Eat Sleep Everything MLP....

[Livia]

Well, this bug has bitten me way harder than I thought it would....I've been a MLP collector now for nearly two months, and it's all I can think about....

Daydreaming of an unbelievable find in a second hand shop, having an absolute depro when losing a bid.....Even asking for MLP's for Christmas...an odd request coming from a 40 year old...

And then I realize that I will never be able to have one of every G1 pony ever made....and for a person who has a little bit of OCD, that is a disaster...but one I would have to cope with....

Now my question to all the veteran pony collectors...does this eagerness eventually reach a plateau? Start to fade a little?

Here's to many MLP's under your Christmas tree!

[NightGliderSA]

Good luck with the second hand store find - I have been looking for three years now and found... two. I also go to toy fairs and I hear that flea markets are also great, so maybe have a try there? With regards to the local online market, it has just gone loopy at the moment for some reason. Prices are simply insane and not indicative of market price at all. As in ten times more in some cases, no names mentioned. Ahem.

To answer your question: Personally, I have found that the bug is worse now than when I first started. Just warning you. But perhaps I am not sufficiently 'seasoned' 

[princessluna11706]

To answer your question: Personally, I have found that the bug is worse now than when I first started. Just warning you. But perhaps I am not sufficiently 'seasoned' 

This!  I've been collecting since I was a child in the 80s, I've never actually stopped. Despite collecting for about 30 years, I have the bug more than ever, and continue to have MLP dreams and what have you.  I'm definitely not complaining

Oh, and I feel you with the want all the ponies thing, my childhood dream (before I realized just how many there really were) was to get one of every G1.. well that dream is squashed :p But I will still enjoy collecting! 

[Livia]

Thanks for the reply NightGliderSA...and for the advice.

I think finding G1 ponies in SA is sometimes different than in other countries. For one, I think we have way fewer collectors here.

I also wonder...did we get all the ponies (not nirvanas, exclusives, etc) which was available in the UK and US?

About the local online market....I also noticed a few ponies are very pricey...you can find the same pony for way less...

PrincessLuna...wish I also started collecting in the 80's. And thanks for the heads-up...seems like I'll be pony crazy for the rest of my life (or as long as I can afford it  )

[Shaiyeh]

I've, like Princessluna, started collecting as a kid, and then picked it up again 11 years or so again.  I've had several dips in my collecting due to various reasons but the bug always comes back
I would say though that it does evolve. Your collecting goals will change, pony generations come and go... I've laso had the must-get-every-pony-under-the-sun goal, but I've scaled it down to collecting from a few sets I like at a time, and when/if I finish one, I can add another one I like to the want list I do still have the goal of owning every g2 tho... xD
I  still ask for ponies for xmas tho, and have dreams of finding them in thrift shops, but clothes and items with retro g1 designs... for instance I always take my coffee from a pony mug I wish they'd do LARGE pony mugs so I could have my bathtub-ful of tea all ponified as well xD  I don't expect for that craziness to go away xD

[Taffeta]

This is random but I am really happy that we have more than one person now in South Africa collecting. I think there's still a lot about the South African market that we don't really know about. All I know for sure is that South Africa seem to have some ponies from the UK, some from the US, some of their own (which are very rare and sought after by Nirvana collectors) and a few (like Truly and Cupcake) which were sold in Scandinavia on UK cards but didn't get to the UK :/  So probably we're all going to learn from you and Night Glider in your adventures collecting

Going back to your original question...I've collected MLP since I was almost 3 and I took one year out when I felt I was getting too old for them at about age 12. I got back into MLP collecting in 1995, came online in 1997 and am still collecting now. (I am 35).  I have always had my collection and have never thought of selling them, but I don't always focus on the ponies or am I always actively chasing pony stuff. I have had long periods in those 20 years where I am not adding to the collection and that is fine.

