What is your collecting story?

[RAMChYLD]

Well, actually, while I was into ponies (or rather, Megan) since the 80s, the ponies themselves were pretty much nonexistent over here. So I lived my childhood without them, only living with the TV series and movie in mind (and even then, I didn't really enjoy them due to my fear of the villains) and dreaming of what it's like to be playing with Megan (ok, I had a weird imaginative life in my childhood. I had a crush on Megan and constantly imagined marrying her  ), and after I discovered "Tales", Sweetheart.

I started small scale back in 2007/2008. A few online friends retriggered my interest in them and I decided to try out G3, starting with a Sing and Dance Pinkie Pie. Then I decided I wanted the large Pinkie Pie as seen in the Transformers film. So I turned to eBay and got one. About a year later I found a 25th Anniversary Pinkie Pie plush (practically the same plush, but with a 25th Anniversary insignia embroidered to one of the legs) and bought it on impulse.

Things only hit full swing last year. I decided I wanted a Fluttershy and Applejack after an encounter with them at a Toys R Us store and my heart fell for their puppydog eyes. I decided at that time "Ok, I'll only add these two to my collection. Can't be that hard". Then I found out that Andrea Libman was the voice of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and Ashleigh Ball was the voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and decided I want all Fluttershys and Applejacks. Then I discovered that Tabitha St. Germain (Cheer Bear from Care Bears: AiCAL) is Rarity and Tara Strong (Chloe from Madeline) is Twilight Sparkle, and then I heard "Winter Wrap Up"...

[BridgetsMum]

I just happened to come across them on eBay and then it hit me---I remember those! So for Christmas I got my little cousin a set. Then I decided to get them for my daughter. Then of course I couldn't stop. I must've brushed their hair for months. I was soo in love, still am.

[RainbowWindy]

They were my favorite toy as a child in the '80s and had always wanted to keep them to give to my daughter someday. Some of you might remember Silver_dawn, she was student at the school where I work in the library and I remember her talking about My Little Ponies and selling them on ebay. I thought 'hey, I still have my childhood collection stored in my parents basement, maybe I should dig them out and sell them as it looks like I will never have a daughter.'
As I was cleaning them up, I just couldn't part with them, they brought back such nostalgia that I decided that since my husband collects collections, maybe I should have one, too. Boy, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I haven't counted all that I have now but it must be over 1000.

[HavACrumpet452]

I'd had ponies since I was a kid in the 80's, but what really started my current obsession was the very first G3's when they came out at KB toys.

[VanillaBean]

I was lucky enough to experience 3 gens as a kid. 
I was born in '92, so I grew up with G2 toys. One of my best friends had two G1 videos & we watched them over & over again. I didn't know about the original toyline back then, so I kinda wondered why all the characters were different.   xD
The first G3s came out the summer before I started year 6, & I still considered myself an 'acceptable' age for ponies. My parents disagreed, so I didn't get any ponies then, but my best friend got Sparkleworks & I was jealous, haha.    We played loads of pretend games back then in her garden, revolving around the original 8 G3s. I was always Sparkleworks & she was Rainbow Dash.
Anyway, I admired the G3 artwork & toys until the dreaded core 7 began. During secondary school, I found the pony community online. It made me so happy when I re-watched the old G1 episodes, & I decided I HAD to buy some.
I lurked around the Arena for a looong time, then joined & bought SS Paradise, my first G1. She & Surprise had always been my favourite characters in the show.
& the rest is history.     I now collect mainly G1 & G3, although I may buy back some of my G2 childhood ponies.  ^-^

[Ginger]

These are fun stories, thanks for sharing!! Mine is less interesting but here it goes,
 
I was a 1990 kid. When I was really young I had just a couple ponies. The first was a G1 given second hand. The second was a G2 that my Grandma bought me when she took me toy shopping and I got to pick out a toy. That is one of my favorite memories- it was so FUN and I remember every bit of it.
 
I really liked them but we hardly had any money and at the time, I was more interested in American Girl, Polly Pocket and Beanie Babies. Nothing ever became a "collection", I just had a little bit of everything.
 
Fast forward to now, my boyfriend watched FIM before me and liked it. He knows my tastes well and encouraged me to watch it too. I loved it. So I went to TRU to "just get one pony" for the sake of having a pony from a show I liked so much. When I opened it, I sort of re-lived the joy I felt when I went shopping with my Grandma.
 
I took a trip down memory lane, looked them up on google, found this forum, and then the ponies multiplied. 

[Flitter]

Hm, I can't quite remember exactly how it happened (I probably saw some on flickr or something) but sometime last summer I realized that the G4 pony toys were really adorable and wanted to buy some. I remember just like one afternoon I decided I needed to go a mission to find the toys and walked to the store since my husband was at work and had the car and I didn't want to wait for some reason. I was so happy that they had all the mane 6. I started watching the show at that time too. Now I've completely fallen in love.

