G1 Basic Fun Retro Ponies: A Collector's Guide

Two questions.

1: someone mentioned a standing weight in them? My Fizzy was rattling but I just assumed it was what you get sometimes where extra plastic that was initially in there head mold (sometimes tail holes too ) just fell into the body. Maybe I have to reopen my other twinkle eyes and check. It’s harder to get their heads back on with the BF vinyl tho.

B: does anyone have comparisons between the two Bowtie variants? I see the main post has the Sparkler ones, but I was told Bowtie comes in two different shades, a lighter blue and a darker blue that people were customizing into Nightlight. I’d like to see what the visual difference is and figure out who I have.
 
MintamenaPie said:
1: someone mentioned a standing weight in them? My Fizzy was rattling but I just assumed it was what you get sometimes where extra plastic that was initially in there head mold (sometimes tail holes too ) just fell into the body. Maybe I have to reopen my other twinkle eyes and check. It’s harder to get their heads back on with the BF vinyl tho.
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The rattling most likely is from a loose washer. Is her tail loose at all? By pulling on her tail a little bit, that's the best way to tell.
 
No, I took her head off (and I’m very good at that for nearly my whole pre-g4 collection to remove washers and rust XD) and it’s stuck deep in a hind leg. Since the material is so stiff I can’t bend the leg like I do with a comparable G1. But that would also make it just as plausible it’s extra plastic from the neck plug, which I’ve also encountered before. That’s why I’m asking, since in an earlier comment it’s referred to as a weight for counterbalance and I’m just making sure that’s actually a feature.
 
MintamenaPie said:
B: does anyone have comparisons between the two Bowtie variants? I see the main post has the Sparkler ones, but I was told Bowtie comes in two different shades, a lighter blue and a darker blue that people were customizing into Nightlight. I’d like to see what the visual difference is and figure out who I have.
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Currently working on this to add to the guide ;)
 
MintamenaPie said:
No, I took her head off (and I’m very good at that for nearly my whole pre-g4 collection to remove washers and rust XD) and it’s stuck deep in a hind leg. Since the material is so stiff I can’t bend the leg like I do with a comparable G1. But that would also make it just as plausible it’s extra plastic from the neck plug, which I’ve also encountered before. That’s why I’m asking, since in an earlier comment it’s referred to as a weight for counterbalance and I’m just making sure that’s actually a feature.
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Just checked, my Fizzy is making a rattling noise too.
 
It's because Fizzy has a weight in her back leg, to counterbalance her lifted front leg. :) I'm unsure what the weight looks like, but other collectors have described it as looking like a big ball bearing. It's removable, but removing it means she may no longer stand up properly.

Hold a magnet up to Fizzy's back legs and you will find that it sticks to one of them. :)
 
LadyMoondancer said:
It's because Fizzy has a weight in her back leg, to counterbalance her lifted front leg. :) I'm unsure what the weight looks like, but other collectors have described it as looking like a big ball bearing. It's removable, but removing it means she may no longer stand up properly.

Hold a magnet up to Fizzy's back legs and you will find that it sticks to one of them. :)
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I hadn't opened any of mine, so I had no idea they'd counter-balanced them! I wonder if this may create a potential rust problem down the road, though...
 
My local Boscov’s definitely has no classics. I’m kicking myself for not paying better attention to this at the time. My good friends from high school got me the first set. If I’d been paying attention I’d have realized there might be more, and looked for them.
 
sorry, too lazy to go through 50 pages, but can someone humor me please?

What's the bottoms of the hooves look like on the retro fun? (just so I know when I am out looking in the wild)
and are there any differences at all between the vintage and new? Like is the symbols painted differently or something?
 
DracoKat said:
sorry, too lazy to go through 50 pages, but can someone humor me please?

What's the bottoms of the hooves look like on the retro fun? (just so I know when I am out looking in the wild)
and are there any differences at all between the vintage and new? Like is the symbols painted differently or something?
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Here is my Surprise:
E335137D-C1A4-4AE2-839A-82038C0F3158.jpeg
“2018 HASBRO” “My Little Pony”
“MADE IN CHINA” “BASIC FUN INC”

I don’t have many G1’s but from the couple I have, Basic Fun’s are quite hard. Their tail ribbons are stitched into the tail and I think I’ve noticed in some pictures that their eyelashes and pupils are black-black. Not like a tint of brown or anything like older ones (I may need a correction on that.)