 I think when I first discovered that the US had a ton of ponies I had wanted as a child, I went a bit mad. We did a lot of trading - and I was obsessed with going to carboot sales when I knew ponies often appeared there. It was a different world then, as MLP was easy to find and cheap at second hand sales, which is not the case now, and that makes your job harder. But I would suggest you sit down and make a list of your priorities. Those are the ponies you want the most and therefore give them the most attention when buying online. Anything you pick up in the meantime in your local area then becomes an unexpected bonus xD. But I think the novelty of finding all these ponies does blow your mind for a bit. When I first came online, the world were still waking up to the idea of UK ponies, which I had grown up with, so I was really involved in trying to get information about my childhood ponies online, and that captured my interest in MLP forever, really.

With time I think you find the things that you really really want to focus on, rather than just trying to grab anything that moves. It helps to have an action plan of real key wants to go after. So to begin with, identify some targets and shoot for them. Don't worry about having all the G1 MLPs. If nothing else, you have the wonderful prospect of always having something to collect (which is much more difficult the bigger your collection becomes). Having all the ponies is not as much fun as hunting for all the ponies in my view. So take it slowly and enjoy the hunt

[Xenotropos]

I fell in love with the G4 show.  I can totally feel the obsession of having them ALL, like some deranged pokemon trainer .  Big ponies, little ponies, playsets (and I'm in my 40's too)... it could get overwhelming and waaaaay out of control easily.

What I did was focus in on one part of it.  I really liked the little blind bag ponies so I made it a plan to only collect those.  Also, I have a master plan to recreate every pony in the Ponyville by modifying them.  This is a huge project and I may never complete it, but it keeps me from having fits if I get a double.  Doubles go into the Modify Box, new ones into the Nerd Herd.  Sorting the Mod Box also helps me focus on what I really need, rather than endlessly want.

I also have to say eventually the obsession gets less.  I still do love me a new pony, but I no longer have that nail biting NEED* to get new ones. Eventually you'll settle into a stable (no pun intended) state.



*okay, I am jonesing for that new Celestial blind bag sized figure.... and the card-backed Luna.....I just don't feel the need to spend over 30 bucks on a tiny rubber horse like I used to.

[Shatyr]

I'm in much the same boat as Taffeta. I began collecting as a child, always asking for ponies and checking the second hand stores for ponies whenever we went there. I never considered getting rid of my collection, even when I wasn't actively adding to it.

My collecting fever comes in waves. I can go months without looking at ponies, then see three grails the one time I look at eBay and blow my budget. I'll dream in ponies (did the other night, actually) and there are signs of them everywhere in my apartment.

Finding them second hand at this point is a thrill. I rarely check the toy areas of second hand stores anymore, simply because I know I will maybe see a G4, G3 at best, and I only collect G1. I'm sure it's a numbers game, because other people are finding them, but the disappointment of not finding anything keeps me away.

I like Taffeta's suggestion of listing the ones you're looking for and then considering anything you find locally a bonus surprise. I'm going to try switching my own mindset to that. It would make finding something all the more sweet.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

Now my question to all the veteran pony collectors...does this eagerness eventually reach a plateau? Start to fade a little?

In my case, I've been into MLP for over six years (got into it in 2011, July probably going off my join date here). In that time, I have always been into it to an extent, but there were a couple years in between where my main focus was shifted elsewhere. For a bit of context, I'm autistic, and we have "special interests". Things that we're super interested in and focus on intensely. This can be anything from media, hobbies, etc. MLP is one of mine, and generally I have many, but "focus" on one more than the others at a given time. MLP was my main focus since I got into it July (?) 2011, and remained so until I'd say about mid-2013? This was the period of time when I was really actively collecting, constantly thrifting for and buying new ponies.

Then MLP got put on the backburner a bit as I shifted my primary focus to buying new clothes, I would still get a pony every now and then, but I wasn't getting them as often. I often regret this as when I wasn't being as active, many ponies that I now really want were released, and I missed out on them since I wasn't actively following new release news! Then earlier this year when I found out about G4.5 after seeing them in Target, that made me want to actively collect again, and now I'm back to thinking about ponies 24/7!

