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Vintage My Little Pony: What are Nirvana ponies and Where to Find Them

My Little Pony figures that were exclusive to certain countries are called "nirvana". These G1 ponies are usually limited variants and very valuable.
My Little Pony - Nirvana ponies and where to get them

Did you know that not all 1980s My Little Ponies were made in Hong Kong? That’s right. Even though most of us remember our little friends coming from this region, there were many other countries that also produced official Hasbro ponies. Today, collectors call these (rarer) toys “Nirvana ponies“.

Many My Little Pony collectors love nirvana ponies because although they tend to be quite hard to find (and let’s be real, they cost much more than HK ones!), they can look VERY different from their counterparts. So, they are an excellent addition to any pony hoard, especially if you enjoy a particular pony and you want to have variants of it.

I thought it would be interesting to talk a little more about Nirvana ponies, so I created this guide with basic info and some links to help you understand the different origins and how to chase down your favorite ponies. Note: The images in this article are courtesy of My Little Wiki. In fact, My Little Wiki has a great page about nirvanas 🔗 that I used largely to write this guide.

What is a Nirvana My Little Pony?

Nirvana ponies are ponies that were made or sold exclusively in certain countries. This usually made them quite limited in distribution. For example, most ponies we came across growing up were made in Hong Kong or, in some cases, China. You can see this origin if you look at the bottom of the pony’s feet. But if you look at the hoofs and you don’t see anything, or you see a different country, you might be in front of a Nirvana Pony.

How Can You Identify a Nirvana Pony?

As I briefly mentioned above, the easiest way to see whether a My Little Pony is a nirvana pony is to look at its hoof markings. But there are other ways, too.

Nirvana ponies will say, for example “SPAIN”, “ITALY”,  “ARGENTINA”, etc. Some ponies, however, were not marked in any way. Unmarked hooves usually mean nirvana, but you will need to check the color combination (hair, body, and symbols) in the database to make sure.

There are two main resources to check nirvana variants. These are:

  • My Little Wiki 🔗 (a community site for all MLP generations): Each pony has a list of which countries produced it. For example, the page for Peachy 🔗 lists all nirvanas, including Peachies for Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.
  • Strawberry Reef 🔗 (a reference guide also for all generations). The advantage of this site is that it has TONS of pictures, so if you have a pony you can’t identify, you can scroll until you find it! For example, you can use this page to explore by color 🔗!

The Countries of Nirvana Ponies

Ponies made in Hong Kong or China are not considered nirvana. Some ponies were made in these countries, then exported to others and packaged in different languages. These are not considered nirvana ponies, either. For a My Little Pony to be a nirvana pony, it needs to come from one of the following countries:

Nirvana ponies made in Argentina are considered some of the most colorful. from what we can gather, Hasbro guidelines were not particularly enforced by Top Toys, the local manufacturer. As a result, we get familiar ponies with incredible body and hair combinations — and a whole lot of rainbow ponies! Argentinian ponies are usually stamped with the words “MADE IN ARGENTINA” (“MADE IN” and “ARGENTINA”, each on a hoof). 

Here are some examples of Argentinian Top Toys ponies. You can see how colorful they are!

Nirvana ponies: Argentina. Windy.

Argentina – MLP G1 Windy

Nirvana ponies: Argentina. Heart Throb.

Argentina – MLP G1 Heart Throb

Nirvana ponies: Argentina. Flutterbye.

Argentina – MLP G1 Flutterbye

Nirvana ponies: Argentina. Buttons.

Argentina – MLP G1 Buttons

I actually do A LOT of restorations for Argentinian ponies, because that’s where I come from! :) I also share information on these ponies, where they come from, why they look the way they look, etc. You can see all the videos in my channel (RetroGeek Crafts) or play a couple directly here:

Restoring a Vintage Argentinian Parasol

Restoring a Vintage Argentinian Gingerbread

Australian nirvana ponies are the alternate Birth Flower ponies. The Australian editions were packed in regular cards. These ponies were also available in New Zealand, Sweden, and Denmark, so they are not as difficult to find as some of the other variants listed here. If you ask me, these are some of the most beautiful Nirvanas out there! Just take a look:

Nirvana ponies: Australia. December.