I had seen like an episode or two months earlier and felt just kind of 'meh' about it but somehow now I'm hooked. I really enjoy collecting the toys as a hobby now too since my previous collections (Re-Ment and BJD) are a lot harder for me to keep active and involved in than they once were.

I did have G1s as a child, and my sister had a couple G3 which were cute too but those are all gone now and after finding a few at a thrift store I've realized I only really feel nostalgic about the G1s I once had and don't really want to collect them again.

[Saoirse]

some amazing stories!

I grew up with them( I was an 80s child) Ive only 4 of my original ones left but the arena and ebay have helped me rebuild!

[Icecrystalline]

When I was 3, my mum and I used to route charity shops and car boot sales for toys that I'd like, I must have chosen a pony at one point (can't remember my first) but I know I loved them ever since (I was born in 1995), I stopped playing with them when I was 6 probably and sold off my very poor condition ones and kept about 15 ish and then when my grandma died this august, I got my ponies down from the loft and they reminded me of happy times, so I decided to start collecting them with the pocket money I get, although my mum doesn't approve of spending £200 odd on two ponies at one time... :S I know that they bring me comfort, and they remind me of the happiest childhood a child could wish for, and since my grandma died, my health has deteriorated, and by collecting ponies whilst recouperating, I feel content with what I have. I 'm getting better now and everytime I see my ponies in my room, it makes me smile. (I don't have anything major, I just suffer very badly from IBS, I'm not dying!)
That's why I collect ponies
xxx

[tehrin]

I think it was on my 3rd birthday, I got Gusty as either a birthday or christmas present. I remembered how much I enjoyed her. From there, it all went downhill during my childhood. I loved ponies and ended up getting a lot of them!

My mom ended up selling off my collection when I was older, like 10 or 11, though I still got ponies here and there for Christmas in the early 90's. No idea what happened to them, except that they probably went to my niece who was 6 years younger than me.

I had a friend who loved ponies and we'd play with them together and other toys when I was about 11 or 12. But her grandmother wouldn't let us see eachother anymore after she found out I was turning 13.   So, we'd sneak and borrow ponies!

During high school, and once I got internet in the late 90's, I was in an 80's nostalgia craze, looking up old toys and things like that.  A friend bought me the G2 computer game, but that was all I had as far as G2 ponies go.

Then when I was in college, I met up with my old childhood friend who had ponies. We hung out a lot. She eventually gave me her childhood collection and a custom! I had them on display in my room, but I never did much with them or collected further...

Fast forward nearly 10 years later, I see V-day Pinkie Pie at Target. I was disgusted at how "dumb" they made the ponies look. I swore it off.  Then I started seeing ponies on facebook, some other site, livejournal, convention forums... you name it.  My one friend (Rayechu here) is to blame for getting me into collecting. I saw pictures of her G4 ponies, and fell in love with Rainbow dash. I caved in and bought her, then watched the show. I had to get my childhood ponies back, and get those ponies from my parent's attic!

My first G1 purchase was Gusty.

9 months later, I have like 120ish ponies from all generations. x_x LOL!

[Marlin]

Ponies were my favourite toys as a kid (80's). I cherished them dearly, and the 16 or so I had accumulated eventually were stashed away in a box. No way were they ever being thrown out or donated!


Years later, I pulled them out for my eldest girl to look at. Watching her play with them was so warm fuzzy-ish! But... the play got a little rougher, and as I did yet another hair tidy up on one of them, I realised I might not quite be ready to have my beloved girls ruined just yet! Coupled with a sudden google-fest of all things pony, I started lovingly restoring them to former glory, and then got thinking about what other ponies I had wanted as a kid...


...well, over a hundred G1's later (daughters were given newer substitutes!) I've gone, fair to say, pony mad! I don't know what it is really. They just make me happy. It's a nostalgia thing I guess, and the restoration side of things, whilst I am still pretty fresh at it, has become a very satisfying hobby!


My girls still get to cuddle 'Mummy's' ponies now and then, and very sweetly seem to understand that those particular ponies, are very special 


Here's what's left of my original childhood ponies below    :


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[SkyCakes]

I think it all started when my mother bought me a cotton candy plushie for a birthday or something. Then I think my mother got me Cotton candy the toy pony. She had no idea I would become a collector. I think I started collecting ponies with my allowance back when the Toys R Us's had rows after rows of toys. I remember a whole wall of ponies. Anyhow I remember when they were only 5-6 dollars back then. I started gathering more and more ponies about around 100 or so. Then unfortunately I gave all my ponies away :/ I still regret it. I only kept two: Sparkler and Curly locks.
Flash forward to 2007-8 I found Dream Valley. I saw Medley staring at me. Then I wonder if they had any on ebay? And then she started me back into collecting. I have been off and on a (year break) Im still active as usual and gone pony mad like everyone else that loves ponies. Even now since I stored most of my collection away I still have a handful here. They maybe stored away from my sight but not from my heart.

