G1. First generation of My Little Pony (1982-1992)

After such a rapid rise in popularity of the second version of My Pretty Pony (with its unnatural, pink mane and tail, and adorned with a seven-heart mark on its rump), Bonnie Zarkel, the toy's creator, began developing new toy pony concepts for girls. So, a little more than six months after the release of the very first, original My Pretty Pony, the largest and most diverse generation of toy ponies was born, which won the status of one of the cultural symbols of the 80s...

In the spring of 1982, a series of six colored horse figurines called My Little Pony appeared on the shelves. In general, they were continuators of the My Pretty Pony style - massive, ungraceful horses even stood in the same pose as their original “ancestor”. However, they were much smaller and made of hard rubber. In addition, each pony now has its own name (shown in the image below). The contents of each set were sparse; each pony came with only one comb for combing and one ribbon, which supposedly needed to be tied to the tail. The mane comb became the basic equipment for each subsequent set of ponies. What’s also interesting is that these six ponies had clear outlines of hooves, just like My Pretty Pony, while all subsequent toys of the generation can be said to have no hooves - there are no outlines or other signs of them, the legs at the ends are of a simple rounded shape. Not to mention this, the very first six ponies had flat hooves, all subsequent ones had a recess into the hoof.

All six ponies are literally copies of each other, you could say that they are just recolors of one specific model of earth pony. There were no pegasi, unicorns or other races. It is also worth adding that a tradition has emerged: in the spring of each subsequent year, new pony characters are released.

The next year, 1984, turned out to be no less significant. Not only new models have appeared (more specifically, pony foals and sea pony foals have appeared), but also the remaining few prototypes of the main six of Friendship is Magic - the Posey pony, the Surprise pegasus and the Sparkler unicorn. In the same year, the first animated series based on My Little Pony was released on television and, it is worth noting, the drawn versions of the characters turned out to be much nicer than the toys. The show ended in September 1987 and consisted of two seasons of 63 episodes. The main difference between this series and the other two series in the My Little Pony franchise was the presence of people, although there were only three of them in all episodes. And in general, there was a lot of things that were not in the subsequent two series, for example, trolls, witches, goblins and other monsters. I’ll add separately: this year the Japanese company Takara (now Takara Tomy) released separate, exclusive My Little Pony toys with their own names. The ponies were more anthropomorphic compared to the American version and due to the fact that they were produced only in Japan, they are considered the rarest toys from the first generation collection.

Generations of My Little Pony toys. What are G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5?

Welcome to the page that will tell about generations of My Little Pony figures!

My little pony lines are divided into generations: G1, G2, G3, G3.5 and G4. The letter G here stands for Generation. The earliest, respectively, are G1 toys, the newest - G4.

First generation pony.

Since Generation 1, Hasbro has sometimes used the same pony name in a new generation without the new pony being related to the previous pony with the same name. Apparently this happens due to laziness or forgetfulness. (Not to be confused with the baby versions of the adult ponies made in G1 and G2.) Some conversions of early ponies can be found in G3 to G4. This can be confusing for people who are not particularly knowledgeable about previous generations. The figures can be identified by their colors and poses.

Generations are divided by year of manufacture:

• Generation 5 (possibly from 2018)
• Generation 3.5 (2010)
• Generation 3 (2003-2010)
• Generation 2 (1997-2003)
• Generation 1 (1982-1992)

Fans are already waiting for the fifth generation, G5!

Generation 5. Possibly from 2018/2020

Many years have passed since 2010, it’s time to change the fourth generation to the fifth. It is quite possible that this will happen very soon. On November 1, 2018 we will see the New Year's special, spring/summer 2019 - the second film (MLP: The Movie 2), autumn 2019 - last 9th season of the current generation of ponies (G4), autumn 2020 - 5th generation of ponies (G5). New design, art, story, characters, Discord. Everything is new!

Here they are, plans until 2020. What we will see:

The proposed timeline and concept art suggests that the second My Little Pony movie will give some "facelift" to characters such as Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle. The race change of Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie can be considered confirmed.

See the “concept art” of the G5 pony. And remember that this is just a concept and may still change.

