G4 Prototype Ponies - Yay or Nay?

[Marigold]

Some could be called error ponies.

[Lady Starflower]

I have one right now, Rarity's head on DJ's body. I love Rarity so I'd love to get all the Rarity "error" ponies. I'd also love some others but Taobao confuses me to no end so I miss a lot of them

[Salli]

I have a couple of 'error' ponies, Holly Blue and Stella Bella/Lyra Rays but the only prototype-ish ponies I have are Mrs. Cake, Baby Molasses, non GW Ploomette and maybe one other. I don't usually care for 'error ponies', but the ones I have were meet exclusives I wanted I usually try to get any who are unique characters like Mrs. Cake. I don't really care if they are really prototypes, I just want as many characters as I can get my hooves on

[PinkRosedust]

Honestly, i don't consider most of these to be "prototypes". Ponies like Wysteria, Minty and perhaps some of the early different tinseled ponies, yes. Ponies with mismatched heads or lacking wings seem more like factory rejects and test runs to me. Not really an attempt at creating a new toy.

I own an alicorn Rarity but i have little desire to get most of these "frankenponies". A part of me feels like i could just as well be swapping around heads myself.

Agree with all of this. Some of them are pretty but for the most part I just don't get it.

[Shy Violet]

Now that I have a complete G4 collection I've been interested in prototypes/error ponies. I have a glitter Wysteria on the way 

I have these 2 ladies which I adore

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and Mrs Cake & Baby Molasses

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and a few more Taobao ponies on the way. I tend to look for ponies that have differences like the wrong symbol or different eyes, etc. rather than swapped heads but the swapped ponies are still fun. For me it adds more variety to my collection and I like their uniqueness

[cloud_weaver]

I love the prototypes! And congrats on that Fashion Style wystearya (also see your from WV ) I've been looking for the Fashion Style prototypes for awhile now with still no luck. Minty is HTF and quite costly when she does pop up but I'd say Sweetie Blue is the rarest since only 2-3 are known to exist compared to about 12 Mintys'. Also the yellow baby unicorn is very rare too (and hopefully my taobao agent has located one in China from a seller that I may be getting...Yay!)
I do have several Brushable sizes (won't repeat current pictures already shown)

This is such an interesting thread!  It definitely makes me appreciate the different unreleased/swapped ponies.  ^_^

Who is Sweetie Blue?  I've not heard of her.  =)  And the baby unicorn too...

[Honeycomb]

I don't really like G4, but I like to get my hands on prototypes now and then. I have quite a few now.

[SeashellnBubbles]

I like the idea of released "error" ponies. I traded recently for who I call "Diamond-less Rose" she's MIP but has no symbol! I mean, how special and cool is that!?
I think everyone wants a pony made just for them, or at least one that feels that way. Just like with a real horse, it can look like so many others, but there's something special and unique about your own, and it makes everyone feel better to have an "error" be special. We all have something we consider to be wrong with us, and I think, subconciously, we all root for the underdog wierdo!

[BrightIdea]

Yes, I do collect them. I was collecting everything before, including frankenponies, so I could examine them, but I must admit it was a tad costly and hard to keep up with everything (especially with ebay sellers that scoop up the whole lot of ponies). I miss out on a few things because I generally won't pay more than 10 bucks for a frankenpony.

Rare? Yessiree! If we look beyond factory tests, possible errors, and the frankenponies, a few ponies are left, that either appear to be the original design for a product, or appear to be a new product that never made it to release. A few of these are extremely rare, as in, only one of them has been found.

Some notable ponies that have been available for sale to the public include:
Minty
Sweetie Blue
Yellow baby unicorn
Reverse Cupcake
Translucent Applejack
Translucent Rarity
Translucent Fluttershy
Translucent Rainbowdash
Translucent Pinkie Pie
Blossomforth with bangs
Lavender haired Scootaloo
Zecora (Unfinished)

And then for fashion style size:
Pony with large eyes
Pony with dark bubbles
White Celestia
Shining Armor with large eyes, long hair, reverse cutie mark

Speaking of Shining Armor, does anyone besides SoSilver own this guy? I have heard zero about him, beyond what SoSilver said, so I assume he is quite rare?

This is SoSilver's pic hosted by My Little Pony News:
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I wouldn't consider these staples in my collection, but rather a few of them are the centrepiece of my collection.

The real trick with the prototype ponies is to buy them when they are cheap (usually off Taobao). A lot of my ponies only had an investment less than 10 dollars each, and these are now some of the most sought after and rare ones.

Its not safe to see a new pony on ebay and shell out your life's savings on it thinking its a prototype, because probability is not on your side. Most new ponies do come out. It's good to ask yourself "How much money would I spend on this if it were a prototype?" and also "If this is released in the future, how much loss am I willing to take on it?". Most of the time, people buying the "first ever" of something end up paying way more than the pony will be worth when it is released. Here's an example: Back when blind bag ponies were new, a person paid $400+ dollars (or some similarly large sum of money) for the first ever Fluttershy. Shortly after, they were everywhere. You can spend your money however you want, but if I were that Fluttershy guy, I would have regretted my purchase.

Anyways prototype ponies are neat, exciting, and mysterious. I'll ask again, anyone know about the long hair Shining Armor from the pic?

[TornadoTwist]

I only have Mrs Cake and one Blind Bag Prototype is on its way:

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I only collect them when they are not that expensive and look cool/cute.

[pyrodarknessanny]

im finding my sellg getting a few of these  now.

mrs.cake and the pink baby
i have a blue taile cheerilee on the way as well as a wiesteria 
i want some of the others  but im also a cheap ass  when it comes to ponies lol

[LunaDehligt]

I have 2 prototypes one G3 and a G4

[BrightIdea]

I only have Mrs Cake and one Blind Bag Prototype is on its way:

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I only collect them when they are not that expensive and look cool/cute.

Oo I like that one! He looks great, congrats.

[Esbayne]

I'd collect prototypes if I had the money and they were like, say Minty, and weren't released afterwards. Otherwise I'd wait for the release.
I don't like frankenponies at all.

Though I'm drooling over that long haired Shining Armor...
Because of the mohawk I made mine into a Punk, that could be his twin Metalhead brother... xD

[Einhornbaby]

I like the prototypes, but I'm not fond of the obvious mismatches.

This one is my favourite:

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Oh shes so so so cute
To be honest, its one of the few "prototypes" that I myself really consider to be one. Most of the others can "easily" be self made by switching head and tails and such. No offense, its just my mind