#I couldn't believe it when I saw G1 Ratchet's toy for the first time

[heckyeahponyscans]

The cultural (in)significance of “MLP ‘n Friends”, Part 1

I was a child of the 80s (got my first MLP in 1983 or 1984) and longtime collector of MLP, and I’ve been trying to think of the best way to explain what G1 My Little Pony WAS to little girls back in the day.  Because a lot of people conflate “G1 My Little Pony” with “the G1 TV show (and specials)”, and that’s extremely inaccurate.  

I understand why people make that assumption, because not only is the G4 MLP line show-driven, but a lot of 80s toylines were show-driven too.  Like He-Man, She-Ra, and G1 Transformers.

^ Most people are thinking of the image on the right when they refer to “G1 Ratchet”.

But G1 MLP was more like Cabbage Patch Kids.

The fad toy of 1983, CPKs were not marketed as representations of cartoon characters. In fact, part of their marketing was 1) they were unique and 2) kids got to name them themselves. Sure, after the fad was already under way there were a couple CPK specials.  But who remembers the CPK cartoon’s theme song or characters?  Anyone?

Similarly, G1 MLP was a hit toy before its specials, movie, and cartoon existed.  I didn’t know anything about My Little Pony until my grandma gave me one as a birthday gift, but I was instantly enthralled. According to my mom, I walked around the house clutching Moondancer, repeating “At last, all my dreams and wishes have come true.”

Eventually the cartoon, “My Little Pony ‘n Friends” debuted (1986 - 1987).  And it just didn’t have much impact on ponydom.  Like, no one brought up characters / plots from the show when I was playing ponies with other girls.

Today, if you ask adults about their favorite childhood ponies, their answer is usually based on which pony they thought was prettiest, not show personality.  Some of the most popular sets were never even in the show, like Twice As Fancy ponies, Summer Wings ponies, etc.  (Unlike Transformers, where the G1 childhood favorite is always a show character like Optimus or Soundwave, never a toy-only character like Big Daddy or Chop Shop.)

I don’t think most girls disliked the show.  It just seemed like no one was watching it.  Or if they were watching it, it wasn’t making much of an impression.  (Theories on why that might be in future posts.)

Everyone knew Starscream was the treacherous Transformer but I, a pony-obsessed child who could list every My Little Pony from 1982 to 1986 by name, set, and physical appearance, had no inkling of the show personality of Wind Whistler, a main character.  

In fact, I didn’t even know she was in the show!   As far as I knew she was no more or less important than her set-mates, Twist and Skippity Doo.  I knew them all from the same place: the brochure that came with the toys.

And that brings us back to what was most important about G1 My Little Pony to 80s kids: the toys.