The My Little Pony Scrapbook: Princess Ponies: Set II (1988)

Princess Ponies - The Second Set (North America and Benelux)

The second set of Princess Ponies were released in North America in 1988. Here in the UK, we had the first set on reissue in 1988, and it seems possible that this second set was also not sold in other European countries, like France and especially Germany, where princess ponies appeared on card and at a slight delay. The second set were sold in Benelux countries, however, where they were imported in American style boxes.

These princess ponies were different from the original set in a number of ways. Firstly, they lacked attendants (although there were rumoured plans to release them with Grundels, characters from the Movie, this never transpired.) Secondly, they had mad forelocks made entirely of tinsel, which sprayed forward on their heads like a weird fountain of sparkle.

Instead of damsel hats, therefore, these new princess ponies all came with crown hair clips designed to tame the spritz of tinsel into an elegant 'tiara'. The crowns are quite hard to find second hand, and unsurprisingly, princess ponies with missing or damaged forelock tinsel are far from uncommon. As with the earlier line, each also came with a glittery wand, glittery star pick and a thin, gold-edged ribbon.

Princess Accessories, Second Set
(Princess Pristina shown)

The second set of Princess Ponies used poses from earlier in the line, although each had been modified to accommodate the jewelled medallion symbol. The set comprised one pegasus, one unicorn and four earth ponies. Princess Sunbeam featured on the front bottom of each box, Princesses Taffeta and Pristina joined her under the rainbow, and Princess Dawn was featured on the side. All six ponies were featured on the back, wearing their crown clips and a couple holding their wands.

Princess Sunbeam, Mint in Box
North America, 1988

Although the boxes in the Benelux countries appear the same as those sold in North America, there are some minor differences (aside from the import label). These were not just end of line American packaged ponies shunted off for resale, but ponies produced directly for the Dutch/Belgian (and possibly Luxembourg) market, as an additional label on the back states).

Import Label showing that the Princess ponies were made and packaged for
Unica and Otto Simon importers into Belgium and Netherlands respectively.

The label is in English, while the safety labels underneath were in French and Dutch, suggesting that the top label was more intended as information for the exporter, rather than the companies in receipt. Benelux released ponies also had the familiar yellow sticker on the front flap of the box.

Yellow Benelux sticker
"We wish you happy moments with My Little Pony"

One other distinction that suggests these ponies were made/packaged specifically for the European market relates to the number of horseshoe points on each box. My American release boxed Princess Ponies both have 3 points on their boxes, whereas the one with the Benelux labels has only two points - perhaps reflecting a different or reduced Mail Order program in these countries.

Horseshoe Points: North American sold box (left) and Benelux import box (right)

In all other respects, the packaging was the same as that used in North America.

Although these Princess Ponies were not sold in the UK, they did appear (mysteriously!) in a UK television commercial. The main reason for this was that the commercial also featured the Brush me Beautiful Boutique and was filmed for the American market, with both releases being promoted at once. The same film footage was used in the UK, with only the very final shot showing Kiss Curl standing in the parlour. Although the film clearly shows the parlour tag says "Brush me Beautiful Boutique", the song calls the set the Grooming Parlour.

1988

Princess Ponies II

(Glittery forelocks are in style!)

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Princess Ponies - The Second Set (North America and Benelux)

Ponies in this Set: North America (1988), Benelux (1988? 1989?)