Spotlight on Greek Ponies by pinkkittywinks and Shaz
n the 1980’s Habsro sold the licence to produce My Little Pony to El Greco, who are based in Greece. The ponies that were sold included; collectors pose Earth ponies, babies, the Unicorn and Pegasus set, the first release “Rainbow” set, as well as two special “holiday” ponies. A wide variety of pony wear was also made and sold.
Greek ponies are mainly found in Greece, but crop up else were in Europe as Greece is a popular holiday destination.
* Thank you Aeithales
(image shows the leaflet that came with the ponies (adults and babies) and pony wear.)
The Earth Ponies (names translated by Shaz)
Peachy and Lemondrop were sold boxed, as part of the collectors pose “set” as well as with the Show Stable and Grooming Parlor the playsets.
Blossom = Lily.
Blue Belle = Elsê.
Bow Tie = Xionoyla , meaning "snowball". This is also the Greek name for Snow White.
Minty = Chloê, "grass" or "lawn". From an Ancient Greek word meaning a new green shoot growing in the spring.
Butterscotch = Lemonitsa, "lemongrass".
Cotton Candy = Rozalin - from roz meaning "pink".
Lemon Drop = Zizi.
Peachy = Melenia, meaning "honeyed" or "sugary".
Unicorns and Pegasus = Pony Star : Star Ponies (translated by Shaz)
Glory = Augerinos, the Morning Star. Since in Greek folklore Augerinos is a boy who is turned into a star, Glory is probably meant to be male: that's perhaps why she goes to the party as the companion of 'coquettish' Melody!
Sunbeam = Chryssomallousa, "golden hair"
Firefly = Pêgasos, "Pegasus"
Moondancer = Prigkipopula, "Princess"
Melody = Melodia (pretty obvious)
Twilight = Astrophengia, "starlight"
Rainbow Ponies = Paramythi Ponies : Fairytale Ponies (translated by Shaz)
The Rainbow Ponies were called as “Paramythi Ponies”, Paramythi translates to the word fairytale.
Starshine = Neraida, "fairy"
Skydancer = Astrapê, "lightning"
Windy = Anemos, "wind" or "air" (male)
Moonstone = Ouranos, "heaven" or "sky" (male)
Sunlight = Anatolê, "sunrise"
Parasol = Protobrochi, "first rain of autumn" (gender neutral)
Back Card Story of Fairytale and Star Ponies: translated by Shaz
This story was used on both the Fairy Tale and Star ponies backcard. The story features a lot of Greek cultural references, such as sayings and traditions.
MOC Greek Starshine
*picture pinkkittywinks
Once upon a time, in the fairytale land of PONY, there lived in the Castle of the Heavens, the Princess [Moondancer] with her little dragon.
The Castle of the Heavens was the colour of roses while the turrets were the deep blue of a spring sky.
When the Princess threw a party for her Name Day, the little dragon gave the order to open all the gates of the castle, to lower the drawbridge and let the trumpets announce the great celebration. Immediately, the joyous news spread to the ends of the earth. And then, all the Fairytale Ponies and the Pony Stars, looking their best, with their long hair beautifully combed, stunning in their beauty and grace, came to the Castle of the Heavens to honour the Princess.
The Star Ponies adorned the festivities with their dazzling beauty, while the unparalleled grace of the Fairytale Ponies made it all the more brilliant.
Sunbeam wore the sun in her hair, Twilight was adorned by stars, and Firefly came to the party with her beautiful blue mane streaming as she flew through the clouds.
Melody, the most coquettish of the Pony Stars, wore her beautiful notes as she went to the party with Glory, shining with grace and beauty.
Skydancer, the fastest of all the ponies, always reached the party first, unlike Parasol, who was always late.
Sunlight came with her excellent colours to brighten the party, while Starshine, together with Windy, brought to the celebrations happiness and high spirits.
Some notes:
1) Prigkipopula, meaning 'princess', is Moondancer's Greek name, implying that Moondancer is the resident of the castle. Majesty, you've been usurped!
2) The castle's name is Kastro tou Ouranou. Ouranou comes from Ouranos, meaning heaven or sky. So Castle of Heaven, Sky Castle....whatever, we all know it's Dream Castle they're talking about!
3) Melody is said to be "naziara", which means she is full of affectation, putting on a cutesy act, something like that. It sounds a bit unkind! 'Coquettish' seemed the kindest translation I could come up with.
