The First Adult Boy Ponies in the UK

"New for 1987, 6 boy ponies, who are slightly larger and more masculine than their female counterparts, yet still retain all the appeal and play value of the original ponies. With their dramatic names and vivid colours, the Mountain Boy Ponies will really fire the imagination."
                                     ~Hasbro UK, 1987

Adult Boy Ponies were one of the new themes for 1987. Across the pond, the first six 'Big Brother' ponies went on sale in that year. Although that set would be released in the UK in 1988, under the label, "Adventure Boy Ponies', the first six adult boy ponies in the UK were the Mountain Boys - a set of six weather and elemental boy ponies who - as Hasbro correctly suggested in their promotional blurb - have 'fired the imagination' of collectors ever since.

The Mountain Boys were sold in the United Kingdom, in Scandinavian countries, and probably, in South Africa. There are some reports they may have been sold in Singapore, in Australia, and in Hungary. They do not seem to have been sold in Finland. In some of these places were released after the Adventure Boy Ponies, appearing in advertising material in 1988. What is curious about this set is that they did not see a widespread continental European release. This has only added to their sought after value.

Mountain Boy Ponies
UK Insert, 1987
(Please note Lightning and Tornado's names are reversed)

Mountain Boy Ponies featured on the UK insert for 1987, but did not feature on any subsequent inserts. Their cards were also in the 1987 style, and they were sold with puffy stickers. It was not uncommon for releases of the year's ponies to be staggered, and this set seem to have been introduced in the summer. They first featured in the My Little Pony comic in July 1987, and I had my first Mountain Boy, Sunburst, in November of that same year.

Set name logo from Mountain Boy Card
UK, 1987

Sharp eyed people squinting at the promotional booklet image at the top of the page may have noticed that two of the names are different - Thundercloud was originally going to be called 'Storm' and Ice Crystal, Frosty. Perhaps it was hard to trademark those names, but somewhere between producing that booklet and bringing out the ponies, this change took place. It must have been very late in production, however, as a name tag from Snuzzle's 1987 Grooming Parlour got into production with the name tag 'Storm'.

"Storm"
Thundercloud's tag, Snuzzle's Grooming Parlour
UK, 1987

If the Parlour was issued in early 1987, and the Mountain Boys in the summer, it may be that the name did not change until right before they hit shelves - or trademarking these names led Hasbro to problems which meant the set got delayed.

The Mountain Boys, like the Adventure Boy/Big Brother Ponies, had a streak of a different colour in their manes (emulating the original unicorns). They also used the same three poses. Unlike their counterparts, however, they also all had white freckles on the cheeks.

Mountain Boy Accessories - the problem of gaps (click to expand)

At time of writing, only Sunburst, Tornado and Ice Crystal are known to survive in Mint on Card form. There may be only five or six known Mint on Card examples in total anywhere in the world. All other evidence we have relating to the accessories of this set is based on anecdotal collector evidence, and for that reason, we don't know if there are errors, or variations, in how accessories were sold. Most, if not all MOC examples survive from Scandinavia, not the UK - where the release was delayed by a year. We can be relatively confident that accessories were consistent - but there are still some remaining questions, especially with Tornado (see below).

As the Hasbro catalogue suggests, the Mountain Boys had frog brushes or grasshopper combs. They were also sold with ribbons and puffy stickers. Ribbons are especially hard to determine. I had three Mountain Boys new as a child; I am not confident of identifying any of their ribbons from my large bag of unidentified hair bits, and so haven't tried to include those in any photographs.

The brush/combs are easier to identify, and five of them are pictured below:

Mountain Boy Brushes and Combs
UK, 1987

You'll notice that Tornado's is missing. There are two existing pink grasshopper combs. One is brighter than the other. One belongs to Quarterback and one to Tornado. The problem is I have seen Quarterback Mint on Card with both of these combs! Thanks Hasbro!

There is only one known surviving MOC Tornado that I know about, and that one has the darker/brighter pink comb, so I am going to consider that the official Tornado comb for the time being. It is possible that Tornado and Quarterback both had both combs, as they were on sale simultaneously, both in 1987 and in 1988 (just not in the same places). I would love to hear from people who had Tornado new here in the UK, and still have the original comb, so we can figure this out.

The other combs and brushes are distinctive enough that identifying them is easier. Fireball, Thundercloud and Sunburst's survive from my childhood. Lightning and Ice Crystal are both distinctly paler in colour than Tug and Tracks respectively.

There's Magic in Misty Mountain

The Mountain Boy Ponies were first introduced in the Pony Comic in a two part story featuring Baby Lucky and the mysterious Misty Mountain, which he felt compelled to explore. Although afraid, Baby Lucky persevered and eventually stumbled on first Sunburst, and then the rest of the Mountain Boy Ponies and the magician that also shared the mountain with them. They would continue to live on the mountain throughout their comic appearances, and the magician (often in conjunction with Thundercloud, with whom he was closest) would also appear sometimes in stories. The mist that shrouded Misty Mountain was actually ice created by Ice Crystal at the request of the magician, who thought it was atmospheric.

"There's Magic in Misty Mountain"
Baby Lucky meets the Mountain Boy Ponies
My Little Pony Comic, July 30th, 1987 (#50)

Mountain Boys made in Thailand?

A handful of Mountain Boys exist out there made in Thailand, rather than the usual Hong Kong. The rationale behind why they exist is not clear, and they are extremely unusual. One possibility is that they were promotional models used in advertising and sent out to toy fairs. This is conjecture without supporting evidence, but the Thai version of Ice Crystal (not pictured below) has a darker green stripe in the mane, like that shown in the promotional booklet image above.

Tornado made in Thailand
(Image from Lady Ruby)


Thai Thundercloud (left) and Hong Kong Thundercloud (right)
Ponies courtesy of Lady Guinevere, picture taken at UK Ponycon
(Click to open larger version)