That Mix of Jealousy and Happiness at Thrift

[gabumon]

I guess in German they often can mix two words together to make something new.  Maybe we can do that for -

That feeling you get when you arrive at the thrift store and pass a lady leaving with A Bag Full of G1 Ponies and G1 baby ponies! (and Sundance who you’ve been looking for forever)

On one hand I’m like “GRRRR I should’ve come 10 minutes earlier!!! “. on the other hand I’m like happy “I’m glad those ponies found a good home and won’t get kicked around the toy bin, ruined and threw in the trash by the employee”

I’m some sort of baby i guess. 

[Koudoawaia]

I don't blame you for feeling that way one bit. That lady lucked out big time.

[Leave a Whisper]

 ^.^I call it happy jealousy.

[banditpony]

Ooooh. I had that happen to me.

Another collector picking up a pony 5 seconds before I walked to a table at the flea market.

[CloudyGlow]

I've been in similar situations. I've seen the same person at the thrift stores score g1 ponies and puzzles before me on two separate occasions. I wouldn't call it happy jealousy though. Just jealousy and wanting to cry  .  I've always had trouble looking on the bright side.

[Broken Irishwoman]

Yeah, what CloudyGlow says. I'm actually great at looking on the bright side, just not when it comes to seeing other people snatch G1 ponies from under my nose. There is absolutely NO bright side to that!

[Taffeta]

Reminds me of some childhood experiences. One in particular where my sister and I found a table where there were ponies. Sister, aged about eight, and still really little for her age, basically climbed on top of the box to stop anyone else getting to them, while waving at me like a mad thing. So we got a lot of good ponies that day. But one of our local rivals was also lurking and while Naynie was all over the box, she was buying from another part of the table.

She got an Italian heart Throb. And then waved it in my sister's face, as if to get her own back for Naynie climbing on the box to get to the other ponies. And the thing is, my sister hadn't been climbing on the box to get ponies for herself. She'd seen Princess Pearl in that box and she KNEW how much I had always wanted Pearl. She did it because she wanted to make sure I didn't lose out on getting Pearl. Because she did that, she didn't see Heart Throb till it was waved in her face in that really unpleasant and spiteful way. If Naynie had never seen it, it would've been ok, but it was done to make her see it. And it made my sister cry. Naynie wanted Heart Throb really bad back then, after watching the cartoons on video borrowed from her friend. This probably doesn't make sense to US people, where she's common, but you also have to realise that Heart Throb wasn't sold in the UK in any form, so it was the first and only one we'd ever seen. It wasn't one of those ponies that there'd be another one of the next week.

Fast forward several years, though, and the other collector had some family issues and ultimately her ponies were sold. When that happened, I remember digging through them all to find Heart Throb. Fortunately she was there. So now Naynie has Heart Throb...putting closure on the day that girl made my sister cry.

Incidentally, while we now have some US Heart Throbs and SS Heart Throbs from overseas, that remains the one and only Heart Throb we've ever found in the wild here.

[MerryAnvil]

I felt bad reading this because I feel like I'm more of the person you're talking about than the one who could sympathize  I think I've only had this happen once. But I completely get why you'd be upset!

Reminds me of some childhood experiences. One in particular where my sister and I found a table where there were ponies. Sister, aged about eight, and still really little for her age, basically climbed on top of the box to stop anyone else getting to them, while waving at me like a mad thing. So we got a lot of good ponies that day. But one of our local rivals was also lurking and while Naynie was all over the box, she was buying from another part of the table.

She got an Italian heart Throb. And then waved it in my sister's face, as if to get her own back for Naynie climbing on the box to get to the other ponies. And the thing is, my sister hadn't been climbing on the box to get ponies for herself. She'd seen Princess Pearl in that box and she KNEW how much I had always wanted Pearl. She did it because she wanted to make sure I didn't lose out on getting Pearl. Because she did that, she didn't see Heart Throb till it was waved in her face in that really unpleasant and spiteful way. If Naynie had never seen it, it would've been ok, but it was done to make her see it. And it made my sister cry. Naynie wanted Heart Throb really bad back then, after watching the cartoons on video borrowed from her friend. This probably doesn't make sense to US people, where she's common, but you also have to realise that Heart Throb wasn't sold in the UK in any form, so it was the first and only one we'd ever seen. It wasn't one of those ponies that there'd be another one of the next week.

Oh wow, Taffeta. That's awful. I'm glad she eventually got her though! The worst I've had was when I was little and some nasty old man came into the toy aisle of a thrift store, picked up a bunch of stuffed animals we were looking at, and then told us with the nastiest grin that he was going to give them to his dog so it could chew the eyes off. Not a great feeling...I have absolutely no idea what would possess people to do something like that, to rub that in someone's face.

[Mami Tomoe]

its bitter sweet but atleast the person who got the ponies is happy and who knows maybe they might come back

[Esbayne]

I think if I ever saw that happen, I'd be so in awe of a local collector and maybe wanting to think about somehow starting a casual conversation so we could be local pony buddies, lol. I've never met any other collectors in person. I've never really heard of or seen anyone in my area through groups or forums, either.
I think there are definitely some around though. Very interesting G3s and G1s show up in thrift/antique stores in my area and I'll leave duplicates behind and they're always gone the next time around- I'm sure kids buy them too but I have this sneaking suspicion there's a couple other collectors around that thrift for ponies too.

I'd probably be that "happy jealous" if I saw someone else like that thrifting ponies. That's kind of what I feel when I look at people's thrift hauls on here, too. Like, "Oh man, what an amazing haul, I'd kill for that! But holy crap congrats!? Those are amazing finds!" kind of thing.

[Shy Violet]

This is a fear of mine. I know there are a couple other collectors in my city and I am happy for them when I see their brags. If I saw someone actually in the thrift store that beat me by 5 min I'd have a hard time not being upset though. I think it has a lot to do with disappointment. I just hope it's a collector though and not a reseller. I also get annoyed when I go to the thrift store and every bag with a G4 or G3 in it is flipped over, I can tell someone was there before me that day and got any G1's there might have been. Anyway, I find it really rude to leave the bags flipped over and a mess. 

[NightGliderSA]

Yeah, what CloudyGlow says. I'm actually great at looking on the bright side, just not when it comes to seeing other people snatch G1 ponies from under my nose. There is absolutely NO bright side to that!

Yes: this. Oh the pain!

[bright rabbit 1]

This isn't pony related, well it kinda is at a car boot someone was selling a G2 pony that I didn't have, along with a AA Barbie Shelly (here in the U.K Kelly was called that). Someone brought it before I could tell my mum that I found what I was looking for. But in the end I got an AA Barbie doll from the same seller, it was £2.00 but they let me have it for 50p.