Common Ponies becoming Harder To Find?

[Starbright]

I'm back into G1s after four years of not collecting and can't seem to win an auction, they're all going for so much. The rare-ish ponies I'm after seem to have doubled in price. I'm looking to replace a regrind-afflicted Night Glider and have seen auctions up to $42 for her. That's even more than I paid for a faded-hair Tornado in 2007. O.o

[Chi]

I've seen that with Masquerade.
Dying to get my hands on her again since I believe I had her when I was a child. Saw her listed last night for $11.99, figured I'd buy her in the morning. Nope, she sold hours after being listed. She's listed really infrequently, so I'm mad at myself for not jumping at the chance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a nice one is listed again.
Also Applejack, auggghh. It's definitely FiM making her G1 counterpart so popular, but every Nirvana Applejack I see is gone as quickly as it appeared.

[Gypsy_Nights]

With the advent of Friendhip is Magic, people are discovering the "origins" if you will of My Little pony. So more people are starting up their G1 collections more than likely, starting with those good 'ol common ponies. Are we honestly surprised? I can't say I am...The discovery of one good thing leads to  another. I found Pullips thanks to the Dollhouse on the Arena, and I would have never found those without being a pony collector first :3 So yeah, I'm really not surprised

I was thinking this same thing.  Alot of first starting collectors are most likely going to start with the earliest ponies.  I started seriously collecting about 9 years ago when the G1 season 1 TV series came out on box set.  I got it and watched it and wanted to find my old ponies but that wasn't enough.  So I got on ebay to find more and I first started collecting the ponies from the show.  Which used to be real common.  And I too have noticed their numbers seem to be dwindling.

[Princess-Sparkles]

Okay, my pony luck is much better then I thought, I met a lady who sells G3's and her daughter us getting rid of her G1's. She wants $10 for the adults and $5 for the babies, but I got some ponies that are near mint. Applejack and Flat foot Butterscotch are two of them. I am very greatful for my pony luck.

[FarDreamer]

Umm, YES.  I've been saying this for years.  I started collecting around 1999.  At that time my sister and I could go to flea markets and come home with bags and bags of ponies.  Many of these are now considered very rare.  We found 2 mimics, tons of BB's, pearly babies, etc.  Much of the now HTF part of my collection was found this way and we weren't spending a lot on them.


On the bright side, I figure if I outlive all the other collectors I'll get ALL the ponies eventually.  I am a VERY patient person . . .

[Foxtale]

I see the same thing happening. Ebay has also changed so I blame it as well. But I do feel like there are less people selling vintage ponies on ebay. There used to be people out there that would buy huge lots or just buy everything from tag sales and sell them piece meal online (sometimes with ugly curls :PI think that is why there isnt as many individual ponies sold.

[Wysteria]

Wow, being an older hard core G1 collector, I litterally have a couple 1000 of them so I have 5-6 of many of the more common ponies like AJ and a few nice Bubbles etc... Some even in my bait bin. After reading this thread it really makes me want to go through the few hundred bait ponies and pluck out the nicer ones that I never really got around to customizing. I even pulled out a Masquerade the other day while I was making some G4 versions of her and seriously couldn't remember why I put her in my bait bin:/ She just had a couple super faint blue stains on her but was otherwise too pretty customize.

I've just always had so many from buying huge lots to get my rarer ponies/upgrades, that I never really stopped to think of some of these ponies as uncommon because they aren't to me. But it has been increasingly hard to find minty ponies, especially any that have glitter symbols.

I certainly agree FIM is to blame for the huge spike in people interested in G1s, but it also renued my love for ponies as well. I can leave the community for a year at a time, but I always seem to find my way back:)

As for selling on ebay, it's such a crap shoot these days or has been the last few years that I am still weary of putting my ponies up. But having seen the horrible quality ponies that people seem to think are worth $100 for, my nicely taken care of ones might actually do well, but I'm saving them for the pony fair this year.

[medleysong]

I have been in the pony collecting game since the 90's  and it has been interesting to see the eb and flow. When I started, not many people were selling on online sites so ponies cost a pretty penny. Then the ebay craze took over and you could get more common G1s for much much less. Plus you could find them easily at garage sales and thrift stores. Enter the G3s and then ponies took off with a vengence, price spikes everywhere. People saw this happening and started listing ponies so there was an over abundance so prices dropped once again. Then ebay started restructuring fees and so forth. Less people listed ponies and tah dah..a price hike. The boycott didn't last long and soon people began selling and prices dropped. Then enter G4s---oh my goodness! That has been a shocker as I watch homemade plushies go for amazingly high prices. However, due to the economy over the past few years people didn't have as much money to spend so I really do believe people are hanging on to their ponies. I think they are out there to own but right now---it is just a dip and people scared to list. Watch what happens...because common ponies are now going for so much more people will slowly start listing them again. It will drive the market back to a reasonable price. It is like when someone lists a mimic and it goes for an ungodly amount then suddenly the next week there are 8 listed. People just want what the pony is "worth". I have a bunch of lots up on ebay right now of more common G1s and they seem to be doing well. One lot has apple jack, bowtie, bubbles, seashell and so forth. I am selling off my entire collection and am almost done but I do wait for the drops in ponies on ebay before I list. Trust me...they will resurface. I have seen this happen for years...

