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Author Topic: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus  (Read 22399 times)

Offline Glitter Yolk

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Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« on: Thursday 22 June 2017, 07:46 pm »
Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus

Meritus Industries Inc. had several pony trademarks, along with the more well-known Darlin' Dinos. These were themed in a similar way to Hasbro's My Little Ponies, but I think Meritus' Lucky Ponies take the cake in trying to emulate the style of colorful, brushable ponies with symbols. In the fakie pony community, these are often referred to as chubby fakies, named by Ahrian on her now unavailable fakie id site, Ahrian's Fabulous Fakie Guide.



Unfortunately, Lucky Ponies seem to be one of those toy lines lost to obscurity. Justia Trademarks lists the line as 'Cancelled', so it can be assumed they did not run for very long. As to why, I found a thread on here trying to identify another pony toy, and discovered an interesting post by the user Oldmeritusman, claiming to be the son of the company:

http://ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=1129.15



Now the credibility of this claim should be taken with a grain of salt of course, as it's the only post he's made, but he mentions they had a small pony line that hasbro stopped them from distributing. Whether this line actually was Lucky Ponies or not remains to be seen.

Was is certain is that they do resemble my little ponies closely, though slightly more horse-like in their molds.

As their name suggests, they had a horseshoes and clovers theme, many of them featuring the two in their symbols, though not all. Stars were also a common theme. A consistent pattern I've noticed is that symbols always have a palette featuring two colors, sometimes using the body color to add even more contrast.

They came with some accessories, but I have very little information on them. According to Skimble, a reputable fakie pony collector, they came with crowns, brushes and combs.

http://my-little-fakie.livejournal.com/9086.html#comments




Lucky Ponies Accessory Flower Petals Cart by robinharper on Ghost of the Doll

A heart treasure chest cart, missing the rod that secures the flag:





Broken off/missing an end piece?:



Known Accessories (In various pictures above, below and at the end):
Star Hair Ties - yellow and light blue
Star Necklaces - yellow and light blue
Flower Necklaces - yellow
Barrettes - Bow (purple, pink), Hearts w/ Flowers (mint green), Candy Swirl (purple)
Themed Crowns - light blue (star crown, daisy crown), pink*, yellow*
Flower Petals Cart - pink and purple with a yellow sticker flag, pictured above
Heart Treasure Chest Cart - purple and yellow with a yellow sticker flag, pictured above
"Lucky Ponies" Flag for carts - Flower (purple), Heart (purple)
Plain Brushes - yellow and light blue
Combs - Shooting Stars (yellow, light blue, translucent glittery orange)
Small "hair bow" accessory (?) - light blue

*No pictures as of yet

A star hair tie and a star necklace on their own:


by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena

Yellow and light blue star necklaces:



A barrette with the Meritus logo on the back. Interestingly enough, these appear to read as 1994 instead of 1997. Possibly a recast of an accessory mold they used for an earlier product? Meritus has also reused this barrette accessory for one of their doll lines from 1999, Kool Kids, shown here:

http://ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=4689.0




by NightliderSA on Mlp Arena

Three clip on barrettes, a small "hair bow"(?) (does not clip on), and three shooting star combs:



Two light blue themed crowns, two yellow and blue plain brushes, and a yellow star hair tie:



Here are the only two back card images I've been able to find, both of which are from this thread, provided by mayanbutterfly:

http://ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Forum/index.php?topic=1073.0


"Hair Styling Fun!"



Edit: On-Card Lucky Ponies have been found!





Source













Source

Horseshoes and ribbons on the front, clovers on the back and some artwork featuring accessories.
Also the five M's forming a star would be the Meritus company symbol. They look like they all were meant to have curly hair, based off of this art and the wavy state I've seen most of their hair in.

