Is there a COMPLETE pony guide?!?

[Sunset]

I don't want to go back in history and buy ponies or change anything. I would be fine with a viewing only time machine.

To wander off topic a little bit, a viewing-only time machine would be really cool!  What a great way to screw up the present without worrying about the "butterfly effect" where if you accidentally step on a pony with a butterfly symbol in the past you could eliminate all ponies in the present etc.

Back on topic, I find strawberryreef to be a great resource for the basics and regret that I never got to explore the recently-deceased Dream Valley and other sites before they vanished.

There's a printed "My Little Pony G1 Collector's Inventory" on Amazon that claims to be complete with accessories and playsets of everything through 97, and there's a G2 and a G3 one as well.  Does anyone here who knows anything have experience with these books to know if they're any good at all?  I'm interested in scooping them up for fun reading and pictures even if they aren't internationally complete.

For Dream Valley and some of the defunct sites you could try the Wayback Machine.  For Dream Valley You could look at both the most recent years when there were actual photos and the early years when they used the backcards.

[Shy Violet]

http://www.ponylandpress.com/ Is another one I reference lots but I'm not sure how up to date it is

[lostpony]

Hey thanks Ponyland Press seems like a great site.  Haven't seen it before but I just checked it out and it's well organized as to pose, year and set and who came with what accessories etc.  Seems to be a bit incomplete/has a broken link here and there, but not too bad.

Helped me figure out the pose of Bright Eyes, Pina Colada, and Strawberry Surprise is called Crumpet's pose, and helped me to be sure a pony I just picked up today is in fact a fakie.  Crumpet pose, light pink sparkle pony with only a single row of hair populated (but has a line for a second row that has no holes and no forelock but there are little dents where the plug holes would be) and slightly off eye paint (too much iris) and under the right front hoof where it should say Hasbro it's a bit lumpy like the name was sloppily masked before stealing the mold.  Says Made in, and China under the rear hooves....the plastic smells different too.  Oh yeah symbol is three small yellow hearts.  Unless it's an obscure Nirvana, it's an amazing fakie.  I'll get it in a brag post with some other junk from the last couple weeks i suppose.

[bright rabbit 1]

http://www.ponylandpress.com/ Is another one I reference lots but I'm not sure how up to date it is

It said it was going to update in 2017, but it hasn't been yet.

[Foxtale]

Also don't forget the wonderful Arena's out and coming soon site!!!

http://cat352.wixsite.com/mlparena/new

[lostpony]

Wow that's a lot of G4.  How come not updated after 2015?

[Taffeta]

I know that one set of collector guides have a good reputation among collectors, and one or two older ones don't. I don't know which they are though so I can't be sure.

I don't miss DV.

[Stormness_1]

Summer's guides are generally the most well regarded, she's Sweet Tune here on the arena, and she also does the US Fair. They do however only completely cover the US lines, and a few merch lines. I also find the G3&4 books a little confusing because they are separated by year, and not gen, soI have to remember what year something is to find it in the books in the case of G3, and G4 isn't complete, obviously. Deb Birge's (Gypsy's?) latest book is o-kaaay, but being nirvana it's definitely not complete. It does have a nice rarity scale for known nirvanas, which I  really quite like! I wouldn't get her older books though, they're rather outdated.

However anything pony can generally be found online, and if not, there's a wealth of knowledge here in the pony community, you just have to ask!