The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Marjaana on January 12, 2020, 01:28:20 AM
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Hi,
I have a dilemma. I'm not a proper collector, ie. don't display my ponies in a shelf or anything like that. Also not planning on going that route.
My kids are small and have enjoyed playing with their Retro MLP's and Hong Kong versions. I have a few Nirvana's that are a bit more valuable that I'm keeping safe in a box so high up that the kids can't reach them. But then it feels daft to have those beautiful ponies hiding away without any use.
Is anyone else struggling with this? I feel like I'd like to let the kids play with them but then would worry about them becoming dirty and broken.
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Everyone is different on things like this, I think. Personally I wouldn't have any trouble keeping expensive ponies away from kids. If you do give them to the kids then yeah, you are risking the ponies getting dirty or broken. My personal feeling is only do it if you know you won't get mad at the kids if it happens. Kids do not have good impulse control or foresight, that's just how it goes.
Also, there are a lot of the international manufacture ponies that I wouldn't trust around kids because I don't trust the safety standards of the companies they're from.
Like Italian ponies--probably okay. Brazilian or Argentinean ponies--they just seem very shoddily constructed and I wouldn't trust that they hadn't used lead paint or something else dangerous. There's no way Hasbro could have personally had oversight of those local factories in the 80s.
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If you enjoy a collectible, then you are a proper collector. As for your kids not being able to play with your pricier nirvanas, that's understandable. Besides, it seems like the kiddos have plenty to play with. ;) Whatever you wanna do.
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Also, there are a lot of the international manufacture ponies that I wouldn't trust around kids because I don't trust the safety standards of the companies they're from.
heck, aren't the US/UK ponies supposedly "unsafe for kids" nowadays, due to changing standards on what is/isn't safe in the last couple of decades?
I don't have kids, but if I did, I wouldn't have issues keeping Nirvanas, etc away from them. Not everything "has" to be for kids, and not everything has to have a "use"! If you enjoy having them, then it's not daft at all to keep them safely tucked away ;)
Ultimately I'd say it's up to you what you want to do. They're your ponies, after all. :)
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I'm fully aware mlps are toys and primarily meant for being played by kids, so here's just my opinion.
I have a strict no-kids policy towards my collection. That's because I don't trust at all they wouldn't get damaged or dirty.(Talking from experience) They are my ponies, I display them, restore them, customize them and gently manipulate and play with them. Even more so my precious ones, including Nirvana and rare releases. My collection's objective is oriented towards a decorative and preservation purpose, which is the opposite of kids playing.
In conclusion, it really depends on how you perceive your collection (its purpose) and what actions you allow to other people (observe, handle, play,..).
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G1s - especially from certain countries - have enough issues with aging that aren’t even related to being played with that I wouldn’t, for issues of safety as well as preservation. A toy that’s breaking down at a chemical level is probably not safe for kids.
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It's my understanding that the G1s shouldn't be played with by kids these days, regardless of where they were manufactured--there's a good chance of there being lead in the paint, as standards were different back in the 80s/90s. I don't know that I'd risk harming the kids (though we came through it alright, I guess? :huh: ).
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I personally struggle with this a lot, as I like to set up my toys and collections and things. I've come to the opinion for myself that I'd rather just allow myself to enjoy them as toys rather than let them live on a shelf. But it's always up to what's best for yourself! Never be ashamed to find joy in your toys
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(though we came through it alright, I guess? :huh: ).
People always say this, but it's not like people in our age cohort don't die, get cancer, etc.
Not trying to pick on you or anything, just pointing out that "we were fine" is kind of a fallacy.
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Thank you for all of your perspectives. Its lovely to reflect on these issues with people who share my love for MLP's. My Nirvana's will stay tucked away from the reach of tiny sticky hands until I maybe one day decided otherwise :)
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There's no wrong way or right way-- and it's very dependent on the child. I'm going to say 90% of collectors aren't going to let kids touch their ponies -- nirvana or not.
My little one has access to my ponies including takaras and I'm not going to bat an eye if she asks to play with one. Right now she's very respectful of her toys and I have no worries if she brushes their hair, or poses them, or whatever. Heck, she's even allowed to hold/play with my BJDs if she asks. (But she gets a bit more supervision on this because she is likely to drop things).
I don't worry about her breaking them, I worry about the fact that 80s toys weren't made to last this long and their plastic does leak out of them. So really, she gets very extremely limited time with any vintage toy (regardless of value), and she washes her hands afterwards.
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(though we came through it alright, I guess? :huh: ).
People always say this, but it's not like people in our age cohort don't die, get cancer, etc.
Not trying to pick on you or anything, just pointing out that "we were fine" is kind of a fallacy.
Also, though, the plastic can deteriorate, break down and that can have an impact on them in terms of safety.
Although by the same token, and despite that article some time back that claimed MLP might be dangerous, none of the scientific tests described in the article related to My Little Pony directly, and nothing conclusive has yet been proven for G1 in terms of whether or not their plastic is kidsafe. All that said, it's probably better to be safe rather than sorry. The kids have some retros and the retros are absolutely the best G1s for kids to be playing with right now IMO. They solve all the problems - they have their ponies and you have yours.
On the note of the [people of our generation get sick] mindset, there have also been a ton of other pollutants -like leaded petrol in car fumes, more widespread public area smoking, etc - not to mention mass disasters like Chernobyl which have also influenced the toxicity in the atmosphere we grew up in. I mention Chernobyl specifically because even here in the UK we had mutated flowers and plants and stuff for several years afterwards, so who knows what we were eating, drinking and breathing during that time.
I say this as the child of someone with cancer that was definitely NOT caused by exposure to My Little Pony.