What's your friends' and family's opinion on pony collecting?

[Majesty]

I'm kind of anti-social so I don't have many friends to speak of.  I have my online friends here and my pal Firefly (who I do know in real life) and she collects ponies too so no judgement from her.  My parents give me attitude about my collecting ponies and monster high saying they're a waste of money and all they do is sit there taking up space and I could spend my money on more useful things, etc.  I've heard it all before.  Randomly, my parents will take an interest in my collection or if I get something new but most of the time if I get something new I get yelled at and new phrases appear "where are you going to put that you have no room", you just got a new doll (but they don't realize I very rarely get something new lately because my job cut my hours to the point where I barely have any money left for the week, no spending money either).

[hyenacub]

I don't get it.  If you're n adult, or even a minor who has his or her own money to spend...why do people care?  Just because it's not something they value doesn't make it worthless.  Their opinions don't shape the value of anything.

If you've taken care of your responsibilities, what you do with the rest of your money is your business.  I can't stand when people trash others' hobbies as useless or stupid.  They're hobbies.  They're for enjoyment.  Sheesh.

[Pinkie-kitty]

I don't get it.  If you're n adult, or even a minor who has his or her own money to spend...why do people care?  Just because it's not something they value doesn't make it worthless.  Their opinions don't shape the value of anything.

If you've taken care of your responsibilities, what you do with the rest of your money is your business.  I can't stand when people trash others' hobbies as useless or stupid.  They're hobbies.  They're for enjoyment.  Sheesh.

I feel ya! Wish everyone had this mindset though. 

[hyenacub]

No kidding!  Well at least we here arent like that hehe.

[Gingerbread]

My mum thinks my collecting is bonkers but she does support me in her own way. My collection is also an investment for my son, so she only ever talks about the monetary value which bugs me a bit. My dad thinks it is awful and never mentions it

[mlp4me]

My husband... at this point you've got a 50/50 chance from day to day for either like 'em or trash 'em.
My parents are polar opposites. My Dad as a gift will get me whatever, my Mom is for something practical.
On the other hand, my friends are supportive, which is awesome.

[invaderhorizongreen]

I have a few friends who look for me, and I have found a few too.

[Broken Irishwoman]

My husband loves it, my parents like it, and at work I get laughed at. I don't care though, I'm proud of it!

[gold.standard]

    My mother has been really supportive of it, and picks up every pony she sees for me, regardless of generation, she even knows which one I had in my childhood herd. I actually think she's really happy that I'm back into it. I was absolutely pony obsessed as a child, tons of toys and I guess I watched the movie so much my mother had it memorized. But I only know this because my mother told me. I personally don't remember much at all. I remember asking to have parasol in the bath one time, but everything else is/was gone from my mind. Which is the ptsd (my father is a truly evil person I'll leave it at that) at work there, years of therapy haven't really helped much. But, collecting old toys again, mostly ponies, brings back pieces here and there. In a weird sort of way, collecting ponies has give me and my mother a bit of closure. Which is probably why my mom is so supportive, because they were a very postive thing from that time period and now are a big part of my healing.

My stepfather didn't believe it was a thing and was just blown away for a while, hahah. He supports it too, which is nice.

As for my friends, the close ones at least,they're pretty great about it! Some of our gaming night friends give my bff a lot of crap for collecting because he's a guy, but don't say anything to me, which bothers me a lot, gender shouldn't matter!!


Sorry for getting so serious and depressing there!! Things are much better now!!

[Majesty]

I feel like people who collect things like MLP and Monster High and stuff should live in their own town away from people who don't understand. 

[zombie85chick]

My husband hates them with the passion. We can't talk about it without it turning into a huge fight. My collection grew quickly. I went from a few ponies to over a hundred. And as embarrassed as I am to admit this, I spent almost entire paychecks. He says it conjures up a lot of bad feelings and I'm very selfish. I've thought of selling them. But I truly love them and it helps with my anxiety and depression. He disagrees and says they're just stuff. He feels having ten is fine but anything over that is excessive and materialistic. It has makes me quite miserable when these discussions come up. He wants me to get rid of them and put the money into savings.
My parents just told me to be better about my spending. My coworkers and friends either are amused or interested.
Lots of mixed emotion.
 

[Vintageg2]

My family is supportive, they always look out for them. My boyfriend does not really like them, but that is more because of the money I spend on them. But he always saves up all his and I like to buy things with mine. Some friends understand, others don't, but I never had anyone making fun of me because of collecting, so that is already very valuable, especially reading other stories..
So overall I am satisfied with everyone else's opinions 

[SkyCakes]

I think it is they dont care. I dont really talk too much about it around my husband. My daughter and I babble alot about ponies. My family though they do collect other things. My MIL loves to collect perfume. My FIL has his coin collection. My daughter has her shopkins. My dad doesnt collect much. He used to be into stamps. My mom likes dolls and I think hers is a small collection.

[elvenwine26]

I don't think I've had a negative response to my collection in many years. However I don't actively collect or advertise my collection. My apothecary jar of bait pony heads gets more questions than the actual collection. Heh