Revision as of 13:38, 13 October 2014

G4 Blind Bag Ponies are pony toys that take the form of fully molded figurines that approximately half the size of a Playful Pony figure. Blind bag Ponies tend to more closely resemble the characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic due to their molded hair. The term Blind Bag Pony refers to the packaging that the figurine comes in (opaque "surprise" packaging that prevents the user from determining which pony is inside), but related figurines can also be found in Sets, Collections, as part of the games or other MLP merchandise, so in this this article all of them will also be referenced just as "figurines".

All figurines from blind bags (and some others too) comes with matching collector card, featuring the name and artwork of the pony, and a brief description about the pony's personality, almost always - about her/him favorite activity.

Altogether, at the moment of October 2014 there are:

10 different Blind Bags waves released so far (with wave 11 expected at stores in nearest future), 15 Sets, 5 Collections
46 different molds
306 different, distinguished by molds, style, cuitie marks and colors figurines, 66 of which can be found only in Sets or Collections.
174 unique Ponies, one particular Zebra, a gryphon, three Breezies, a few second-plane characters, Smarty Pants doll and of course Derpy ;)

Sources of figurines

Besides blind bags, figurines have been released as a part of a Miniature Sets, including anywhere from three to six ponies. Most revolve around a specific theme. Those figurines are more likely to have unique, individual molds, rather than being recolors and thus, are more likely to be accurate to the show. Some of the molds used for these figurines have been used in later Blind Bag Waves for re-releases or as recolors for other ponies. Sets does not include collector cards.

Also some of them was released as Miniature Collections, which are similar to Sets, but does not always refering to some general theme. They usually consists of clearly visible through plastic fold 4-12 ponies, many of them tended to not be found in other sources. Such collections was often a targed exclusive toys, for example for Wallmart or Toys 'R Us stores, and some of them are hard to find nowdays. Only Toys 'R Us "Pony Collection Set" includes collector cards so far.

Other sources of figurines includes:

Being parts of the games (e.g. Playhouse Puzzle, My Little Pony Chutes and Ladders Game or Regnbågsspelet Game)
Individual packs with only one, but visible pony (all Mane 6 was released except for Fluttershy)
Four pack with four visible ponies (only one had been released so far with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash)
2011 Advert calendar (Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle)
DVD releases (Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle)
Mini Pony Collector's Guide book (Tea Love)

None of those figurines had collector cards so far.

About Blind Bags

Every bag always have an unique imprinted code somewhere on the bag. As collectors have discovered, this code can be deciphered to reveal the identity of the pony within the bag. Inside each bag you will find: a pony mini figurine, collector's card, small parts warning sheet and sometimes a colorful pamphlet.

Previous Gens

G4 are not the first My Little Pony blind bags. See Blind Bag Ponies. The scale of G4 blind bag ponies is similar to Ponyville figurines of G3 and G3.5 (so they may be referred to also G4 Ponyville or G4 PV).

International Releases

Blind Bags, released in US and Europe market have some minor differences:

Subtle distinctions in bags cover art
US collector cards are monolingual (English only) and tend to feature a longer description of a Pony
European collector cards are multilingual (description are done in many EU's languages), and therefore info are somewhat reduced
Colorful pamphlets (if they are found in blind bag) are differs in art arrangement, but pony's artwork itself are identical

Distribution

The US distribution of blind bags mostly missed the first two waves. In their place were briefly packaged ponies on cards.

The initial delay spurred collectors to source their ponies from Taobao.

Blind Bag Identification

Two Digit Codes: Early European blind bags have two numerals lightly stamped on the outside of the bag on the top the back seam. These numbers correspond with the pony's number listed below.

Five Digit Codes: Except for the newest Neon set, all American blind bags, and later European blind bags have a five digit code stamped into the flap on the back of the package. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th number is to confuse you. The second and forth numbers tell you which pony is inside. See the charts below.

Two Letter Codes: The Neon set has a two letter code stamped into the bottom flap of the bag. The first letter is A and the second letter tells you which pony is inside. See below for a chart matching ponies to letters.

