Your 2020 collection recap and goals for 2021

[Griffin]

There's still time to make some purchases and perhaps packages are arriving or waiting under the Christmas tree, but I think it's a good time to make a "year in review" thread!

What were the highlights of the year? Did you find your grail pony? Complete any sets? Set up new exciting displays? Or perhaps you downsized your collection? Did the pandemic affect your collecting hobby in any way?

What about 2021 - do you have any goals in mind?

***
I was finally able to achieve some of the goals I set for 2019. 

1. My collecting had been on a hiatus ever since our move in 2015 and some of the ponies as well as my MH dolls and other miscellanious stuff were still in two big cardboard boxes. Last summer I got a second curio cabinet and was finally able to clear away the boxes! I also made a new collection checklist after displacing my previous one.

2. I've been buying some new ponies, yay! Not many - I counted around 15 G1 ponies and some G3s - but I've tried to focus on quality over quantity. The list includes at least one "grail"/army pony, FF Butterscotch! Baby Meadowsweet is also one of the highlights, and once my latest purchases arrive I should have a complete set of Rockin' Beats!   Well, my Pretty Beat still needs an upgrade, I rescued her from a bait box and she's... pretty beat. My G3 purchases include Whistle Wishes who's also been on my wantlist for ages.

3. I've been reactivating my customising hobby! After several years of slow pace (about 1 custom/year) I've made no less than 8 customs in 2020! Half of these were swap customs (2 private swaps and 2 group swaps) which means I also got some wonderful new additions to my custom collection. And they look so great in my new cabinet.  What's more, I was able to complete a WIP from 10 years ago! That was a true accomplishment

Goals for 2021

1. Add new shelves to my old cabinet. This has been on my to do list since the move but...
2. Buy at least one army pony! Butterscotch or Gusty. Baby Gusty (NBBE) still eludes me, that would be a good place to start! Or the Basic Fun repros.
3. Complete some more sets! I'd very much like to complete my Newborn Twin sets, and I'm only missing two of the single NB babies. I'm missing some common early US ponies, and the Happy Tails set should be easy enough to complete, just to mention a few.
4. Do some more custom swaps! Perhaps host a swap?

I think that's it! Nothing too ambitious, but I prefer small and attainable goals. What about you?

[mlp4me]

2020 goals: 1 nirvana, and one pony from my wish list. It's the same goal for 2021. Anything else is a bonus!

I managed a Peru Lickety and Posey that I restored over the summer. Finished up all US release Hasbro softies, plus all baby sea ponies (search continues for 100% matching floats, but they all have one...). Went a bit sea pony crazy. Also nabbed two playset boxes I was missing. Re-did the entire pony room back in March. Still not revealed... 2020 was pony awesome!!

[bright rabbit 1]

My 2020 collection recap:

Got my hands on some ponies with my birthday money, re haired some of them to either match their tv counterparts or turn them into different ponies (Love Letter into non Twinkleeyed Quackers). Got a lot of ponies from Etsy. Painted some ponies different colours (a pale Blossom and Baby Blossom into Seashell and Baby Seashell even though they look a lot darker than they should).

Hope to get some Christmas money so that I can get more ponies from eBay.uk

Goals for 2021:

Hope to get Wigwam in this year.

Get my custom ponies done.

Complete my wish list.

[Koudoawaia]

I really don't think I got a single pony this year. First time that's happened in a few years.

[BlackCurtains]

I think this was the year I got all my G4 Applejacks? My memory is terrible lol. I also bought a Pearly Kitty Love to add to my orange ponies. That was about it for my MLP collection. I moved and spent two months packing. Due to uncertainties and bouts of depression, most of my stuff is still in boxes, ponies included.

For 2021 if and when my income returns my first pony purchase will be the Dissectibles Applejack. I need her

I want to get a new display for my Hasbro ponies, I know what I want to get, it's just buying it. I also want to paint my floating shelves that my Raincurl army lives on. I'm going to airbrush rainbow clouds and stars on the shelves. I think that will look nice

Since Argentina prices have gone out of control, I don't think I'll be getting my grail anytime soon Or any other orange Argies. I'm interested in a Collector's Pose UK Applejack though. She's affordable.

