Well, Mom hit our local Target this morning and came up with nothing, but I trekked out to the farther Target with Raye del Sol and JACKPOT.
Not everything is known about these, but here's what we do know.
These still have Hasbro on them, but they were actually produced by The Bridge Direct.
They cost $9.99 each. Target is currently having a 20% off MLP sale, but these did not ring up as part of that. There was a kid in line behind me, so I wasn't going to argue about it, but someone may be able to get the sale to apply to these.
Supposedly, each store is only getting one set. I'm not sure if this is one set forever or one set to start with. It seems more likely the latter, because the former makes zero sense. Although with the reordering ability of some stores, it may as well be the former one.
What we don't know for sure is if these are Target exclusives or not.
I'm leaning towards yes, because they also have the Care Bears, but I could easily be wrong.
The characters included are the original six My Little Pony characters from 1983. These six were originally released as "flatfoot" ponies, but then came out with the concave hooves most people know best. These repros have said concave hooves. Each pony comes with a comb in the original vintage style and a tail ribbon.
Snuzzle is gray with pink hair and a heart symbol.
Cotton Candy is pink with pink hair. Her symbol is a bunch of white polka dots.
Butterscotch is...well, butterscotch-colored. Her hair is exactly the shade of those old-fashioned butterscotch hard candies. Her symbol is butterflies. Why? I don't know. Most of these symbols don't make sense as they eventually did.
Minty is mint green with white hair and shamrock symbols.
Blue Belle is a soft blue with lavender hair and star symbols.
Blossom is purple with purple hair and white flower symbols.
All of the ponies have blue eyes except Blossom and Butterscotch, whose eyes match their color schemes.
Quality-wise, these are very nice. They're a less squishy plastic than my original Minty, but it feels sturdy and quality.
Their hair is not quite as nice as the vintage ponies. Some of them have this amazing hair that just feels so silky when you wash it. These new repros don't have that, but their hair did wash up nicely. It was creased from how they were packaged, but those straightened out well. The manes are nice and pretty full. The tails are gorgeous and required no work.
On the left here is my original concave Minty. On the right is the new repro.
As you can see, the new ones are quite a bit shorter. I wish I had a flatfoot to compare height, but I don't anymore.
The bodies are basically the same shape with a few tweaks.
Again, basically the same. The biggest difference is size and, of course, color.
I love these little repro ponies and I had such happy flashbacks to childhood, holding their chubby little bodies and brushing their manes. I love all the versions of MLP, but nothing will ever come close to vintage for me, so these repros are just fantastic. I skipped the 25th Anniversary repros, but I heard those were poor quality. These are not.
If you see them in your Target and you have a favorite, get her. She may not reappear. Or if you're a pony fan like me and you can afford it, get them all!
I wish they'd do a second set with some of the next characters. I'd love to see Applejack and Bowtie, Bubbles and Seashell, and most importantly, Moondancer and Glory! Those last two were my first two ponies.
Which ponies would you like to see reproduced like these?
PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.
I just bought Blossom off ebay as these are not being sold in Australia.
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked though, after reading your info, that they are not identically reproduced. They did the 35th anniversary of the "Strawberry Shortcake" dolls. They used the same machinery, materials and items to reproduce the exact same dolls from 1981, and that made the repros not only amazing, but so special. So I'm really quite angry that they didn't do the same with these MLP repros. Any small change is still a big change at the end of the day seeming they used different moulds, materials etc. Different hair and plastic for the body? And change of height, size and the placing of their symbols? That's disappointing for me. It makes them different from the originals in a lot of ways. They look the same but also different once you put it into prospective!
BUT...the originals can NOT be found anywhere on line, still in their packaging. There are many original Strawberry Shortcake dolls still factory sealed so I was beyond happy to buy and own one and I wanted the same for the original MLP line. But, it seems that you can't find new originals anywhere, so, this new 35th anniversary line is still an amazing idea and I will end up buying the whole 6 to own. They may not be the same as the originals from the 80's, but they're better than owning a pre-owned original for me!
35 years isn't exactly a short period of time. The original molds and materials likely do not exist anymore. Things change pretty quickly in the toy industry. I've seen the SSCs and they certainly don't look the same as the originals to me.
DeleteYou seem to be flipflopping here, because you're "angry" and "disappointed" but then it's "amazing" that they've made these. You're right on the second part. It IS amazing and I'm thrilled they're finally putting out so many of my favorite old characters.
Basically, if you want original, buy original. These new ones aren't meant to be an exact copy. Repros never are. They're meant to celebrate something beloved and that they do well.