Wave I
Wave II
Wave III
Wave IV
Wave V
Wave VI
Wave VII
Wave XIII
Wave IX
Wave X

Blind Bag Waves

Bland Bags released in "waves", usually 2-3 within a calendar year. Each wave consists of 24 unique (for this particular wave) ponies, sharing a common style (e.g. pastel colored ponies in wave 5, bright transparent in wave 8, etc.), but often includes a few "special" ponies, such as glittery versions of Pinkie, Twi and Dashie in wave 1; glow in the dark versions of Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie in wave 3, etc. In some countries (UK for sure) later waves was splitted in two sub-waves (consists of 12 ponies each), distinguishable by slightly different bags and boxes designs.

Although ponies are not repeated inside each wave, some of them can duplicate figurines from earlier waves, sets or other toys. Duplicate rate is around 30% if we count all known ponies from all known releases till October 2014 (and considering different molds, styles and paintings for one pony as different figurines), and is about 11% if we focus only on Blind Bags waves from 1 to 11. Mane6 receives the most of re-releases, as you can guess of course.

Each wave offers it's own, unique design for collector cards (with the exeption of waves one, two and TRU Pony Collection Set, which shares the same design). So, for example, common Twilight Sparkle figurines from wave 3 and wave 5 will come identical, but have differing cards.

Early Blind Bag waves consisted solely of female ponies and were recolors of the Mane Six. At this point, Unicorns were based off of Twilight Sparkle or Rarity, while Earth Ponies were based off of Pinkie Pie or Applejack. All Pegasus Ponies were recolors of Rainbow Dash, including Fluttershy, one of the Mane Six. Later waves added more variety in molds, including male Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus Ponies, and Alicorn Ponies. Also, while some early waves featured the Mane Six and recycled G3 ponies, later waves tend to include more supporting and minor characters from the TV show.

Blind Bag Wave I

Euro Blind Bag

US Blind Bag

Monolingual mini pamphlet

Identifying Blind Bags Chart^[1]

Purple and pink variants of Glittery Twilight Sparkle

Lily Blossom variants

The very first set of Ponies
Introduced 5 unique molds: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and Pegasus pony
Each bag includes a mini pamphlet with 21 out of 24 Pony's pics and names
Style: show-accurate painted ponies
Specials: transparent glittery versions of Pinkie Pie (#22), Twilight Sparkle (#23), Rainbow Dash (#24)

G4 Blind Bag Ponies<ref
1. Pinkie Pie
2. Applejack
3. Rainbow Dash
4. Rarity
5. Twilight Sparkle
6. Fluttershy
7. Sugar Grape
8. Lily Blossom
9. Minty
10. Bumblesweet
11. Fizzypop
12. Flower Wishes
13. Roseluck
14. Sweetie Blue
15. Pepperdance
16. Lemon Hearts
17. Cherry Spices
18. Sweetie Swirl
19. Lucky Swirl
20. Sweetcream Scoops
21. Firecracker Burst
22. Glittery Pinkie Pie
23. Glittery Twilight Sparkle
24. Glittery Rainbow Dash
23.5. Glittery (Purple Variant) Twilight Sparkle

US Wave I

Pinkie Pie variants - single on left, TRU pack on right

At first in the US/North America only the mane characters were released. Fluttershy at first only appeared in the US with the puzzle house (which is still quite rare), which drove her value up extremely high initially.

They have been packaged:

as individually packed singles
as a four pack
as singles in a cardboard house with a puzzle

See Individually packaged mini ponies

The individual on card ponies have been sold in the US, Canada, and the UK so far.

US Wave I Numbering

US Box of Blind Bags

The first set of blind bags appeared by the box (finally) on hasbrotoyshop.com February 2012, ie officially available in the US.

Very hard to read six-digit id number, 22445 for Glittery Rainbow Dash.

It seems that some/all of the first full run of blind bags released in North America do not have their collector card number punched into the packaging. Secretly however they do. Each of the two-digit numbers have been interspersed with the numbers: 2, 4, and 5. (Single digit numbers written with a zero ie 2 is written as 02). ^[2]

So 02 + 245 = 20425.

