No pony left behind

[SnorkMaiden]

I only display very few ponies these days, which is why I've become pickier about which ponies I buy and which ones I leave behind. At carboot sales, I will usually buy any G1s I find, unless they're a) very common and in poor condition and / or b) grossly overpriced. With the other generations, it depends on whether I've already got the pony and whether I'd like to have it, as well as price and condition.

In charity shops, I'm a bit picker, mostly because prices tend to be a lot higher. Also, I don't feel bad for leaving ponies behind, as they're very unlikely to be thrown away and will probably find another good home.

[Kikwifluff]

I'm a bleeding heart and rarely leave anyone behind 
I do pick up G3s/G4s, clean them up and then trade or sell them. This is so I can help others get ponies they want, and I get some money to buy the ponies I am looking for 

[SaraMari]

I never leave a G1 behind if it's at the thrift store or flea market (well I have a couple times in the past and regret it now haha). If it's a duplicate I pick it up to trade, if it's a bait I pick it up so it can get in the hands of customizers. Basically I want to get as many ponies back into the collector market as possible even if they don't stay with me haha.

G3s I always pass up as I have so many and can't handle any more, G4 I'm picking up any less common (not mane 6), and I haven't seen a G2 in years haha

[HelloGoodbye]

In thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, etc., I'll take legit any G1 (haven't found one yet though haha), any G2 (also never found one of these in a thrift store), and any G3 I don't have regardless of condition (and if it's one I do have I'll get it if it looks like an upgrade), and G4s I don't have yet (unless they're suuuper similar to one I already have).

I have left ponies behind that I didn't have yet that I found "in the wild" before.

Once at Breyerfest someone was selling tonsss of ponies for cheap, but lots of people seemed excited to be finding them so I only bought a few, so that was one case where I've left behind G1s, G2s, and G3s.  The room was so popular that I have no doubt there were no ponies left by the end of the weekend!

Another time I left behind G1s was at a comic con.  There was a big box of G1s, but by and large they were all common and suuuuper baity and wildly overpriced.  Finding G1s in the wild is so uncommon for me though that I couldn't resist just getting one.  So that's how $10 Baity Peachy came to join my herd    To be quite honest if I had found them earlier in the day before I had spent so much money a few more may have come home with me as well 

[Crystal Valley]

G2 ponies, all the g2 ponies I see on garage sales are for me, as nobody seems to want them in my country !
I take all the G1 ponies I can find too because they're quite rare on garage sales here
I rarely go on "antique store" because it's always overpriced (Is there gold in the G1 ponies they sell or something !?)

For G3 and G4 I just pic the one I don't have or I like but I lot of people sell them as batch so it's no rare that I come back home with G3 and G4 too

[Carrehz]

I rarely see any ponies in the wild but if I did I would probably not leave any behind, unless they were G3.5/G4 or overpriced, in super bad condition, etc. (Unless they were at an antique store or similar)

[SkyCakes]

I think because I dont get out often to buy G1 ponies that when I do see them I end up buying them all. I should be more selective but I can't help it. ><: I have thought about it more I will only try to get the more harder to find ones. That is if I see them at all in the wild.

[Snapdragon]

For me, since I don't find a lot of secondhand ponies, I have to make my rescues carefully; usually I go to toy fairs/conventions, where the typical pony is "SOOPAR R@RE!!!! MINT CONDITION G1 PEACHY!!! $500!!" type of sellers, so you have to be careful about who you buy and for how much! But I did buy a grubby and dirty G1 BBE Baby Shady, simply because she was the only G1 at the entire antique fair, and I wanted to save her from the bin of overpriced G3s the buyer was trying to hawk! (This was back when G3 was still in stores, so I knew they'd find a good home with someone!)

I also 'rescued' a G1 Little Flitter with black permanent marker all around her feet, because I felt bad for her! Someone had 'hit' all of the pony sellers at this particular toy show before I did, but she got left behind!! Poor Little Flitter!

Oh! I also went to a (moderately overpriced) toy booth at an anime con, many years ago, and rescued three TE Bright Eyes! I didn't need three, but for $5-10 each, I thought they were one of the rare worthwhile buys in the booth! (Meanwhile, a manky G1 Seashell sat behind glass priced at $25 because she was a "rare sitting pony"... >.>)

[ponytales]

At a toy fair or a collectors market, I would leave a G1 behind (depending on who it is/how much it is/if I already have them etc...)

But at a thrift store or a boot sale, absolutely no G1 will be left behind. I so rarely find them in the wild so if I see any, I'm grabbing them!

[orangepeachmango]

Oh! I also went to a (moderately overpriced) toy booth at an anime con, many years ago, and rescued three TE Bright Eyes! I didn't need three, but for $5-10 each, I thought they were one of the rare worthwhile buys in the booth! (Meanwhile, a manky G1 Seashell sat behind glass priced at $25 because she was a "rare sitting pony"... >.>)

This is such a good story  !! It's really amazing what non collectors consider rare and worth money, and what's not. My mom asks me all the time about which ponies she should buy for me and stuff, and what makes them special, etc. She almost didn't buy a whole lot of sweet sister ponies for me for really cheap because she though they were fakies!!! It pays to educate ; )

[invaderhorizongreen]

I seem to take everyone but the fast food toy ponies in, unless the fast food ones are in super good shape, then I use them for swaps.  Other that than I tend to pick up any I find just in case they are better than the ones i have or I can trade them.

[SnorkMaiden]

Oh! I also went to a (moderately overpriced) toy booth at an anime con, many years ago, and rescued three TE Bright Eyes! I didn't need three, but for $5-10 each, I thought they were one of the rare worthwhile buys in the booth! (Meanwhile, a manky G1 Seashell sat behind glass priced at $25 because she was a "rare sitting pony"... >.>)

This is such a good story  !! It's really amazing what non collectors consider rare and worth money, and what's not. My mom asks me all the time about which ponies she should buy for me and stuff, and what makes them special, etc. She almost didn't buy a whole lot of sweet sister ponies for me for really cheap because she though they were fakies!!! It pays to educate ; )

Indeed it does. I once found a G1 at a carboot sale, and the seller said she had another one, only she thought it might be fake. It was a Dream Beauty.

[orangepeachmango]

Indeed it does. I once found a G1 at a carboot sale, and the seller said she had another one, only she thought it might be fake. It was a Dream Beauty.

Oh YEAH this ones a fakie... But I'll take her off your hands for ya ;  D there's  no way she's one of the rarer ones..

[SundanceSadie]

It may sound strange, and this only applies to G1 ponies, but it really depends on how they're being presented. I can rationalize walking away if they're being displayed as collectibles because I feel like someone who will appreciate them will get them.

On the other hand...I recently bought G1 ponies I didn't really need because they were displayed on the ground (in the dirt) at a swap meet. I also took home another that day that was squished up in a box and baking in the Florida sun. I just couldn't walk away and leave them to that fate...I had to rescue them!

Hope that doesn't sound too silly 

this is true!!! if i went to like, an antique store and saw a case full of g1s, id only pick my favorite of the bunch-or none at all if theyre overpriced ; )

but everytime i see g1s at the thrift store or at a swap meet i scoop them up. my collection is pretty small, im always looking to add more in general, even if they arent on my wishlist.

It's nice to know I'm not alone!   @orangepeachmango

[Shabi]

If they're dirt cheap I'll take all of them except fakies.