Generation 4 (2010 to present)

G4 ponies make up the fourth version of the My Little Pony franchise. G4 ponies are the most modern generation of pony toys today, they were first introduced at the end of 2010. G4 ponies are featured in the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which debuted in 2010. The main characters of the show (referred to by fans as Mane Six) are Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle. As the main characters of the TV show, they form the main characters of the toy line; Each heroine has been released numerous times, in different molds/configurations.

In addition to the Mane Six, the G4 figures also include a variety of other ponies. In subsequent years, popular supporting characters from the series were included in the toy line.

G4, in addition to the usual figures in sealed bags, also includes figures that cover TV and movies, all forms of animated media related to G4. Like Generation 1, G4 ponies are primarily featured in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series, a title often shortened to MLP: FiM. Also included are figures from the full-length film "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls".

G4 also introduces Pegasus Unicorn Ponies, also known as Alicorn Ponies, and antagonistic characters.

Waves of figurines in closed bags

Closed bags with series figures are released in “waves” (Wave), usually 2-4 waves within one calendar year. Since 2011, we've seen waves of G4 generation figures. Each wave consists of 24 unique (at least for that wave) pony figures that share a common style (for example, pastel ponies in wave 9, bright translucent ones in wave 8, etc.). Sometimes there are special ponies in a wave, such as the shiny version of Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow in wave 1. In some countries (UK), later waves were split into two sub-waves (of 12 ponies each), distinguishable by slightly different packets.

In the G4 generation it is known today more than a dozen waves of figurines in closed bags.

First wave. Release date: May 2011 in Europe; much later (in January 2012) in the USA. This is the very first G4 pony set, which introduced 5 unique molds: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and Pegasus pony (used for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy). Style: Regular painted ponies. Specials: Transparent glitter version of Pinkie Pie (#22), Twilight Sparkle (#23), Rainbow Dash (#24). Shiny Twilight had a pink body color rather than purple in her early European releases. While many fans coveted the show-accurate purple variant, the pink version is now quite rare and sought after by some collectors.

Wave 13. Release date: fall 2015 in US stores. Style: translucent ponies with glitter. Specials: Regular Dyed Lavender Fritter (AV), Apple Bumpkin (AW), Candy Apples (AX), Apple Split (AY) and Uncle Orange. Here are some of the 13th wave figures:

Generation 3.5 (2010)

Generation 3.5, or G3.5, is a term for the G3 generation ponies, but not really. They are known as G3.5 because they are the same characters as in G3, but Hasbro gave these ponies such a heavy makeup style, so radical that many collectors consider them to be a whole new generation.

An example of a pony of this generation:

They were produced only at the end of 2009, were phased out by the end of 2010 and were replaced by G4.

G3.5 ponies had very large heads, small bodies, large legs and huge eyes compared to G3 ponies.

Newborn Cuties were released this year for the first time. These are children's versions of Core 7 (seven in total, Toola-Roola was left out). They are out of proportion to their adult counterparts and have diapers instead of tails. Their symbols are printed on their diapers. Some examples:

The 2009 McDonald's Ponies (collection of six figures) also featured the G3.5 design:

Generation 3 (2003-2010)

Generation 3 was produced between 2003 and 2009. Although the G3.5 style can be considered the completion of the G3 style, several more G3 generation ponies were released in 2010 and 2011 for special occasions.

The G3 generation is divided into the following production years:

Year One (2003)
Year Two (2004)
Year Three (2005)
Year Four (2006)
Year Five (2007)
Year Six (2008
Year Seven (2009)

Kimono was first released as one of the Glitter Celebration Ponies in the summer of 2003.

G3 Anniversary set.

After the ninth year there is a transition to the fourth generation, but we will still meet the third in special editions:

Year Eight (2010)
Year Nine (2011)

2010 is the 2010 Edition, Breast Cancer Awareness Pony, MLP Fair 2010 Pony.

2010 Comic-Con Pony.

Breast Cancer Awareness Pony, 2010.

MLP Fair 2010 Pony.

2011 is Egyptian Pony (MLP Fair Pony) and 2011 Comic Con Pony.

MLP Fair 2011 Pony.

2011 Comic-Con Pony.

Generation 2 (1997-2003)

The second generation of My Little Ponies was first produced in 1997. They were sold worldwide only in 1998. Then they continued only in Europe until 2003.

Berry Bright, 1997.

Satin Slipper, 2003.

