My Little Pony toys are now celebrating 25 wonderful years of whimsicality and playfulness. Brought to us by Hasbro the My Little Pony brand has brought fun, friendship and frolics to millions of little girls worldwide, and continues to do so today. These colourful, cute little ponies and their accessories represent every little girl’s dream of having a pony and allow imaginations to run wild in the form of play. They also hold great appeal to adults who were once the little girls that played with them and they are now very collectable.

From their first introduction in 1983 My Little Pony toys became so popular in the 80’s that they outsold Barbie! My Little Pony toys followed the related My Pretty Pony toys that were introduced in 1981. The first generation My Little Pony toys ran from 1983 to 1995 (1992 in the US) and as well as toys they became animated films and two television series. The My Little Pony brand was then re-launched in 1997 (1999 in the US) and globally in 2003, making a massive come back (although for many it had never gone away in our hearts).

One of the first My Little Ponies was an Earth pony called Peachy, released with the Grooming Parlour (Pretty Parlour in the US) in 1982. The Grooming Parlour was a blue rectangular parlour that opened out into a place to groom the little ponies. It came with a comb, ribbons, a bridle, hats, a saddle and nametags to display under the pony on centre stage. It also came with a tabby cat and a pink basket that could be strapped to Peachy’s back to carry the cat. Peachy is peach-coloured (not surprisingly!) with pink mane and tail, and pink hearts on her rump.

The My Little Pony toys changed in appearance over time, although they all have brightly coloured bodies with a different colour mane and tail, and symbols or patterns on their behinds. The first ponies were Earth ponies and then came Unicorns and Pegasus ponies. Baby ponies became available in all three - Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus forms - and the early ones were similar to but smaller than their “mothers” in slightly softened colours. Later babies had more distinct identities of their own.

The second generation of ponies released in 1997 were made in completely new poses and were smaller and slimmer than the original first generation ponies, with longer legs, jewel eyes and turning heads. Most of them were Earth ponies but there were a few unicorns, although no Pegasus ponies and only two baby pony poses.

All the Generation 2 My Little Pony toys were discontinued in 2003 when the next, and current, generation was introduced. Generation 3 includes the re-release of many original ponies but in different poses or outfits and most of them have shiny bodies and matte symbols on their sides. Only Earth ponies were released from 2003 to 2005, then Pegasus ponies were released in 2005 and Unicorn ponies in 2006. In 2008 My Little Pony narrowed its pony toys down to only seven characters and no new characters will be released, only re-released.

My Little Pony toys will always retain their charm and appeal to millions of little girls and adults alike and we hope that they have a long, magical life ahead.