Hornby Star Costumes and Tonka Star Fairies, 1985
In the mid 1980's when Hornby Flower Fairies were possibly losing out in sales to the more 'modern'/'futuristic' (it was the 80's!) dolls like Rainbow Brite and Jem, Hornby created a range of 6 'Star Costumes' (shown below in the Hornby 1988 catalogue photo). Unfortunately this range and the other leaps from the original Cicely Mary Barker inspired designs (eg the Magic Mist, glow-in-dark accessories..etc) weren't enough to save them and Flower Fairies soon went out of production completely.

7 new costumes however, along with some
new dolls (white hair+brown eyes, brown skin+brown hair+brown eyes, ginger hair+green eyes, long haired with fringe blonde with blue eyes), new wands & new stands were successfull as 'Star Fairies', and were sold in the USA and Canada by Tonka from 1985 (even though as they used the same moulds the dolls had 'Hornby 1983' in the back of their heads). Some of the later ones appear to have slightly smaller heads (although sometimes they can look this way from the hair being rooted too far into their foreheads!) and are made of harder plastic.
Star Fairies were.... Sparkle(the Fairy Princess),Whisper(the Secret Wish fairy),True Love(the Love Fairy), Jazz(the Talent Fairy), Nightsong(the Dream Fairy), Spice(the Energy Fairy) and Princess Sparkle.
Along with the 7 dolls you could buy 6 costumes(which were exactly the same as the
Star Costumes that Flower Fairies had, but different packaging obviously), Castle Wishstar, Lavender(a purple unicorn), the Star Coach, 3 Magical Friends(flocked plastic cat, swan and rabbit), a dressing room, and there was even an animated movie, featuring the voice of Drew Barrymore!
Hornby Star Costumes
Please note: the lilac and blue dresses of Flower Fairies and Star Fairies are very similar, but NOT the same. the lilac Hornby dress has a gold piece down the middle, the Tonka one has see-through mesh. The blue Hornby dress is split into two colours for the bodice and is blue at the bottom, whereas the Tonka one is white at the bottom, and blue at the top, with a silver collar and star.
Star Fairies
Whisper
Nightsong
True Love
Sparkle
Spice
Jazz
Princess Sparkle
Star Fairy Costumes(Tonka Packaging)
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