The ponies themselves have markings of identification on their bellies, reading:



(C)1997 M.I.I.
MADE IN CHINA

They have painted hooves that match their single-tone hair color, several raised leg poses, some have open mouths while others have closed mouths, and they all have purple painted eyes. The eyes themselves appear to be painted in the opposite direction of the eye mold, which is really weird:



Here are all of the Lucky Ponies I have been able to find so far, though many of these images are not mine so the source is provided:

Purple ponies:


Horseshoes symbol


Glittery Hearts symbol by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena


Glitter Close-up


Circus Balls symbol by Mlp Sunsparkle on Mlp Arena

Yellow Ponies:


Horseshoes and Stars symbol


Ribbons symbol by Mermaid on Mlp Arena

Blue Ponies:


Horseshoes and Stars symbol


Clovers symbol by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena
(note the necklace)

Pink ponies:


Horseshoes symbol by wildshadow on mylittlefakie.proboards


Stars and Clovers symbol by cody_sunday on Mlp Arena (first img)
(Note the crown, necklace and hair tie accessories)


Glittery Smilie Face and Flowers symbol by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena


Glitter Close-up

Robin's Blue Ponies:


Glittery Shooting Star symbol by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena
(note the necklace)


Glitter Close-up

White Ponies:


Stars and Moon symbol


Glittery Shining Diamonds symbol by NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena
(note the necklace)


Glitter Close-up

Most of these ponies have their symbol all over both of their sides, but some only have it on the flank similar to actual My Little Ponies.

Seeing as these were made in 1997, perhaps they were a response to Hasbro's G2 release?

Locations they have been found:
United States
Australia
Belgium
South Africa
England
Canada
Spain
The Netherlands

That's pretty much all I have on these guys. I'd love to collect them myself, so while this may not be enough to get it properly listed on here, I hope it comes as some help to those wondering about that occasional fakie with an M.I.I. stamp.

If anyone else has images or information, feel free to contribute!
« Last Edit: Saturday 27 January 2024, 05:55 pm by Glitter Yolk »

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 28 June 2017, 02:51 pm »
I have two of these  ;D  A pink one and a blue one https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369084131947861461/  Nice to know they have a name and when I have a bit more time, I am going to read this thread thoroughly.  Thanks for the info.

  Hugs
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Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 29 June 2017, 10:41 pm »
I have two of these  ;D  A pink one and a blue one https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369084131947861461/  Nice to know they have a name and when I have a bit more time, I am going to read this thread thoroughly.  Thanks for the info.

  Hugs

Yeah, I realize I was fairly wordy. ^^; I wanted to put as much info as I could find, but I wasn't exactly concise about it!

Congrats on owning two of them, I've seen your picture before!

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 02 July 2017, 02:25 pm »
Don't apologize for the info.  It is great to learn more about them and I am amazed to have discovered that there are with so many different symbols.  I always thought only four different ones existed but man, am I wrong!  And there are some gorgeous darlings out there for this serie!  I already repinned a lot of pics from you on Pinterest on my own "Fakies" board so I can keep gawking at them and drool over them  ;D  And who knows ... perhaps one day I'll be able to add a few to my group of two although they do not seem to pop up much anymore on second hand sale sites  :(

Thanks for the wonderful work on them in this post!  It is very much appreciated  :-*

Hugs
Come visit my site about Kitty Care and Puppy Care from Hornby: http://kitty-care.webnode.nl/

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Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #4 on: Monday 03 July 2017, 05:57 pm »
No problem! I've seen at least two of each of the ponies listed, floating about online, well except for the white one. That's the only image I've discovered of that symbol or color combo, with the white being the least common and the blue one with the horseshoes symbol being the most common.

Technically I've only seen one of the yellow with bows symbol as well (so far), but as for the 'usual' yellow one with the horseshoes and stars symbol, I've seen more.

I think the oddest thing is that despite coming across symbol variants for each of the four main colors (pink, blue, yellow and purple), I have yet to see any symbol variants for purple other than horseshoes, but who knows what could still be out there, not found online?

I'll be wishing you luck for the hunt, I hope to eventually come across one myself!

