Kenner Parker Toys (KPT), an American toy company based in Cincinnati, OH began development of FashionStar Fillies in 1987 as a response to the popularity of Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys. FashionStar Fillies were intended to target slightly older girls as a blend between fashion styling and play of dolls such as Barbie by Mattel, fantasy play, and girls' love of horses.
Erica Carlson was the designer of FashionStar Fillies, with a background in fashion and design her creativity was apparent in the flair of the fillies colors, accessories, and fashions. She would later go on to work for Empire and head the design of their Grand Champions horses and sub-line Fantasy Fillies.
Internationally FashionStar Fillies were released under the name FashionStars. Sixteens were labeled FashionStars Ponies. Kenner was acquired by Tonka Corporation in late 1987 making the release of FashionStar Fillies internationally possible under Tonka's locations in England, Netherlands, and Belgium. International packaging featured descriptive texts in English, French, and Dutch. Age warnings also included German and Italian translations.
International packaging featured pastel colors and simpler designs than the American counterpart. Most of the time, the fillies coloring and included accessories were the same as American but there are known instances where some accessories were omitted or were otherwise varied in the international versions.
The fillies were known to be released in the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, France, New Zealand, and Australia.
The first six FashionStar Fillies: Chloe, Joelle, Niki, Dara, Calla, and Lani were released in stores in 1988 with four Fashion outfits and six StarSpangles Accessory packs, one pack modeled by each filly. The FashionStar Fillies line was launched with a points system in the hopes of huge success that would lead to mail order exclusives. Unfortunately, this never panned out. International packaging did not have points included on their packages.
- FashionStar Fillies came with 8 points.
- Feelin' Fancy Fillies came with 8 points.
- Sassy Sixteens came with 6 points.
- Royal Beauty Fillies came with 10 points.
- SongStar Sixteens came with 8 points.
- SweetScent Sixteens came with 6 points.
- Cliff came with 8 points.
- StarStyler came with 12 points.
- Adult Fashions came with 3 points.
- Teen Fashions came with 3 points.
- StarSpangles Accessories came with 2 points.
The success of FashionStar Fillies led to the release of Feelin' Fancy FashionStar Fillies, Sassy Sixteens horses, the StarStyler Braider, and Cliff the Stallion in 1989. There were also three new adult fashions and three new StarSpangles sets.
FashionStar Fillies came onto the market with reasonable pricing that children from all wakes of life could enjoy their fabulous fashion fun. Thanks to the Kenner Collector for this 1989 price list also revealing the names of the three new accessory sets released in 1989. Check out the full document here.
In 1990, popularity of the fillies was beginning to wane, but despite that Royal Beauties, SongStar Sixteens and SweetScent Sixteens made their way to the shelves. Kenner was prepared to offer new fashions and StarSpangles sets and even a new playset, but they would never make it to production.
By the end of 1990, the impending acquisition of Tonka (including Kenner) to toy giant Hasbro in 1991 loomed over the line of toys and would eventually mark the end of the FashionStar Fillies. The power of My Little Pony would prove to be overwhelming and any competition was too much competition. But the story of FashionStar Fillies wouldn't end there. The Teen Walk and Teen Trot molds would see a brief resurrection in 1995 as Moondance and Sunstar in the Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders toy line. Read the continuing story here. Special thanks to The Jewel Riders Archive.
After a toy line is in production, the development materials, prototypes, and other pre-production items go into storage in a facility that Kenner called The Morgue. After Hasbro's acquisition of Tonka/Kenner, the Cincinnati offices were closed in 2000 and items from the morgue were dispersed, destroyed, or moved to Hasbro's storage facility in Rhode Island. Thanks to The Kenner Collector, we know what was in the morgue at the time of closure. Here's an abbreviated snapshot of the FashionStar Fillies items documented. Visit the Kenner Collector Morgue to view the complete documents.
So many amazing things here that I wish I knew where they were or who had them. Just to take a look would certainly be thrilling. In addition to the morgue list, there was also a museum inventory list, these items are likely still in the hands of Hasbro today.
