G1 pony country inquiries!

[freezestime]

Hi friends!

I'm wondering if people would be interested in helping me figure out what I would expect to find in certain countries?

I have a Norwegian family (Not biological) and I've been talking to them about my pony obsession, particularly the fact that they might be able to find Nirvanas in their home country and I would like to go there some day. Then my sister brought up that my brother in law's sister lives in Scotland so going there might be viable for ponies (plus either my mum or my sister said there's like 5 second hand stores in every street which is an exaggeration but now I'm interested)

So Norwegian and Scottish friends, have you found any ponies? Do you remember what ponies were released?

Any info is appreciated!

[Strawberrysweets]

There are a few Euro only such as this pony from my own childhood Vanilla Treat;
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Here is a wiki page that might help you; http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G1_Exclusive_Ponies

[freezestime]

There are a few Euro only such as this pony from my own childhood Vanilla Treat;
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Here is a wiki page that might help you; http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G1_Exclusive_Ponies

So did you find her? In a shop or was she a gift?

[Strawberrysweets]

She is my childhood toy so a gift from my family in the 90s .

[freezestime]

She is my childhood toy so a gift from my family in the 90s .

Have you ever found any ponies in the wild? Because on Tradera and Finn.no there's a whole lot but that's kinda more bidding and shipping rather than Gumtree/Craigslist

[Taffeta]

Scotland would have uk release stuff so anything the UK had.

Both Scotland and Norway would have had a lot of the same sets.

[freezestime]

Scotland would have uk release stuff so anything the UK had.

Both Scotland and Norway would have had a lot of the same sets.

Noted, but do you look for ponies? If so, can I ask about your experience in finding them? Where did you find them? How many did you find? Ect?

[Taffeta]

Scotland would have uk release stuff so anything the UK had.

Both Scotland and Norway would have had a lot of the same sets.

Noted, but do you look for ponies? If so, can I ask about your experience in finding them? Where did you find them? How many did you find? Ect?

I'm not in Scotland, though I am in the UK so I can't be specific about Scottish locations. But I can talk from a Uk perspective.

G1 stuff is pretty hard to find anywhere any more. These days I personally have luck at toy fairs, sometimes at a carboot sale (field ones are normally better but mostly it's g3 and g4 I see there now) and charity shops. That's probably not different in Scotland but it might be that they have some things more than others in their region.

I have found lots of G1 ponies here in the past but I started recollecting in 1995 and back then there were a lot of second hand G1 ponies floating around. Now it's totally different. Last year I think I found 2 G1 ponies total at a carboot and that was a good haul. In comparison in the nineties I might find 100-150 ponies each summer. But also because I had that luck then, I filled in gaps really quickly and so maybe didn't spend as much time hunting as I would have done before. Also a lot of ponies got traded overseas in those years. I imagine a lot of areas are now somewhat devoid of ponies.

But on the flipside of this, if there are auctions on ebay uk that you wanted to bid on maybe your family would take those packages for you? I don't imagine they'd want a pony stampede but it might be an easier option for them as well?

There are a few ponypeople up in Scotland who may be able to give specific good advice on pony-find locations, although it might also depend on the region.

You mentioned second hand stores - charity shops are pretty common in most towns in the UK. Maybe less so in the heart of big metropolises, but on the outskirts they are there too. They are hit and miss, and I also wonder whether some ponies don't make safety screening, but I have found G4 stuff in those (and one G3) quite a lot this past year.

[freezestime]

Scotland would have uk release stuff so anything the UK had.

Both Scotland and Norway would have had a lot of the same sets.

Noted, but do you look for ponies? If so, can I ask about your experience in finding them? Where did you find them? How many did you find? Ect?

I'm not in Scotland, though I am in the UK so I can't be specific about Scottish locations. But I can talk from a Uk perspective.

G1 stuff is pretty hard to find anywhere any more. These days I personally have luck at toy fairs, sometimes at a carboot sale (field ones are normally better but mostly it's g3 and g4 I see there now) and charity shops. That's probably not different in Scotland but it might be that they have some things more than others in their region.

I have found lots of G1 ponies here in the past but I started recollecting in 1995 and back then there were a lot of second hand G1 ponies floating around. Now it's totally different. Last year I think I found 2 G1 ponies total at a carboot and that was a good haul. In comparison in the nineties I might find 100-150 ponies each summer. But also because I had that luck then, I filled in gaps really quickly and so maybe didn't spend as much time hunting as I would have done before. Also a lot of ponies got traded overseas in those years. I imagine a lot of areas are now somewhat devoid of ponies.

But on the flipside of this, if there are auctions on ebay uk that you wanted to bid on maybe your family would take those packages for you? I don't imagine they'd want a pony stampede but it might be an easier option for them as well?

There are a few ponypeople up in Scotland who may be able to give specific good advice on pony-find locations, although it might also depend on the region.

You mentioned second hand stores - charity shops are pretty common in most towns in the UK. Maybe less so in the heart of big metropolises, but on the outskirts they are there too. They are hit and miss, and I also wonder whether some ponies don't make safety screening, but I have found G4 stuff in those (and one G3) quite a lot this past year.

:0!! That's some good info!

That sucks :/ that might mean a lot of ponies have ended up in tips and I don't know how common tip scavenging is, I can only imagine them being in horrible condition under dirt and rubbish.

But on a more positive note, wow, it must've been so fun collecting back in the 90's! Finding ponies, with so many per summer!

