| Glitter Ponies Rainbow Ponies Season/Celebration Winter |
Mail Order Exclusives Promotions |
Accessory Sets Building Playsets Value Packs |
Points Program |
2003 was definitely a year to celebrate as My Little pony began it's third generation.
Glitter ponies have tinsel in their hair. Pinkie Pie was the first G3 pony be to be released. These ponies came with a charm and a brush.
Rainbow Ponies have multiple colors in their mane and tail. These ponies came with a charm and a brush.
Season Celebration ponies were released as singles in Europe. All except for Winter Snow have been re-released in the US, however Spring Fever and Sweet Summertime's US releases have noticeable variations from their International releases. Winter Snow remained a Euro exclusive and is considered a hard to find pony. These ponies came with a charm and a brush.
Winter Series ponies were released exclusively at Target this year. This set remains the hardest to find and fetches a higher selling price than other Winter Series ponies. Snowflake appears to be the most sought after of the three. These ponies came with winter accessories and a brush. They did not come with charms.
Dazzle Surprise was the 2003 limited edition pony available through the Pony Points Program. Starting in mid-August, she could be ordered for 16 pony points collected off pony packages and 2 dollars shipping and handling in the US. The offer was valid through July 31st, 2004, but due to demand she sold out much faster that anticipated and was available for about 8 months (during which time the program was also extended to Canada). Dazzle’s symbol was unique for 2003 because it has glitter pieces glued on top of it. Her hoof heart was also smaller than other adult ponies of the time. - info courtesy of www.ponytopia.com
Instead of a box, Dazzle Surprise was packaged in a clear plastic bag with a paper insert about her.
Before the new ponies were released to the general public, a few ponies were available through an Ebay seller called WorldinAdvance. These ponies boxes were numbered (#1-50) and came with a certificate stating that they were one of the "First 50" of their kind to be produced. These ponies are sometimes referred to as the "First 50". The ponies themselves are no different than the ponies released to the general public, however ponies still MIB with these stickers sell for higher than ponies that are not numbered.
EXCLUSIVE eBay MY LITTLE PONY AUCTION GIVES FANS THE CHANCE TO OWN ONE OF THE FIRST PONIES OF 2003 BEGINNING MAY 25th In celebration of the upcoming launch of MY LITTLE PONY and the 20th anniversary of the brand, Hasbro is introducing six all-new sculpted ponies through an exclusive eBay (www.worldinadvance.com/ca_pony.html) auction beginning May 25th. There will be 50 SUNNY DAZE, 50 WYSTERIA, 50 SWEETBERRY, 50 RAINBOW DASH, 50 PINKIE PIE and 50 KIMONO ponies auctioned, for a total of 300 ponies. The ponies are from the initial production of the soon-to-be launched line and are the first ponies to be made available for sale.
Each set of the 50 ponies is sequentially numbered, making them an instant collectible classic. The ponies will come fully packaged with a brush for pony's hair and a charm to wear. In addition, a corresponding certificate of authenticity, signed by Alan Hassenfeld, chairman of Hasbro, Inc. will accompany the pony.
A charitable donation will also be made with each purchase of a pony. Ten percent of the final auction price, up to and including $100, will be donated to the National Center for Boundless Playgrounds®, a national, nonprofit organization that works with communities throughout the country to facilitate the development of fully integrated, universally accessible playgrounds for children of all abilities. A 15% contribution will be made for all bids exceeding $100. For more information on the organization, visit www.boundlessplaygrounds.org.
Pinkie Pie was used to promote My Little Pony at the 2003 spring Licensing Show. She had a special symbol that said Licensing Show, Hasbro, 2003, and was available only at the show packaged in a plastic bag with no accessories (supposedly limited to 300 pieces). Then in the fall of 2003, a handful of these Pinkie Pies popped up at random Toys “R” Us stores in the US. They were packaged in regular Pinkie Pie boxes as shown here. Hasbro confirms this was an error, so only a handful of them were found. - info from www.ponytopia.com
Licensing Show Pinkie Pie is an extremely rare pony. Those mispackaged in the box are even more rare.
Promotional 2-packs of ponies were also released in 2003. The packs came with either Minty or Sparkleworks, and the bonus ponies were either Autumn Skye, Butterscotch or Star Swirl. The bonus ponies were previously only available as singles in Europe. The main pony in these promo packs came with a brush and charm, however the bonus ponies in these packs did not.
Main Pony - This Minty has noticeable variations to her single release.
Bonus Pony - Promo packs with Butterscotch were only found at Walmart.
Season Celebration Promo Packs (Assorted) were also available in certain parts of Europe.
A 4-pack of Glitter ponies were also released in 2003 at Costco. It is unclear if there was also a pack of Rainbow ponies.
The following ponies were also part of a promotion where they came with a friendship bracelet and free "A Charming Birthday" video, in which all these ponies are featured. These ponies have no known variations to their first single releases.
KimonoAccessory sets include fun accessories to help with imaginative play. In addition to their accessories, these ponies also came with charms. The Picnic Celebration set was released only at Toys R Us. These accessory sets were in the "Slice of Life" assortment.
Applejack and Spring Fever were re-released in the Tea Party accessory set, exclusive to KB Toys. Spring Fever has noticeable variations to her Single release. This set did not come with charms.
