SPECIALIZING IN VINTAGE TOY LINES FROM THE 80s AND 90s
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SPECIALIZING IN VINTAGE TOY LINES FROM THE 80s AND 90s
This page contains affiliate links. As a partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Explore the original My Little Pony toy: The Pretty Pony! Learn about this toy, released by Hasbro in 1982, including its very rare variants.
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My Pretty Pony was the predecessor to My Little Pony (MLP). My Pretty Pony was a large horse-shaped toy designed by Bonnie Zacherle in 1981 for Hasbro’s Romper Room division, which was responsible for children’s toys and board games and focused mostly on preschoolers and children under five.
My Pretty Pony is sometimes called MLP Year Zero because it served as the direct prototype and conceptual foundation for My Little Pony. The toy proved highly successful and was later distributed internationally, released in the United Kingdom by Pedigree Toys and in France by Ideal Toys. Both variants closely matched the American edition: They featured a brown body with white spots and blonde hair, but were sold in localized boxes.
Despite these regional packaging differences, the figure’s design was the same. Constructed from hard plastic, it came with a brochure illustrating various ways to style its hair with braids and ribbons.
My Little Pony Year 0
Designer Bonnie Zacherle described her creative process when designing the toy: it was made for hair play or grooming, and you should never put a saddle on it. In other words, the pony was closer to a doll than to an actual horse. Although this last principle would become more flexible in later years (the Pretty Parlor came with bridles), the shape of the pony would remain the same for multiple generations.
Although most collectors are familiar with the brown My Pretty Pony, there was a second and less common release: a pink My Pretty Pony with a “rump mark” or cutie mark/symbol consisting of seven pink hearts. The use of marks like these would become not just an inspiration for future ponies, but also one of the most successful ways to make the ponies collectible.
My Pretty Pony came with accessories like a hat, ribbons, a cape, and, in France, a brush. One version included two ponies, called My Pretty Pony and Beautiful Baby. The baby was Flat Foot Butterscotch.
Do you want to learn more? :)
I Wrote a Book About Ponies!
I love restoring vintage My Little Pony toys and, in doing so, have learnt a lot about their history and the HUNDREDS of less-known variants from manufacturing partners all around the world. So, I wrote a book about them. ALL of them. The book is called “The Unofficial Vintage My Little Pony Companion” and is a massive compendium with 400 pages of history, images, merch, and descriptions for all international and foreign releases of My Little Pony generation One (MLP G1).
Girl toys from the 80s and 90s hold a special place in the hearts of many. Iconic lines like My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake had colorful characters and whimsical worlds, while Rainbow Brite and Care Bears brought magic and friendship to life with plush toys and animated specials. Explore other magical vintage favorites from the 80s and beyond.