As far as customs go, I too want to get back into it. I have a half (maybe less than half) finished "big" custom that I'd like to finish and a smaller, simpler one that I just started. The trick is to keep going and not lose my motivation

I'd like to get back into swaps too, but I want to try a private one first - maybe with you, Griffin? I need to finish up these other two though, make sure I haven't lost my touch

I'd really like to get a nice glass curio for my custom pony collection but it's a bit pricey and I have so many other things to buy for the apartment, like a sofa. So I don't know what I'm going to do with them in the meantime... keep them boxed up, I guess.

[Griffin]

I'd like to get back into swaps too, but I want to try a private one first - maybe with you, Griffin? I need to finish up these other two though, make sure I haven't lost my touch

That would be awesome! Just message me when you feel up to it, I've only got one WIP atm ^^

[Leave a Whisper]

2020 Purchased for me:
G1-
Windy
Trickles
Shady
Starflower (Sparkle)
Tic-Tac-Toe
Twilight (SS)
Wind Whistler
Locket
Braided Beauty
HQG1C Sea Mist
Friendly
Morning Glory
Queen Rosedust
Peach Blossom

G3-
Rainbowdash
Tea Leaf
Keen Bean
Toola Roola
Pink Sunsparkle
Seascape
Sea Spray
Penny Candy
Alphabittle
Wish-a-whirl
Tiny Book Sweetie Belle

G4-
Lucky Clover
Retro Mane 6 Pack

G2-
Miss Painter

2021:
G1-

Twist
Princess Misty
Rainribbon
Sweet Stuff
Sunnybunch
Magic Star
Sunsplasher
Ribbs
Princess Tiffany
Baby Surprise
Dipper
Beach Comber
Forget-Me-Not

G3-
Sandy Island
Crystal Crown
Autumn Skye
Always and Forever
Morning Monarch x2
Thistle Whistle
Windy Wisp
Rarity
Cheerilee (Unicorn)

G4-
Sandbar

Mishmash-
Lite Brite
Prime Pony

[SpacePinto]

What were the highlights of the year? Did you find your grail pony? Complete any sets? Set up new exciting displays? Or perhaps you downsized your collection? Did the pandemic affect your collecting hobby in any way?

I actually found my grail (NSS Wind Whistler in a great condition, which is rare) by the end of last year so it doesn't count, but this year I also bought Heart Throb, Gusty, Posey and Mimic.

What about 2021 - do you have any goals in mind?

My goal for the future is actually to just stick with the six ponies I have now Maybe one day I will buy one or two more, like Masquarade or Surprise, but overall I just want to leave my collection at the size it is today, which is just perfect for my conditions (not to mention that the only two ponies that are really important to me are Wind Whistler and Fizzy anyway, so technically I could probably even downsize it)

[Carrehz]

Oh, let's see...

Ponies added to the herd this year:
possibly Playskool Applejack/Daisy Dreams/Rainbow Dash/Bumblesweet... not sure if I got them early this year, or late last year

G1 Baby Moondream

HQG1C: Moonlight/Moonglow, Sunshine/Daydream, Obsidian, Onyx, Prettybow (and Sky the cat), Snowball, Batty Boo, Lil Pumpkin, Tradewinds

G4 Haven Bay (technically I actually bought her a few years ago, but it took a while for her to actually arrive... long story short, the seller would only ship to the US, so she made a pit stop with a friend of the family and um, well it took a while for the friend to send her on. )
Princess Skystar (Hippogriff)
whichever Pinkie came w/ Skystar
Silverstream (Hippogriff)

all six World's Smallest G1s

Egmont magazine ponies: Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer

Chupa Chups wave 2: Applejack, Applejack again, Vinyl Scratch, Dr Whooves, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon

EQG Mini Roseluck

Mostly licensed stuff and HQG1C, I was focusing on my Ojamajo Doremi collection this year... plus since I don't really care for the new G4.5s (although I'll admit, I'll probably end up with Trixie, she's growing on me.. I DID want one or two of the wave 1 blind bags, but *naturally* all the stores near me skipped straight to wave 2...!) and I STILL haven't found the retro AJ/Bow-Tie in stores (and idk if I want them enough to get them online)... meant there weren't many "new" ponies for me to look for this year ;

Although that said, I actually DID buy several ponies on eBay this week. ^^

I don't really make goals/New Year's resolutions, but I'd like to finally get my paws on the Kotobukiya Bishoujo Pinkie next year, I think. Really want her, but she just slipped through the cracks somehow... there's still quite a few G4s I'd like to get, too. Sooo many blind bags on my wishlist X_X

[Rhaegar]

2020 goals: Most plans got derailed this year (obviously) but I've managed to add more HQG1C, G2s, Basic Fun, and misc merch. Between March and September I really wasn't buying anything.