[Ice Crystal]

I have been collecting my whole life! My first major collection was Sylvester the cat from when I was about five years old until I was ten. I still have the collection in storage, actually! Over 200 items. I also had some general collections; TY beanie babies, Boyds bears (or cats in my case), bone china/Haegan Renaker animals.

Starting when I was fourteen, I was really serious about collecting pokemon toys, focusing on a few monsters in particular. I paused collecting pokemon last year after I hit most of my major goals, and because I wanted to focus on ponies. There are still a few things I would like to pick up but they are way out of my price range and hard to find besides. I was roped into pony collecting by FiM. G1 and G3 are my focus now though. G4 ponies are so disappointing in comparison. :'( But I do have a G4 Rarity collection and strive to collect all of her figures and plush (should she ever get any).

So I guess I have a collecting bug and ponies are the perfect franchise for somebody like me. I also like styling their manes. :3c

[Majesty]

My story goes back to the late 80's to start.  I was born in 1984.  I was told when I was around 3-5 years of age to pick out a pony.  I picked out Princess Royal Blue.  I think I remember asking my Mom if I could have a baby to go with it and she said I could so I picked out Teen Tiny Baby Little Whiskers.  I had some childhood friends who were kids of my Mom's friends.  One of the kids had brought over some ponies, which she didn't want anymore and asked me which ones I wanted.  I picked out Princess Starburst, So-Soft Twist, and Moondancer (with a cut tail).  I pretended that Princess Starburst was actually a boy and was married to Princess Royal Blue.  I pretended Teeny Tiny Baby Little Whiskers was their baby and she was a newborn unicorn and too young to have her horn.  I thought my Twist was a male, because she had faded to gray.  I didn't know at the time that male ponies have the furry hooves.  Moondancer was my So-Soft Twist's wife.  I remember all the girls in my neighborhood had ponies and most had more than I did.  Every now and then we would all get together and play ponies.  I remember my next door neighbors had Paradise Estate.  I also remember one neighbor had Baby Shady and her Beddy-Bye Eyes were the reason she was very coveted by the other girls. (lol)

When I was around 13 or 14 years old I decided I was too old for ponies, or decided I wanted to be overly generous because I remember I used to give away stuff as a kid because I was too kind....I decided to give my ponies to a younger neighbor who I also used to play ponies and Barbie's with.

I think when I was around 16 or 17 I saw my first G3 commercial for the Cotton Candy Cafe.  I was in shock at seeing My Little Pony again and it brought back fun memories of my childhood, playing with my ponies.  I suddenly had the urge to look for my childhood ponies, forgetting that I gave them away.  Since I didn't find them I sort of wanted to get back into ponies again but thought I was too old for them.  My parent's were against it but I started buying ponies for myself, starting with the early G3's, which came with the charms.  I was obsessed with the stickerbook game which had :  pinkie pie, kimono, sunny daze, minty, wysteria, rainbow dash, and another one I can't remember.  You could do the cafe as a scene, ponyville meadow, or celebration castle.  I know you can still play the game if you search for it.  Anyway, I tried really hard to get those ponies that were in that stickerbook game.  I got most except kimono.  Later, I received Celebration Castle from someone who knew I loved ponies. 

Some time after, I began to miss G1's and that time period.  I thought it would be hard to get G1's but it turned out to be easy.  I found a message board called Ponyfinders and found out someone in my state of Rhode Island also was into ponies as an adult and she lived near my town.  I traded and bought G1's from people on that website.  Eventually, I found the arena and trading post and bought more ponies.  I acquired lots more ponies than I had in my childhood collection.  I displayed them proudly on a small 3 foot shelf in my room but had to put them away, because my cat liked to mess up my display too much. (lol)  I also requested customs from people from ideas I had, which I wanted put to life. 

I attended my first My Little Pony fair when the first one appeared in Rhode Island I think in 2008.  I was beyond awestruck.  When the second My Little Pony fair appeared in Rhode Island I acquired my dream playset to own:  Dream Castle from emerly.  She gave me a near complete Dream Castle in pretty good condition, complete with spike.

Currently, my collection is in my closet in boxes until I can one day display them properly--hopefully in a pony room.  I want to make nice display with my Dream Castle and make a sort of pony scene.

Sorry this was long but I hope you enjoyed reading it. 

[Juri]

I had lots of ponies when I was little, though at that time I didnt think of them as being a 'collection'. I did have a            ' proper 'collection of Russ Trolls  growing up, and about 200 odd cuddly toys

When I started re buying my girls, I only intended to get my childhood ponies back, but I realised that I just love so many of them that the purchasing kept going