Generation 1 (1982-1992)

Generation 1 My Little Pony was released between 1982 and 1995 (main years up to 1992, then 1995 with Dutch Ponies and Dutch Baby Ponies). Some ponies were available worldwide, but some G1 ponies were exclusive to certain countries. The hardest ponies for a collector to find are those that were only available in one country. Such special editions were in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, Macau, Mexico, Peru, Scandinavia, Spain, South Africa, Venezuela.

Blue Belle G1 My Little Pony Figure 1982.

Sweet Talkin" Ponies, a talking pink pony Chatterbox (UK name), aka Mimoso (Spain name), 1992.

Bridal Beauty is a G1 generation earth pony, released in the tenth year of the series (1991-1992), released in Europe in 1993.

Dutch Ponies and Dutch Baby Ponies, 1995

These ponies are often called “Dutch” by collectors. However, all of these ponies had bilingual Dutch and German packaging. Thus, their intended market was probably not only in the Netherlands, but also in Germany and Austria.

These were not the only ponies sold in the Netherlands. The Netherlands seem to have received most of the G1 ponies.

Adult versions of "Dutch" G1 ponies:

And the kids (Dutch Baby Ponies):

So, a visual history of the pony:

• My Little Pony, list of characters
• My Little Pony toys, all new 2018
• Two My Little Pony Movie pony figures!
• Mermaid Sea Ponies (MLP Sea Ponies)
• Pinkie Pie's new car
• My little Pony, prices
• StarSong, pony singer of the My Little Pony series
• Three ponies Groovin" Hooves, music set
• My Little Pony Royal Surprise
• My little Pony, mini pony series 2 from 2014
• Mini ponies series 1/2015, figures in bags
• Pony with little fairies Sunset Breezie and Sea Breezie
• New My Little Pony toys, 2015
• Sparkling My Little Pony figurine
• New Littlest Pet Shop, My little Pony, 2014
• Pony - Rainbow and Princess Cadence, figures

The fifth generation is coming. I wonder what it will be like!

Admin, you didn't mention Lauren Faust.
Lauren Faust - creator of the animated series My Little Pony...
Kitty November 28, 2013 08:57:42
Lauren Faust is the creator of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Lauren Faust also created the animated series The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
FiM served as executive producer in the first season, and as a consulting producer in the second. Throughout the first season, she communicated with fans and answered their questions on her DeviantArt page.
Shortly after the release of the last episode of the first season, Lauren announced that she was leaving the series. Her role in the second season has been noticeably reduced, and she is now (but not entirely) responsible for the story concept and script, whereas throughout the first season she was responsible for every detail.
Bronies imagine her as an alicorn goddess, something like that. Her cutie mark is a beautiful feather in an inkwell. Lauren's pony's mane and tail are red-brown and slightly unkempt. Lauren Faust herself is white with a cream tint.
I know more about how Twilight Sparkle was created, for example!
Here is information about her from the Internet.
Twilight's talents do not change.
1st generation - Twilight
Twilight is a unicorn pony from the 1st generation and, of course, the prototype of Twilight, who is Sparkle. Twilight from the first generation is quite beautiful - her body is light pink, her mane is white and purple, her eyes are dark purple, and there are stars on her rump. Twilight was well-versed in magic, and was good at teleporting, just like our Sparkle.
2nd generation - Bright Eyes*
They made fun of her about the color. The mane is dark orange and the body is dark blue. In my opinion, the colors are incompatible. In addition, her horn was removed. I'm glad that at least something in her remains the same - a cutie mark suitable for all Twilights. Her cutie mark is a notepad and pen.
3rd generation - Twilight Twinkle
This is exactly the name Lauren Faust planned to call our Twilight from the 4th generation. As we can see, for some reason the 3rd generation ponies have the same names as the 4th generation ponies. Except for Twilight. The magic horn was never returned to her. She is purple and her mane is pink, blue and purple. What kind of mark she has is difficult to understand. But I think it has something to do with magic.
4th generation - Twilight Sparkle
And here is our Twily. In the 4th generation, her horn is returned again. She takes on a balanced color. I think if it weren't for Lauren Faust, Hasbro would have pulled out another flower thing.

