Re-Pinking

[Crowning_Glory13]

I have been reading a tutorial on re-pinking ponies. I have a few questions before I try it. I have a few G3 and G1 that really need pink back.

Do you think it changes the value? I just don't want an awesome pony like my Near Mint Curly Ringlets to become bait. (yes that is an exaggeration:P) I don't think it would go up, but who knows;)

Do you have any pictures or re-pink ponies?

How do you know if they really had pink hair or not? I have a Lickety Split...but her hair show a dingy white...so was she once pink or white hair?

Does the dye process cause rust with washers?

What advice do you have for me?

Thank you for your help:)

[Lorelei Redfern]

i recently re pinked my g1 pony. shes a twisty tail.  you sqezze her belly and  she wirls her tial. her mane was snow  white and  her  tail was  still bright pink.  i doont have a pic of it. but i can take one  if you'd like  i  looked at her tial. it was orinally pink so therfor her  mane was pink.   but i dunno if manes are different then tails.   after  i  pinked her. she looks almost brand new. and it matches her tail

[Ivy]

Re-pinking is easy and in my opinion doesn't lower the value what-so-ever - it will fade back to white eventually if left out in the sunlight - so really you're just restoring it back to the orginal color.

Yes Lickety-Split is supposed to have pink hair.

Done right re-pinked ponies are indistinguishable from ponies with pink hair still.
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I have a hard time remember which ponies I've re-pinked but I'm pretty sure Posey was on the list...
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I know I repinked Twilight too before I curled her.
there have been tons of others too...

I had a list somewhere of all the ponies with that fading pink hair....

[Raindrop]

I believe repinking does affect the value slightly with collectors who prefer their ponies completely authentic (without restoration).  I personally prefer the pink, in most cases, even if it isn't original.

It's not a great picture, but you can see my repinked Posey in the picture below.

Sometimes if you pop the pony's head off you can tell that the hair was originally pink because the roots (inside the body) are still pink.  I think we are pretty certain that Lickety Split was never released with white hair in the US, so she is certainly faded if she appears with white/dingy white hair.

The water and the dissolved ions (particularly if you use salt to help set the dye) can provide conditions that aggravate tail washer rusting.  If the washer is already starting to rust inside the body, getting the tail wet can also "wick" out some of the rust so it appears on the hair outside of the body.  I always remove the tail and repink it alone when I can (this also makes it easier to ensure an even dye job), rinse and dry thoroughly, and replace the metal washer with a plastic zip tie. 

If you can't remove the tail, rinse the hair well before and after repinking and allow it to dry thoroughly when done.  It's a good idea to prop the pony up "bottom down" so all excess moisture drains out through the tail hole.  Once the tail and the inside of the pony are thoroughly dry rusting is less likely to continue.

I recommend RIT dye.  I think the color most people use is Rose Pink, or something like that.  It's not an exact match for the original pink, though.  I mix dye colors, using the pink as a base, to create my own custom color to match the original color as closely as possible.  It only takes a little bit of dye--you don't want the color too dark.  You don't have to boil the hair in the water, but do get the water with the dye hot.

It helps to condition the pony's hair well first and rinse well between short "dips" in the dye solution.  Be sure to dip all the way to the roots, or your pony will have white roots.

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[Eldarwen]

I have re-pinked my ponies with watercolour paints! Just mix red watercolour paint and water and dip the hair there. I've managed to get just the perfect light pink on the hair, and it wont make the plastic pink. I dont have any pictures though, I only have my iphone which isnt able to catch the light pink 

[HollowZero]

I used leftover easter egg dye to repink Steamer's hair. He's at home, otherwise I'd show a picture!

I used a G3 comb, dipped it into the dye, then brushed it into his hair. It looked dark at first, but after I let it sit a few minutes and then rinsed, it came out great.

[hathorcat]

Do you think it changes the value? I just don't want an awesome pony like my Near Mint Curly Ringlets to become bait. (yes that is an exaggeration:P) I don't think it would go up, but who knows;)
It depends how well it is done to be honest. If its done to the standard of the ones Ivy has pictured as well as is a virtually identical match to original, I actually dont think it will devalue because it may not even be noticeable that its been done. At the very worst, if its done well, it may knock a couple of dollars off price. If its done badly - anything from staining at the routes to the hair being the wrong shade or the wrong depth of colour then yes it will devalue the pony.

How do you know if they really had pink hair or not? I have a Lickety Split...but her hair show a dingy white...so was she once pink or white hair?
As mentioned LS was always white. And if you are not certain just check out any of the G1 websites and they ll tell you the colour a pony's hair should be. So research is the best idea.

Does the dye process cause rust with washers?
Always take the tail out during the process and personally I remove the washer and the grip when repinking. Getting the washer wet pretty much assures you the metal will rust and at some point in the future that means tail rust. Other people do leave the washer and the tail in place so the decision is completely yours.

Good luck with your re pinking!

[ZennaBug]

Repinking doesn't lower the value for me.  It's still the original hair, so as long as it's done well, that's totally fine.  I'm sure some of my ponies were repinked at some point before I bought them (I specifically collect ponies with yellow bodies and the fading pink hair), but I'm not sure which ones and it honestly doesn't matter to me anyway.  Other collectors may mind, but even then I don't think it would matter too much.

How do you know if they really had pink hair or not? I have a Lickety Split...but her hair show a dingy white...so was she once pink or white hair?
As mentioned LS was always white. And if you are not certain just check out any of the G1 websites and they ll tell you the colour a pony's hair should be. So research is the best idea.

Pretty much this.  I had no idea Little Flitter was supposed to have pink hair when I started collecting because I got mine second-hand as a kid and she had always had white hair for me.  My Baby Cotton Candy has pure white hair too, but I actually prefer it faded, so I'm leaving her like that.

[DazzleKitty]

I hate to hijack this thread and use it to ask my own question, but if someone can answer it I would be so grateful.

I heard you can use Kool-Aid to repink ponies. Does this really work? If so, what flavor do you use?

[Sandra]

I just re-pinked my baby Sniffles earlier today. Here are the pictures:

Before:
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After:
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I used Rit Dye in Petal Pink. I think she looks pretty snazzy now, and it's close enough to the original pink for me to be content with. She just didn't look quite right with the white hair next to her twin which has a vibrant lavender/purple mane.

Post Merge: September 01, 2012, 11:19:55 PM

I hate to hijack this thread and use it to ask my own question, but if someone can answer it I would be so grateful.

I heard you can use Kool-Aid to repink ponies. Does this really work? If so, what flavor do you use?

I personally have never used Kool-aid, but I remember reading up on it. It apparently gives you a less vibrant color than Rit Dye. There was a thread somewhere on the old Arena site that I found that shows the difference between using Rit Dye and Kool-aid on one of the ponies (the mane dyed with Rit, tail with Kool-aid.) This person did it with red Kool-aid, like cherry or strawberry:

http://www.mlparena.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1407.html