[sailorstitch]

Wow! I haven't looked up ponies on Ebay in a long time. I'm fairly content with my G1 collection. There's a few more I'd like to get, but I'm in no real hurry to find them.

I did get a HUGE shock this week when I was at Goodwill. I found a bag that was a mix of G3 and G1 accessories! There was even a NBT sandbox in the bag! That one was well worth the $5.99 price tag. But there was another bag of fakies and G3/G3.5 McDonald's ponies. That one was not worth the $5.99 price tag. BUT one of the McDonald's ponies was wearing a G1 Baby necklace. I knew it wasn't logical to pay $6 just for that necklace.... But I couldn't make myself put it back. So in the cart it went.

sailorstitch

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

Either people are selling them more in lots or keeping their ponies more often.

[SnorkMaiden]

I've noticed the same thing. I've nearly stopped checking out eBay altogether. Maybe two years ago, I'd go through the listings on British eBay and find about a dozen auctions I was interested in. These days, I'm lucky to find one or two. There are fewer auctions for G1s, and those which are there go way too high for my liking. Well, it's better for my bank account that way.

[reanna-mator]

Could be. There are, of course, a finite number of these toys, and it really all depends on how many new collectors there are as opposed to those letting go of what they have. And, of course, those being customized... which I approve of only as a last resort for the baitiest of baity ponies.

[FantasticFirefly]

Wow, I never really thought of this. I also have armies. Trying to get accessories/HTF ponies in lots I ended up with so many doubles. I'll clean them up, let them dry and if they're in good (close to NM shape) pack them with the rest. I really have no idea which applejack, or bubbles will be on display until I crack open boxes and and take a close look.

I think it has a lot to do with ebay. People know ponies are worth something, so they arn't getting rid of collections to dealers  on a scale like before, or want to much $$ that it's simply not worth anyone buying to resell on ebay. Plus, since ebay revamped I noticed a big shift away from vintage toy sellers. With the fees as they are, a lot of inexpensive items just arn't worth the time and fees listing. They were still mass produced and I don't think anyone should worry about finding some of these ponies. Maybe it means you have to be a bit patient, but applejacks and bowties will always come up NM, and there will be those auctions others miss.

[ButtonMasher]

Oh man, now I feel bad for being an Applejack-crazy newbie making the commons harder to get for all you established folk!

I definitely think part of it is likely to be that the new show has generated a lot of new interest in G1s. Lots of newly ignited nostalgia and rekindled interest in childhood toys (every time I get a new box of ponies there's always one that makes me go "Oh my GAWD, I remember this one!"). I imagine there are a lot of people out there like me who are new collectors that discovered or rediscovered ponies with FiM and of course, we start off with easily affordable common ponies we can buy in batches. I know I've acquired... hmmm, must be close to 100 ponies in a few months and most of them have been pretty common ones (and I grab an Applejack every time I get the chance to get her with a lot).

With many people like me doing the same it makes sense for certain "commons" to be less common for a while. I know I've been chasing a nice Bowtie for a while now but she (and, I've noticed, Gusty, though she seems to be a perennial favourite) always disappear before I even get a chance to send a PM or click "Buy it Now!". She always seems to be up there with Peachy in people's lists of top most common ponies, but I wouldn't have known it otherwise with all the trouble I've had getting a nice one. It will probably return somewhat to "normal" after a while once the hype over the new show dies down a bit and some of the new collectors lose interest and sell what they've acquired and others that stick around have already got their commons and only grab them for upgrades or armies.

But - like others have said - barring occasional amazing MIB treasure troves found in attics or untouched cases laying dormant in toy shop warehouses, there is a set number of G1s out there and there will be a certain level of attrition year to year, so they will ALL be becoming less common as time goes by. I've watched it happening for years in the collecting community of my other great love, Transformers. Toys that were common as dirt, even in good condition, just 8 or so years ago are now so difficult to find and even harder at a reasonable price.

This is why, personally, I think it's so important that as many ponies (and other vintage toys) as possible end up in the hands of collectors who will cherish and take care of them. Not just for yourselves but for... The Future™

[hathorcat]

I dont think anyone should feel bad about being willing to pay for what they want and no one should ever feel bad about armies!!!!! Both of these are the joy of collecting....especially getting that illusive pony even if you have to pay a bit more.

I was just wondering if people thought demand might have tipped higher than supply for some ponies which used to have the reverse issue.

Shlugh you are so right! The weight of BINs to auctions [and crazy priced BINs at that] is definitely much much higher than it used to be!