The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: faespirit on December 25, 2018, 04:22:50 PM
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So I don't know if this is a stupid question or not but I wanted to know why the g4 rare ponies ( the brushable singles released early in the line like Cupcake, Feathermay, Honeybuzz ) are considered to be so rare and sell for a bit more. I can understand why exclusives would be pricey but not so much with the singles. Was it just because they became limited in quantity or became popular as they were non canon? Did someone just start selling them for more and then eventually everyone did the same...lol. I know that they weren't always that expensive.
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Never be afraid to ask questions. :) I’m not a G4 expert but I’m pretty sure the reason those ponies are more sought after is for a couple of reasons. They’re not the Mane 6 characters which are constantly rereleased and they were only released once. In the early G4 days there was a better balance of non Mane 6 releases vs Mane 6 releases.
Ponyfan
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They’re not the Mane 6 characters which are constantly rereleased and they were only released once. In the early G4 days there was a better balance of non Mane 6 releases vs Mane 6 releases.
Yeah, I miss those earlier g4 releases and you're right that being non mane 6 made them so popular. I can imagine how annoyed everyone is of getting a hundred rereleases of pinkie pie ;)
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I believe it's because they weren't as popular in stores because most people just wanted the Mane 6 ponies rather than some ponies nobody knew anything about, and this led to them being more uncommon in the collecting community. Plus they stand out against all of the Mane 6 ponies.
So basically they're more sought-after because they aren't the same six ponies we always get.
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I wonder how much of it is actual rarity, and how much of it is just being that one release. Like, are there just as many Twilight Sparkles with forelocks, or TaF Pinkie Pies (the CMM release I realize there's a lot that would count as that) as there are Honeybuzz?
They are certainly considered "rare" because they were released about 7 years ago and are one-off releases, though.
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I believe it's because they weren't as popular in stores because most people just wanted the Mane 6 ponies rather than some ponies nobody knew anything about, and this led to them being more uncommon in the collecting community. Plus they stand out against all of the Mane 6 ponies
Wow. I never thought of that theory before. :P Seems legit because the at the time the collection community was probably taking interest in the main ponies of the "new generation" rather than the now rare ones.
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Hm. I'm not sure if they are rare, but they are higher in price because of a demand. (mind you -- If I see 11 ponies listed on ebay, I won't consider it rare. Just my own thought on what rare means. I wait for things that take years to show up on ebay. ^^; ). They were released in the first few years /and/ they are non-mane6. Not everyone was a fan of the show yet and collecting them. So it creates more of a demand to get them after the wave was over.
That said, FS Applejack was a mane6 character and was very much in demand since she was released in the first FS wave (2010? 2011?)... and then not released for many years later with the proper hair color. She would easily go for $70+ all day long till at least 2014 (but even then, that release had pink hair). Now her price has certainly plummeted because no demand.
I believe it's because they weren't as popular in stores because most people just wanted the Mane 6 ponies rather than some ponies nobody knew anything about, and this led to them being more uncommon in the collecting community. Plus they stand out against all of the Mane 6 ponies.
I thought they were harder to find when they were released... I would go to many stores within a 30mi radius and non mane 6 were sold out, (or I would buy the remainder and they'd be sold out :P ) and the mane 6 were always on the shelves.
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That said, FS Applejack was a mane6 character and was very much in demand since she was released in the first FS wave (2010? 2011?)... and then not released for many years later with the proper hair color. She would easily go for $70+ all day long till at least 2014 (but even then, that release had pink hair). Now her price has certainly plummeted because no demand.
So I guess it depends on the amount of releases.
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That said, FS Applejack was a mane6 character and was very much in demand since she was released in the first FS wave (2010? 2011?)... and then not released for many years later with the proper hair color. She would easily go for $70+ all day long till at least 2014 (but even then, that release had pink hair). Now her price has certainly plummeted because no demand.
So I guess it depends on the amount of releases.
Yep :) Her first release was nice two forelocks, and accessories. The 2014 wave had pink tone in her hair (and I can't recall if she was in even the US?).. but so not quite the same... ya know?
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I wonder how much of it is actual rarity, and how much of it is just being that one release. Like, are there just as many Twilight Sparkles with forelocks, or TaF Pinkie Pies (the CMM release I realize there's a lot that would count as that) as there are Honeybuzz?
They are certainly considered "rare" because they were released about 7 years ago and are one-off releases, though.
I agree, we will never know (unless Hasbro tells us, and they won't) how many actual units of pony were made in those releases.