4) Starshine and Windy actually bring three things to the party, eutuchia (happiness, contentment; comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning good luck), kephi (merriment, high spirits, good humour) and drosia (coolness, dewiness - I think implying that Windy brings a cool breeze? I wasn't sure how to translate this so as not to ruin the flow of the English).
5) The word translated as party is "giortê", meaning celebration, feast day, festival, that sort of thing.
6) Name Day: According to Greek Orthodox tradition, every day of the year is dedicated to a Christian saint or martyr, if you are named after a Saint or Martyr, you celebrate this day in a similar fashion to your birthday.
The Baby Ponies
MIP and MIB Greek Minty/Chloe and Babies
*Thank you Aeithales
None of the babies were officially named, which fits in with Greek tradition, as babies aren't named before their christening. According to a Greek MLP community member, Greek babies behave like newborns and being so young, they won’t be named yet. In the Greek language the word baby is a neutral, and it can refer to a either female or male. Unlike the US the pony “Family” of Mums, Aunts, cousins and friends, this is clearly illustrated in the Baby Pony backcard story.
Although the baby ponies weren't officially named, collectors identify them by the names of their standard counterparts or adults they are the babies of. There can be several colour variations of some of the babies.
Baby Blossom
Baby Peachy
Baby Cotton
Baby Lemon Drop
Baby Bowtie
Baby Glory
Baby Moondancer
Baby Bluebelle
Baby Butterscotch
Baby Firefly
Baby Medley
Baby Minty
Baby Adara (This baby is considered a variant of Baby Cuddles as she has a rattle for a symbol. The name Baby Adara given to the white version of Greek “Baby Cuddles” by a member of the community. Adara translates to Greek for mist/fog or commotion and this name has since been used to refer to all the version of this Baby Pony)
Baby Pony Back Card Story: Translated by Shaz
Dusk had begun to fall in the forest as all the My Little Ponies gathered at the Stable Home to celebrate the first birthday of the Baby Pony.
There were multicoloured balloons all through the house and outside on the grass, all for the birthday party of the Baby Pony with the pretty notes.
The Baby Pony bounced in and out, scattering balloons and flying up high with her mummy. Suddenly, she saw her aunts and cousins - all the other baby ponies and their mummies - popping out from the beautiful multicoloured balloons. The Baby Pony bounced excitedly next to all the other Baby Ponies.
Then she opened her gifts and her surprised eyes saw the beautiful sunshade of the wonderful Baby Buggy. Her aunt gave her a pretty comb and two colourful ribbons for her mother to tie bows in her beautiful mane and long tail.
Later all the My Little Ponies sat down together. The Baby Ponies sat on the grass and played with the balloons.
The time passed and the Baby Ponies needed to sleep. So their mothers, after feeding them with their bottles, put them in the beautiful Baby Buggy and in a little while they were sleeping, and had the most beautiful dreams.
Some notes:
1) Staulo-Spitaki is the name given to the ponies' home. Staulo I think means a stable. Spitaki is a sort of cute way of saying "home", and is used in a Greek version of the phrase "home sweet home". Staulo-Spitaki was the name given to the Greek release of the Show Stable.
2) The Baby Pony is described as having "pio charoumene nota", "the most happy notes" - thus implying that the story is about Baby Medley. I really struggled to find a way to translate this that made sense! If only El Greco had given the baby ponies names instead of calling them all Baby Pony.
3) Pony Kartosaki, literally "pony pushcart", is the Greek name for the Baby Buggy.
The baby ponies were sold with a playpen (which is quite different to the US release play pen), cradle, blanket, pillow, bottle (it's tipped with white paint to give the appearance of milk on the tip), a BABY necklace, ribbon, nappy, and brush. Many of the accessories sold with the baby ponies, such as the buggy, crib, playpen and such were sold with other toy lines made by El Greco. There is no way to tell if an accessory was “MLP” or not, unless it is boxed.
El Greco also sold babies with the Baby carriage (available in pink and blue). The box art and pictures show Baby Cuddles however, there was no way of knowing which baby would actually be inside.
MIB Baby Minty/Chloe
* Thank you Aeithales
Blue coloured baby buggy with Baby Firefly
*Thank you KitKatVintage
Playsets
The Grooming Parlor (with Peachy), the Baby Buggy (with a random Baby pony), and the Show Stable (with Lemondrop) were all sold in Greece, along with a Greek version of the carry case.
Greek Brandy (who is a different colour and texture and smells of vanilla)
*picture pinkkittywinks
Easter Ponies
* Thank you MLPForever
The Easter ponies were not officially named by El Greco. Their names have been given to them by collectors.
