Movie Star Ponies in the United Kingdom

In 1986, My Little Pony went to the movies - quite literally. A feature length film was released in cinemas across the world, including here in the UK, where it was promoted in the My Little Pony comic. At the same time, Hasbro UK seem to have realised that several of the major characters in this production were not currently on sale in the UK - and had never been sold here previously, either. They resolved this problem with this set of six little ponies.

A discussion on "Non So Soft" ponies

Back in the late 1990s, when the majority of the community were based in North America, people were still just finding out that there were other versions of pony characters overseas. At that time, this group of ponies became known as "Non-So-Soft" ponies. All of them had counterparts in the So Soft set, hence the reason for the name.

Aside from implying that something sold outside the US must be a non-version of a US set, this term creates functional problems in understanding what ponies were sold when and where.

These are the ponies most often associated with the term "Non-So-Soft", along with their respective sets.

Ponies commonly listed as "Non So Soft":
Gusty (painted symbols) - Movie Star set
Wind Whistler  - Movie Star set
North Star - Movie Star set
Magic Star - Movie Star set
Buttons (both versions) - Movie Star Set
Shady - Movie Star Set
Second Edition (magenta symbol) Posey  - 1986 My Little Pony Set (UK)/1986 Earth Ponies (Europe)/ Pony Friends Set 1987
Truly -Pony Friends set, 1987
Cupcake - Pony Friends set, 1987
Paradise (Hong Kong) - Never produced without flocking*

The above listed ponies were not all sold at the same time, in the same country, and in one case, not at all.

Several of the Movie Star ponies had other differences which set them apart from their So Soft companions - including symbol design, colour and even pose.

*I include Paradise on this list because she was originally pictured in promotional photographs with Paradise Estate in the UK, but was scrapped before production and never sold. Because of this, some sources still list her as a released pony, even though she was not.

So, the "Movie Star" Ponies, then?

The set were not advertised in the UK under the name "Movie Star"; this was adopted mostly from European cards. Here, they were just sold as "My Little Pony", or "Ponies" - an extension of the basic pony range, without any shiny gimmicks. There are clues, though, that this was Hasbro's intention in the UK. Wind Whistler was advertised in the Argos Catalogue as a 'Movie Pony'. Although the set was officially part of 1987's range, it may have been introduced a little earlier because of the UK launch of the movie in July 1986 - probably in time for Christmas.

Wind Whistler, Movie Pony
Argos Catalogue, Autumn/Winter 1986

The packaging for this set promotes the movie, with other characters featured in a bar along the bottom. For these reasons, "Movie Star" is the accepted term for these six (seven!) ponies.

Did you just say "seven?"

Gusty or Ribbon?

Montage from the 1987 Club Leaflets (UK) featuring 5 Movie Stars...and Ribbon.

Ribbon was also named in Megan and Sundance's backcard story. My theory is that originally Ribbon may have been in line for production. But, Hasbro must have realised that they had not sold the earlier version of Gusty in the UK, and thus Gusty would need to be a part of this set instead.

Movie Star Pony Packaging: UK, 1987

Movie Star Ponies
UK Package (front)

 

Movie Star Ponies
UK Package (back)

Movie Star Distribution and Stickers

Shady, Mint on French Card

There are a few minor release differences, both within the UK and further afield. The French release (entitled Cine-Stars, as you can see from Shady's card) came with nonspecific stickers, featuring North Star and marked simply "Cine-Star", rather than the pony name.

North Star on the Cine Star Sticker
(From French carded MOC Shady)

In the Netherlands, it is not clear whether stickers were included.

In the Nordic countries, no stickers were included.

It has been noted that carded ponies found in places like Sweden have "Six to Collect!" written in the pink bubble on the top corner of the card, whereas the UK release has "As Seen on the My Little Pony Feature Film!". The above card from Wind Whistler came to me from overseas, but the label on the back of her card indicates an Argos catalogue number. Although Argos is a Dutch store originally, the fact Dutch release Movie Stars are translated into Dutch and French, it is likely this Wind Whistler card was originally from the UK.

The sticker situation in the UK is more complex. Of course it is! It seems that there were ponies both with and without stickers. This suggests at least two batches. Stickers were phased out after 1987, so one theory is that those without stickers may have come late in the release - but all this is speculation. Stickers for this set are among some of the rarest (rarer than the Mountain Boy stickers, if less sought after), so this also supports the idea that stickers were withdrawn from this release halfway through. This may be explained by the slightly early appearance of Wind Whistler in the Argos Catalogue in 1986 - although the Argos picture shows no sticker. Still, stickers exist, as can be seen below!

Shady's sticker
Movie Star release, 1987 (UK)

It has also been reported that most Movie Star ponies found in Scandinavian countries have brown, rather than black eyeliner - the theory being that they arrived there towards the end of the year. Their lack of stickers in this region also corroborates a later release. Whether the brown/black eyeliner difference can be regionally identified or simply tell us about the schedule of release is another matter - more evidence is needed to be sure.