My Little Pony Fair
The My Little Pony Fair and Convention is an annual fan-run event celebrating My Little Pony. Collectors from all over gather together for one weekend a year to buy/sell/trade and attend informational panels. This page is specifically geared towards the US Fair; however in the UK there is also a similar annual convention.
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2005
The second annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention took place July 8th and 9th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hasbro provided the fair staff with G3 Bay Breeze figures to sell, which became the first ever My Little Pony Fair exclusive pony.
2006
The third annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention took place July 15th and 16th in San Francisco, California. Hasbro provided Fair staff with some of their excess G3 Mail Order Love Wishes ponies to be given as that year's exclusive pony. The ponies were wiped of their Love Wishes cutie marks and custom engraved with new, San Francisco-related cutie marks; there were two different pony runs created. Frisco was limited to 150 total figures and featured the Golden Gate Bridge in her cutie mark. Trolley was limited to 100 figures, available for purchase through random draw from the pool of collectors who had also purchased Frisco. She was limited to 100 total figures and featured one of San Francisco's famed trolleys in her cutie mark. Ponies that were damaged during the engraving process were provided to a group of collectors to customize for a future MLP Fair "disaster relief" project. Many lovely customs were created; however, the project itself never came to fruition.
2007
The fourth annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention took place July 28th and 29th in Memphis, Tennessee.
2008
The fifth annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention took place on Saturday and Sunday, June 21st and 22nd at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island. This marked the first year of more extensive Hasbro engagement with the collecting community. Representatives hosted a Q & A panel and preview of upcoming toy releases, and Hasbro displayed several of the Pony Project ponies. Featured guests included Kirk Hindman, a Pony sculptor for Hasbro in the 1980s, and Grace Garcia, a pony sculptor for Hasbro in the 2000s. Kirk displayed many prototypes, wax models, and an original factory mold.
A special tour of Hasbro Headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island was offered to a pre-registered group of collectors on Friday, June 20th. Bonnie Zacherle, creator of My Little Pony, gave a presentation on the creation of the line. She brought her original prototypes, and Hasbro displayed many original artwork samples. Collectors were also offered a glimpse of how the toys go from concept to reality, featuring the creation of the G3 Ponyville Amusement Park. Each tour guest received a "swag bag" containing a pony from the upcoming "Core 7 Best Friends" line and a silver 25th anniversary pin.
2009
The sixth annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention returned to Las Vegas, Nevada, location of the first Fair in 2004, and took place on June 20th and 21st. The lead event organizer announced this year that the MLP Fair would be permanently located in Las Vegas. After much controversy and public outcry, the decision to keep the Fair in the same location was reversed when event leadership changed hands after the event.
2010
The seventh annual My Little Pony Fair and Convention took place July 17th and 18th in Louisville, Kentucky.
2011
The eighth annual My Little Pony Fair and Convention took place July 8th and 9th and returned to Rhode Island; it was hosted at Hasbro's Pawtucket headquarters. An event exclusive G3 pony was sold to attendees and later offered in the My Little Pony Fair online store. The MLP Fair 2011 Pony featured an Egyptian-inspired design. This is the last year that Hasbro produced a figure exclusive to the MLP Fair. It is also the last year that a G3 "art pony" would serve as an event exclusive. From 2012-2016, the MLP Fair would receive a designated amount of San Diego Comic Con exclusive G4 figures to be offered as a sort of pre-sale for the west coast pop culture event.
2012
The 9th Annual My Little Pony Fair and Convention took place July 7th and 8th at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida.
2013
The 10th annual My Little Pony Fair and Convention took place July 6th and 7th in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Fair shared its special edition DJ Pon-3 figure with San Diego Comic Con again this year; she featured elaborate, light-up packaging and Swarovski crystal accents.
2014
The 11th annual My Little Pony Fair and Convention took place July 12th and 13th in Nashville, Tennessee. This year's special edition pony was a "styling-sized" version of Mane-iac Mayhem with poseable hair tendrils and Spike dressed as Humdrum from the "Power Ponies" episode.
2015
The 12th annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention took place June 27th and 28th at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg in Chicago, Illinois. This year's special edition pony was Pinkie Pie dressed as a chicken, commonly referred to as "Chicken Pie" from the "Luna Eclipsed" episode. She was also shared with San Diego Comic Con.
2016
The 13th annual My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention once again took place at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg in Chicago, Illinois on July 9th and 10th. The special edition figures, once again shared with San Diego Comic Con, were Discord and Fluttershy in another highly-detailed, lighted package like that of 2013's DJ Pon-3 figure, but on a much larger scale.
2017
The 2017 My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention was merged, along with many other Hasbro toy-related conventions, into Hasbro's self-proclaimed "Premier FANmily Event." The event occurred September 8-10 in Providence, Rhode Island. This would have been the MLP Fair's 14th year. HASCON featured interactive brand experiences for fans of its various active toy lines, including My Little Pony, Transformers, Nerf, and more. My Little Pony experiences included the chance for attendees to be "ponified" into their favorite Friendship Is Magic characters, a gallery of never-before-seen original 1980s Pony artwork, and a design panel featuring prominent individuals involved in the creation and evolution of the My Little Pony brand.
While there were no exclusive figures this year, there was a My Little Pony Box featuring a Pony Friends figure, a miniature plush seapony, a Tech 4 Kids' My Little Pony Stackems, a My Little Pony: The Movie pen and journal, a Bendon PlayPack, a Zak Designs tumbler, "My Little Pony: The Movie - Friends and Foes" book, and a HasCon exclusive youth t-shirt. A set of My Little Pony-themed Dungeons and Dragons dice was also sold.
It was originally announced that the My Little Pony Fair would still take place as its own event to which MLP collectors had become accustomed within HASCON, but those plans were abandoned very late into the event planning stage. HASCON is taking a hiatus for 2018, and Pony Fair 2018 will take place without Hasbro involvement.
2018
The 2018 My Little Pony Fair and Collector's Convention will take place June 16th and 17th at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida.
