G3 Mane Guides/Lines?

[Ragamuffin]

I was doing my routine "looking at and brushing my ponies because I have nothing better to do" when I noticed something about my Cotton Candy.

I have two Cotton Candys. One I bought already loose, and one I bought MIB. The now out-of-box CC came with a pamphlet for the Butterfly Island sets, so this would've had to been released (or, re-released) in late 2004 at the earliest. She's also a duller shade of pink but I'm certain it's due to sun damage. She's in weird shape, a lot of the paint from the playset rubbed off on her feet, and there's some purple paint on her neck. Not sure if this was lazily made with little care for quality or it's a result of age... or maybe a mix of both?

The other CC I bought, pre-owned. I don't know where she came from or what she's been through. She's in better shape than my "MIB" CC for sure. Even though I'm sure these were both made around the same time in 2003, I'll call my pre-owned CC the "2003" one, and the other one my "2005" CC. I would call 2005 the "MIB" one but she's kinda out of the box now...

But anyway, onto the actual point of this post, I was playing with 2005's hair and I noticed these lines along her hair. The ones by her forelock were white so I assumed it was just... stressed...? plastic (I don't really know the terminology for this), similar to how G4s would end up. I thought it was just the plastic itself but nothing else. Looking closer, there are also pink and blue lines, right where the pink and blue strips of hair would start, respectively. Like a guide of how to root it.

After parting her hair you could see right in the middle there's a block of blue! I assume it's paint, but I haven't tried to do anything with it yet. The white is clear as day, but the pink is so pale it's hard to show up on camera. Towards the bottom you can see the blue lines as well.

Spoiler

2005's mane parted:

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2005's mane from the side:

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2003's hair, like the rest of her, looks much better. You don't see any distracting white lines on her neck except for her forelock. I had a harder time parting her mane for this one, but you can see the lines are less visible as well. You can see the pink lines more clearly, including a block of pink. The blue seems to have rubbed off or bled into the plastic. You can see where it's coloured the plastic, looking sort of like a bruise. Now, I don't think I've washed 2005 at all, but I have washed 2003 a couple times, perhaps that caused the paint to fade or bleed in? I can't remember what she was like when I received her and I will never know what she looked like when she was brand new. Going back to 2005, I wonder if her lines are more visible due to her overall poorer quality as well.

Spoiler

2003's mane parted:

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2003's mane from the side:

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2003's guides are inside of the rows, more out of sight. Compare that to 2005, where it looks like it was painted right on top of where the plugs would go.

I don't have many other Rainbow Celebration ponies— most of my 2003 G3s are Glitters. Sunny Daze is my one Rainbow, but she doesn't have any guides for her hair, either. It's weird how both of my Cotton Candys have these guides on them but not her despite both characters having multicoloured hair. The other ponies I have in my collection made later on don't have any lines on them either. It's purely a Cotton Candy thing, as far as my collection is concerned!

How common is this in ponies? Does anyone else have ponies with lines like this? ...or is this a problem exclusive to Cotton Candy?! Do you have a G3 Cotton Candy like this?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I've taken the hair out of a few ponies that have had lines, but I've not seen it bleed in like that! I've seen it on ponies with different hair colors instead of just one.

[LadyMoondancer]

I feel like I've seen the color guides on other G3s, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.  The original spring basket set, maybe . . . ?  G3 Cotton Candy is so lovely, I adore her bubblegum pink body.

[Ragamuffin]

I feel like I've seen the color guides on other G3s, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.  The original spring basket set, maybe . . . ?  G3 Cotton Candy is so lovely, I adore her bubblegum pink body.

I'd love to see the spring basket ponies if they have them! I love that set in general, but they're already known for their funky hair so it's not far-fetched that they would have lines.

I've taken the hair out of a few ponies that have had lines, but I've not seen it bleed in like that! I've seen it on ponies with different hair colors instead of just one.

That's what makes it hard when so many of your ponies are Glitters. A lot of my multicoloured-hair ponies are from 2006 onward or so, I don't know if they would have anything like that.