The My Little Pony Scrapbook: G1 in the UK and Europe

1985

Play and Care Set Ponies

The First Baby Set


Catalogue image

Play and Care Set Baby Cotton Candy, in Argos, 1985

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Ponies Sold in 1985 in the UK Groom & Style Ponies | Play & Care Set Babies | Rainbow Ponies (Set 1) | Grooming Parlour |UK Adult Sea Ponies | Earth Ponies (1984) | Show Stable | Butterscotch's Gymkhana | Baby Bow Tie | Waterfall | Dream Castle | Baby Ember | Snuzzle (Concave)| Bluebelle (Concave)

Other 1985 Ponies Twinkle Eyed Ponies (UK:1986) | Flutter Ponies (UK:1986) | Baby Sea Ponies (UK:1986) | Lullabye Nursery (UK:1986) | Year 3 Unicorn & Pegasus | Rainbow Ponies (Set 2) | Adult Sea Ponies (US) | Baby Ponies | So Soft Ponies | Birthflower Ponies


Play & Care Set Baby Ponies in the United Kingdom

The first full set of baby ponies sold in the UK were the Play and Care Set baby ponies, who were released probably in 1985. Although the artwork on their boxes suggest they might have been part of the late 1984 release, the fact that this set had backcard stories - unlike any of the other ponies sold in 1984 - makes it more likely that the box designs were in the works already, but the actual release took place in early 1985. This set was clearly successful, as it was followed by another release in 1986.

The set in the UK comprised of three ponies. As with the rest of the range, Hasbro UK omitted to include unicorn and pegasus ponies in the set. While North America's equivalent release included two baby unicorns and two baby pegasus ponies, Hasbro UK took the two earth ponies from this set and added one exclusive, Baby Applejack.

Unlike the Groom & Style Set, whose set name only appears in Hasbro's own literature, this set were formally labelled Play and Care Set on their packages. All three ponies from the set were pictured on the front and back of the box, with a little yellow bubble on the front corner stating the baby pony's name.

Baby Blossom's Box
Play and Care Set Box with Baby Blossom, 1985

Each baby came with a wide array of accessories to help her new 'Mummy' (or Daddy) take care of her, and these too were specifically detailed on the box top.
packaging label
Accessories listed on Baby Applejack's box, 1985

 While the babies were designed after existing adult ponies, each had some notable differences, as well as minimised versions of the parents' symbol. Baby Blossom was a paler lavender, with white, not purple hair. Baby Cotton Candy's colours were altogether more pastel, and both these babies had freckles on the nose. Baby Applejack, however, whose mother pony had freckles, did not get these.

The accessories for the baby ponies sold in the US and the UK were broadly the same between releases, with one notable difference - the nappy box, which in the UK was blue, cloudy, and featured Baby Cotton Candy. The North American version was generally yellow. This distinction is probably because the US call them diapers, and so there was a need for a change of wording. You can see "nappy" clearly printed on the box label above!

Play and Care Set Babies in Europe.

There was no one size fits all for Europe when it came to this set, or related sets. This release existed in France, and, I believe, in Scandinavia. But the US release was also sold in parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands. Carded versions of some of the babies (including Blossom and Cotton Candy) were distributed in some parts of Europe as well. Baby Applejack was only sold within this set as far as I know, so her distribution remains more obscure. Baby Cotton Candy was also part of a 1987 German baby pony set, so remained on sale the longest of all of the early baby pony characters.

Play and Care Set Babies (UK, 1985)