So TD;LR, I got into MLP in July 2011, was super into it until about mid-2013, focused on other things for a bit, got back into actively collecting and constantly thinking about ponies earlier this year.

[Mami Tomoe]

I have been an mlp fan for 15 years and I still want them all

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I have been an mlp fan for 15 years and I still want them all

The ultimate dream.

I would absolutely love to have all of them, but man. Don't know if I'd have the patience to save up money for Rapunzel, a bunch of Nirvanas, etc.

[nessa16]

Welcome Livia!  Neat to see new collectors around.  Who is the pony in your avatar, looks like a SA, no?  If it is, he/she is the first that I think I have liked from SA.  I have been collecting MLP off and on since I was a child (born in '87).  I honestly don't remember getting any from the stores, even though my mom swears that I got a few.  I have a picture of my older brother at Christmas with Gusty, which apparently was his before mine, and I know that I got some petites and a My Little Kitty from the store.  Otherwise, all of mine have been acquired second hand online, at flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, etc.  MLP was not ridiculously abundant here second hand but it was much easier to find them in the 90s than now. 

I thought that I had lost my childhood herd and was devastated until I found them again.  I had also given my herd away to my cousin for a year or so when I thought that I was "too old" for them.  Thanks goodness she was kind enough to give them back when I asked.  I had a small collecting spurt in Freshman year of high school and college.  I had stopped collecting for quite a few years because I was saving for a Europe trip my senior year of high school but always picked them up when I found them locally.  I think that I really got back into them full time as a junior or senior in college with the reboot of G4.  I got online at that time too, even though I had thought about joining MLPA back in high school, but was still distrustful of the internet.

So, it waxes and wanes.  Even though I consider myself actively collecting, I don't always focus on MLP, was really into MH for a few years, with MLP in the background.  Now full bore back into MLP now that MH is grinding to a halt.  So, don't worry if this happens to you with other interests.  May people admit to feeling "burned out" with collecting and take a hiatus.  Doesn't mean you will never collect again.  I dream about find MLP and incorporate it into every day life, even at the office.  I am not a "gotta catch 'em all" collector, only ones that I like.  I collect a little of every generation too.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

So, it waxes and wanes.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, pretty much this.  I've had a giant collection, a tiny collection, a growing collection, a down-sizing collection...  my priorities change... 

I think I'll always love the aesthetics of MLP especially G1, but I don't know if I want to fill  my house with plastic to look at. 

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Me, I've been collecting a good bit since getting into it in 2011. But the amound I add to the collection varies from year to year because I also collect other things and which of them is on the front burner tends to shift.
I dream of having basically the complete US G1 toyline minus a few duplicates and plus some UK imports, a few more G2s to keep the one I've got company, a version of each G3 character (not every variant, because there's so many), at least one of each G4 character at the Playful Ponies scale plus some interesting variants (like the Shine Brights), most of the playsets for that scale, and at least one of each of the principal cast in Fashion Style scale (which for the princesses would not be the actual FS alicorn toys but rather the Talking Celestia mold and such).
I also want housewares merch. Bedding, dinnerware, stuff like that.

[Livia]

I really really really enjoyed reading all of your replies. I even had a chuckle here and there...

Thanks for all the advice! I think I will start by focussing on buying all the babies of the adult ponies I have, and the 'mommies' of the babies I have. And also all the Year2 ponies...

Welcome Livia!  Neat to see new collectors around.  Who is the pony in your avatar, looks like a SA, no?  If it is, he/she is the first that I think I have liked from SA.

Yes, it is SA Medley. Love her bright yellow and blue! I can kick myself for trimming my 3 SA Nirvana ponies' hair...but I didn't know then that they are so sought after...