Australia – Alternate Birth Flower Ponies: December Holly

Nirvana ponies: Australia. June.

Australia – Alternate Birth Flower Ponies: November Chrysanthemum

Nirvana ponies: Australia. October.

Australia – Alternate Birth Flower Ponies: October Cosmos

Nirvana ponies: Australia. September.

Australia – Alternate Birth Flower Ponies: September Morning Glory

Brazilian nirvana ponies are stamped with the words “ESTRELA MADE IN BRAZIL” in a single hoof and inside a square frame. Some Brazilian ponies don’t have symbols – as they came instead with outfits. The Brazilian nirvanas are a tiny but smaller than HK ponies and (some of them) have very strong colors. These ponies fetch some good prices in the collector’s market but are still relatively accessible in terms of findability.

Graminha (Minty)

Brazil – Graminha (Minty)

Céuzinho (Sunlight)

Brazil – Céuzinho (Sunlight)

Tenista (Shy Pose Bow Tie)

Brazil – Tenista (Shy Pose Bow Tie)

Restoring Valentin's Brazilian Pony (MLP G1 Estrela Baby Gusty)

Colombian nirvana ponies are marked “MADE IN COLOMBIA” although adults rarely have an identifying mark. although there were only nine different characters released, they were made in different combinations of colors.

Nirvana ponies: Colombia. Bowties.

Colombia – Bowtie

Nirvana ponies: Colombia. Bowties.

Colombia – Bowtie

Nirvana ponies: Colombia. Bowties.

Colombia – Bowtie

Nirvana ponies: Colombia. Bowties.

Colombia – Bowtie

There are Dutch variants released in 1995, after the G1 line had ended everywhere else. These ponies from the Netherlands are based on previous characters but had different color combinations.

The figures were distributed with bilingual Dutch and German packaging, indicating their availability in the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. The collection includes both baby and adult ponies, each with unique themes and accessories. For instance, the Dutch Baby Ponies feature characters like the Cat Pony (Poesjes-Pony), Dolphin Pony (Dolfijn-Pony), and Flower Pony (Bloemetjes-Pony), and the Adult Ponies include the Butterfly Pony (Vlinder-Pony), Candy Pony (Snoepjes-Pony), and Diary Pony (Dagboek-Pony). Here are some pictures:

MLP Dutch Baby Dolfijn

Netherlands – Baby Dolfijn

MLP Dutch Snoepjes

Netherlands – Snoepjes

MLP Dutch Love Pony

Netherlands – Love Pony

MLP Dutch Sterretjes

Netherlands – Sterretjes

French nirvana ponies are stamped with a circular “MADE IN FRANCE” mark on the hoof. These ponies often feature unique color variations and symbols not found in other releases, making them highly sought after by collectors. For example, the French version of Bow Tie has a blue body with rainbow-colored hair and pink bow symbols, differing from other international versions.

Original French ponies include variations of Bowtie, Cotton Candy, Moonstone, Skydancer, and Windy. Additionally, the French Firefly pony is known to have two distinct eye color variations: one with purple eyes and another with blue eyes.

German nirvana ponies included rainbow ponies (Regenbogen Ponys), Princess Ponies, Euro Babies, Sweet Talkin’ Ponies, and Nesthäckchen Baby Ponies.

Nirvana ponies: Germany. Raindrop.

Germany – Raindrop

Nirvana ponies: Germany. Nightlight.

Germany – Nightlight

Greek nirvana ponies are only marked occasionally with a Greek letter. However, they have particularly fine eye lashes/eye liner.

Nirvana ponies: Greek. Bowtie.

Greece – Bowtie

Nirvana ponies: Greek. Parasol.

