This set of ponies came out in the UK and across Europe in
1993, and remained on sale through 1994. Although the official
name on the cards and the insert was "Family Friends" and "Family
Babies", Hasbro included them on their list of products as
"Rainbow Families", which seems like it was an alternative
marketing name.
These sets had two parents and one baby each. In this, they were
not really different from the Gift Set release of Loving Families
in 1989. But really, that was where the similarities ended.
Instead of using the feathered hoof pose for the father ponies,
the male characters featured Gingerbread's pose (previously
a female pose). The set also had rainbow striped hair - but the
hair was striped horizontally, not vertically. They are the only
set to have this hair style, and the texture is slightly different
to the touch from regular pony hair. (It can also fade).
All three family members had the same colour scheme but different
symbols. They were never sold in sets of three, but only as
individual ponies. The design of the cards were different between
adult and baby - the baby cards had only the baby ponies on the
back, and were marked "Family Babies" and the adult cards had the
whole families on the back (but with only the parents named) and
were labelled "Family Friends". In German they were called
Hertzblatt-Baby-Ponys and Hertzblatt-Familien-Ponies (Sweetheart
Babies and Sweetheart Family Ponies). They were sold as separate
assortments - 14018 (babies) and 14019 (adults).
Family Babies Mint on Card German edition, 1993-4
The father ponies are considerably rarer than the mother and baby
ponies, suggesting they may have been sent in smaller numbers to
stores.
Daddy Sunbright Mint on Card (German carded version)
The cards were the same between ponies in each set, however - they
had collective stories (one for the adults, one for the babies),
and the cards had no printed name on the front to identify who the
pony was - this was done instead with stickers on the front of the
card. Sometimes the stickers got mixed up, so there are a few
mislabelled cards out there!
Name Sticker on Baby Berrytown's Card (English)
While each pony from each family had the same style of comb and a
ribbon, they were not necessarily the same colour (as you can see
by comparing Daddy and Baby Sunbright, above). The Berrytown
Family had a comb unique to them, with a detailed rose design.
Berrytown Rose Comb (Shown is baby's)
At the end of the line in the UK, German carded ponies were
shipped over here for clearance. The baby ponies in particular
sold very cheaply mint on card, appearing at market stalls for as
low as £2 per three ponies. At actual retail, however, babies sold
for between £3.50 and £3.99 and adults around £5.99-£6.99.
The family ponies appeared briefly in the comics and each in one
episode of the My
Little Pony Tales animation. Though the baby characters were
not accurately represented, and each animated family included an
older sibling character who was never made, these animated
appearances have helped make these sets more known and thus more
sought after in places they were not originally sold.
Family Friends and Family Baby Sets (1993-4) :
Sunbright