20415 - Pinkie Pie (1)
20425 - Applejack (2)
20435 - Rainbow Dash (3)
20445 - Rarity (4)
20455 - Twilight Sparkle (5)
20465 - Fluttershy (6)
20475 - Sugar Grape (7)
20485 - Lily Blossom (8)
20495 - Minty (9)
21405 - Bumblesweet (10)
21415 - Fizzypop (11)
21425 - Flower Wishes (12)
21435 - Roseluck (13)
21445 - Sweetie Blue (14)
21455 - Pepperdance (15)
21465 - Lemon Hearts (16)
21475 - Cherry Spices (17)
21485 - Sweetie Swirl (18)
21495 - Lucky Swirl (19)
22405 - Sweetcream Scoops (20)
22415 - Firecracker Burst (21)
22425 - Pinkie Pie (Glittery) (22)
22435 - Twilight Sparkle (Glittery) (23)
22445 - Rainbow Dash (Glittery) (24)

Blind Bag Wave II

Multilingual mini pamphlet

24 pieces, (Dark) Purple Bag

Re-releases the mane six, and now includes the glitter versions of the rest of the mane six (ie Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy). The set is about 1/3 characters that have been released as G4 full sized toys, 1/3 mane cast and 1/3 entirely new characters.
Each bag includes mini pamphlet with 21 out of 24 Pony's pics and names

1. Pinkie Pie
2. Applejack
3. Rainbow Dash
4. Rarity
5. Twilight Sparkle
6. Fluttershy
7. Feathermay
8. Blossomforth
9. Lulu Luck
10. Star Swirl
11. Tealove
12. Ribbon Heart
13. Cheerilee
14. Daisy Dreams
15. Stardash
16. Honeybelle
17. Dewdrop Dazzle
18. Rainbow Flash
19. Pudding Pie
20. Snowcatcher
21. Twinkleshine
22. Glittering Rarity
23. Glittery Applejack
24. Glittering Fluttershy

Blind Bag Wave III

Fourth Set of Ponies, (24 Pieces)
Light Purple Bag

The set is the first G4 merchandise to feature male ponies ^[3] or anything glow-in-the-dark.

Euro Wave III

Euro box

1. Twilight Sparkle
2. Rarity
3. Bitta Luck
4. Rainbowshine
5. Goldengrape
6. Pinkie Pie (glow-in-the-dark)
7. Rainbow Dash
8. Golden Harvest
9. Sprinkle Stripe
10. Sea Swirl
11. Big McIntosh
12. Twilight Sparkle (glow-in-the-dark)
13. Pinkie Pie
14. Apple Dazzle
15. Lovestruck
16. Berryshine
17. Meadow Song
18. Rarity (glow-in-the-dark)
19. Applejack
20. Fluttershy
21. Cherry Berry
22. Heartstrings
23. Noteworthy
24. Lucky Dreams

Blind Bag Wave IV

L to R: Wave 2, Pony Rainbow Collection, Wave 4

L to R: Pony Rainbow Collection, Wave 2, Wave 4

Fifth Set of Ponies (24 Pieces)
Blue Bag

Euro Wave IV

The secret ID number on some packaging may have five digits rather than two digit. (Single digit numbers written with a zero ie 2 is written as 02.) The two-digit numbers have been interspersed with the numbers: 5, 4, and 2. ^[4]

So 02 + 542 = 50422.

Stock photos from Equestria Daily.

1. Applejack (glittery)
2. Fluttershy (glittery)
3. Lulamoon (glittery)
4. Crimson Gala (glittery)
5. Minuette (glittery)
6. Royal Riff (glittery)
7. Pinkie Pie (glittery)
8. Merry May (glittery)
9. Electric Sky (glittery)
10. Chance-A-Lot (glittery)
11. Berry Green (glittery)
12. Rarity - Special Edition (metallic silver)
13. Twilight Sparkle (glittery)
14. Rarity (glittery)
15. Sassaflash (glittery)
16. Peachy Sweet (glittery)
17. Twilight Sky (glittery)
18. Applejack - Special Edition (metallic gold)
19. Rainbow Dash (glittery)
20. Mosely Orange (glittery)
21. Amethyst Star
22. Twilight Velvet
23. Shoeshine
24. Pinkie Pie - Special Edition (metallic pink)

Blind Bag Wave V

24 Pieces

Left Wave 3 Heartstrings; Right Wave 5 Lyra Heartstrings

Stock photos from Equestria Daily.

