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.

Pony ID Quiz!

~ can you recognise the pony from the close-up picture? ~

There are 60 ponies to identify, from Generations 1, 2 and 3.

Click the link for a larger picture: http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg173/UKPonycon/QuizPic.jpg

How to Enter

If you would like to submit your guesses, please send a GIFTED paypal donation of at least £1 (you can give more if you like!) to ponyconfunds@gmail.com and include your screen name, the forum you are from and your email address in the paypal message. Please title your payment ‘Pony ID Quiz’.

By sending payment as a gift, we do not get charged fees by Paypal, allowing us to use your donation in full 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

The contest will be open until midnight (GMT) on the 17th of February 2011

The Prizes

1st Prize
3 Ponies from the above selection

2nd Prize
2 ponies from the above selection

3rd Prize
1 pony from the above selection

The Rules

When identifying ponies, there is one point available for each pony. However, in order to acheive the point, BABY ponies should be identified correctly. Look at the picture clue carefully! Likewise, if an adult pony is guessed to be a baby pony, no point will be achieved. Make sure to look at the picture closely!

In the event of a tie, the winners will be drawn using Random.org.

The participant who correctly identifies the most ponies may choose three ponies from the selection pictured. The second place winner may then choose two ponies from the remaining selection, and the third place winner may then choose one pony from those remaining.

Participants are welcomed from any location, worldwide.

Please make your donation in GBP (British Pounds) and send it as a gift, this helps us avoid fees.

Donations of any size are welcomed and appreciated, however we ask that you make a minimum donation of £1 (GBP).

Please do not identify any ponies in this thread – the answers will be a secret until the closing date.

We will post everyone’s score after the closing date when the answers are revealed.

UK PonyCon reserve the right to extend the contest if necessary.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Thanks for taking the time to read the rules! Good luck and have fun! We really appreciate your donations

Friday 22nd Oct – Pizza Hut Meal

A Ponycon tradition for the last few years, this year we will once again be gathering en masse to descend on the local Pizza Hut!

The organising of this event was started by Mandie1986, and kindly picked up by Manzanita! You can find out all of the details of the event on this thread:

http://ponyconvention.proboards.com/inde….lay&thread=5858

We can’t wait to see you all there – don’t forget to bring a pony!

Nominate your Forum Member of the Year!

Image from sharetv.org

As well as giving prizes for game and competition winners, this year we will be giving some special awards to recognise members of the Pony community!

This award of ‘Ponycon Member of the Year’ is a special award given to someone in the community who has been a great friend, always helps other members or shows great generosity.

For this award, we are asking YOU, the community to nominate who you think should receive this honour - to nominate, please PM Jemofirongate stating who you are nominating and a short paragraph explaining why you think this person should win the award

You can also nominate on the convention main or members day by writing the name and your reasons for nomination on a piece of paper and leaving it at Reception -before 4pm on Members Day, before 1pm on Main Day

We hope you will enjoy the opportunity to make sure that someone really special gets the recognition they deserve!

With the convention now only 10 days away we thought it was a good idea to remind you of all the fantastic events and fundraisers happening at PonyCon that you need to be signing up for in advance

There are still a few places available if you would like to sign up for either the Pony scooter race that will be taking place on members day, or the main day game of “who dares wins” Both are going to be such fun!
So if you would like to take part more info can be found HERE Get your name down quick to avoid missing out!

There is still time to send in your online entries for our new for 2010, Pony Display Contest
As explained in the main post you can submit your entry on the day but if you would like us to print it for you then they will need to be received by Sunday 17th

You have until the 15th to be part of our super fun ‘MLP and Me’ related quiz, where we will be asking you to match up images of collectors as children ( with their ponies) to images of themselves now. If you would like to have your images on display as part of this quiz then check
HERE
for full details and get rummaging through those old photo albums!

We are still looking for people to host panels and demonstrations throughout the main convention day, so If you would be interested in sharing your specialist knowledge or a personal talent with your fellow collectors then please pm Jemofirongate asap!
Some suggested topics and further information can be found HERE

Prize Draws and Fundraisers

We will shortly be stopping the online ticket sales for our fantastic prize draws. Therefore if you aren’t attending the convention and would still like the chance of winning some of the amazing prizes up for grabs then I strongly suggest getting you tickets soon!

Here is a list of our currents prize draws:

Guess Hollywood’s Birthday

Win a complete set of Flutter ponies

Win A Complete Set of Dolly Mix Ponies

Oh and don’t forget our Celebrity signed ponies auctions that will be ending in 10 days!

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/mlpconventionuk/m….=&_trksid=p3686

We hope all your PonyCon Preparations are going well and we really can’t wait to see you very very soon!!

xxx