The latest rumors about the future of the series came to us from 4chan. It seems that one of the anonymous people ended up with a whole bunch of letters from Megan McCarthy’s internal correspondence, among which were Hasbro’s plans for the next 3 years. Below the cut you can read this very extensive information, if you are not afraid of spoilers.

If you believe this data, we will have not only 2 more seasons, but also 2 full-length films, special episodes, and in 2020 it is quite possible that the 5th generation of ponies will appear. However, all this may well turn out to be fake, and the studio’s plans may change. Nevertheless, everything looks quite interesting.

801. School Daze Part I- When the Friendship Map grows bigger to reflect the world beyond Equestria, the Mane Six realize they’ll need a way to spread the message of friendship far and wide. Luckily Twilight knows just what to do- open a School Of Friendship!
Note: Episode contains a song (no title yet).

802. School Daze Part II- With her School of Friendship closed by the EEA, Twilight Sparkle must reunite her students, inspire her friends, and buck the rules to stand up for what she knows is right – everycreature, pony or not, deserves to learn friendship together.
803. The Maud Couple- Pinkie Pie’s super-best-friend-sister bond is challenged when Maud gets a boyfriend that Pinkie can’t stand.

804. Fake It 'Til You Make It- Fluttershy is the only pony available to look after the Manehattan boutique while Rarity is away and takes on a series of characters to cope with the intimidating clientele. But as her characters get more and more exaggerated, Fluttershy learns that she was already the best pony for the job just by being herself.

805. Grannies Gone Wild- Granny Smith and her elderly friends are headed to Las Pegasus, and Rainbow Dash tags along as a chaperone so she can ride the best rollercoaster ever before it closes. sUnfortunately, following Applejack’s caretaking rules for the “Golden Horseshoe Gals” keep Dash so busy, she doubts she’ll even get to see the rollercoaster!

806. Surf and/or Turf- The Cutie Mark Crusaders try to help a young Hippogriff figure out where he belongs. With family members on Mt. Aris as well as Sea Pony relatives in Seaquestria, he can’t decide where to live. Unfortunately, the CMCs are so taken with both places, they can’t decide either!
Note: Episode contains song ("Your Heart is in Two Places").

807. Horse Play- Princess Celestia’s fillyhood dream of being in a play is realized when Twilight Sparkle casts her in a production, only to discover Celestia’s talents lie elsewhere.

808. The Parent Map- Neither Starlight nor Sunburst have visited their parents in a long time, but when both are called by the map to their hometown, they discover their parents are at the center of the friendship problem they need to solve.

809. Non-Compete Clause- Applejack and Rainbow Dash take the friendship students on a teamwork learning field trip, and accidentally show the students how NOT to work together.

810. The Break Up Breakdown- It’s Hearts and Hooves Day and Big Mac has big romantic plans for Sugar Belle, but the day takes a turn when he overhears his special someone tell Mrs. Cake that she’s planning on breaking up with him!

811. Molt Down- Spike struggles with a series of bizarre symptoms that Smolder explains is something all dragons go through in adolescence- “the molt.” To Spike’s horror, Smolder also reveals an unfortunate “molt side-effect,” that compels a molter’s family to kick them out of the house!

812. Marks for Effort- The CMCs try to convince Twilight to let them into her School of Friendship, even though it’s clear they’ve already mastered the curriculum.

813. The Mean 6- Queen Chrysalis returns, ready to exact her revenge on Starlight Glimmer and the Mane 6!

814. A Matter of Principals- When Twilight Sparkle leaves Starlight in charge of the School of Friendship, Discord is frustrated he wasn’t picked for the job, and he does his best to make Starlight’s new role impossible.

815. The Hearth's Warming Club- A prank-gone wrong ruins Hearth’s Warming Eve preparations, and while Twilight tries to figure out which of her students is behind it, the students bond over shared memories of home.

816. Friendship University- When Twilight discovers there’s another school of friendship, she and Rarity go to investigate and are shocked to discover that Twilight’s idol and Pillar of Old Equestria, Starswirl the Bearded, is enrolled at Friendship U!
Note: Episode contains song ("Friendship U").

817. The End in Friend- Rarity and Rainbow Dash begin to question why they are friends when they can’t find anything they both like to do together.

