Really? To call her lifeless?

[Roseprincess1]

I have to say that stuff like this irks the snot out of me.
If a person spends money on toys and or things that they like ... they will always have those things... they will have that reminder of what they did with that money forever.
But that makes them "weird" Or "Lifeless" or "loosers" I know..my own flesh and blood have told me that on more times than I can count!

But if a person goes out, wastes money on drinks, and drugs, or drives wild or spends their whole paycheck on going out and partying.. they are considered normal ...
I DON'T GET IT!!
HOW in the name of Celestia does acting like a fool and having nothing to show for it later.. make you more of an adult then plunking down the occasional five bucks for something that you will have for the rest of your life... can show off... and will increase in value?
I think the people who say this stuff about collectors need to get THEIR heads screwed on straight.
cus frankly .. you all are the weird ones.

[partypony566]

I have to say that stuff like this irks the snot out of me.
If a person spends money on toys and or things that they like ... they will always have those things... they will have that reminder of what they did with that money forever.
But that makes them "weird" Or "Lifeless" or "loosers" I know..my own flesh and blood have told me that on more times than I can count!

But if a person goes out, wastes money on drinks, and drugs, or drives wild or spends their whole paycheck on going out and partying.. they are considered normal ...
I DON'T GET IT!!
HOW in the name of Celestia does acting like a fool and having nothing to show for it later.. make you more of an adult then plunking down the occasional five bucks for something that you will have for the rest of your life... can show off... and will increase in value?
I think the people who say this stuff about collectors need to get THEIR heads screwed on straight.
cus frankly .. you all are the weird ones.

Exactly, ponies are always an investment. They are not a waste. There will always be collectors and always someone who wants to buy our ponies.

[Vintergatan]

you do not want to know the amount of money my mom and mother in law spend on cigarettes and the amount of money my sister in law spends on going out. Just saying...

[Leopard_Print_Unicorn]

Also, why are some hobbies considered "normal" and others make us freaks, losers, probably single, etc.? One of my mom's friend's husbands has a whole NASCAR room full of memorabilia, etc, which sports fans seem to see as the norm, yet she worries about me finding another husband (like I want one?) because of my ponies and plushies.

Kind of like when I was in school and I dressed all in black and was friends with all the metal/goth/punk and otherwise weird people, we got picked on, but it was perfectly ok for the "normal" people to paint their faces and sometimes even bodies in team colors and act completely crazy for the sake of a sports game, because it was "all in good fun." Fine, but if you have your fun, let me have mine. It ain't hurtin' anybody.

[hathorcat]

I think no matter what someone collects, people always have a stereotypical view of "collectors". I have been a pony collector too long, along with so many others, to let comments on random websites hurt or annoy me or assume everyone is going to judge you.

The internet is faceless - people act online in ways that they would NEVER deign to do in real life - call that cowardly or call that shy, either way I have learned to ignore it or simply laugh at the fact these people have the time to make comments on sites like this. Perhaps they need to get a life?

[Esbayne]

I think that might have been me LOL! Yeah it was pretty horrific at the time but then I decided (with the help of fab pony peeps here) that they're are SO not worth it! If they're taking time to make nasty comments about others who they don't even know then they're the saddos (and worse thing I can't say on here )

Sarah xx

Actually you know what, it might have been you. xDD The article I saw was on someone named Sarah from the UK. By the way, I love your collection! Especially your Alice Cooper pony, that's insanely cool! Your pony room is epic! I'd love to spend hours just looking at them all. xD

[DancingPhoenix]

My mom doesn't  understand collecting as a whole. She sees the ponies I have and thinks it's too much, so it's hard for me to not feel guilty buying a pony. But it's really like you guys said, I spend my money on what I want and I don't go and buy expensive clothes or unnecessary gadgets. To each his own but, it sucks that other people can't let it be.

[Prince Primbrose]

Honestly this is exactly how my family (at this point mainly just my brother) reacts to my collection. My brother gets angry at me anytime I get a package and will throw it around, yell at me, and talk about how I need mental help or have a bunch of problems... just because I spend a little money on toys. The amount he and my parents spend on cigarettes, beer, and similar things in a week is more than I spend on ponies in a month, but I'm the one who needs help... Hmmm....

I always hate seeing happy collectors show the world their things and then get shot down and insulted like that. How dare we spend money on things that make us happy, right!!? Having a hobby and making yourself smile is suuuuch a waste of money! /sarcasm.

Hugs all around!  I'm so glad there's a friendly community here where no one is getting shamed for *gasp* enjoying something!

[SALTY5621]

Honestly this is exactly how my family (at this point mainly just my brother) reacts to my collection. My brother gets angry at me anytime I get a package and will throw it around, yell at me, and talk about how I need mental help or have a bunch of problems... just because I spend a little money on toys. The amount he and my parents spend on cigarettes, beer, and similar things in a week is more than I spend on ponies in a month, but I'm the one who needs help... Hmmm....

I always hate seeing happy collectors show the world their things and then get shot down and insulted like that. How dare we spend money on things that make us happy, right!!? Having a hobby and making yourself smile is suuuuch a waste of money! /sarcasm.

