Thoughts on allowing young kids to play with vintage ponies?

[LadyAmalthea]

So my son's 5th birthday is next week. It used to be easy to buy him presents; for 2 or 3 years he was super into Disney's Cars, and the die casts were easy and cheap to find. He is a very obsessive child when he finds something he likes (as was I  ), and he becomes very single-minded about it.

For the past 6 months or so I have been trying to clean up/rebuild my childhood G1 MLP collection after a flood in my family's basement, and I've really enjoyed becoming an adult collector. Well, my son has kind of glommed onto my hobby as well...who wouldn't, they are colorful and cute! We have spent the blah winter/spring months watching the old movie and TV episodes (although we have since stopped, as he has picked up some of the less desirable 80's slang/attitude language they say in those  ), and literally ALL he wants for his birthday is ponies.

I gave him a couple of my G1s to play with; my old Baby Surprise and Baby Firefly, because I had found mintier ones in lots I purchased on Ebay, as well as an adult Firefly that came in a bait lot (since what bait lot doesn't come with at least one Firefly, right?). But these have become so grubby that a little part of me cringes every time I see them. I tried getting him into FiM, and buying him some G4 ponies as a diversion from my collection, but I think many share my frustration at the lack of characters produced as toys there, and given his collector mentality, there is no place to go now that he has the 6 ponies that are easily available. All he wants are G1 ponies, especially the ones that he recognizes from the movie/show. I have a few set aside for him, mostly duplicates from my own collection, and I have ordered a couple of lots off of eBay for him as well. I just hope they aren't in minty condition when they arrive, because they won't be for long once they are in his death clutches. I tried searching bait lots, but quite frankly people seem to want just as much for baits as they do decent-looking ponies it seems.

How do you feel about children playing with vintage toys? Is it considered destroying remaining copies of something that can't be replaced, or is it giving these toys another chance to be loved by another child? (They WILL be loved by him, have no doubt about that). My feelings are so mixed on this. One thought I have is, the more of them he has, the less focus he will place on any one individual pony, thus spreading the abuse around more evenly... 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

let the kids play with them.  unless they are really HTF or expensive to collectors.  Please don't let him gnaw and drool on Rapunzel LOL 
This is why the 35th anniversary ponies are great - they don't cost much more than a baity vintage pony and you don't have to worry about the vintage part

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Good point on the 35th anniversary ones!
They're toys, I think it's nice to see kids still take interest in them. Plus, most of the ponies that appear on the show aren't expensive or hard to find.
What about G3 ponies? Would he have any interest in those?

[RoseNoire]

It's a big nope to me.

I tried to trust my 11 y/o niece at the time. She seemed interested in my collection, we went to a few flea markets together and she was starting to make her own collection. She saw me give some spa time to my newcomers and she would do the same to hers. All was going extremely fine and I assumed she would be careful with my own ponies.
One day, she was holding Majesty, I asked her to put her somewhere for some reason and she just threw her across the room to get the job done. That was dreadful.

Since then, I got certain in my opinion that I shouldn't let kids handle any pony at all and nothing can change my mind. I just can't trust them.

I use myself as an example as well. Even though I used to be careful with my ponies, I still did some mistakes, because I was a kid. Even as an adult I can still make mistakes here and there.

[LadyAmalthea]

let the kids play with them.  unless they are really HTF or expensive to collectors.  Please don't let him gnaw and drool on Rapunzel LOL 
This is why the 35th anniversary ponies are great - they don't cost much more than a baity vintage pony and you don't have to worry about the vintage part

Haha, he would love a Rapunzel pony! He was obsessed with Disney's Rapunzel for a season or so until he got distracted by Frozen, and now ponies. I'm just not going to clue him in that she exists in pony form, haha. I saw Rapunzel listed on eBay a month or 2 ago for a grand, and I showed the listing to my husband just to see his shock, and the first thing he said was, 'our son can NEVER know about that!'

No, all of the ones I am giving him are common...Posey, Peachy, Glory, and a ton of babies, mostly BBE ones. Also yes, 2 of the 35th anniversary ones that I picked up for less than a dollar, but are brand new! (That poor Starshine won't be bright white for long, though!) Wish I lived closer to a Target so I could scope out what they have there...I would definitely feel less guilty about him playing with those!

Post Merge: June 13, 2020, 08:24:54 AM

It's a big nope to me.

I tried to trust my 11 y/o niece at the time. She seemed interested in my collection, we went to a few flea markets together and she was starting to make her own collection. She saw me give some spa time to my newcomers and she would do the same to hers. All was going extremely fine and I assumed she would be careful with my own ponies.
One day, she was holding Majesty, I asked her to put her somewhere for some reason and she just threw her across the room to get the job done. That was dreadful.

