Sunshower in the United Kingdom
Ripple was one of the new characters introduced to the Pretty
& Pearly range. She was sold in the forward facing pose,
and the artwork on the back of the card (while not always
pose-specific) also presents her in that guise. (Its a cute
picture, so I'm including it!). Ripple was sold with a frog float,
which was a new float design for the year, in green with pink
spots. The pony pictured above is my childhood pony, shown is her
original float (which appears the same in colour as those released
in North America, although the text print underneath can sometimes
vary).
Pretty 'n' Pearly Sunshower Mint on Card
UK, 1987
The pony pictured at the top of the page is my
childhood pony, shown is her original float (which appears the
same in colour as those released in North America, although the
text print underneath can sometimes vary). My loose pony has
faded a bit with age (she was played with a LOT when I was a
kid) but the goldish/yellow colouring is more visible on the
Mint on Card version.
Sunshower in Other Places
Sunshower was originally sold in the North American release in
1986, where she featured a brand new pose, "looking up". In the
UK, however, she was sold in the more familiar facing forward
pose (a pose which was phased out in North America after 1985-6
for unknown reasons). The North American version seems to have
been the default version in most places outside of the UK where
this set was sold. Cards were sometimes translated into local
languages but featured American artwork as well.
Sunshower's Character
Sunshower's backcard story features her asking Lofty for help to
touch the rainbow. Lofty was not sold in the UK, but the backcard
story appears to have been taken directly from the North American
release, and there was no attempt to change the name/pony.
Sunshower did not really have an emphatic comic character that I
can remember, but the Fact File hints at a possible trick that she
had - she threw water splashes into the sky for the sun to 'change
into a shower of rainbow coloured drops.' This is also based
loosely on her backcard story.
