So these are the 2 very last prototypes that this designer had in the RBB line)-Apparently 2 versions were made- a purple and a black version- I am buying both, even though I have to be on a payment plan to afford them, lol
They are so pretty- You can check out the pix of them on my wix site (online pics of my collection)- just scroll to the end of the prototype album...
http://www.wix.com/galacticatt/rainbow
I also got some cool info about why they decided to make Stormy and Skydancer in the first place- I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that it was always about selling more toys
I think most of us know by now that cartoons in the 1980s (and probably today) are, for the most part, commercials.So the designer was under the impression that none of the molded/flocked horses shipped. However, we do occassionally see the hard starlite (although it is rare) and Sunriser too. But I guess that still makes sense, because I know that with current toy lines, when a line gets dropped, the company might have already received the first shippment- and will just throw the lot away away/give it away/or sell the items to a discount market. (I purchased some toys like this directly from a toy company once)When Rainbow Brite was first introduced in 1983, her horse Starlight was the introduced with her as a plush toy. The horse was costly to produce and the design director was fully never satisfied with the look they were able to achieve in production. For 1986, it was decided to try a molded version of Starlight using existing Barbie horse tooling, but give it a flocked body and yarn mane/tail to match the dolls. The 1986 Mattel catalog shows Starlight and Sunriser (a pink horse for Tickled Pink).
At the same time, the sales of the villains, Lurky and Murky Dismal, were flat so a female villain was designed named Stormy. Her colors were originally black, purple and silver. A horse was also designed for her to fit with the new designs of Starlight and Sunriser. Two versions of Stormy's horse were tried - a black one and a purple one but neither were shown in the dealer catalogs. There were possibly 2 prototypes made of each version.
The molded horses did not ship to stores as the line was dropped due to too much product still sitting on retails shelves.
The black horse uses a horse tool that was later deemed unreliable in testing as the ears would break in the drop tests so it was not used in the 80's or later
Were any of you around a few years ago when that person online had a whole slew of MIB Tickled Pinks, Dress-up Rainbows, Kitty Brite's and Sunrisers? Before him- the hard Sunriser was as rare as the hard Starlite. I bugged and bugged him about where he had found them, and he finally admitted that he had purchased an entire werehouse of Mattel toys (he-man, ect.) for just pennies a piece- he said the werehouse was not in the US. Anyways- I bet that's most of the Sunrisers came from. I don't know about the Starlites- but I guess the fact that they never shipped to stores explains why they are so very rare. Just speculation on my part of course. If anyone has any information to add, please do :D
