Twinke Eyed Ponies: Tips and Information?

[WaterDraw]

Hello everyone! After much thought, I have decided to try completing a set of ponies (no matter how long it may take). I've thought of it for a while, and I think my best bet would be to go with the Twinkle Eyed Ponies as they have some of my favorite ponies in both sets. I also really like one of the backstories for how exactly they ended up with gem eyes. Of course with wanting to buy a set I've never had before, some questions rise up...
1) Where should I start off at? I know most people would say to start of with the pony you want the most, but it just so happens that my favorites tend to be the most expensive ones (this is what I get for liking 4/5 of the second set released  ) and I'm on sort of a budget. Around $35 USD at the max. I know of course I won't be able to get my grail Mimic ( ), at least not for a while, so where should I start? I usually like my ponies to be in great condition. Minor marks or hair taming is about the worst condition I go for. I like my ponies to not be yellowed so I already know Gingerbread is out for my first pony to get. If my ponies have the fading pink hair I also still like the hair to be pink, so that might rule out a few others too. I don't really like Speedy, Masquerade, or Sweet Stuff (although I will eventually have to get them). Knowing that, who would you guys suggest for my first twinkle eyed pony?

2) How can you tell when the iridescent coating starts coming off of the pony? I can usually tell when the gem has been scratched, but I can never tell when the iridescent coating has come off unless it's REALLY bad. Should I just not worry about it?

3) A suggested price for Quackers and Locket would be helpful please

Along with that does anyone have any tips for buying Twinkle Eyed Ponies? Any little thing is appreciated!!

Finally, I ask what is your opinion on the Twinkle Eyed Ponies? Do you love them? Do you dislike them? Do you have any interesting stories about them? I always love to hear stories and opinions 

That is it for now, thank you to anyone who replies to this post in advance.

[Leave a Whisper]

Quackers and Locket tend to go around 25-30.

I highly reccomend the beautiful Fizzy. She's a shade between turquoise blue and pistachio ice cream green.

Party Time is a good choice.

Bright Eyes is stunningly gorgeous.

I think you'd love Sweet Pop, her blue is the blue of certain popsicles and her hair the colors of other popsicle flavors.

Whizzer is always cute and a favorite.

Galaxy has a mysterious, eerie beauty like Moondancer.

The Twinkle Eyes are my favorite set of all time. It pains me that Hasbro, nor anyone else faithfully recreates them. They're so beautiful and enchanting. Id get almost all of them myself.

I have gotten 3 of my childhood TEs, Fizzy, Whizzer and Sweet Pop back and still need my childhood pony Sweet Stuff.  I also have Galaxy and Masquerade. I still need Locket, Speedy and Tic-Tac-Toe and would love to have Gingerbread, Bright Eyes and Quackers.

Even my daughter, who thought they were creepy and swore she'd never own one now has 4, along with a custom of her grail, Baby Mimic. Masquerade was her very first G1 and she scrimped and saved and waited for a good price on her grail, Bright Eyes. She complained that Whizzer was boring until I got mine and wouldn't stop pestering me until I got her one of her own and she owns and loves Sweet Stuff too. She wants Party Time, Speedy and Sky Rocket as well.


If you feel a tug for Quackers and Locket, go after them first.

[LadyMoondancer]

Twinkle Eyed ponies are so beautiful.  <3  The first six, and the three "add-ons" (Sweet Pop, Sky Rocket, and Speedy) are definitely the most affordable.

Of the 2nd set, Mimic is the most expensive (just due to being super popular, plus starring in an episode of the cartoon) and the others are spendier than the first set, but not as spendy as Mimic.  (Except Speedy, who was released with the 2nd set but is super affordable due to being a carry-over from the "add-on" set, but she's unique that way!)

Edit:  Nvm, sounds like you know about the eye scuffs already.  Good, good!

[Ponyfan]

If you're looking for great condition Twinkle Eye ponies one thing to be aware of is that some are more prone to regrind than others. Regrind usually appears as a bright pink/hot pink spot on a pony It's a type of plastic breakdown. My childhood Party Time has several streaks of regrind on her orange body, so some ponies might be harder to find in good to great condition if they have known for getting  regrind.   I think Locket also gets regrind sometimes. Don't let that stop you from collection twinkle eye ponies though.   Locket is a beautiful twinkle eye pony. Sweet Pop is also.




I love the twinkle eye story in the UK comics. 



Ponyfan

[Baby Sugarberry]

Oh boy, that's a problematic set for a picky collector.  Twinkle-Eyes have quite a few chronic issues, some of which have already been mentioned.  First up of course is the eyes.  Oxyclean totally kills the coating, so does minor abrasion, which makes finding TE's with their eyes intact no small feat.  Many of them also came with factory curl, so hair can get messy.  Party Time is the poster child for regrind, and Sweet Stuff / Gingerbread / Quackers are not far behind in body issues.  Whizzer, Locket & Galaxy are prone to regrind as well.  The blue/white ponies suffer most often from age spots.  That doesn't leave a lot of choice for easy-to-acquire-in-good-shape options. 

Amongst the affordable ones,  Fizzy is probably your best bet.  She has the fewest body/hair issues.  As for how you can tell if the coating is damaged, it's generally obvious if you've ever seen a near-mint TE.  The edges wear first, then the flat front, lastly the angled facets.  If the edges and face of the eye gem retain a reflective, oilslick like iridescence, they're almost certainly original.  Nobody's figured out how to restore TE's coating as of yet. 

