When part of the UK PonyCon committee met up for a day about town in London, we naturally did what any group of self respecting 20something women would do while sat at the restaurant awaiting our orders. We each reached into our bags and produced a pastel coloured toy pony, proudly placing it on the table in front of us. We did this in two restaurants, in fact, and both times, our table-friends were met with recognition and appreciation.
“My Little Pony!” the waiter in Giraffe, Southbank, exclaimed. The frog mascot in Leicester Square’s Rainforest Cafe was decidedly more animated, grabbing the ponies and playing with them, cooing over one before declaring his favourite. Another employee laughed at him, “Cha Cha loves My Little Pony!” she explained to us, while we laughed and agreed that, oddly enough, we do too.
It’s an odd phenomenon, these plastic and nylon ponies. No other toy line has remained so iconic, while also enduring three decades worth of jokes and jibes from the media and popular culture. “My Little Nowhere Pony”, as they were dubbed on BBC’s ‘I Heart Toys’ by a celebrity I’d never heard of. “My Little Pony, skinny and boney” was the mantra we had to endure growing up in the 1980s.
And yet, despite being the butt of the joke, there was a magic that My Little Pony captured in the hearts of girls around the globe. Love them or loathe them, there was something about those pastel ponies that struck a chord. For some, that spark remained into adulthood, and has formed the backbone of a collecting community that spans the generations and continents.
I’m very proud to be a part of UK PonyCon. To me, there’s something incredibly special about My Little Pony that somehow goes beyond nostalgia and childhood-induced rose tinted glasses. They’ve survived re-branding after re-branding, and yet still hold true to the ideal that captivated children in the first place. More than just ‘girls love ponies and hair styling’, My Little Pony became an entire world in which children (because yes, a lot of boys like My Little Pony, too!) could dive and explore. Over the years, Ponyland became Ponyville, and and more recently still, became Equestria, but one thing remains true and forms the glue that holds it all together; My Little Pony was loved in 1982, and now, nearly thirty years on, My Little Pony is still loved.
I hope this blog serves as a hub in which you can find news on UK PonyCon, but more importantly, I hope this blog becomes a place that reminds us why we’re all here in the first place. This year, UK PonyCon is being held in Brighton, a city famed for so many progressive efforts in human rights movements, steeped in arts, culture and history. This is our seventh year and, like the My Little Pony brand itself, we’re going from strength to strength. We hope you’ll join us on the way, because it’s going to be an awesome ride.
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Once you have sent your donation, please email ponyconfunds@gmail.com with your list of guesses. Again please include your screen name and the forum you are from, so we can match your list of guesses to your paypal donation 
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