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Author Topic: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?  (Read 5997 times)

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Offline Taffeta

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Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« on: May 02, 2019, 11:24:19 AM »
So some discussions recently in the other thread about pony prices and so on made me think that I've seen a few people buy ponies in poor condition to restore in order to be able to afford them.

And so I wondered what people's opinions generally are on this, whether rare or common ponies or grails or whatever?

Also, share ponies :D Mint ones or restored ones/not so mint/loved ones...

I don't restore ponies. So if I get a flawed one, they get a bath and a groom but they don't get rehaired or repainted or anything like that.

But I feel like the slightly loved ones are just as important as the minty ones.

I'll begin with some of my not-mint-but-loved-for-who-they-are-probably-much-cheaper clan to get the ball rolling :)

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This is my Rapunzel.
I got her in a trade in around 2000.
She might look absolutely fine. But...that's about where her tail finishes. She has a normal length tail, not a long long one any more.
Weirdly she has her original braid, so I imagine her hair met a horrible tangle accident that led to it being cut.

Then there's this little girl - the one and only pony in my collection that has been restored at all (by PKW, kudos to her skills!) because she had NO eyes at all. And she now has eyes again, but nothing else on her has been fixed. I don't even collect Greek ponies, but it was Christmas, and she was cheap and looked really sad on ebay :( And so I rescued her and now she runs riot around my cupboard with Rozalyn, the only other greek baby I own, and a very abused adult Greek Bow Tie...

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And finally, Taffy...who one day I will, I swear, get an upgrade of, but she's genuinely more brown than fuzz now..

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I have a really beat up Truly as well, but I don't have a photo. For some reason I have about five Trulys now, which I never set out to even have one, but they keep staying O.O. This one in particular was rescued from a local collector in sad circumstances following a divorce. She was a loved childhood pony got rid of by her Dad, so I gave her a home. And now she thinks she has her own army.
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Offline tailrustedtealeaf

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2019, 11:29:41 AM »
I get satisfaction from restoring ponies, but my painting skills are nowhere near good enough for me to be confident working on restores. I guess I tend to settle for flawed ponies and I'll just quietly upgrade if I come across a better one in a lot, a thrift store, etc. I don't need perfectly mint ponies and I don't mind some history on them.
I think I'd actually prefer to pay much less for a project of a pony, because I'll get attached while I'm restoring her. I have a Raspberry Jam with nasty head/body mismatch and a wild mohawk, but I'd feel bad replacing her... I got her at the fair for $1. I said she looked cute with her mohawk and the vendor said that everyone said that but no one picked her up...so she is mine now. I do want to try to lessen the mismatch and I think she might become one of my favorites by the time I'm done.
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Offline Taffeta

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2019, 11:42:08 AM »
I know what you mean. The Sugar Sweet
http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,393220.msg1741011.html#msg1741011
I dug out of a box of horrors last summer at the carboot sale I totally meant to sell when I'd cleaned her up and recurled her messy hair, but she's still sitting on top of my briefcase in my room as if to say, "well, I'm staying now, and there's nothing you can do about it."
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Offline Nemesis

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2019, 11:57:05 AM »
I often find myself very attached to my “project ponies”. I enjoy cleaning and restoring them, and it’s very rewarding to see the transformation. :)

When I was very little, all of my ponies were secondhand. If there were flaws, there were flaws; I treasured every MLP that came into my possession, regardless. I still have that mentality as an adult, so I do my best to restore all of the damaged ponies that come my way. :) I know that those ponies were played with and loved, and that just gives them more history and character, to me.
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Offline Taffeta

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2019, 12:00:20 PM »
My childhood Princess Aquamarine was 2nd hand like that. She had one symbol and faded hair but I never cared. I loved her because I was mad about Princess Ponies and so excited to have her. Kids can sometimes be way more accepting of things than adults tend to be.
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Offline Leave a Whisper

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2019, 12:08:47 PM »
https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/Rusty-Pony-609811009

Love is blind sometimes. I saw an MO Starhopper on ebay for $20.00 free shipping. I was so delighted to find her that not only did I not care about the huge amount of rust in her body, but I literally did not notice the obvious haircut she had until I'd calmed down enough to take a second look after I'd bought her. Usually mohawked manes are a big no-no, because I'm too scared to rehair. But I cleaned her up and sent her off to get rehaired.

Here she is after

https://www.deviantart.com/littlekunai/art/MLP-n-Transformers-Close-Encounters-696233415

I don't mind putting up with some flaws, especially for a grail pony. These are 30 year old toys, they aren't gonna be perfect and there's no guarantee they'll stay perfect even if you got one in mint condition.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2019, 12:14:13 PM by Leave a Whisper »
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Offline PoserBeachball

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2019, 02:27:05 PM »
Some of my absolute favourites are my 'flawed' ones - it gives them such character. I like restoring and working out how to make them the best they can be, even if it just restyling hair to hide a mark.

So yes, I'll settle for a flawed pony if it's the 'right one'. It's the same for a grail or a common pony - if I like her, or she needs a good home, then home she comes (or he as I like my boys :) ).
I've found that if I do upgrade then I want to keep the original too - which is why I have so many multiples of favourite ponies, they all look a bit different to each other.