Blind Bag Wave VI

24 Pieces
Purple/Blue Bag

Wave 1 (left) and Wave 6 (right) Roseluck comparison

This wave consists of regular versions of the glitter toys from wave IV, some of them with tridimensional cutie marks, Cherry Spices and Trixie Lulamoon with Twilight Sparkle's mold rather than the usual Rarity mold and Roseluck with new colors. The only new pony in this wave was #20 Magnet Bolt

Photos from Strawberry Reef.

1. Pinkie Pie
2. Fluttershy
3. Twilight Sparkle - Special Edition (3D Cutie Mark)
4. Rainbow Dash
5. Rarity
6. Applejack
7. Minuette
8. Roseluck (new colors)
9. Trixie Lulamoon - Special Edition (3D Cutie Mark; Twilight Sparkle mold)
10. Twilight Velvet - Special Edition (3D Cutie Mark)
11. Mosely Orange
12. Berry Green
13. Merry May
14. Cherry Spices (Twilight Sparkle mold)
15. Electric Sky
16. Crimson Gala
17. Amethyst Star
18. Twilight Sky
19. Sassaflash
20. Magnet Bolt
21. Royal Riff
22. Peachy Sweet
23. Chance-A-Lot
24. Shoeshine

Collection Set II

Friendship Celebration Collection

Taobao MIP Friendship Celebration Collection

Toys 'R Us exclusive set containing re-releases of figures from the first two waves. As well as a few accessories.

released between blind bag waves VI and VII

Collection Set III

Pony Rainbow Collection

stock photo

Target Exclusive
7 piece set
released between blind bag waves VI and VII

Pony Rainbow Collection
Pinkie Pie
Applejack
Fluttershy
Emerald Ray
Rainbow Dash
Twilight Sparkle
Rarity
.jpg

stickers

The Pony Rainbow Collection versions of Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity are almost exact matches to the Wave 4 versions. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are darker than their Wave 1 versions. Twilight Sparkle is a brighter purple than Wave 1 as well. Fluttershy is darker than Wave 4 and slightly lighter but still close in color to her Wave 2 counterpart. Applejack is darker than in both Wave 4 and Wave 2. Rarity is more opaque than her Wave 2 version. With the exception of Emerald Ray, the Rainbow Collection does not have the black numbers stamped on the bottoms of their hooves differentiating them from the other waves.

Comparisons
L to R: Wave 2, Pony Rainbow Collection, Wave 4
L to R: Pony Rainbow Collection, Wave 2, Wave 4
L to R: Wave 1 pink, Wave 1 purple, Pony Rainbow Collection
L to R: Wave 1, Pony Rainbow Collection
L to R: Wave 1, Pony Rainbow Collection
L to R: Wave 2, Pony Rainbow Collection

Collection Set IV

Pinkie Pie and Friends Mini Collection

Pinkie Pie & Friends
Mini Collection™

Walmart Exclusive
12 piece set
released between blind bag waves VI and VII

The Applejack included in this set did not have her hair ties painted.

Blind Bag Wave VII

translucent ponies
Gray/Aqua Bag
24 pieces

Wave 7 box side

Wave 7 bag identifying Soarin and Spitfire

This wave introduced the translucent pony miniatures. It featured three of the Wonderbolts, two of which were pictured in the packaging. Spitfire and Soarin had their names and descriptions switched on their collector cards, though they were named correctly in the packaging.

White background photos from 123toyuk.

