Resources to help hunt rare collectable toys? (Non MLP)

[Tulips]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of resources that would help me in my hunt of the rarest Sweetie Pups? If there is perhaps a forum more oriented towards connecting collectors of all vintage toys? Or Facebook groups I could post wanted ads on?

I am very close to finishing my collection, however some of the pups I have left to find I have never even seen photos of besides their promotional images on packaging. So finding them MIB may very well be impossible, and loose might take me a lifetime. Hence why I am asking for any help or advice from the community.

Cheers for reading!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I don't know of any other site besides Ghost of the Doll...

[flying_narwhal]

I've found flickr to be a useful tool over the years in connecting with other collectors of various things (80s/90s toys, vintage stationery, etc). I don't know about a specific Sweetie Pups group, since my main use for flickr is in cataloging my vintage Japanese stationery and toy collections. But the connections I've made there have helped immensely in hunting down some rarer items I was in search of. There might be some vintage toy collectors on there that might be able to help in your search? I know there are a lot of vintage toy groups on there. You can't actually buy/sell there since it is against the rules (although there are still people who do it) but connections with other collectors can be really useful. I've seen several people on there who have/collect prototypes of vintage toys.

I don't use it much, but I know some people use instagram for the same sort of thing. Posting a "In Search Of" picture of what you're looking for and connecting with people who collect similar things might be a good idea.

You may already be doing this since you are an experienced collector, but using the "save search" feature on eBay is a great tool for being alerted to new listings of items you are in search of (they get emailed to you as well as posted on your front page). Saving different variations increases your chance of the system picking up listings you might be interested in.

Sorry I can't give a more helpful answer!

[Wardah]

I'll tell you what seems to be even harder to track down. Toys from just a few years ago that weren't released in the US.

[Tulips]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll check Flickr out and explore Ghost of the Doll further

Edit: After joining the Ghost of the Doll forum I found a very old post that speculated that two of the pups I am seeking were never actually mass produced. That would explain why no photos of them exist beyond promotional pictures, this is also disheartening... I guess they will become my life long grail, I would need some serious collector connections to track down whoever currently owns the prototypes if they even do still exist.