The My Little Pony Scrapbook: Nibbles and Dibbles

Nibbles: Pink newborn pegasus with gold yellow mane and tail, yellow swan symbol

Pony Data
Set	Newborn Twins (1987)
Asst. Number	4906
Accessories	Yellow and aqua teddy bear brushes 2x medium pink ribbons Aqua and yellow bassinett 2 small rattles (1 pink and aqua, one yellow and aqua, with elastic rings), two white newborn bottles, 2 nappies in "Snugfit" nappy box. Sticker: Round and puffy, possibly misnamed (Sticker in UK only). North American release had yellow diaper box, not blue snugfit box.
Pose	Nibbles
Distribution	Worldwide
Other Versions	-

Dibbles: Gold orange newborn pegasus with fading pink mane and tail, pink swan symbol

Nibbles and Dibbles

Nibbles and Dibbles were the first newborn pegasus ponies in Ponyland. They had a unique pose which was never used again for later newborn pegasus ponies, making them special. They had reversed colours - one pink with gold blond hair and one gold orange with fading pink hair. Dibbles's hair can fade to white in sunlight. Both had technically curly or wavy hair from release.

Dimples and Ruffles Sticker
Image from Lady Guinevere

They were sold with the same accessories in the different places they were released, but only had a sticker in the UK (though it usually bore the wrong names - Dimples and Ruffles - which may have been a production name. We can guess from the arrangement of the sticker and the placement of the names that Dibbles would have been Dimples and Nibbles, Ruffles. This is borne out by the fact Hasbro terms the set "Dibbles and Nibbles" - as seen on the box front, below.

Nibbles, Dibbles and
Box

Nibbles, Dibbles, UK Box and most accessories
1987

The 1987 packaging in the UK was particularly pretty, and this was no exception. The box has similar dimensions to the release in North America and in Italy, but has different patterning. Instead of depicting the ponies on the front, it has building blocks with letters (despite them not being sold with this accessory!). The back of the box featured both sets sold in the UK along with their individual stories. These stories were the same as those in the North American release, with slight amendments for language (eg Mommy to Mummy).

The Newborn Twin Box Back, UK
1987

The Italian box for the same release was yellow, with Sniffles and Snookums on the front and a blue tab flap. The accessories inside were the same as those sold in other places, albeit without the sticker. Nibbles and Dibbles were called Filiberto and Guendalina, suggesting one of them was meant to be a boy.

Nibbles and Dibbles
Mint in Italian box, 1987

The Italian set also came with a flier in blue and white, advertising offers available in Italy that year. This did not include any ponies, but did include activities such as colouring in, and a music cassette.

Nibbles and Dibbles's Characters

In typical UK style, for all we lost in numbers of ponies, we made up for canon weird. Nibbles and Dibbles, along with Sniffles and Snookums, had one of the odd UK comic "birth" moments that was particularly memorable. They began as doodles - drawings done by Baby Tiddly Winks, traced by Baby Lucky, and with accessories sketched in by Nurse Gusty. This art lesson quickly became a biology lesson, however, not to mention childcare 101, when Baby Lucky (who never learned how crazy his happy-go-lucky magic was) wished they would come to life. And...they did.

Baby Lucky named the babies, and they lived in Lullabye Nursery from this point onwards. Gusty, who had adopted the role of ponyland nurse and babysitter by this point, was often directly in charge of their care. As newborns, they did a lot more babyish things than some of the baby ponies, like taking naps in the sunshine...although they also got up to baby mischief.

Nurse Gusty and the Newborn Twins
UK Pony comic, 1987

Nibbles and Dibbles's bassinett appeared in the comic, sketched by Gusty. Apparently she had a commission from Hasbro, since that was their accessory! The bassinett she drew in the comic was all yellow - but this is how the set was depicted in Hasbro's promotional booklet, suggesting that this heavily influenced the comic's art decisions.

Their box story also mentions a double rainbow appearing in the sky to herald the arrival of the twins. Not quite as original as being drawn into life, but still cute! This appeared on the stories for all the sets of twins, even those sold in the UK.

Nibbles and Dibbles

Newborn Twins, 1987

Search the Scrapbook

Nibbles and Dibbles

Nibbles and Dibbles's Characters

Newborn Twins: UK and Italy, 1987