Offline glitterball

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2019, 12:11:27 AM »
I am happy to give a home to nearly any G1 that needs some TLC, but due to storage limits I need to be a bit more picky these days! I go for how pretty the colour scheme is (mainly limes and turquoises and blues) and their pose (if only UK Tootsie was in an alt pose, though! I love her colours but her pose... nah)

Spa-days, rehairs, re-paints - all great fun and very satisfying when a project is completed.

So, with my stash of new pony hair and acrylic paints, various brushes, needles and hemostats, I'm all set to go!  :cool:

I rub my hands with glee when a pin-dotty Honeycomb sits in my sink, it is hard work cleaning off the grime but the efforts are so worth it.

De-flocking a very scratched-up Paradise was more work than I thought, her glue was so stubborn and I took extra special care to be gentle around her symbols, she turned out like new!

Some could say, allowing a minimum wage hourly rate against how long it took to restore would work out more expensive than buying a mint pony, but here's the thing: it only costs me money for the physical materials, the time "spent" is my leisure time - which is a choice to do something arty, crafty and fun, just for li'l me, not to run a business  :)


 
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Offline Taffeta

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2019, 12:31:12 AM »
@Glitterball - exactly how many Honeycombs do you have? xD.

@LAW - a little OT but I love the image of Fizzy with the soda cup in the other photos on your DA site :) And Starhopper looks amazing too :D

My sister has a whole box of rescue ponies in the loft. She used to pick up every really abused pony she could find at carboot sales to rescue them. She's still a bit that way - at ponycon last year I had to talk her out of buying a bald Posey and I couldn't talk her out of adopting a brown Blossom...
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Offline Shaz

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2019, 01:15:29 AM »
I love flawed ponies! Since I like to play with my ponies/take them outdoors for photo shoots, really minty ponies scare me a bit, especially expensive ones! I'd be too worried about messing them up to enjoy them! Some ponies get restored, some make their flaws work for them :).

Offline PoserBeachball

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #10 on: May 03, 2019, 01:18:25 AM »
My sister has a whole box of rescue ponies in the loft. She used to pick up every really abused pony she could find at carboot sales to rescue them. She's still a bit that way - at ponycon last year I had to talk her out of buying a bald Posey and I couldn't talk her out of adopting a brown Blossom...

I'm the same - except I doubt I'd have been talked out of a bald Posey - I've got a big gang of them that I've rehaired in all sorts of colours (she looks great with rainbow hair btw :) ). They look rather fab together, like a chorus line dancing along a shelf.

It's great that there are so many people that will restore and love these ponies
 

Post Merge: May 03, 2019, 01:25:17 AM


Some could say, allowing a minimum wage hourly rate against how long it took to restore would work out more expensive than buying a mint pony, but here's the thing: it only costs me money for the physical materials, the time "spent" is my leisure time - which is a choice to do something arty, crafty and fun, just for li'l me, not to run a business  :)

This is just it.
The fun of doing them up isn't measured in monetary value.

It's the same for so many other things in life too - making your own clothes, doing up a house, growing plants from seeds.....
« Last Edit: May 03, 2019, 01:25:17 AM by PoserBeachball »

Offline kingluke

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2019, 04:09:16 AM »
Well I like restoring ponies and I aint exactly swimming in money. Tho I can see the appeal in mint ponies too.
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Offline Baby Crumpet

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2019, 05:43:06 AM »
Most of my rares have flaws of some description; my thundercloud has brown spots, I imagine it's why I managed to snag him for a tenner on eBay a few years back.

I don't really mind so long as it isn't tail rust... flaws are just flaws at the end of the day and the ponies are cute with or without them. Sometimes I just want to rescue every single pony, so some of my doubles have some quite strange flaws.

It's really fun to restore baits back to their former glories, and anyway, it's not like I'm rich - my pony budget is very very stringent!
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Offline SaraMari

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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2019, 07:00:25 AM »
As I primarily only collect ponies that I find in the wild most of them are flawed, though I have some nice mint ones like a pony friend Cha Cha with accessories and box I got in a lot on the marketplace last month. I don't mind flaws like haircuts, leaning or a little marks. I can easily fix fried hair, pin dot and rust. The only flaw I don't like having in my collection is age spots so those I will try to upgrade when possible.

And like mentioned above a mint pony may one day start leaking plastizor/breaking down. So it's better to not be too picky about 35 year old toys

 I've bought ponies online and generally there's always some flaws that weren't shown or didn't seem as bad in photos, that always makes me feel disappointed. Though I don't mind the same flaws as much on ponies I find in the wild. So I've stopped buying online this year unless it's things I can't find in the wild like non-US ponies
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Re: Settle for a flawed pony or save for a mint one?
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2019, 07:29:16 AM »
I'm all about restorations, and I have a fair bit of experience. I would totally go for a baity Sternenglanz or any other of my grails for a lower price if I thought I our fix them up :) I'm not very picky.
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