Since then, I got certain in my opinion that I shouldn't let kids handle any pony at all and nothing can change my mind. I just can't trust them.

I use myself as an example as well. Even though I used to be careful with my ponies, I still did some mistakes, because I was a kid. Even as an adult I can still make mistakes here and there.

Oh no!! I would have thought an 11-year-old would know better than that. I guess though, I also think back to my own childhood, and remember the Baby Surprise that I mentioned above going with me everywhere, including the lake and swimming pool when we were on a vacation once...yuck!

Post Merge: June 13, 2020, 08:29:52 AM

Good point on the 35th anniversary ones!
They're toys, I think it's nice to see kids still take interest in them. Plus, most of the ponies that appear on the show aren't expensive or hard to find.
What about G3 ponies? Would he have any interest in those?

I thought about G3s...I think I would have to get him interested in the TV shows or movie specials to pique his interest first though. Sad that kids seem to need that influence nowadays...I remember getting into the toys first as a kid and then later being delighted when the movie/show came out about them, but it was always first and foremost about the toys. It's a good suggestion though and I might try it, G3s are cheap and plentiful!

[Leave a Whisper]

Depends on the kid. Ponies are sturdy so they can still withstand average play. If the kid is respectful of their own toys and the belongings of others, go for it. If they aren't, they can forget it until they learn to be. Maybe grab him some of the Basic Funs and sneak some G3s in there. They're of a similar height and look.

[banditpony]

My daughter would treat my toys kindly, so that isn't an issue there... but every kid is different, and accidents DO happen.

That said, old toys leak plasticizer and I'd rather not have her have nasty chemicals on her hands.

[Safflower]

[.] [.] [.]
Linking a few similar threads in case you want 'em

I've never had children near my collection and I probably never will. There's a lot of things that could go wrong, lol. And I'd rather not redo hairstyles

[RoseNoire]

Oh no!! I would have thought an 11-year-old would know better than that.

That's what I thought as well ! This is why I trusted her in the first place. I would have never let any kid younger than that approach my ponies. Maybe that's egotistical or mean from a certain point of view, but I'm all about preservation. =/

[kingluke]

I don't have kids but i would never let my young niece/nephews touch my herd.

They are just too hard to find and have had their 'play time' moment. I couldn't stand the thought of them being in kids hands getting ruined and having less vintage ponies in the world.

On the other hand, 35th anniversary ponies sounds like a great replacement.

[MilkyDreams]

I would say no, unless I was sure the pony wouldn’t leak..

[SunPony]

That said, old toys leak plasticizer and I'd rather not have her have nasty chemicals on her hands.

This is my big concern, I wanted to give some super common G1 ponies I got in a lot to my friend's kids, but especially with ones that have visible discoloration/fading/greasiness of the plastic, I worry about this kind of thing.

[Taffeta]

That said, old toys leak plasticizer and I'd rather not have her have nasty chemicals on her hands.

This is my big concern, I wanted to give some super common G1 ponies I got in a lot to my friend's kids, but especially with ones that have visible discoloration/fading/greasiness of the plastic, I worry about this kind of thing.

I think this would be the number 1. There are enough common ponies to supply lots of kids without even getting the attention of the collector community, but we don't know enough about the long term damage to the plastic and that would be an issue I think.

We played with them when they were new, and although there have been some studies about old toys and chemicals, the one that did lab studies involving MLP didn't explicitly name those things being found in MLP. But we do know pony plastic isn't stable, so I would get him the retro ponies (Basic Fun could probably use the help anyway) and keep the real ones away for now.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

That said, old toys leak plasticizer and I'd rather not have her have nasty chemicals on her hands.

This is my big concern, I wanted to give some super common G1 ponies I got in a lot to my friend's kids, but especially with ones that have visible discoloration/fading/greasiness of the plastic, I worry about this kind of thing.

I think this would be the number 1. There are enough common ponies to supply lots of kids without even getting the attention of the collector community, but we don't know enough about the long term damage to the plastic and that would be an issue I think.

We played with them when they were new, and although there have been some studies about old toys and chemicals, the one that did lab studies involving MLP didn't explicitly name those things being found in MLP. But we do know pony plastic isn't stable, so I would get him the retro ponies (Basic Fun could probably use the help anyway) and keep the real ones away for now.

Exactly, the new Basic Fun ones are heavily tested for all the bad chemicals.  the actual G1s?  not so much

I am sure that if you are too far from a Target, that a pony friend would be able to help you out!

[SpacePinto]

(although we have since stopped, as he has picked up some of the less desirable 80's slang/attitude language they say in those  )

I can't think of a single thing said in the 80s MLP that could possibly be bad for little kids to hear.