Your pony "rules"

[Salli]

When I got into customizing, I thought "I'm not going to collect". HA! I hated the g4s.

 

Well, now I collect g4s, I am trying to get one of every character and I try to buy loose ones since I can't keep them in boxes. Blind bags are what sucked me in! Those beady little eyes will get you! I just put up 2 MORE shelves for my blind bags and now I want to customize blind bags as all of the g1's I like. I am determined not collect any prototypes or factory errors...

I wasn't going to collect g1's but soon after I started customizing, my inner child (who wanted but never got a big brother pony) HAD to have them. I don't have any of the expensive ones though. I try to buy ones to restore so other people who care about minty ponies can have the minty ones. So now that I've done the rehair swap I can hardly look at a g1 and think about possibilities. So I am now collecting baity g1's and restoring them with variant colors.

I'm really glad I don't need the minty/Nirvanas, because I don't think my budget could handle it.



Post Merge: September 16, 2012, 11:05:48 AM

Also, Cazz, every time I see your avatar pic I drool over your lovely, classy pony displays.

[InkyMilk]

Haha, I love reading everyone's responses, it's so interesting how everyone goes about it so differently!

For myself, aside from my childhood G1 ponies (only 2 of them), I was going to start collecting only the G4s that I absolutely loved. For Christmas my mom bought me the TRU BB set, and so even though I wasn't really intending to collect BBs, I sort of got hooked into completing the first wave set. Fortunately, I have never seen any of the other waves around here and I won't buy them online, so I think I'm done with those for now, and even then, they're still G4 so they count.

But then I saw G3 babies. Oh dear. I didn't want to collect G3s since they're so big compared to G4 and I really love a smaller, compact pony...and G3s are SO tiny and adorable! So now I'm allowed to collect G3s, but only the babies! Buuuut...I've sort of allowed that rule to reach out to G1 and G2 as well, I'm allowed to collect them, but only if they're babies so I can keep my tiny, cute collection This actually works out pretty well, since one of my two childhood ponies IS a baby pony ( a ballerina baby), and I'm excited to find the other three babies to complete her set.

So far, keeping it to G4s and babies is working out pretty well. I also have a rule that I'm not allowed more ponies than I have "homes" for. I like to build little wood, model homes for them to live in, so I figure that's my allotted space, so I need to be very choosy about who and how many I adopt. I do have one shoebox filled with McD ponies and random odds and whatnot, but I don't consider them an "official" part of the collection, so as long as that shoebox stays just a single box, then all is well.

[Moonracer]

I have a few rules of my own... I usually try to stick to them, but it does happen that I bend them, depending on the circumstance. Here it goes:

- G1s - only the US and Euro releases, doesn't matter if complete or not. Variants and Nirvanas - only if it's a bargain. Not buying replacements to some of my toys at the moment, and not starting an army.
- G2s - buying only when it's a bargain, and there are no G1s to be seen.
- G3s - not buying until I'm not done with G1s and G2s
- G4s - same as G3s.
- G4 Blindbag - right now concentrating only on the Mane 6.

And that's pretty much it. Also, I usually tend to avoid buying merchandise, acessories and all the like, since I'm quite short on cash and want to save it for the ponies - the only time I made an exception to this rule was when I bought Bowtie plushie, but only because I love Bowtie and I've already missed out buying two plushies before her (Cotton Candy and Starshine), so I decided not to give up this time.

[Luxrayx]

-No duplicates
-Nothing bigger than my biggest fakie
-Blindbags-Only ones i know and like
-Fakies are ponies too

[Sonata]

At the moment, I have a wishlist, so I keep on the ones I want from the wishlist. Well, considering it's a biiiit too long xD I just try to get the ponies I am missing to complete the sets I have at the moment. Then I go on buying ponies I have always wanted since a child and complete those sets and so on.

I have a really broad wishlist of G1s and G3s, but I give priority to G1s and some G3s right after. Then all the others I would like to have too come after and any other toy line I like. So yes, those are my rules, more or less.

[BrightIdea]

My current rules are:
I can buy whatever I find at the store (fashion styles, brushables, and blind bags).
I can buy any variants I see online, so I can take pictures and share them on my blog.
I can only buy 1 ebay item per month.
Must buy at least one of each character (G4s).

I really tried to limit myself to the main 6 G4s, but then I saw Lily Blossom at the store. I am happy I gave in and bought her.

Then when I had decided "only one of every character" I saw this beautiful Fashion Style Rarity with this adorable leopard print saddle. Hehe, now I am committed to buying every Fashion Style.

But there was no way I was buying those tiny blind bag ponies... until wave 3 showed up at locally and I bought a couple to see what the fuss was about. I opened up this adorable little Apple Dazzle and fell in love. Now I am sitting next to this great big pile of blind bag ponies.

Yep. I broke my rules.

[Ivy]

I'm down to the only G1 ponies - accessories and playsets - and everything encompassed in G1 era

Been breaking it with Blindbags - and of course the occasional G3 Garage Sale Find...

[Flugangst]

No G3.5 allowed and no fakies. All other Ponies are more than welcome.

[StarlightGaze]

G4s only but I broke it once by buying a G3 Minty.