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 04 July 2017, 03:19 pm »
Perhaps it depends also on the country where you live  ;D  They probably got sold better in certain countries or perhaps even only got sold in certain countries.  ???

In any case, they are pretty and cute  :)
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Offline zuse

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 04 July 2017, 03:55 pm »
Your write-up is fantastic. I hope these ponies get their own page! :)
Check out my Vintage Littlest Pet Shop Guide!

Hey, check out Bing Rewards. I've earned several $5 Amazon gift cards using it. :)

Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 24 October 2017, 05:30 pm »
A new lucky pony has been unearthed! We finally have a symbol variant for purple: glittery hearts!

Thanks to NightGliderSA on Mlp Arena, I was able to get a great picture as well as an upgraded image for pink with the smilie face symbol.

They've been added to the first post in all of their glitter-filled glory, that makes three glittery symbols  total!

I've also added a short list of where these ponies have been found geographically--let's hope it grows.

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 24 October 2017, 08:20 pm »
So pretty that new one!!!!!!!   :-* :-* :-* :-*
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Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #9 on: Monday 06 November 2017, 08:55 pm »
Another purple lucky pony has been added to the list, this one with a circus balls symbol found in England.

Thank you to Mlp Sunsparkle on Mlp Arena for providing the image!

I've also confirmed a pattern I never cared to notice before, all lucky ponies have a two-color palette for their symbol, at least in terms of paints used to layer over the body color. I'll be sure to mention it in the first post.

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #10 on: Monday 06 November 2017, 09:54 pm »
Djesus!  I fall more and more in love with these sweeties!!!!  Gonna hug my own sweeties  ;D

Awesome!

Hugs
   Robin
Come visit my site about Kitty Care and Puppy Care from Hornby: http://kitty-care.webnode.nl/

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Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #11 on: Wednesday 08 November 2017, 03:18 am »
I know, right? I'm super glad to have all this information now, research on these ponies has come a long way!

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #12 on: Thursday 09 November 2017, 01:13 pm »
You've been doing a wicked job!  And to think that when I got my two sweeties at first I thought there only existed four different ones   :D  But they are a complete herd!!!!!   

Hugs
Come visit my site about Kitty Care and Puppy Care from Hornby: http://kitty-care.webnode.nl/

Come and take a look on my site dedicated to toys of the eighties, mostly in kitty cat form: http://toys-of-the-eighties.webnode.nl/index/

Offline Glitter Yolk

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #13 on: Sunday 17 December 2017, 05:17 pm »
I'm back for holiday break, and NightGliderSA has really hit the jackpot with these ponies! I owe them a lot for helping improve this thread with all of these great pictures!

I've updated a few of the known pony pics to feature some accessories, or just a better resolution.

I've also made a little list of the known accessories, and the colors I've seen them in.

There has also been a gorgeous new white and blue pony variant added, she's definitely a stunner. She could very well be a princess, maybe even Majesty and Sparkler's daughter, if you go by her looks.

A glittery symbol featuring three shining diamonds, the diamonds have a silver paint job (metallic) with a dark blue outline, both of which I haven't seen used as symbol colors before!
« Last Edit: Monday 18 December 2017, 03:25 am by Glitter Yolk »

Offline robinharper

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Re: Lucky Ponies (1997) - Meritus
« Reply #14 on: Thursday 28 December 2017, 02:23 pm »
*jaw drops to the ground*  Where do they keep finding all this information?!  This is AMAZING!!!  My God, this serie of Ponies just becomes better and better!

Wickedly cool and gorgeous pics - of course not that hard when you have such stunning ponies to take pics off  ;D  And fantastic new intel to soak up and store in the brain.

Thanks for all your hard work in providing the information also to us  :-*

Hugs
Come visit my site about Kitty Care and Puppy Care from Hornby: http://kitty-care.webnode.nl/

Come and take a look on my site dedicated to toys of the eighties, mostly in kitty cat form: http://toys-of-the-eighties.webnode.nl/index/

 

anything
anything