Why "baits"?

[coinoperatedgirl]

My husband  heard me refer to the ponies I picked up at the thrift store as baits and asked me why they were called that, and I realized I've got no idea why.


Anyone have any idea where the term came from?

[nuttertasha]

i have no idea good question

[Tabbyclaw]

Short for 'custom bait,' as in a pony that's so old and ragged and gross that it drags you in like a fishing lure and compels you to customize it.
 
-Tabby
the princess with claws

[Prismatic]

Lol my fiance asked me this a while back also.  After trying to find an answer, I came up with 'because they're just called that!'

He still thinks it's an odd name and thinks 'blanks' or 'bases' would be better terms lol.

[Bee-chan]

Short for 'custom bait,' as in a pony that's so old and ragged and gross that it drags you in like a fishing lure and compels you to customize it.
 
-Tabby
the princess with claws

I'm with you on this!

I tried rationalizing this topic with a non-pony collector one day a few years ago, and what you said was basically the best explanation I could give. They become like lures, inviting you to come along and turn them into something better!

[Saja]

Mine laughs when ever I use the term, recons im off fishing with my baits! lol

[creampuf]

Why not?

[jupiternwndrlnd]

cause customizers are quirky?

tho i have referred to them as "base ponies" ...they aren't really "blank"...at least not to begin with.

i don't see them so much as fishing bait, luring us into recreating them -- but ponies who tease and tantalize...baiting us into making them into something else
(gotta love the english language and its multipurpose words- lol)

[lilacamy931]

Baits - because they lure customizers in to make them awesome?

[ZennaBug]

Ummm... because that's what we call them? 

Hmmm... Ok, so in Finding Nemo, they call him "Shark Bait."  Meaning he's destined to be nommed by sharks.  Custom Baits are so grody that they are destined to become customs!

[xSexyWafflesx]

I think of it like fishing.  You throw the bait in the water on the line, and after a bit of "work" (really just waiting...), you reel in the line and you have a fish which is 10x better than a worm.  We take ponies in bad shape (the worm) and work on it (waiting for a tug on the line) until it looks way better than before (catching the fish). 

[CrimsonEtClover]

It seems to me that bait, like a worm, is something that's "sacrificed" in order to get something better, a fish....
 or a new pony...

[coinoperatedgirl]

Thanks, everyone! 

I've told him some of the replies, and finally just did the "that's just what they're called".  He'd originally thought that "bait" referred only to the fakies, but I've set him straight on that as well.

[BadgerKnight]

I always thought it was because something that is not in top condition or something to be reused is Re-bait. like to bait a hook, to reuse something no longer useful. 

[kittybethy]

Baits - because they lure customizers in to make them awesome?

 I agree!