Hugs all around!  I'm so glad there's a friendly community here where no one is getting shamed for *gasp* enjoying something!

mines the same. he whines about me spending a few measly dollars on something when he spends around $200 each on hats he barely ever wears

[Lyra]

Some people still think like this:

 Adult women have to be sensible and may only buy luxury items if they are NOT solely for her  personal indulgence. For example, nice makeup, clothes and toiletries are acceptable because that both indulges herself and the people who look at her.
Luxury furnishings and appliances for the home are ok because that indulges the whole family. But, to buy something impractical like a vintage toy (for display, not for her child) - well thats just SO selfish. Men can buy lego and model planes, of no use to anyone but themselves, but thats ok because boys will be boys they dont have to be sensible.
OK, men do  get stupid comments for collecting toys too it's just I don't think an artcile about a man collecting lego would receive as much harassment and 'surprise'. Many people just can't stand what they see as 'childish' behaviour in other adults as they project their own insecurities and expectations on other people or whatever psycological reason.

But all this usually subconcious, so instead of saying 'I'm made uncomfortable by what I view as self indulgent behaviour  because blah blah my own insecurities and I do it too, just not by buying ponies,' they'll fling insults instead.

[OLumeVaSti]

Whenever someone gives me crap about my collection,  I just say you just wait until I want to sell them you'll see

[brighteyes]

Haters gonna hate. They don't just hate collectors, they hate lots of things and people. They spend their lives looking for the bad and finding it.

I'm so happy I'm not them and I do feel sorry for 90% of people. I'm so glad for this community

Nicely put!  I try to see the world this way too, though sometimes the haters get me down too.

For me ponies are a hugely effective de-stressing tool.  I have a really stressful job and I need help managing that stress.  So I have three options:

1. Go to a psychiatrist every few weeks and talk about it, get prescribed meds to help deal with stress and take the meds.  Cost: $$$

2. Don't do anything about the stress and die early due to stress effect on body systems Cost: less $ but not very desirable outcome.

3. Spend an hour or so after work browsing pony forums and eBay, go to flea markets on the weekends and fix up ponies and have fun arranging pony room.  Cost: $$

Plus in the end with option 3 I HAVE something to show for it.   A collection can also be viewed as an investment.  Mimic was one of the first ponies I bought when I started collecting years ago.  I paid 40$ for her in Mint condition with her brush.  Her price has increases sufficiently that I would say she buying her was a good investment in addition to being fun. 

 

[Roseprincess1]

Honestly this is exactly how my family (at this point mainly just my brother) reacts to my collection. My brother gets angry at me anytime I get a package and will throw it around, yell at me, and talk about how I need mental help or have a bunch of problems... just because I spend a little money on toys. The amount he and my parents spend on cigarettes, beer, and similar things in a week is more than I spend on ponies in a month, but I'm the one who needs help... Hmmm....

I always hate seeing happy collectors show the world their things and then get shot down and insulted like that. How dare we spend money on things that make us happy, right!!? Having a hobby and making yourself smile is suuuuch a waste of money! /sarcasm.

Hugs all around!  I'm so glad there's a friendly community here where no one is getting shamed for *gasp* enjoying something!

Ok darling.. with all due respect to your family.. your brother sounds like a jerk.
I have a Father that is ex military and has THE WORST temper on the great green earth.. but will not do that.. in fact hes probably the only person in the family that thinks my ponies are not an issue.
If someone did that to one of my packages ... I'd get a restraining order not to mention take them to small claims for theft. He's got no earthly right to miss treat your things! He sounds like that Sid brat from Toy Story!!!
You are a saint for puttin' up with that nonsense!
I Really honestly do not see what the problem is... I sat down and did the math for all of my ponies the other day about how much i acutally have in them. All of my G1's .. all of my g4's and my g3's  the total came up to LESS than 350.00...
Cus i got my g3's in a couple of lots..one time i got 20 ponies for 20.00 .. thats a buck a pony.. AFTER shipping .. ditto on the second lot.
Same Dealie for my G1's ..i got them all at REALLY good deals on ebay and etsy.
All of my G4's i got at dollar stores and walmart... all of them at the standard issue 5.00. The only exceptions are lily blossom and cheerilie and they were 10.00 each. My large princess cadence was free and my white celestia was only 15.00 and my pink celestia was 10.00. (some of them were gifts so i didn't pay for them)
So honestly its not like people like us but a fortune into this stuff.
I know people who hate are just going to hate.. and nothing we can say or do will change how people feel about this.
But it still just makes me so angry that there are those out there in the world who behave in such a manner.

[GustyFox]

It is sad that people can't understand something (like collecting) can make other people happy.
It's even more sad when they can't respect it.

Internet is a terrible place in some aspects, the screen makes people feel safe to say/write things they (or some of them at least) wouldn't in real life.

[DazzleKitty]

There really is a stigma against toy collectors. Adults should only like and do "adult" things. Life would just be boring if that's what it was all about.

I'm just as much of a "loser" as this women. I have several hundred ponies among other toys in my bedroom. I could open up a toy store. I really could. My friends buy me ponies, and my past boyfriend bought me pony stuff.

I also prefer cartoons over movies. And I have a huge anime collection.

So I guess I'm worse off than this woman. I mean, I haven't had a real shortage of guys and friends, and have a great job and social life.

Someone who takes their time to put someone down for an innocent hobby must be bitter over something.