The My Little Pony toy turns 40. Katja Lapio got inspired by ponies while hunting them down at flea markets for her daughter Jessica.
The display case at Espoo’s Museo Leikin is full of different versions of the same strawberry ice cream-coloured My Little Pony toy, Lickety Split.
– Just look at them! Who can resist them, they’re so cute,” says Jessica Laipio, justifying her collecting hobby.
The mother and daughter have more than five hundred ponies. There is no exact figure. The toys live in Jessica’s old room, where she has already moved out.
Parivaljakko has an Instagram account @mybabyponies and Jessica also publishes her pony drawings on Instagram. And he’s not alone. My Little Pony is a source of inspiration for many adults.
A cross-continental hit song is born
My Little Pony burst onto the toy market in the early 1980s and got kids hooked. At first, the parents weren’t as excited. The cute-eyed, pastel-colored plastic figure evoked in many adults the same feelings as the Barbie dolls at the beginning of their time. Ponies were seen as profit maximization for toy retailers and the pinnacle of unstylish plasticity. They would play with wooden blocks!
In the very next year, 1982, the toy became more colorful and other products appeared alongside it. So the actual My Little Pony turns 40 this year.
Espoo’s Museo Leikki has opened a small exhibition in honor of pony figures. -exhibition is on display in Leik’s new premises next to the WeeGee house.
– Secondly, ponies have meant an awful lot to many Finnish children and why not to adults as well.
My Little Pony was a clever global hit toy because one pony didn’t cost very much. Moreover, imitators were immediately on the move. You could participate in games with a fake pony, although it wasn’t quite the same.
One hundred and fifty million ponies were already sold in the 1980s.
Cute ponies charmed even adults
The ponies got their own animated series as early as 1986, but the one launched only in 2010 blew the pot. Adults raised by ponies started to become fans of the series. In Finland, the series came to television in 2012.
– This animation series was a new arrival for My Little Pony. It also gave birth to the so-called brony culture, meaning men and boys also got excited about ponies, says Anna Salonen.
-animated series inspired adults to collect ponies.
Today, trade is conducted on Facebook, Tori, Huutonet, international online flea markets and, of course, physical flea markets, says Katja Laipio.
– The prices are based on how rare the pony is. There is quite a lot on offer.
– For rarities, such as the so-called Nirvana ponies, you can have to pay hundreds of euros, Laipio says
Nirvana ponies refers to toys made somewhere other than China or Hong Kong. Ponies have been produced in, for example, Greece, Brazil and Argentina.
Bulkheads not only collect ponies, but also tune them.
At flea markets, you can often find toys that the previous owners have shaved off or whose sides have been drawn with a marker. When processing the bulkheads, the ponies get an even more mature look.
The dark side of cuteness fanaticism
Not all adult My Little Pony enthusiasts necessarily collect. They participate in fan events and design outfits for them, make pony-themed art, or just watch the series together with friends.
Even adult entertainment is made in the name of pony characters.
An annual Bronycon event has been organized in Baltimore, USA, which brings together a series of fans. The last con was organized before the spread of the coronavirus in 2019.
At the exhibition in Espoo, you can familiarize yourself with the videos made at the event.
The cuteness has even thrown some fans to the side of aggression. Read more about it here: Would you eat a kitten or breed a unicorn?
The ponies are moving to a 5G world
Museo Leik showcases My Little Pony characters from many generations, as pony connoisseurs say. The first ponies are series 1G, i.e. first generation characters.
Last year, ponies took a step into the future and moved to the 5G generation. is a computer-animated film that serves as a pilot for an upcoming series. The film has been released worldwide on the streaming service Netflix.
The computer-animated ponies are, in keeping with the times, longer-legged and bigger-eyed than their predecessors. The toys still sell a lot, although Hasbro no longer discloses sales figures to the public.
Collector Katja Laipio works with children and says that ponies are still played with enthusiasm.
– Probably a generation of new adult enthusiasts is also growing here, Laipio guesses.
Museo Leiki’s mini-exhibition is on display until the end of March 2023.