The commercial used the same tune as that in the American commercial, with the 'My Little Pony Mummy' concept, but changed the lyrics to accommodate the set name shift. This set name was also featured on the card on a pink banner, making it unambiguous.

The party theme was also shared across European releases - they were called Party-Ponys in Germany, Poney Festival in France and Pony Party in Italy. The English cards were also sold in Scandinavian countries and probably Finland. In the Benelux countries, where American-style cards were not uncommon, it is possible that this set was sold on American cards with Benelux stickers, under the name Twice as Fancy - though this is not clear. In general, in Europe, these ponies were party-themed, not just fancy.

Party Ponies and the Fancy Gimmick

Although the 'twice as fancy' concept was not used in the UK as such, the ponies themselves were more or less identical to those sold in North America. This meant that all of them had a symbol that extended all over their body, and across their back. A smaller version of their symbol - or part of the symbol - was repeated on the pony's nose or cheek. Though this was a new gimmick for this set, however, some old traditions remained. Milky Way, the only unicorn in the set, had a second colour in her mane (harking back to the original unicorn style code), and (in the UK at least) had glittery symbols (some of the time - more about that on her page!)

Packaging

Due to the different releases, this set had a few different packaging styles depending on region. In the UK, France and German speaking countries, the card had a pink border and featured Dancing Butterflies and Love Melody on the front. All six ponies, plus hair braiding instructions, featured on the back.

Strawberry Fair Mint on Card
UK, 1988


Up Up and Away, Mint on Card
Italy, 1988

The American card for this set was white, with small versions of the ponies's symbols as decorations. It featured Milky Way and Dancing Butterflies on the front.

Names in Different Places

Although the ponies sold in most of these places were the same, the names could vary. In the UK, four of the names were the same as those in North America - Dancing Butterflies, Milky Way, Love Melody and Up, Up and Away. The final two, however, were different - the UK preferred Strawberry Fair to Sugarberry and Lollipop to Sweet Tooth.

Names in other places were translated, sometimes reflecting the English language names and sometimes not. In German, the ponies were called Erdbeere (Strawberry), Zuckersuss (Lollipop), Ballerina, Silberstern (Silver Star), Herzchen (Little Heart) and Luftikus (Happy Go Lucky - this seems to also mean 'balloon' in Hungarian, so may be a play on words. Someone help me out here!) There is an irony that Milky Way was called Silver Star when the version sold here...did not have silver stars!

In France, the ponies were called Guimauve (Marshmallow), Montgolfiere (Hot Air Balloon) Voie Lactee (Milky Way), Serenade,  and Papillonne (Butterfly).

In Italy they were called Palloncino, Farfallino, Slurpino (lol, I love that one), Cuoricino, Stellino and Fragolino. Sorry, my poor European language translating ability fails at Italian :)

Manufacture - Hong Kong or China

Whilst the 1987 set in America was sold with ponies made in Hong Kong, this was not uniform across all releases. The UK released ponies are also almost always Made in Hong Kong, but some versions made in China have surfaced in continental Europe. This may indicate that they remained on sale longer in these places, as - with a few exceptions - ponies made in China are usually from later in the line. These ponies also lack the Pat Pending on their hooves.

It is important to remember that not all versions of these ponies found on the continent are made in China.

Dancing Butterflies Made in China - hooves.
(Pony from Germany)