My Little McPonies

Here's a little reminder to everyone out there that My Little Pony should be the "girl" happy meal toy as of the 9th. If there is supposed to be an official schedule it doesn't seem like most places are sticking with it. I've had one friend get the whole set and another have none at all. A friend in Ohio got Applejack, but my mom (who is also in Ohio) went looking for me and got Pinkie Pie and Rarity. My local McDonald's had Twilight Sparkle and Lily Blossom.

What confuses me the most is that people are saying that the ponies don't really look any different, but I think they are quite different (though some are more different than others). I've taken a few comparison shots despite bad lighting from an overcast day.

Here's a photograph of old Twilight Sparkle on the left and new Twilight Sparkle on the right. As you can see the mold that the use is in fact different from the previous one. As cutie marks are not on both sides of the pony new Twilight has her opposite hoof raised this time around. There is obviously the inclusion of the keyring portion to the top of the head, but the body is also different in some more subtle ways that are harder to document. The body is more squat and the head if not tilted to the same degree as before. The horn is different and I had to photograph this Twilight in her plastic stand as she would keep tumbling over. The quality also seems to be much better on the original run.

Here is a comparison shot of the heads. You can see new Twilight's head doesn't have the same tile as old Twilight. She also came out of the package with icky dirt marks and her eye is misprinted. You can also barely see the horn difference Old Twilight has four spirals whereas new Twilight has three.

Here's what the ponies look like from underneath. The new Twilight has the new pony logo, but doesn't have the peg-holes that were made for the ponies to fit in the comb/stands last year. It's too bad, as I mentioned earlier new Twilight keeps tipping over and cannot stand on her own.

This isn't the best picture, but it shows the difference in the plastic and coloring. The 2011 Twilight is lighter with a more "pearlescent" plastic. The 2012 Twilight has a more matte finish and the paint job is messier overall. I suppose you could say the darker purple is more show accurate, but I personally like the original Twilight better.

I'm not sure how much this has to do with the quality difference or if this is even nation wide but I noticed that the ponies were manufactured in two different countries. 2011 Twilight was manufactured in China whereas new Twilight was made in Vietnam.

If you got ponies this weekend how do yours look? Am I the odd pony out or are other collectors finding messed up ponies?