@MustBeJewel has made a page about them with comparison pictures on the bottom of hooves

EDIT:
This is what I meant about the eyes. Here she is compared to my Gusty (Euro version). I don’t have an original Surprise to compare her to
F749CBEC-2E60-4D5C-B7C1-EDD042D7A10E.jpeg
 
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StormMaeker said:
Here is my Surprise:
View attachment 53519
“2018 HASBRO” “My Little Pony”
“MADE IN CHINA” “BASIC FUN INC”

I don’t have many G1’s but from the couple I have, Basic Fun’s are quite hard. Their tail ribbons are stitched into the tail and I think I’ve noticed in some pictures that their eyelashes and pupils are black-black. Not like a tint of brown or anything like older ones (I may need a correction on that.)

@MustBeJewel has made a page about them with comparison pictures on the bottom of hooves
Click to expand...

thank you so much! It's helpful!

That page is also helpful too to ID generations. I just don't want to make a mistake if I buy something online if they don't show photos of the hoofs, I want to see what other subtle differences there might be so I can pick out as well
 
DracoKat said:
thank you so much! It's helpful!

That page is also helpful too to ID generations. I just don't want to make a mistake if I buy something online if they don't show photos of the hoofs, I want to see what other subtle differences there might be so I can pick out as well
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I forgot to add also, if you was to find one in the wild, their heads can turn smoothly
 
DracoKat said:
thank you so much! It's helpful!

That page is also helpful too to ID generations. I just don't want to make a mistake if I buy something online if they don't show photos of the hoofs, I want to see what other subtle differences there might be so I can pick out as well
Click to expand...
A lot of the Basic Fun ponies also vary in color from the original, often more brightly colored than original G1s and vary in tone. For instance bright vibrant different variations of blue, pink, and yellow and extremely bright whites. They also feel a bit harder when squeezed, and if all else fails like everyone else stated the hooves say Basic Fun inc. :satisfied:
 
DracoKat said:
thank you so much! It's helpful!

That page is also helpful too to ID generations. I just don't want to make a mistake if I buy something online if they don't show photos of the hoofs, I want to see what other subtle differences there might be so I can pick out as well
Click to expand...

I’ve also found that they look more “clean“ than other G1 since the plastic is more of a smooth hard plastic and not the soft plastic that we’re used to, and as of right now most of them do look like they’ve been freshly removed from the box and not too played with that I’ve seen secondhand. The tails also seem to be retaining some of the twisty curl that they have in package. Obviously as the years go on and maybe more children play with them it might be a little more difficult to tell them apart, but I feel like we haven’t had that trouble with the 25th anniversary releases. But to be fair again those were also more brightly colored than their G1 counterparts.
 
MintamenaPie said:
I’ve also found that they look more “clean“ than other G1 since the plastic is more of a smooth hard plastic and not the soft plastic that we’re used to, and as of right now most of them do look like they’ve been freshly removed from the box and not too played with that I’ve seen secondhand. The tails also seem to be retaining some of the twisty curl that they have in package. Obviously as the years go on and maybe more children play with them it might be a little more difficult to tell them apart, but I feel like we haven’t had that trouble with the 25th anniversary releases. But to be fair again those were also more brightly colored than their G1 counterparts.
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My personal experience with the 25th anniversary releases is a bit different. I noticed the other day that mine have gotten some kinda rough hair. It still looks fine but if you touch it it's like it's gotten really dry, it's kinda crunchy feeling. If a kid played with it like that I'm sure it'd be a mess in no time.


Also on the rest of this discussion, I'm a bit surprised... I thought some of these differences were due to age.
 
awesome, thanks! I just haven't seen any yet, then again I haven't been looking in stores or anything for them. I doubt I'll collect them but it's good to know "at a glance" What I am looking at
 
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