1. Pinkie Pie
2. Fluttershy
3. Twilight Sparkle
4. Rainbow Dash
5. Rarity
6. Applejack
7. Cherry Pie
8. Apple Fritter
9. Banana Fluff
10. Lilac Links
11. Cherry Fizzy
12. Misty Fly
13. Banana Bliss
14. Sweetie Drops
15. Holly Dash
16. Berry Dreams
17. Soarin
18. Lucky Clover
19. Lily Blossom
20. Apple Stars
21. Barber Groomsby
22. Caramel Apple
23. Spitfire
24. Lily Valley

Blind Bag Wave VIII

Neon Bright Blind Bag Ponies
Black/Dark Purple Bag

Close-up of the letter code

The bags for this wave were changed so that there was no longer a center flap for the codes to be imprinted on. Instead, letters were imprinted along the bottom edge of the bags. The numbers for the ponies were changed to the corresponding letter of the alphabet skipping the letters "J" and "Q" and adding an additional A at the beginning. That made #1 Applejack's code "AA," #2 Big McIntosh's code "AB" and so on through "AZ" for #24 Twilight Sparkle.

1(A). Applejack
2(B). Big McIntosh
3(C). Royal Riff
4(D). Mosely Orange
5(E). Gilda the Griffon
6(F). Flam
7(G). Flim Skim
8(H). Fluttershy
9(I). Skywishes
10(K). Granny Smith
11(L). Princess Cadance
12(M). Golden Harvest
13(N). Flower Wishes
14(O). Pinkie Pie
15(P). Sassaflash
16(R). Comet Tail
17(S). Rainbow Dash
18(T). Sunny Rays
19(U). Gardenia Glow
20(V). Lemon Hearts
21(W). Rarity
22(X). Ribbon Wishes
23(Y). Lotus Blossom
24(Z). Twilight Sparkle

The ponies that are repeats from the seventh wave are brighter in the neon wave.

Comparisons
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8
L to R: Wave 7, Wave 8

Blind Bag Wave IX

Sea Swirl Comparison L: Wave 3, R: Wave 9

1(A). Applejack (pic from different wave)
2(B). Big McIntosh (pic from different wave)
3(C). Fluttershy (pic from different wave)
4(D). Pinkie Pie (pic from different wave)
5(E). Rainbow Dash
6(F). Rarity
7(G). Amethyst Star
8(H). Shoeshine
9(I). Noteworthy (pic from different wave)
10(K). Sea Swirl
11(L). Berryshine
12(M). Princess Cadance
13(N). Peachy Sweet
14(O). Lily Valley
15(P). Nurse Snowheart
16(R). Sprinkle Medley
17(S). Tropical Storm
18(T). Mr. Carrot Cake
19(U). Green Jewel
20(V). Lavender Fritter
21(W). Apple Honey
22(X). Honey Rays
23(Y). Prism Glider
24(Z). Grape Delight

Blind Bag Wave X

Glittery Snipsy Snap

Glittery Peachy Sweet

1(A). Applejack
2(B). Trixie Lulamoon
3(C). Fluttershy
4(D). Pinkie Pie
5(E). Green Jewel
6(F). Rainbowshine
7(G). Sunny Rays
8(H). Lotus Blossom
9(I). Ribbon Wishes
10(K). Snail Squirm
11(L). Diamond Mint
12(M). Princess Twilight Sparkle
13(N). Peachy Sweet
14(O). Flower Wishes
15(P). Snipsy Snap
16(R). Mosely Orange
17(S). Junebug
18(T). Rainbow Swoop
19(U). Sunshower Raindrops
20(V). Gilda the Griffon
21(W). Strawberry Sunrise
22(X). Sassaflash
23(Y). Royal Riff
24(Z). Lemon Hearts

Blind Bag Wave ??

This image was compiled originally by VioletCLM on mlparena.com

Sunset Shimmer • DJ Pon-3 (plain version?)• Suri Polomare • Big Wig • Spitfire • Purple Wave • Emerald Ray (plain version?) • Flash Sentry • Rising Star • Apple Munchies • Lightning Dust • Pinprick • Violet Velvet • pale blue earth pony with magenta hair • dark pink stallion with light blue hair • lavender earth pony with dark pink hair • yellow earth pony with pink hair and purse cutie mark^[5]