LadyBird/LadyBug = Paschalitsa
The name Ladybird was given to her by community member Taffeta. Paschalitsa is the Greek word for ladybird and translates to "Little Easter", however it could also be interpreted as "Child of Easter"
Easter Candle pony = Lambaditsa
Her name was given to her by the collecting community. Her symbol is a wreath with Lambada candles. These candles are often given as a gift and burned at Easter as part of the Greek Orthodox tradition. In the early days she was referred to as Greek Birthday pony or Happy Birthday since her symbol was wrongly mistaken to be a cake with candles on. This was not helped by the fact her symbols are prone to fading quite badly.
Both ponies were packaged and sold in giant red Easter eggs. The red egg is symbolic in Greek Orthodox tradition.
Identifying your Greek Pony
There are a few characteristics common to Greek ponies:
• They have soft bodies, loose heads and have vanilla or baby powder type scent.
• Greek ponies have thick, black, eye liner with a thick line around the pupil, this is sometimes referred to as “Egyptian Style” by collectors. Greece is only country to have brown eyed ponies including; adult and baby Butterscotch, adult and baby Lemondrop & baby, and yellow Baby Medley.
• The Collectors pose ponies, Easter ponies and babies all have completely blank feet, without any stamps on them at all. Some ponies may have a faint remnant of the "Hasbro", “Hong Kong” or "Pat. Pend." stamp on their hooves, leftover from the molds they were created in.
• The Star or Fairytale ponies have a single Greek letter stamped under their feet, presumably denoting poses/molds. These poses are marked with the following Greek Letters:
Shy Pose Earth - Α (alpha)
Proud Pose Uni - Β (beta)
Walking Pose Uni - Γ (gamma)
Pegasus - Δ (delta)
• The Earth ponies and Easter ponies have a double row forelock, however the babies, Star, and Fairytale ponies do not have a forelock.
Other things worth note
Greek ponies are usually in great condition, they don’t suffer from mold or age spots like some of their Hong Kong or China counter parts.
There are a few flaws you might find on your Greek pony including: missing hair at the bottom of the mane where is wasn’t finished off properly or bleeding symbols. The colour which is most prone to bleeding is red/orange. It is quite hard (but not impossible) to find Peachy, Bowtie, Butterscotch and Lambaditsa with well defined, bright symbols..
There are variants of variants! For example Moonstone can be found with blue eyes or purple eyes. There are varying shades of the same pony, for example; Twilight in proud pose is a bright orange, while walking pose is a paler shade. Some variants have flipped symbols, such as walking pose vs. proud pose Moondancer.
Greek Moonstone with purple eyes
*picture pinkkittywinks
Greek Pony Wear.
A prolific amount of pony wear was made by El Greco. There are at least two versions of each outfit. The colour of the outfit may vary along with the pattern of the fabric used. The same fabrics were also used in other toy lines such a Bibi-bo Fashion doll line.
The outfits are loosely based on the standard release outfits, including Tennis Fun or Pony Workout, where as some are unique such as “Silver Girl”.
Pony Work Out
*picture pinkkittywinks
Prima Ballerina
*picture pinkkittywinks
Pony Royal
*picture by pinkkittywinks
Silver Girl
*picture by pinkkittywinks
There are two versions of the Great Skates outfit. One contains roller skates with a soft top, like the regular release, but the other contains regular, white, pony shoes with roller skates glued onto the sole of them (see image below)!
* Thank you ashlyne
Rumors, Myths, & Legends
According to a former El Greco distributor, El Greco was making and exporting ponies outside of what they produced under Hasbro license. As Hasbro began to catch on, El Greco burned their factory to the ground, rather than be discovered, and settled for the insurance money. The other factory closed soon after. This exportation of ponies to other countries, particularly Scandinavian countries, coincides with the fact that they are more prevalently found there. The distributor estimated 2000 earth ponies and 6000 star and fairytale ponies a month were produced outside of Hasbro's knowledge. That's 96,000 bootleg ponies a year!!!
Thank you
Thank you to Shaz for letting me use your Greek story translations and notes in this spotlight xxx
Useful weblinks:
Taffeta’s site on the UK issue of MLP: http://www.etherella.com/scrapbook/
The Nirvana Spotlights were kindly written and donated to the MLParena by members. Please respect the Nirvana Spotlights and the MLParena and do not take pictures or information for use on eBay, personal sales or webpages.
This spotlight was first published in December 2018.