Hi from Australia!

[luthien]

Hi folks! My name is Maddi, and I’m from Perth Australia, and I’m somewhat of a new G1 collector – I had a few as a kid which I got rid of (WHY?!!) and came to miss them a few years ago. Now that I’m a grown up I’m free to spend my income on toys. I collect 80’s and 90’s toys so I guess it was inevitable that I’d focus on MLP eventually. I’m only interested in G1 as I don’t really feel any nostalgia for the later generations. They sure do look pretty though…

I’m fascinated by the amount of resources online for restoring ponies - yesterday I picked up a gnarly Majesty at an op-shop, and I’m going to try and refurbish it this long weekend. She looks like crap (yellowed, highlighter marks, gunk and fading glitter) and sounds like she’s filled with rust and gunk, when I move her about I can hear the sound of things moving about inside . A lot of the tutorials do refer to American brands, so I’m going to be very deliberate with the alternatives I use. My partner and I are pretty savvy with miniature painting and have a crafting room with a airbrush/compressor set up, so I’m really excited to practice refurbishing ponies that are in even worse condition.

I’m trying to create a solid wishlist (using pinterest to do it) and using it to prevent myself from just buying ponies all over the place. I’m not hoping to have a complete collection, I just really enjoy the ponies that have unusual cutie marks, accessories or themes. My holy grail would be a Munchy.

I feel like collecting MLP was so much easier as a kid; they were everywhere in second hand stores and markets, but now I have a harder time finding anything. There are a myriad of second hand stores I frequent weekly and I go to collector fairs, but there isn’t much about anymore. I really need to try and get up early on a Sunday to visit the swap meet markets, but I always hit the snooze. :c I feel like I’m having better luck watching ebay listings, and I’m hoping that I can become more familiar with the collecting community and can avoid making any foolish mistakes.

I’m really looking forward to frequenting the forum 😊

[Mewtwofan1]

Hay there from the other side of the world! Welcome to our wonderful pony forum!
Yes. It’s getting a bit more difficult to find g1 ponies. And increasingly difficult to find good condition ones. Congrats on finding majesty. In my experience, we don’t see a lot of her in the wild. Once she’s fixed up, why not post a brag in the brag Arena? We would love to see her all pretty again. Munchy is a grail for a lot of people, so be prepared to fight gladiator style for her. Just kidding about the gladiator part...an arena gladiator fight...we should organize this...
Oh! Look at me still talking when there are ponies to see. Sorry for going on. Hope to see you around!

[Safflower]

Welcome to the Arena! You can post in the Toy Box and Games Cuboard for other toys and such if you like And if you need help with pony restoration, just ask in the Pony Corral! I'm surprised at how many resources for ponies there are as well. There is just so much knowledge that has accumulated over the years I love ponies with unusual symbols as well! Especially Munchy And it is sad that you can't really find G1 in thrift stores anymore, but I keep hunting I look forward to seeing you around!

[achab1984]

Welcome to the arena!

[luthien]

Hi everyone, thank you for the welcome! I love how active the forums are, it's been a long time since I've seen an active community like this.

I'm glad there are a lot of resources for restoration, I'm starting to realise how difficult it is! I'm trying to sunbleach the pony now and I'm far too impatient.

[kiwimlp]

Great to have you here, Luthien

The rattling you hear when you shake Majesty will most likely be the washer that holds her tail in.  I look forward to seeing her all cleaned up.  Don't forget to take a before pic to compare with

[Stormness_1]

Welcome! As a fellow Aussie, I feel your pain finding ponies 'in the wild' so to speak, I very rarely find anything anymore. Although I did find a vintage pony book at the Lifeline bookfest today, super stoked!

As far as brands go, we do have things like magic eraser (Chux brand ones are called that), although they are more often just generically called a melamine sponge. I've never found things like 'dawn dish soap', I just use whatever I can get my hands on! I use cheap conditioners for pony hair, I keep a big pump bottle under my sink and just refill it when it's empty to use on my ponies. Oxy is just napisan or something similar, I use the Aldi brand stuff because it's cheapest I can find, and it works. If you're into customs, you can buy straight acetone at Bunnings, or just use nail polish remover with acetone, it's available pretty much everywhere. I hope that helps!

I'm pretty sure there's quite a few collectors in Perth and around that area, at least there used to be, and they held fairly regular meet-ups. Maybe try to find some FB groups? There is an Aussie collectors page at least.

[Spinky69er]

Welcome fellow Perthian

Look forward to seeing you around more on the forum!!

[luthien]

I'm so glad to see that there are people from Australia (and Perth?!) here on the forum! I think I've found a Perth MLP collectors group on fb that I need to try and get active in.

The cleaning up for majesty was going fabulously until I used a small file while tidying up her neck - the handle of the file was blue plastic and for some reason the blue has transferred onto her body - badly. I can't get rid of it so I'm probably going to resort to painting now.    Will definitely be posting her once I finish everything up.

[Spinky69er]

I'm so glad to see that there are people from Australia (and Perth?!) here on the forum! I think I've found a Perth MLP collectors group on fb that I need to try and get active in.

The cleaning up for majesty was going fabulously until I used a small file while tidying up her neck - the handle of the file was blue plastic and for some reason the blue has transferred onto her body - badly. I can't get rid of it so I'm probably going to resort to painting now.    Will definitely be posting her once I finish everything up.

I admin that FB page

Look forward to seeing Majesty all cleaned up!