Greece – Parasol

Nirvana ponies: Greek. Sunlight

Greece – Sunlight

Nirvana ponies: Greek. medley.

Greece – Medley

Italian nirvana ponies have the word “ITALY” stamped on their hooves. 
The language on the packaging varies because these Italian ponies were sold in other European countries too. There are some rare Italian variants, such as the pink, blue, and yellow cotton candies made by Furga. The Furga ponies don’t have an inscription on the hooves.

Nirvana ponies: Italian. Applebelle.

Italy – Bluebelle with Applejack’s colors

Nirvana ponies: Italian. Blossom.

Italy – Blossom with magenta body and dark purple hair.

Nirvana ponies: Italian. Butterscotch.

Italy – Butterscotch with brown body and pink symbol.

Nirvana ponies: Italian. Minty.

Nirvana ponies: Italian. Yellow body and green hair.

Indian nirvana ponies only include the first six collector ponies. The company in charge of making ponies in India was Playskool. The hooves are marked Funskool rather than Hasbro.

Japanese nirvana ponies were made by a company called Takara. These ponies don’t look at all like other G1s. You can see them in detail in this article:

> Japanese Takara My Little Pony

Takara Plush Toy Ponies Pinky and Milky

Plush Yakara Ponies

Takara Land of Close Friends.

Nirvana ponies: Macau. Snuzzle.

Macau – Jenny, a brown Snuzzle

Macau nirvana ponies were made in Macau, although they were not sold there. The Macau ponies include only the first six ponies and Lemon Drop. These are marked as “MACAU” and were mostly sold in Germany and other European countries. Macau ponies are known for a few unique color combinations. A popular variant is Jenny, a brown and white version of Peachy.

Mexican nirvana ponies were initially licensed to and made by a company called Lily Ledy. These ponies say “Lily Ledy” and “Made in Mexico” on their hooves. Unfortunately, their factory burnt down after just doing 6 models and Hasbro gave the license to another business called Auriken. They also made versions of the first six, with flat or concave feet and no marks. Variations in printing, type of plastic, and mould differences help identify the unmarked Auriken ponies. 

Peruvian ponies are marked Basa, by the company that manufactured them. Sometimes the hooves also state Nova. The ponies were sold by Maxi.

Spanish nirvana ponies were first introduced by manufacturers Brekar and Milton Bradley under Hasbro licensing. These ponies have a piggy pose and the hooves are not marked. They also have blinking eyes like the US Beddy-Bye-Eyed baby ponies. Referred to as Spanish Piggy ponies, they are considered very rare and valuable. After the piggy ponies, regular Spanish ponies were made and sold in Spain. They are sometimes marked as “SPAIN” on their hooves, though not always. Many variations and types were made.

Nirvana ponies: Spain. Piggy Snuzzle.

Spain – Piggy Snuzzle

Spain – Piggy Fresita

Spain – Piggy Bluebelle

Nirvana ponies: Spain. Piggy Pinky.

Spain – Piggy Snuzzle

My Little Pony G1 Essentials

If you want to learn more about ponies and how to restore them, here are two resources that can help. The first is the unofficial MLP G1 guide (which has photos, prices, etc). The second is my own book, Restoring My Little Pony!

Restoring My Little Pony is the result of almost three years of restoring and customizing My Little Pony toys for my channel RetroGeek Crafts. The book contains 86 pages full of detailed step-by-step guides, project features, material and technique comparisons, and much more. The book is mostly focused on My Little Pony Generation 1 (MLP G1). However, these techniques can be applied to all other generations, including MLP G2, G3, G4, and even G5.

This unofficial MLP guide to the first generation of My Little Pony (known as G1) was created by Summer Hayes. The book provides everything a collector needs to identify G1 ponies and their accessories, and understand their value. The guide contains large, full color photos of every pony, playset and accessory released in the US (and in some cases in other countries) in the 1980s and 1990s.

More My Little Pony Articles

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