Cascade (yellow earth pony with green mane and tail, blue and aqua water splashes symbol). Sold only in the UK

Duck Soup: Orange duck with yellow beak and feet (Worldwide)

Pony Data
Set	The Waterfall Playset (1985) sold with EITHER Cascade (UK only) OR Sprinkles (Worldwide, including UK)
Asst. Number	4880/0002 (Cascade, UK) 4880/0029 (Sprinkles, UK)
Accessories	Blue towel, orange duck ("Duck Soup"), two curlers, pink sponge brush and comb, bottle of pony bubbles, ribbon? (possibly yellow)
Pose	Cascade: 'Shy' Sprinkles: 'Firefly'
Distribution	Worldwide (But in the UK alone the playset's base was green) Cascade only available in the UK.
Other Versions	Mail Order Sprinkles (North America; NOT available with the Waterfall)

Sprinkles: Lavender pegasus pony with blue mane and tail, blue ducks symbol (sold worldwide)

Mail Order Sprinkles: Pink pegasus with blue mane and tail and blue ducks symbol. NOT available with the playset, or in the UK.

The Waterfall in the UK

The Waterfall was released twice in the United Kingdom, both in 1985. It was sold with a variety of accessories for water play, including a bottle of bubble bath mix. The mechanism of the Waterfall was designed to take water in from a pool in the base, and spray it out from the cloud above via a pipe system. Sadly a delicate playset, the clips at the top and bottom holding the rainbow to the cloud and base often broke, and therefore finding a playset intact can be difficult.

Why was the playset sold twice in the UK? Good question. Why did the UK version alone have a green base? Also a good question. The truth is, we don't really know the answer - but the best bet is that Hasbro UK started by selling it with Cascade and then, when she ran out, decided to cut production costs and use the globally available Sprinkles instead. It was suggested to me by a smart ponyperson that the green base may have been because Cascade was an Earth Pony, and unable to fly up to the clouds. If correct, this also supports the theory that Cascade came first, and Sprinkles was an afterthought in the UK release.

Whatever the truth, both Sprinkles and Cascade were sold in the same year in the UK. Sprinkles' production number - and the Hasbro date stamps inside both of my playset boxes - both indicate that Cascade probably came out first.

Untangling the mysteries of the UK release

The Waterfall Box, featuring Cascade (UK, 1985)

"Including Cascade"

The 1985 production date

There are a few reasons to believe that the Cascade Waterfall was the first released in the United Kingdom. For a start, all of the promotional material included her, from the insert to the Argos catalogue. Secondly, she had a lower assortment number. Thirdly, of the two UK playset boxes I own, Cascade's is datestamped the first half of 1985, whilst Sprinkles is datestamped in the second.

The Waterfall with Cascade, as promoted on the 1985 insert

Cascade and the Waterfall in the 1985 Argos Catalogue.

The Waterfall accessories (Worldwide)

In a global sense, though, the playset was sold originally in North America with Sprinkles, at least two years before Cascade's release. So the leaflets that came with the playset showed an amended pony graphic, turning pegasus Sprinkles into earth pony Cascade. Both ponies also had the same stories, but with the name changed. (You can see the comparison here.).

The amended leaflet artwork showing 'Sprinkles' turned into 'Cascade' for the UK release.

Because there was this flipping back and forth between the North American/Sprinkles release instructions to Cascade instructions and then back to Sprinkles, the timeline of the release has often been muddled. Some misunderstandings have also occurred. One is that the UK only had the Waterfall with Cascade - this is not true. Two is that the Waterfall was sold in the UK with Sprinkles in 1983-4 and then with Cascade. This is also not true.

The Waterfall Box, featuring Sprinkles (UK, 1985)

"Including Sprinkles"

The UK Waterfall is special because of its green base, which, according to the box, was made and assembled in the United Kingdom. Both Cascade and Sprinkles were sold with that same green-base Waterfall in the UK, whereas every other country that had this playset had the white base Waterfall. This makes the green-base waterfall a little more sought-after second-hand. All the accessories between the sets, including Duck Soup, were otherwise the same.

The Waterfall in other places

The Waterfall Box, featuring Sprinkles (North America, 1983-4)

As has already been mentioned, in North America, and in many other places, including France and other places in Europe, the Waterfall had a white base and came only with Sprinkles. The US box features a prototype of Sprinkles in different colours - this version was never released. The accessories for the white-based set were the same as for the green-based one. The white-based playset never came out in the UK.

Later in the line, North America also saw a mail order release of Sprinkles. She was pink, rather than lavender, and did not come with the playset.

Pony Personalities

Cascade did not appear in the UK pony comic stories, although she made a brief and neutral appearance in the original My Little Pony annual.

Cascade's sole story appearance in the 1985/6 annual

Sprinkles appeared frequently in the pony comic as the mistress of the Waterfall and the effective guardian of Duck Soup. Ponies often visited the Waterfall, although it was drawn very differently in comic appearances. Sprinkles was friendly with Bubbles, because of the latter's fondness for playing in mud then coming to the Waterfall to bath.

Sprinkles and Duck Soup
My Little Pony Comic

The rather unfortunately named Duck Soup was a chirpy and cheerful pet who was a member of the Paws & Claws Club. In one story, she wishes to become a massive duck...which causes all kinds of problems for her friends :)