Hi folks! I'm finally getting around to making my introductions here, having tried to join up today and realised I'd already done so once before and not got as far as saying hello - whoops!
I'm getting on for thirty five, and have had several periods of MLP obsession! The first as a child, in the glorious '80s and earliest 1990s, when Applejack, North Star, Baby Bow Tie and Curly Locks romped with me through the meadows of imagination.
The second was as a teenager, in the late '90s, just before the G2 ponies were launched. My best friend and I began going around car boot sales, buying up our childhoods for pennies in the form of ponies in numbers we'd only dreamt of owning then. Some teenagers run wild on sex and drugs and rock'n'roll, we took the rock'n'roll but traded sex and drugs for nostalgia and kitsch, hahah! The internet was just moving into people's homes around then, and sites like Kim's Dream Valley helped us to ID our finds, and to feed our fascination.
I did buy a smattering of G2 ponies and associated merch, but I never really took to them in the same way that I loved the ponies of my own childhood, though I did use a couple to make my first (and to date, last) customs - tributes to Nicky and Richey, the two 'glamour twin' members of my favourite band, Manic Street Preachers (MSP... MLP... yeah, you see where I was coming from on this!). They were gifts to a penpal, and alas I didn't photograph them before sending :-( Here's a link to a picture of the guys in question, however, to give you an idea of where I went with the customisation (lots of leopard print and eyeliner, basically, hahah!)
https://www.proudonline.co.uk/content/images/thumbs/0002510_richey_edwards_nicky_wire.jpegOver the years paying for boring stuff like rent and clothing has taken priority over MLP collecting, but I've never lost interest completely. I was pleased when the G3 ponies reverted to a more trad pony shape, but disappointed by the overstylised G3.5 ponies. I've been delighted by the Friendship Is Magic phenomenon, however! If finding the ponies themselves a little on the small and hard side (nothing will ever come close to the toys of our youth!).
I think I originally registered last year because I was hoping to find tips and advice on customising, having decided, a decade and a half on after gifting my Nicky and Richey customs, to make myself a full set of Manic Street Ponies to keep. Yeah, still not got around to that! But I will, eventually...
I came back again *today* for... tips and advice on customisation, but this time because I want to create the pony my 3 and a half year old nephew Alec dreamt up for himself
I love him to bits (have no kids myself) but he's such a stereotypical little boy in his preference for toy cars and trains and endless vehicles rather than teddy bears and dolls. I was always one for dollies and ponies and bears (oh my!) myself, so it's been a bit of a stretch for me to get fully engaged while playing with him. However!!! To my enormous delight, he's recently found and adopted an old G2 pony of my sister's (his mother's) - Princess Crystal, though my sister renamed her Wizardora. To my further amusement, he's been watching Friendship Is Magic with his daddy (so I guess they're both bronies, now!).
All this was lovely enough, but my heart nearly melted when Alec told me about his imaginary pony. She's called Tumbleberry (such a good pony name!). She is pink, with pink hair, and has a gold star symbol ('just like a princess!'). Apparently she's 'teeny weeny' and likes to tumble everywhere <3 <3 <3
Well, of course, I *had* to have a go at making his imagination become reality, so I've found myself a punky looking bait baby pony Sweet Stuff to customise, and am keen to get started (before he starts learning about gender stereotyping and dismisses ponies as 'for girls')! Hopefully I'll find plenty of guidance and inspiration here :-)
Wow, that was much longer than it needed to be, I'm sure, hahah! Colour me excited!
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