I was thinking about that as well, but I'd have to talk to them about it, figure out conditions and if I would go over there or would they bring it over when they visited us. I might ask them to keep an eye out for ponies of all gens, especially in charity shops and figure out how many there are, ect.

Thank you friend!

[Taffeta]

....Tip scavenging is not a thing. Not for ponies anyway. Not here.

I think it;s just the extended passage of time means they're less available now than they were immediately after they ended. And more people are also aware because of FIM and the publicity it's had that ponies are now collectable instead of just being old toys so more end up on ebay.

But I am sure there are still ponies in the UK somewhere.

On another note, while the UK had a lot of ponies not sold in the US, that's not necessarily the case with Australia. I know Aus. got some of the ponies we did in the later years, even ones the US didn't get. If you're going to peruse ebay uk, that might be something to bear in mind. Maybe some Aussie collectors can be specific as to which ones, but you might save yourself some trouble if you know what you might find over there and what you might not. Better to buy something that you can't get in your homeland, right?

Also a lot of ponypeople ship overseas

[Shaz]

I'm not anywhere near Scotland (I'm in the south-west of England), but I just want to let you know that there's still ponies to be found in the UK. The 90s were indeed the golden age of pony-hunting (my gf still reminisces about her car-boot sale finds) - but my casual visiting of charity shops, car-boot sales, and events such as car shows and Steam Fayres have turned up several G1 ponies (including my beloved Bedtime Newborn Sunset, only 50p!), a Lullaby Nursery, a cute blanket for a dolls' crib with Bow-Tie on it, and of course ponies from G2, G3 and G4 too. I don't know what G2 was like in Australia, but I know the UK had G2 ponies for longer than the US, so it's a good place to hunt for the later European-exclusive G2s.

There's also various shops specialising in vintage/retro toys. The two I know of are in Cornwall and Hampshire, respectively, but I'm sure there's some in Scotland too. Antique shops may be worth a look too.

Ponies are still out there, waiting for you! Good luck and happy pony-hunting! Also, if you collect Monster High, charity shops are inundated with them at the moment.

[freezestime]

I'm not anywhere near Scotland (I'm in the south-west of England), but I just want to let you know that there's still ponies to be found in the UK. The 90s were indeed the golden age of pony-hunting (my gf still reminisces about her car-boot sale finds) - but my casual visiting of charity shops, car-boot sales, and events such as car shows and Steam Fayres have turned up several G1 ponies (including my beloved Bedtime Newborn Sunset, only 50p!), a Lullaby Nursery, a cute blanket for a dolls' crib with Bow-Tie on it, and of course ponies from G2, G3 and G4 too. I don't know what G2 was like in Australia, but I know the UK had G2 ponies for longer than the US, so it's a good place to hunt for the later European-exclusive G2s.

There's also various shops specialising in vintage/retro toys. The two I know of are in Cornwall and Hampshire, respectively, but I'm sure there's some in Scotland too. Antique shops may be worth a look too.

Ponies are still out there, waiting for you! Good luck and happy pony-hunting! Also, if you collect Monster High, charity shops are inundated with them at the moment.

We got the regular G2 world wide releases, but there's the G2 video game (I can personally vouch for, I remember getting it and everything) and the known show bag from our Royal Show (I wish I could find more info on them https://bit.ly/2W3drAA) I do love G2, so I will be looking out for them (or whatever ones were released until it became a French exclusive.)

I have gone to vintage shops and left my number with them, but they don't seem to have gotten or know of the vintage MLP. Fortunately, there's gonna be toy fair in April (first time going) and I hope to find something.

I hope there is and thank you! I do collect Monster High but in Australia, there's normally only 1 doll in a shop every week or so, and a few bits n bobs like dollhouses and bags (nothing else though) randomly.

[Taffeta]

Just speaking from the toy fair I know here, over the last few years ponies have increased in their presence there a lot. Now you tend to see 20 or 30 G1 on a good day, and a bunch of G3 and sometimes G2 and G4 as well. Whereas in the past you would be lucky to find one or two lurking.

I hope your toy fair has some hidden gems for you to take home. Good luck with your pony hunting!

[freezestime]

....Tip scavenging is not a thing. Not for ponies anyway. Not here.

I think it;s just the extended passage of time means they're less available now than they were immediately after they ended. And more people are also aware because of FIM and the publicity it's had that ponies are now collectable instead of just being old toys so more end up on ebay.

But I am sure there are still ponies in the UK somewhere.

On another note, while the UK had a lot of ponies not sold in the US, that's not necessarily the case with Australia. I know Aus. got some of the ponies we did in the later years, even ones the US didn't get. If you're going to peruse ebay uk, that might be something to bear in mind. Maybe some Aussie collectors can be specific as to which ones, but you might save yourself some trouble if you know what you might find over there and what you might not. Better to buy something that you can't get in your homeland, right?

Also a lot of ponypeople ship overseas

That's a lot more comforting than ending up at the tip.

Yeah, although the only UK Nirvana pony I've seen on Australian eBay is my Moondreamer. The Pony Land express also has a UK/Australia page that's been helpful but it sucks it hasn't been updated.

Post Merge: March 16, 2019, 05:28:27 AM

Just speaking from the toy fair I know here, over the last few years ponies have increased in their presence there a lot. Now you tend to see 20 or 30 G1 on a good day, and a bunch of G3 and sometimes G2 and G4 as well. Whereas in the past you would be lucky to find one or two lurking.

I hope your toy fair has some hidden gems for you to take home. Good luck with your pony hunting!

:0! That's great to hear, I guess people are digging up time capsules from their childhood or going through deceased estates.

And thank you!