Starflower in North America
Starflower was sold in North America as part of the second
release of Rainbow Ponies, issued in around 1985. She used one
of the new poses for the year, as well as having the updated,
more daring colours in her hair. These Rainbow Ponies still had
four colours, but were generally bolder in shade than the first
six ponies had been. Starflower was sold on the same kind of
horizontal card as those from the first set, but now there were
ten ponies pictured instead of six.
Mint on Card Starflower
North America, 1985
Starflower was not sold in the United Kingdom, although she
did appear in stories around 1986-7.
Starflower in Other Places
Starflower was part of several European releases, where she was
often found made in Italy or Spain. She was also available
through subsequent horseshoe point mail in offers up to around
1986. Some anecdotal evidence suggests this set - on the US card
- might have appeared in Sweden and Norway as well, possibly as
end of line imports.
The Scandinavian/Australian/South African Rainbow
Starflower...?
Starflower was -in theory- sold in at least one of the Rainbow Pony
releases in Scandinavia (at least, Sweden and Norway), South
Africa and probably also Australia. This release happened
probably around 1986-7, based on the design of the card. These
cards were in English and the pony was made in Hong Kong.It has
been noted by collectors in Sweden that Starflower is
significantly more difficult to find than some of the other
Rainbow ponies. She is only illustrated on one design of card
from this release and it is unclear how widely she was
distributed (it is possible that she was not part of this set
and was sold in these countries as an import).
It is not clear whether Starflower was sold with the same
accessories in this release.
Starflower's missing stars.
It's worth a footnote here to mention that in most art
representations, Starflower is shown with flowers as her symbol.
These flowers have star-shaped centres, hence her name
'Starflower'. The pony was only ever sold with stars as her
symbol, however.
Starflower with flower symbols
1986 Rainbow Pony Backcard
Starflower's Character
I don't remember a distinctive personality for Starflower in the
comics, but her backcard story mentions a magical dream and
turning water ripples into circles of colour in the water.
