Introducing Twinkle Eye Ponies

"The My Little Pony Twinkle-Eye Ponies will really catch your eye! New for 1986, each pony comes with dazzling twinkle-eyes which really glitter, and with their own unique multi-coloured manes and tails. This range contains a mix of earthly, pegasus and unicorn ponies with either curly or straight hair, all in new poses - ponies that will really spark off the imagination. Each pony has its own star comb, ribbon and sticker."
                             ~Hasbro UK Trade Catalogue, 1986

Masquerade, Mint on UK Card (1986)

Another key difference between the North American and UK (as well as French and German) editions are the stickers. The UK had round, puffy stickers featuring the new characters, whilst in North America, stickers had gone weird, flat and scented. The German and French release of this first set had similar card art to the UK one, but translated.

Twinkle Eyed ponies sold in the Netherlands are often on American art design cards, translated into French and Dutch, and featuring (often a mismatched) flat sticker. These appear to have been sold towards the later end of 1986, as the sticker in the below pictured pony's package features Speedy, who was a later addition.

Fizzy, as sold in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
Card featuring American art, translated into Dutch and French
(Sticker is incorrect)

The set featured multiple new poses. The two unicorns and two earth ponies shared a pose, while the two pegasus ponies had distinct poses. Masquerade was originally shown as a prototype in the same pose as Whizzer. A handful of Spanish made Masquerades exist in this pose, but the regular Hong Kong version available around the world (and most Spanish versions) was in a different pose.

The Twinkle-Eye ponies had four colours in their mane and tail, like the rainbow ponies, but each pony had an individual blend. Although there were unicorn and pegasus ponies in the set, none of them had glittery symbols. And, of course, each pony had a distinctive, gemstone pair of eyes.

The UK card was predominantly blue and set in the clouds, despite the fact two of the ponies included in the set were earth ponies. The American card had a rainbow running through it but this was not a part of the UK card until the next year, when the packaging would be redesigned. In 1986, names on UK cards (either of ponies or, with gimmicks, of sets) were printed on a white ribbon banner hung beneath the rainbow. All ponies also had stories and the card backs featured tail-braiding instructions. According to Hasbro's catalogue, they were sent to stores in cases of 24 - 4 of each pony.

Twinkle Eye Pony backcard
 UK 1986

Galaxy was sold in the Argos store catalogue in 1986, where she were promoted as having "dazzling" twinkle eyes. She retailed for £3.65 (It is probable that retail price was between £3.65 and £3.99 that year).

Galaxy in the Argos Catalogue
UK, 1986

A weird Twinkle Eye thing that happened.

About twenty years ago, a glut of Twinkle Eye ponies sealed on UK Pretty n Pearly Baby Sea Pony cards appeared on ebay. They were mostly sold by a seller in Germany, although all the cards were in English. The cards were from 1987, but the ponies were those from this set in 1986. Why did this happen? I have no idea. For some reason 1986 Twinkle Eyes were sealed on Baby Sea Pony cards and everyone was fine with this. O.o.

Galaxy Mint on Sea Star's UK card
(Thanks to Rosie Apple for this image)

The Twinkle Eye ponies were sold with their normal accessories and sticker. Galaxy, Fizzy and Gingerbread have definitely been found on sea pony cards. I have also heard of Sweetie but I have not seen one.

One reason that this set were found on this card may stem from the German release schedule. Although the first set of Twinkle Eye ponies were sold in North America in late 1985 and in the UK in 1986, they appeared on the German insert for 1987, suggesting they were in production for this market at the same time as the Pretty 'n' Pearly Baby Sea Ponies were on release (on the above card) in the UK. How the mismatch happened is a mystery, but at least it didn't involve time travel :)

Twinkle Eye Ponies and THAT comic story.

The internet blew up a few times over the UK origin story for the Twinkle Eye ponies. This story has been repeated, mostly by fans of Generation four, as a canonical background story for the Twinkle Eye ponies overall, but this is not true. The story is actually a bit obscure - or it was before the hype happened - and only contained in the comic. Even that has often been misrepresented online, as it is in issue 11, not some other editions that have been quoted.

The story in question is called Applejack's Amazing Adventure (external link accurate at time of uploading). In the story, Applejack stumbles into the Jewel Wizard's cave, finding a group of enslaved sightless ponies working down there extracting gems. Applejack's characteristic clumsiness not only helps them escape, but the gems they were mining become their eyes, giving them back sight.

Twinkle Eye Ponies without sight (left) and with gemstone eyes (right) after being rescued.
My Little Pony Comic #11, 1986

One suggestion from a member of the UK pony community was that the story was based on the historic tales of pit ponies, who once worked in the mines in Britain. These ponies were said to spend so long down the mine that when they came out, they struggled to see in the daylight. This seems like a logical basis for this story, and is probably why it went without comment at the time. It has its own cult place in My Little Pony G1 lore discussions, being one of the few comic references that has become widely known, but the more popularised version of the Twinkle Eyes is probably found in the My Little Pony and Friends animation, especially for Fizzy, who is a huge fan favourite. There is no connection between the comic canon narrative and the animated series.

The story in issue 11 has a follow up sequel, also featuring Fizzy, in issue 42.

Two ponies from this first set would be reissued with four new characters in the UK in 1987. While fifteen Twinkle Eye ponies exist in total, only ten were sold in the UK. Some of the missing five were sold in parts of Europe, most notably Italy.