
Monika)
Hopscotch's Character
Hopscotch is described in the fact file as someone who loves to
hop, skip and jump everywhere. And, as her name suggests, she
was a fan of her namesake game as well, always coming up with
new ideas for it.