[SweetScoops]

My big rule is a maximum of 50 ponies. (All generations included)
When I started collecting it was every pony I could lay my greedy little paws on  And then It was only G1's, and then yellow winged ponies, and then the ones I really wanted, and then I wanted to complete my childhood collection. And now...well now it's the ones I like, And I'm so SO picky about them too 

I was'nt going to collect Blind bags, now I sorta do.. And in the beginning of G4 I bough every single pony, I've sold off all exept 7 and will only collect specific ones from here on, and I only got 2 G3's (both MOC) and 2 G2 (Both thrift store finds i like to much to sell.) So..there's my collecting pattern in shortness XP

[Flutterwonder13]

and also one Fluttershy because Rarity is my favorite and she and Fluttershy are adorable together.

A fellow fan of the Fluttershy/Rarity paring! Yay. 

Post Merge: September 16, 2012, 12:08:57 PM

My "rules":

-Only G4s, I seriously doubt I'll get into the other generations.
-No "posable" ponies
-no huge play sets
-Get ALL the basic brushables!
-Get ALL the blind bags!
-Get ALL the Fluttershys!
-Find a dang fashion style Rarity!

[Enolaalone]

To begin with I just wanted my childhood G1s back. Then I bought lots of sad looking G1 lots off eBay. Then I started buying blind bags (but only ponies in the rearing pose. Mostly I have stuck to that, my only exception is the wonderbolts) and I wasn't interested in customs. Then I bought a custom. But I wasn't interested in accessories. And now I have some ponywear and shoes on the way. Then I wasn't interested in Nirvanas. Now I have two Argies and an Italian on the way. LOL.

The only rules I haven't broken are no G2s, G3s and G3.5s.

[MoonStars]

first it was "Only moon and stars" themed G1 ponies, maybe a couple G3s (Midnight Dreams comes to mind). #fail as soon as I saw G2 Silver Swirl and the TAF  and Sparkle G1s.

New rule is "no duplicates". G1s and G2s and G3s so far so good on that, but G4s= so far, #fail... hard to stick to that rule when they come packaged with the non-duplicates... but OTOH add-on rule = "sell the duplicates", which so far is working somewhat.  (You know, except for the Pinkie Pie that has tinsel vs the P Pie that doesn't, vs the P Pie with a sparkly symbol... etc. *sigh*) Oh and new rule #2 = no more trading cards except any missing gold foils (ie if they come out with a whole new set I will pretend they don't exist. HAHA). And new rule #3: if the colors don't appeal to me and there isn't another reason I like the pony (Like, I hate pink, but P Pie is my favorite G4 character), it will not be bought. So far that hasn't worked out so well either. :-/

Pony collectors: keeping the global economy straggling along, one pony at a time.

ETA after seeing another post... yeah. The rule I regret breaking (but it's too late now..)? "No playsets".

[NoPonySpecial]

  Broken immediately: for G1s, only ones I had as a kid. Ha, hat was I thinking?

  G1: No matching babies and adults. Like, if I have adult Cotton Candy, I can't have a baby one, and vice-versa.
  For some reason, I also limit myself to "normal" earth, unicorn, and pegasus ponies. The problem is I love the molds on gimmicky ponies. My grails right now are Lady Flutter and Glow without wings, and I just bought a Bunny Hop specifically because her pocket was broken off.
  G2: No rules really, there aren't many G2s I want anyway.
  G3: Not actively seeking, but if I acquire some in lots, I only keep ones that
            a) I really like AND
            b) have a pose that no other pony in the collection has (exceptions made for the small number of G3s on my want list.)
  G4: No brushable sized ponies. I don't mind if I happen to acquire one somehow, like in a lot or something, but no seeking them out. I don't care for them, even if I love the characters. Basically, Blind Bag and McDonalds ponies only, with few exceptions. I think I have to break the rule for the CMCs and the Crystal Princesses set.)
  Across all Gens:
  Try to have a baby from each generation.
  Buy/look for broken/damaged ponies. For the reason mentioned above, and because I don't mind ponies with cancer and regrind, but other hate it, and those ponies need love too. (Only issue I can't stand in head/body mismatch. (shrug))
  Not a rule exactly, but I try not to have too many repeats of a single mold, but this is pretty lax.
  I love fakies, but I have my own bizarre criteria for which ones are too close to official MLPs to buy, and which are too real looking. I don't think I could even explain it. 

[Sugar]

Hmmm... apart from space and budgetary constraints ($xx.xx per week, not to be exceeded, including shipping for swaps), I don't really have much in the way of rules.  I happily obtain duplicates (though only with an eye for trading/selling, since I'm not an army gal - yet ) and though I'm focussing on G1s and select (ie: ones I really like the look of) G3s, I have a small herd of G4s, blindbags, McPonies, and even two G2s (who whisper in my ear at night that they're really, really lonely being only two and that they'd like more G2 company ).  I guess it boils down to:

* no G3.5s (I tried to 'em, I really did...)
* no keeping accessories (yeah, they'll all wind up on the block sooner or later)
* no MIBs/MOCs (take up too much room and I could never resist not actually holding them)
* no playsets beyond the Pretty Parlour (again, 'cause they take up too much space)

But if ever I suddenly find myself with a bona-fide ponyroom... all bets are off!