Ugly ponies?

[Wardah]

Those who have baity ponies on display or MOC ponies intact in yellowed packaging how can that not bother you? The reason to collect ponies (or toys in general) is to be able to look at pretty things. But if it's in bad condition it's not pretty at all.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Baits can still be pretty!
I also collect to restore and clean up. I'll try to make a bait pony display as nicely as I can (I think curls negate the need for lots of body cleanup ha) but it's the journey not the destination or whatever.

[Taffeta]

I had assumed this was gonna be a thread about what ponies other people considered ugly, but this seems pretty judgemental as a conversation starter.

People have the right to display what means something to them. I don't really think they need to justify it. :/

I mean, that 'baity pony' might be a treasured childhood memory.

[SaraMari]

Yeah I agree with Taffeta, this isn't a kind way to start a conversation. It's very judgey sounding "I like pretty things, what's up with you that you don't?"

Just like in all things in life, Everyone has different preferences

[Leave a Whisper]

Just because your old toys are in good shape now, does not mean they won't develop problems eventually. This is the way of life. Everything decays.

[Taffeta]

I ought to add, I don't collect ponies to 'look at pretty things', honestly.

I have zero problem with people who do, and wouldn't say anything against them for that preference.

But I collect MLP because of all the information and stuff around it. The nostalgia and the history. A beat up rare UK backcard or leaflet for me is way more precious in my collection than some of my loose ponies are, honestly speaking.

Everyone has a different reason for collecting, it's not a one size fits all.

[babyprincessnicole]

I am usually a fairly picky collector, but some of my most treasured ponies are original from when I was little and admittedly don’t display well.  But when I thought about buying those same ponies in better shape to upgrade my collection I realized I wouldn’t love them near as much as the memories wouldn’t be there.  Instead, I decided to try to find all my original ponies MIB or MOC so I can have my originals in their so-so condition to remember all the fun times I had with them as a child, but also the mint on card/box version to preserve my memory of first receiving them and all their awesome accessories. 

So for example, now I have a Sweet Pop with faded hair and some cancer spots, but I also have her on US and Canadian cards just as I remember picking her out at Toys R Us.  And to me that is the best of both worlds, so to speak. 

Nicole

[PrincessKittyDragon]

A good few of my ponies are in more baity in condition I think it gives them more personality. My Waterfire has really bad scratches and cuts, I see them as scars because shes adventurous! I found them that way, I rescued them from thrift stores and flea markets
I clean them up and take care of them.

I see them as my friends, I could never just throw them away because they are "ugly"
I think its very superficial to only like the ponies that are perfect. Not to mention some people can't afford to pay 30$+ dollars for a single perfect or MOC condition pony. I don't know if its just the way you wrote this post but it just comes across as really rude and negative. The reason to collect ponies is because I love ponies regardless of condition.

[babyprincessnicole]

And to add to the points made by others, many G1 ponies are prone to plastic breakdown and other quality issues, so in many cases it is unavoidable. The pony you bought as mint/near mint several years ago may not be so minty when you unpack her from storage.  I’ve been (re) collecting for about 20 years now and ponies that I originally bought as mint/nm have not all stayed that way.  Many of my twinkle eye ponies for example have spots or plasticizer breakdown that has just shown up recently. 

And to agree with another point, fixing up and restoring ponies who have had a rough life and aren’t in the best of shape in my opinion can be a lot of fun and you get the bonus of having done the work yourself. For me that gives me a greater attachment to them.  For example, I have several ponies that I bought with severe haircuts just so I could replace their hair and I don’t think I will ever try to upgrade them because I adore them.  They don’t always display as great as ponies in original good condition but that just makes them different and I’m ok with that.

Nicole

[SpacePinto]

Personally I pick each new pony carefully to make sure I've found one in the right condition, as I have a very limited space for ponies and prefer to focus on quality rather than quantity, but I can understand why someone would see appeal in baity, worn ponies

[Mana Minori]

I respectfully disagree. I get that collectors collect and like to look  at a flawless collectible, but ponies were toys first and foremost. Kids playthings.  If they have a few battle scars from surviving a kid’s dog or have survived the vicious roughhousing of some rambunctious Little girl’s playtime, then there should be no shame in that. Their battle scars tell these pony’s stories, and should not be considered ugly. Just as yellowing is a mark of age and respect, I feel.
All ponies are beautiful.

Post Merge: May 18, 2020, 02:07:47 PM

Baits can still be pretty!
I also collect to restore and clean up. I'll try to make a bait pony display as nicely as I can (I think curls negate the need for lots of body cleanup ha) but it's the journey not the destination or whatever.

agree 100 percent! I got a tailless Moondancer while thrifting. I quite like her without her tail and I never replaced it (also because I don’t know how to reroot). But there’s an intrigue as to how she lost it- fighting and surviving a pack of giant hellhounds out for pony blood? Or something else? Same with my buzzcutt Scoops. How did she lose her mane? Yeah. Some kid got a little too scissor happy, but rather than considering her ugly for it, I made her an outfit to cover it and that developed into a whole identity/ alter ego persona for her.

[Taffeta]

My Glory and Moondancer both came to me tailless and I had to get them donor tails from a trader in the US. But they are super precious to me because neither of them were sold here in the UK and they are the only ones I have ever found in the wild here. They were ponies from my childhood stories that I had stopped believing were actually real...

So even though they've seen better days, they're my Glory and Moondancer. And I refuse to upgrade them.

[Punaherukka]

The G1 ponies, as popular toys of the age, were a part of 80s and early 90s culture. The toys existing now are all there is, there will be no more original ponies. Every baity pony that is thrown away is one less toy that can never be replaced. Because of this, even the non-minty ponies have value, as pieces of toy history. Nothing lasts forever, in time the plastic of even the best preserved ponies will begin to break down. But preserving the old toys in the hands of collectors for as long as they can last is in my opinion a worthy effort.

[Carrehz]

well as the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". What YOU think is "ugly", others might think is beautiful. People collect for any number of reasons... not just "cause it's pretty".

Although, I'll admit that I don't really understand the appeal of yellowed MOCs, either - I can *sort of* get the appeal of MOCs but I'll admit I've seen some cards that are so beaten up that it's like "why not just open them up? the package is practically falling apart already!". But eh, if it makes people happy then who am I to judge. *shrug*

[caseysealia]

Umm I'm curious as to how bad you think "baits" look on shelves. Most of the ones I've had, (and I've quite a few) haven't looked that much different from mint ponies on display. I think there's something special about "used" ones but I personally don't like basically destroyed ones, which is really where the word bait should be used to me, when a pony is un-repairable. I don't know why someone would want a basically destroyed object on display, but that's just my opinion and ultimately with the age they are now you gotta preserve what you can :'/ But yeah, really most of the time they don't look that different, they're still pretty, broken and all