They're a really pretty set all together, but so chock full of chronic body issues.  Not quite as bad as so-softs, at least.

[WaterDraw]

Thank you so much everyone for the suggestions and information! Since she is in my top 3 of the Twinkle Eyes and I found one in great condition, I will go for Locket first. Better I get her now when I can then regret it in the future. However, since everyone suggested her so much, after I get my Locket I will be on the hunt for a Fizzy! After her I will go after Sweet Pop.

Oh boy, that's a problematic set for a picky collector.  Twinkle-Eyes have quite a few chronic issues, some of which have already been mentioned.  First up of course is the eyes.  Oxyclean totally kills the coating, so does minor abrasion, which makes finding TE's with their eyes intact no small feat.  Many of them also came with factory curl, so hair can get messy.  Party Time is the poster child for regrind, and Sweet Stuff / Gingerbread / Quackers are not far behind in body issues.  Whizzer, Locket & Galaxy are prone to regrind as well.  The blue/white ponies suffer most often from age spots.  That doesn't leave a lot of choice for easy-to-acquire-in-good-shape options. 

Amongst the affordable ones,  Fizzy is probably your best bet.  She has the fewest body/hair issues.  As for how you can tell if the coating is damaged, it's generally obvious if you've ever seen a near-mint TE.  The edges wear first, then the flat front, lastly the angled facets.  If the edges and face of the eye gem retain a reflective, oilslick like iridescence, they're almost certainly original.  Nobody's figured out how to restore TE's coating as of yet. 

They're a really pretty set all together, but so chock full of chronic body issues.  Not quite as bad as so-softs, at least.

Has anyone ever tried putting clear nail polish over the pony's gem? Im not a master at twinkle eyes so I wouldn't know but would it work? Also from my understanding the gem in the twinkle eye has two sides so would it be possible to just flip the gem over to the side that was inside the pony?

[Taffeta]

I would say in general avoid nail polish as it has a tendency to go sticky.

[Shaiyeh]

Definitely avoid nail polish. It's not made to last, and goes yellow, tacky, or falls off with time.

A tip for knowing if the coating is there on a pony you're buying online: Ask for pictures of the pony without flash or super harsh lighting! The coating doesn't show up on pictures taken with flash

[NightGliderSA]

The TE ponies are an amazing set - and one that I am looking at completing myself so I can really relate! They can be very hard to find in good condition, but sometimes you can be lucky. My Gingerbread is in incredible condition, for example, and she is hard to find like that.

Never put nail polish anywhere on a pony; rather have a look at the different options for acrylic paint: they have a huge range available and iridescent paint is included in that.

With regards to which ponies to start with: what I would suggest (now that you have found Locket) is that you continue as you have begun. By all means try to find certain ponies, but concentrate on ponies who are in good condition and are reasonably priced and whom you do not as yet have as part of your herd.

Their issues have already been fully covered by other posts; so there is no need for me to elaborate on that. It just remains to say good luck, and please share photos of your growing collection 

[Jorgito93]

You won't regret going for Locket, she's my favorite TE out of the ones i have (and also my second favorite of the whole set behind Mimic).Her pose and colors just make her look amazing.Fizzy also looks great.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

The jewel inside their eyes is NOT circular so nope, you can't just pop it out and flip it around.  Also the iridescent paint was only applied to the one side...  so finding a replacement would still be a struggle.

[LadyMoondancer]

Yeah, the shape of the jewels are kind of hard to explain.  The other 'side' of them has a sort of peg, and after the peg is a kind of . . . I don't know what to call it, a plug maybe?  Anyway, it's not "eye shaped" and its purpose is to keep the eyes firmly in place inside the head.  Which it does . . . It's really impressive to me that you never see Twinkle Eyes missing their eyes.  They engineered them well!

[Baby Sugarberry]

The TE gems really were well engineered - getting one out is extremely difficult even with tools!  Now if only the coating had been a bit more durable.

I'll echo the no to nail polish.  Nail polish is extremely reactive and unstable.  It's meant to be temporary, and is known to both negatively interact with various plastics as well as turn into a sticky gross mess on its own.  Nail polish belongs nowhere near a vintage toy.   You can get safe iridescent acrylics but they do not properly mimic the original finish which looks like an oil slick marble.  The paints generally only have one colour and look shimmery rather than the brilliant flat rainbow shine TE's are made with.

[WaterDraw]

Okay everyone thank you for the information! I'm not an expert at restoring ponies so I did not know that about the nail polish! I will keep that in mind. The part about the eyes are also noted! I saw one before but for some reason my head was like "Okay they have a gem on both sides and a little line thingy in the middle to separate them" 

I've always found it odd how we can never technically perfectly recreate certain things on ponies. It's just such a weird feeling to know that Hasbro somehow did it but we can't buy it or piece it together on our own. But I'm sure one day there will be a perfect method, just like how people found out a way to recreate Flutter Wings or a fix to the G2's gem eye loss. I have faith in us! 

Also thank you to the people who gave me the tips for the loss of coating. I guess since I have trouble seeing it, it just makes me just a tad bit less picky...if only a tad 

[Baby Sugarberry]

Oh, I know how it's done, but it's an industrial process that you really can't do at home without prohibitively expensive equipment - much like professional flocking.