Do You Know Why G1 Ponies Have Tail Washers? I Do!!

One of the perks of running the Fair is the ability to be able to have lots of Pony conversations with the Guests of Honor. It is crazy the little tidbits about Pony that both Bonnie Zacherle and Liz Knight have shared during our conversations. One such fact was why the G1s have tail washers.

 According to Liz (and Bonnie confirmed this), when they first made the original 6 Ponies(Cotton Candy, Minty, etc.) they noticed that they kept falling over on their faces because their heads were too heavy and the Ponies weren't balanced. To solve this issue, someone in the office suggested putting a weight on the inside of the pony near the Pony's back legs so it would stand upright without falling on its nose. The end solution was the tail washer, which was also incorporated into how the hair was installed to make it appear fuller (so the tail washer ended up pulling double duty of the first six ponies!)

I thought this was a pretty neat little Pony fact. :)

* I found this photo that illustrated perfectly what a tail washer is and its location in a pony on Sail-Away's Harbor. There was also a step by step tutorial for removing a pony's head and tail, but thankfully not how to dissect a Pony into halves. :)

MY LITTLE PONY Fair announces Liz Knight as Guest of Honor!

"We are excited to announce our 2014 MY LITTLE PONY Fair Guest of Honor and 2014 MY LITTLE PONY Fair Hall of Fame inductee, Liz Knight!



Liz Knight joined Hasbro in 1981, just as Bonnie Zacherle was working on a smaller version of My Pretty Pony which became, My Little Pony. Ms. Knight designed several beloved MY LITTLE PONY characters including: Seashell, Bubbles, Bow Tie, Applejack, Sunbeam, Medley, Twilight, Glory, Firefly, Moondancer, Parasol, Starshine, Windy, Sunlight, SkyDancer, and Moonstone. She also designed the Show Stable and Waterfall playsets. In addition, Ms. Knight was responsible for the design of the SeaPonies: Seawinkle, Sealight, and Wavedancer!

Ms. Knight left Hasbro in 1987 and started her own design business, working as an inventor and designer doing mostly infant product and toys. During this time she also taught Industrial Design at Rhode Island School of Design.

In 2003, she returned to Hasbro for 3 months to help on Secret Central and as Director on My Little Pony. Soon after, she was hired fulltime as Director on Playskool and stayed there for several years. In 2005, Ms. Knight became VP of Girls’ Toys and managed the team working on My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Easy Bake, Strawberry Shortcake, FurReal, CareBears, and Baby Alive.

During this time, she worked closely with Lauren Faust as she wrote the new entertainment “Friendship is Magic”. The design team, led by Ms. Knight, created product inspired by Lauren Faust’s stories and reset My Little Pony for growth. In March of last year, 2013, Ms. Knight left Hasbro and is currently teaching at Rhode Island School of Design.

We are excited to have Ms. Knight join us at the 2014 MY LITTLE PONY Fair. We are currently working on her programming for the event which will include presentations and autograph opportunities and will be announce details soon."