I just got my very first pony - Fizzy

[SpacePinto]

After spending way too many months waiting to find my perfect Wind Whistler, I just decided to get down to earth and instead settle for starting my pony collection with my second most favorite pony of all time, Fizzy, who was way easier to find in a decent condition. My only requirement was for her to still have both symbols and not have any missing or cut hair in her mane or tail, since I didn't want to waste any more time looking for perfection. I found what looked like the best looking one and placed the order, and just a few hours ago she finally arrived:

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(sorry for poor quality of the picture, I have an old phone and am overall bad with taking pictures)

The first thing that surprised me was her size, as she was a little bigger than I expected. I think it's because my only point of reference in real life has been those new G4 ponies that I would sometimes see on store shelves, and they are pretty tiny, I knew that G1s were bigger but I didn't know it was this much bigger. Not that I'm complaining though, as she really lies nice in your hand.

I was also surprised how soft those ponies are! I was always sure they were made of some type of hard plastic, but instead she turned out to be nice and rubbery. I really like how you can squeeze her gently in your hand. Not too hard of course, since I wouldn't want to damage her now.

She understandably didn't come with the original comb, but she had a cute little ribbon tied around her tail. Sadly, I untied it to see if her tail didn't have any missing hair (it didn't) and I don't know if I reattached it properly.

Okay, those were the good things about her, now for the bad parts.

I noticed her hair is kind of frizzy on the ends, especially the front part of her mane. I tried to brush her a little with my spare pocket comb but I'm afraid I could damage it, since she does seem to have a few loose hairs already (although it's probably hard to see in the picture above) I checked out some pony hair styling tutorials on YouTube but I'm not yet sure which of them would be the most reliable. I'll try to figure it out later.

Another thing that bothers me slightly is that her mane seems to be a little shorter on the front, I don't know if it's supposed to be this way or if someone had cut it a little. Does anyone know if this is normal for Fizzy toys?

Overall, I'd say she's still pretty good for a 30+ year old toy, and I'm quite happy with my purchase. It's nice to know I can finally call myself a pony collector and not just a casual toyless fan. For my second pony in the collection I would ideally get a Wind Whistler, but since it's so hard to find her in a good condition it will probably be Gusty, because even though I never really liked her I have to admit that her toy is just gorgeous. For now, however, I am really happy with my Fizzy.

[achab1984]

Congrats on your first pony! You picked a great one!

[Glitter Yolk]

Fizzy is the best! I'm still waiting to find one in the wild!

For frizzy hair I would wet it, put conditioner in and gently comb through the tangles starting from bottom to top. If it's still frizzy after washing the conditioner out and letting the hair dry then I'd wet it, wring some of the excess water out so it's just damp and not soaking, and run the frizzy parts through a straightener on the lowest heat setting multiple times to smooth out the frizz. Maybe with some brushing in between.

If her hair is shorter in the front it could be due to frizz or tangles, but she may have had a slightly uneven mane trim by her former owner?

[SpacePinto]

Congrats on your first pony! You picked a great one!

Yeah, I always loved Fizzy!

For frizzy hair I would wet it, put conditioner in and gently comb through the tangles starting from bottom to top. If it's still frizzy after washing the conditioner out and letting the hair dry then I'd wet it, wring some of the excess water out so it's just damp and not soaking, and run the frizzy parts through a straightener on the lowest heat setting multiple times to smooth out the frizz. Maybe with some brushing in between.

Thanks, I will try that!

[Taffeta]

Fizzy was my sister's first pony too. She's always been a favourite in this house

Congratulations on your new addition! It sounds like she's actually aged well if she's still quite flexible.

As for the shorter hair at the front, I've seen it on a few TE ponies. Fizzy started life with curly hair. That sometimes means when the curls are gone, the ends are uneven. It might also be because of the frizz but from the photo it doesn't look to me like there's been a haircut.

Good luck smoothing out her mane. Others have given you great advice!

As for your Wind Whistler quest, I don't know which version you are hunting for (SS or movie star) but don't give up. The biggest issue with WW is the fading pink hair, BUT if you are clever and you don't mind it not being entirely authentic, she can be repinked.

Of course, if it's the SS you want, then flocking is another issue, but SS Wind Whistler seems more common so there must be a nice one out there. I would look for a nice flocking one with faded hair rather than a worn one with pink hair given that the hair can be restored.

[SpacePinto]

As for the shorter hair at the front, I've seen it on a few TE ponies. Fizzy started life with curly hair. That sometimes means when the curls are gone, the ends are uneven. It might also be because of the frizz but from the photo it doesn't look to me like there's been a haircut.

Yeah, I've seen it on a few pictures of ponies with the Fizzy pose that the front curl appears to be noticably shorter, I hope it's that.

Good luck smoothing out her mane. Others have given you great advice!

Today I'm buying a hair conditioner and giving her a bath, we'll see how it goes.

As for your Wind Whistler quest, I don't know which version you are hunting for (SS or movie star) but don't give up. The biggest issue with WW is the fading pink hair, BUT if you are clever and you don't mind it not being entirely authentic, she can be repinked.

Of course, if it's the SS you want, then flocking is another issue, but SS Wind Whistler seems more common so there must be a nice one out there. I would look for a nice flocking one with faded hair rather than a worn one with pink hair given that the hair can be restored.