818. Yakity-Sax- Pinkie Pie has a new hobby that she absolutely loves - playing the Zenithrash. But when her friends discourage her from playing due to her lack of skill, it causes a series of events leading to Pinkie Pie leaving possibly Ponyville forever!

819. On the Road to Friendship- When Trixie is invited to bring her magic show to the far off land of Saddle Arabia, she can think of nopony better to bring along than her great and powerful assistant, Starlight- but, not all friends are meant to travel together.
Note: Episode contains song ("Road to Friendship").

820. The Washouts- When Scootaloo becomes enamored with The Washouts, a touring group of stunt ponies, Rainbow Dash is concerned for her safety and worries that Scoot’s days as her number one fan are over.

821. A Rockhoof and a Hard Place- When Rockhoof, heroic Pillar of the past, is having trouble fitting into the modern world, Twilight and her friends strive to help him find a new purpose.

822. What Lies Beneath- The students at Twilight’s School of Friendship are cramming for a “History of Magic in Equestria” exam in the school library when they discover a part of the school that no pony else knows about. When they decide to do some exploring they end up learning much more than they bargained for.

823. Sounds of Silence- Fluttershy and Applejack journey to the edge of the map on a Friendship Quest to help a group of ponies named Kirin - who are so afraid of hurting each other’s feelings, they’ve taken a potion of silence.
Note: Episode contains a song ("A Kirin Tale", performed by guest star Rachel Bloom).

824. Father Knows Beast- When a strange dragon crash lands in Ponyville claiming to be Spike’s father, Spike is ready to do anything his “dad” says in order to learn how to be a “real” dragon.
Note: Episode contains song ("You Just Can't Be a Dragon Here").

825. School Raze, Part I- When the magic of Equestria mysteriously begins to fail, Twilight leads her friends on a quest for answers, leaving the School of Friendship open to attack from a dangerous mastermind.

826. School Raze, Part II- While Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six try to escape Tartarus, Cozy Glow furthers her plot to take over the School of Friendship with only Twilight’s students and the CMCs to stop her!

G3.-G3.5. Third generation MLP or
Revival of the franchise (2003-2010)

After the official end of the second generation in 1999, there was little hope that the My Little Pony franchise would become popular again. The first generation ended very poorly, and the second was almost a complete failure. And, last time, the franchise’s anniversary meant its decline. This time, at the beginning of the 21st century, the opposite happened. For the twentieth anniversary of the brand, Hasbro decided to re-release some of the first generation ponies, but in a slightly different style. Initially it was supposed that this would be a special edition of toys, especially for collectors and fans of the first generation, a “nostalgic” release, so to speak. The style was based on the first generation, but several not very significant differences appeared: the bodies of the ponies became more slender compared to the fatties of the eighties, the eyes became much larger and more expressive (in addition, on the pupils, in addition to highlights, various symbols-decorations appeared, most often a star or heart), the toys have become slightly smaller compared to the first generation. In addition, the ponies’ bodies were no longer matte in color, but had a pearly sheen. In other words, it was like the first generation to “adapt” to the vibrant modern times.

That's where it all started - My Little Pony was once again loved by both the target audience and new adult fans, not to mention those who loved the first generation! Ponies began to gain popularity again, although not as much as in the eighties, but compared to the stagnation of the nineties it was already something. At first, only earth ponies were released from 2003 to 2005, then pegasi appeared in 2005 and, finally, unicorns in 2006. In 2009, mini-figures of the third generation ponies appeared, which were produced from 2009 to 2010. Among collectors, these ponies are designated as G3.5, that is, the third and a half generation. The ponies were produced not only in the form of mini-figures, but also in full size, like the original G3 toys.

Quite a lot of toys were released. In addition to them, five full-length films, thirteen special editions and two video games were released, not to mention a lot of other stuff, such as clothes, stationery, etc. In general, the third generation turned out to be quite voluminous, although it was still inferior to the first. For example, during all this time not a single stallion pony was released. But this was just the beginning...
Without the third generation of My Little Pony there would not have been a fourth. Then new ponies appeared, who later became the main heroines of Friendship is Magic. To be more precise, they were combined with six ponies from the first generation. Characters were taken from the first, names and elements of appearance were taken from the third. Why this happened - read in the next chapter, and we’ll end this one with the toys of these same six ponies that influenced the next generation of My Little Pony, to which our site is generally dedicated. :)