The My Little Pony Scrapbook: Petite Ponies

Petite Ponies - A Tiny World of New Friends

Petite Ponies were a weird experiment by Hasbro into the world of 'Honey I Shrunk The Ponies!' It is possible that the idea for these releases were part inspired by the success of Polly Pocket, but as the line focused more on miniature playsets and ponies than compacts and tiny dolls, there isn't really much parallel. Each Petite Pony had a hoofprint base which was used to unlock various of the playsets. The above advert gives some idea of the size comparison with an adult G1 pony (shown is Cherry Treats).

The Petite Ponies were not just toys in stores. They were part of the G1 world, to the point that they were introduced in the Pony Comic in the UK in 1990, and proceeded to have several of their own stories throughout the next year. Petite Ponies in Ponyland

YoYo, Tappy and Spike meet Princess Moondust and Kingsley
My Little Pony Comic, 1990

The first ponies introduced were Princess Moondust and Kingsley, the two figures sold with the Petite Pony Royal Castle - but the other playset ponies would also have stories later on. Princess Moondust and Kingsley had other names in America, but the names used for them (and many of the other Petites, albeit not all) were names that Hasbro had already licensed somewhere, even if they had not been used in the UK.

Hasbro made various playsets to go with these little guys, including a Royal Castle, a Carousel and various shops and houses. For some unknown reason, however, only the ponies sold with these playsets were ever given names. All the subsequent sets of Petite Ponies were not given their own identities, and were sold in multi-packs. These unnamed characters did not feature in the comic, either. While I have most of the playsets somewhere in the attic, they aren't accessible for me to take my own pictures, so apologies for the stock photos :)

Petite Pony Royal Castle
with Princess Moondust and Kingsley
Hasbro Catalogue, UK 1990

The castle was the flagship Petite pony playset, coming with various royal accessories. It also had a lift (shown in the photo) which, when activated, could light up a bulb in the upper tower, making it illuminated.

Petite Pony Carousel
with Topper and Whirly
Hasbro Catalogue, UK 1990

The Carousel was a working active model, it could turn and it played music. It also came with several play accessories.

Petite Pony Shoppes, each with a Petite Pony
Hasbro Catalogue, UK, 1990

The Petite world also had three shoppes, one for ice cream (the Twinkle Treats Ice Cream Shoppe), one for hair care (Mane Delight Beauty Shoppe) and one for everything else (Happy Hooves Market). Each came with a pony - Floater, Misty and Tabby, respectively.

Petite Pony Homes, each with a Petite Pony
Hasbro Catalogue, UK, 1990

And there were three sort-of-houses as well - a cottage, an inn and a cabin, each also with ponies (Puddles, Little Flitter and Flurry, respectively). The Hasbro UK catalogue actually calls the Happy Hearts Cottage "Merry Mane Cottage", but I cannot find evidence of it being sold here under that name - in large part because the UK had predominately American packaging for the Petite pony release.

Petite Pony Variations and Releases

Playset Petite Ponies as sold in the UK and in Europe
1990

Above are the array of ponies sold with playsets, minus Misty, because I don't have her.

The catalogue images above all show ponies with moulded tails, and these were sold in North America, but, although we predominately had American packaging in the UK release, the ponies that were sold here were not the same. Ponies with brushable tails are much more common with the playsets in the UK and in Europe, and many are in different poses from those shown in the catalogue. Some are even different species - Topper is now a pegasus rather than an earth pony, whilst Floater has become an earth pony instead of a pegasus.

Only Princess Moondust and Kingsley had different names in North America (Magic Star and Sundrop respectively).

And here is a selection of the other Petites on offer. Please note there were also Glow & Show Petites and SunSparkle petites (not shown), as well as the Petite Pony Parade. The Mummy Charm is for comparison. Most of these came in sets of four or five. The Ponytail Petites had three different available sets containing 4 characters in different colours. Each set had the same array of symbols and poses.

Assorted loose Petite characters from various sets.

There was also a set of ten basic moulded pose ponies, known as the Petite Pony Parade. These were sold in a set of ten.

Petite Pony Parade, Mint in Package

Many of these sets seem hard to find second hand - the Ponytail Petites are the exception, as they seem to be the most common of the Petite Pony sets. There is also a variation in packaging, although this mostly seems to be in Europe and affects the Ponytail Petite set in particular.

Sunsparkle Petites and Ponytail Petites (set 1) in North American packaging
Also commonly available in the UK release.

Ponytail Petites (set 2 and 3)
Spanish card (left) and Benelux card (right)

The Spanish card also featured an odd looking horseshoe point on the back. I have no idea whether there were any special offers in Spain that this might relate to.

1 HORSESHOE POINT
(Spanish Petite Pony Card)

I do not know whether both forms of packaging featured in the UK, or whether we only had the North American style.

Petite Ponies

Itsy Bitsy Little Ponies in an Itsy Bitsy World

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Petite Ponies - A Tiny World of New Friends

Petite Pony Variations and Releases