My biggest problem with Wind Whistler is that by default she's a SS pony and I'm not very fond of them (they look kind of weird and are very prone to damage), so for me it's either finding the European variant or an American one that has been deflocked,  which narrows down my options quite a bit. Another issue is the aforementioned problem of fading hair, since I'd like my WW to still have her original pink color. With the two of the above combined, it will probably take me a long time to find one that I like but I'm willing to wait, since she's the number one on my list and I'd rather have 10 different ponies before I finally get her instead of just having one now that wouldn't be in a condition that Wind Whistler truly deserves.

[Moonbreeze]

Congrats! Fizzy is a great first pony Glitter Yolk's advice is the best against frizzy hair.

[Loona]

Congratulations on your first pony!

I'd add just a little to the hair advice: it's best to get a separate comb for your ponies, and collectors of toys with plastic hair (e.g. doll collectors) usually suggest a metal one. Plastic on plastic can cause friction which can lead to more frizz, but metal does not damage the hair this way. The one I've been using for years is similar to this pet comb (Amazon link), but I bought mine in the pet section of a dollar shop for much cheaper. It is doing its job fine, and I especially like that it has a part with wider "teeth"? and one where they are closer to one another, I usually start combing with the less dense part to get out bigger knots, and then go back with the denser half for smaller ones that the previous run might have left in.

Another advice which can help preserve hair condition (sorry if you've already heard this/if it is like elementary level): if the comb encounters a knot, do not pull. That's exactly what's causing the frizz at the ends, as the comb first strengthens light tangles/kinks into knots, and further pulling may undo them, but with the strengthening part the hair already got bent a little at the ends. It's the same as when you untie a knot that has been tied for a while: the knot'strace will be visible. If you find you cannot run your comb further down the hair as smoothly as before, that's a tangle/future knot forming. Take your comb out, skip a few centimetres/the part where your comb started to run slower, and continue combing just the very end of that section. Once the hair can be combed there smoothly, go a bit up (meaning comb a bit longer section of the same strand). This will eliminate kinks forming at the end, and if you do this, after a while you will be able to comb the whole strand out
(this is technically what is referred to as "start combing at the ends", but I do remember I wished I was told this in this detail, as the quoted phrase was notentirely clear to me )

[Leave a Whisper]

Congratulations! Fizzy is one of my all-time favorites. Such a unique and gorgeous girl. Good luck on finding the Wind Whistler right for you too.

[SpacePinto]

Thanks everyone for their replies! I tried the conditioner trick yesterday but I didn't accomplish anything besides making her smell really nice, although today I tried again and I discovered that when you split individual strands into those really thin sections, the conditioner works much better on them, so I guess I had been doing it all wrong (to my defense, this is the first time in my entire life when I had doll hair in my hands). I think I did manage to get few strands straighter (although it's hard to tell from the pictures) but that's pretty much it since I had to do it while kneeling over the bathtub which wasn't very comfortable (I hate getting old), today I will do it more seriously at my night table using a towel, kettle water and a syringe, let's hope that this time I will actually get somewhere.

This is what Fizzy looked like after her first conditioning yesterday, you can probably notice her hair still looks awful on the front:
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I'd add just a little to the hair advice: it's best to get a separate comb for your ponies, and collectors of toys with plastic hair (e.g. doll collectors) usually suggest a metal one.

Thank you so much, I will go to the local pet store today and see if they have metal combs

Another advice which can help preserve hair condition (sorry if you've already heard this/if it is like elementary level): if the comb encounters a knot, do not pull.

Now you're telling me

[Jorgito93]

Congrats, Fizzy is really cool as a first pony.

[Taffeta]

Another thing you can do when it's smoother - and particularly with the tail - if you wanted to, is comb it around the edge of your hand or your finger so the ends curl either under or out, depending which you prefer. That might help conceal the uneven length of the ends.

It's harder to make this work with hair that's frizzy = though actual curling it isn't impossible - but her tail looks like it could be shaped by combing that way.

It's all trial and error really and figuring out what works for you.

Curly haired ponies are much more prone to frizz than straight haired ones because of the process of the curling. It leaves the hair with a slightly different texture from factory straight hair, so while straight haired ponies can have dry tail ends or sometimes some tail frizz at the end, they only usually get it in the mane if they've been reeeeeeally abused or they have really long hair that nobody ever brushed.

It sounds like you're making good progress with her mane now

[kiwimlp]

Congrats on buying your first pony.   What a lot of great advice there is for haircare in this thread.  I have learnt a couple of tips myself! 

Congratulations

[SpacePinto]

Welp, after a few days of playing around with Fizzy's mane I guess I can now safely say that conditioner alone won't do the job and I will just have to go and buy a straightener (since I don't even have one). Does anyone have some helpful tips for someone completely clueless about what straightener to pick, what parameters it needs to have, how exactly to go about it in details to make sure I don't accidentally damage her (I already got pretty attached to her and I really wouldn't want that to happen) etc.? It is especially important for me to get rid of those awful tiny hooks at the ends that get the comb stuck in the hair when brushing, since that's what I'm struggling the most with. Or maybe it's a lost cause and I should just accept that part of Fizzy's mane simply won't be as good as the rest of it?

[kingluke]

her hair looks lovely, congrats on your first pony.