This past week, my family and I went to a lot of summer yard sales and flea markets. My aunt came across some retro toys which she bought for me, and that sparked the ol' idea generator... See, I was a child of the '80s, which had--in my humble opinion--some of the most awesome, fun toys ever. And I held on to most of my toys! They're in storage, although some are more easily accessible than others. I started thinking about this, and realized, "Why don't I do some mini-reviews on my old toys, as a type of retro nostalgia? After all, a lot of them are still manufactured today in new versions. Wouldn't somebody like to see the original versions?"
Hence, my monthly Throwback Thursday posts (not necessarily toys, since this *is* the "hobby haven." It's for all kinds of hobby materials!). I'll try to do at least once a month, maybe up to two if it's a slow acquisition month.
I'll do this as a mini-introduction and go over the toys that we picked up. We found two original My Little Ponies, which I've collected since I was young. I'm not a fan of the newer generations of My Little Ponies, though. Something about their body and eye shape really turns me off. Hence, I stick to collecting generation 1, which was manufactured during the '80s and early to mid '90s. They're easy to tell apart from the newer generations because they have a fairly uniform body style and a unique eye. You can see what I mean in the pictures below.
(As a note for anyone interested in picking up the older Ponies, an easy way to tell besides eye shape is to look at the underside of the hooves. You should see the manufacturing year, plus "Hasbro," "Pat. Pending," and "Hong Kong." Yes, Hong Kong, don't be alarmed! Plenty of legitimately licensed toys were and are manufactured there. Just make sure you see the company's name.)
Aren't they cute? The pony on the left is a rarer one, called "Birthflower." She was available through mail order only. You specified which month you were born in, and you were sent a version with a cutie mark of your birth month's flower. This one is for the month of May. Her cutie mark is the Lily-of-the-Valley; I'm assuming that it's green because the May birthstone is the emerald?
She has a pure white body with a bright carnation-pink mane and tail. She has lovely violet eyes with what looks like a bit of pink eyeshadow. Her tail is super curly, and looks very cute. Her mane is pretty funky; it appears that her prior owner snipped off the first part of her mane. They braided it, which I undid. That's why her mane is so super wavy. I need to figure out a way to relax it out, and will probably try to do a boil wash later. Birthflower--you know what, let's call her May, since I might try to get her sisters--came covered in dirty smudges. She cleaned up nicely with soap and a wet washcloth, though.
Her friend here is Firefly, a Pegasus Pony. Her pose is a little different. She looks like she's cantering along and stopped to pose for a picture. Her body is a soft pink, with a bright sky blue mane and tail. She has the same hair trim as May, since they had the same owner. Poor sweetie. :( She's very confident and optimistic despite her hair butchering.
Her cutie mark is two dark blue lightning bolts. They're glittery! I believe that it was her former owner who added the bow, since Ponies don't come with accessories like that.
They're in relatively good condition, apart from the hair and one or two small marker spots. I'm happy to have found Birthflower, since the mail-order ponies tend to be rarer. I'm not planning on going out of my way to buy more ponies (i.e. eBay or Craiglist); I'm content with stopping at thrift stores and yard sales to check.
I'll do a Throwback Thursday post with my entire My Little Pony collection later, maybe in a few months. I have to dig them out of storage first. I'm thinking about doing one Throwback Thursday post a month, on one of the weeks in between reviews. We'll have to see. Anyway, enjoy this lovely summer weather, everyone! Miss Scarlett, signing out!