2021 goals: at least one of my final 13 G1s to complete my US collection, more baby G2s and petites. Hoping for the mail issues to clear up so I can get more stuff from overseas, almost everything I need at this point is foreign.

[dannahbanana]

2020 was my very first year collecting! I went a bit crazy at first...purchased too many ponies over the course of a few months because I was just so excited.

My goal for 2021 is to be more mindful about my purchases.

[LadyAmalthea]

2020 was my very first year collecting! I went a bit crazy at first...purchased too many ponies over the course of a few months because I was just so excited.

My goal for 2021 is to be more mindful about my purchases.

Ditto your response word for word! I started collecting about a year ago and went in a little bit hard and fast. It's been fun, but I really need to rein it in this coming year!

[NanoRuby]

I started collecting hardcore this year, so my collection, which previously was comprised mostly of childhood G3s, probably quadrupled in size this year, maybe even more. I also fell into the "buying too many ponies" habit.

My goal for next year is not to buy every cheap pony I see, but to save my money for a few rarer ponies that I really want. I also want to re-learn how to sew (for the fifth time...) so I can make accessories for customs I'm working on.

[Ponybookworm]

My 2020 goals were mostly achieved by being here, as the main way I upped my G2 Ponies was purchases here.

I've also increased my HQG1C collection, including Baby Boy Maple (finally yaiy), & got in a whole load of G3 Breezies, including all the petal car ones & most of their cars (again mostly from here).

Custom-wise I started well but that came to a screeching halt as I hit a bad dose of depression in May. From there I got into a writing project which has mostly dominated my Customising, except for two new dollhouse kits I made into the Festive Cottage & the Spooky cabin, along with paints, stickers, spare ribbons & Halloween-themed ribbons, & some dollhouse furniture.

For now until the end of next year I hope to continue with my G2s, add an Argentina Pony I like, add whatever HQG1Cs Clipper has made next, finish the writing project & get back to Pony Customising.

[Shaz]

I'm trying to do quality over quantity! I even managed to sort through my packed-away ponies and send some G4 plushies to the charity shop, so yay me.

Newbies this year:
- A deflocked Ribbon!!!! At last!!!! I have wanted a (deflocked) mummy for my beloved Baby Ribbon since I started pony-collecting in 2013! I finally have her, and it's just as much fun as I thought it would be She was an eBay purchase.
- G3 Toola-Roola. I know, boring old Core 7 pony. But this girl is special to me because she's a rescue pony! There's a block of flats near us that have taken to putting unwanted things outside in a box marked FREE. Sometimes there's good stuff, sometimes it's just weird (coffee filters and a box of nicotine patches, anyone?). It's usually a bit messy and sometimes the things are on the grass verge instead of in the box. But we've got some really good stuff there (including two Monster High dolls and most of a Monster High kitchen!) and I kept joking that it was only a matter of time before they put out a box of free ponies. Then one day we found Toola lying in the grass next to the box, all muddy and soggy thanks to a recent downpour of rain. Poor little girl. Of course we took her home, and she cleaned up beautifully!
- A Ty Beanie Twilight Sparkle. Another gift from the box of random free stuff. The poor girl was in an even worse state than Toola. She was actually mouldy! And her hair was all matted. We've sorted the mould, but the hair is an ongoing project!
- A custom Princess Pony made from a blind bag pony. Just ordered her from PKW's Etsy shop She's going to a glamorous mum to my beloved blind bag Pony.
- And I pre-ordered one of the new Smashin' Fashion ponies (Sunset Shimmer) because I think she's seriously cute and I want to try to find fabric outfits for her. But she won't be here till next year, so I suppose she's a 2021 goal!

I've also had fun buying accessories for my ponies: ribbons, clothes etc. Pretty much all I want next year is to carry on enjoying ponies (and other toys that I like) without breaking the bank/disappearing under a pile of vintage vinyl