What we do know for certain, is the bolded above.
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An example for no rarity and being released once is Cherry Berry. Wasn't she not worth much when loose even before her pearlized release? Did being canon make her value less?
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I think some of the 'rareness' has to also do with distribution. One pony I can think of that had really poor distribution was Star Dreams that came in a set with AJ. I don't know if they really did a re-release of her. Some of the ponies were only found in certain countries (or at least a variation of them... I think Glimmer Wings were in US and some non-glimmer wing variations were found outside of the US). I never found the last wave of translucent ponies which had Sea Swirl and Meadow Flower...
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Maybe most of them aren't rare as much as they are highly sought after? Other then that yes, Hasbro's distribution is sucky at the best of times, and they did make some of these sets and ponies a pain and a half to get, aside from the umpeenth version of the mane suxx I mean.
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Maybe most of them aren't rare as much as they are highly sought after?
It kind of makes sense because for example, diamond rose was released twice and probably her color scheme made her really popular and highly sought after thus making her sell expensively.
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An example for no rarity and being released once is Cherry Berry. Wasn't she not worth much when loose even before her pearlized release? Did being canon make her value less?
It's about how many people want her. And she has less demand...
I passed her up in stores because I thought she was boring.
ETA: even if something is "rare" that doesn't mean people want it.. and with no demand = lower price.
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I don't think they're rare, exactly; they're just in demand. More demand = less in supply + people are willing to pay more for stuff they *really want*.
Although, yeah, distribution is a factor, too. Most of the early exclusive G4s are difficult to get a hold of (Ploomette, Starswirl) IIRC.
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Demand and bad distribution. Even the Euro Exclusive ponies were pretty hard to find here.
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I agree with Moonbreeze that they were really badly distributed here. I only ever saw them once in Hamleys after I moved to London the first time and I swear, if I'd known they were never going to be seen again I would have bought more than 2, even though they were a little higher than normal retail there. The Euro exclusives never even made it here I don't think. I found Starswirl in France by accident on a trip to Lille. I never saw Dewdrop Dazzle's original set here either, although I'm told they did come - also badly distributed.
I think knowing that was the case created hype which in turn created the price hike. So it's a combination of Hasbro's distribution vs a sudden surge to want to get them I guess? I'm still hoping to pick up the ones I'm missing at carboot sales as G4 starts to fade out...
It's not just that set though.
As for Holly Dash and the 2nd wave rainbow powers, that one was to do with the dock strikes in the US I think. We definitely got a lot of Holly Dash here but in a very short timeframe. I bought her on discount, again by fluke, around my birthday because I wanted to treat myself - that was the Feb and by April when I became aware that so many people were after her, she was gone and never came back in my area. But I've found her second hand and I expect to find more. In her case it's because she only made it to a small area of the US, Canada and I think briefly the Netherlands? She had a poor distribution too.
Part of it seems to be the pattern of not being able to choose which wave you get in terms of stores. Look at the Hippogriffs. They come up with the same code as wave 1 and 2 baby sea ponies, but they've turned up hardly anywhere as a result. Wave 3 pearlies were a bit like that too for a bit, especially here where, again, they only appeared once. I believe you can still get Coloratura's set in Entertainer here though (unless Christmas cleared them out...) and that of course is wave 1.
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An example for no rarity and being released once is Cherry Berry. Wasn't she not worth much when loose even before her pearlized release? Did being canon make her value less?
Cherry Berry was released a couple times IIRC. She was never that popular though. Her first release was Pony Wedding, which was widely distributed. The popular pony from that wave was Trixie, with a second to Lyra. So CB was plentiful with low demand. I believe she was also released in the plastic bag dollar singles line, so prices have stayed down. She also had that pearlescent release in the Equestria line more recently. As a plain pink pony that doesn’t really appear in the show except as backgrounder, she just doesn’t appeal to the point of sellers giving her a price hike.
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definitely demand and hasbro's questionable distribution. for my "rare" early g4s (i have star swirl, feathermay, dewdrop dazzle, lily blossom, cherry pie and snowcatcher (and hopefully i got their names right lol)) i only saw them once, which is when i picked them up. i think for some i caught them off ebay at a low price when they had just come out (i know i missed out on dewdrop dazzle and got her off ebay from my half brother) star swirl in particular turned up ONCE in a tescos near me and i never saw her anywhere else, and they just had a mixture of the regular carriage and the one with her o.o... my irl pony friend at the time didn't know who she was, because she didn't even show up near her and she's in the same town, just the other side!