The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: LadyMoondancer on October 23, 2021, 02:06:56 PM
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Hello! I'm curious what Mimic goes for these days. :) Are the wBay prices typical? (Looking to buy.)
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Ooh. Last I saw, she was going between $150-$200. >_<
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It's been varying for a while now, but the most common price range I've seen recently is $200-350 USD
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I just sold one for $300!
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Bless that pony, her prices are always on a rocket going upward!
Well, if anyone is selling one please let me know. :)
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Bless that pony, her prices are always on a rocket going upward!
Well, if anyone is selling one please let me know. :)
Can't wait till she's rereleased by Basic Fun.
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i sold one for about $400 back in April. I really want another one though. Maybe a Basic Fun. I'll be less tempted to sell. :)
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Sold listings from October 1st - today show her selling for $300 - $450 range.
It'll be super entertaining when she's released by BF. :lol:
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Bless that pony, her prices are always on a rocket going upward!
Well, if anyone is selling one please let me know. :)
Can't wait till she's rereleased by Basic Fun.
That would be great.
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Yeah, actually the reason I was asking is I was thinking of trying to get a crowdfunding thing going on my blog to purchase a Mimic and send it to Basic Fun, as I'm worried her price on eBay will result in them skipping her.
My worry is, with four ponies per Basic Fun set, and 11 Twinkle Eyes they have yet to produce, it would be easy for them to pass over Mimic and choose a cheaper pony. Basic Fun buys the vintage version of each pony they make, to color-match the hair and bodies. (Sometimes the photos on the side of the Basic Fun boxes are actually vintage ponies.) And they went through some tough times with Covid, had to lay off some employees to stay afloat.
I'm also thinking of starting a letter campaign--to Basic Fun, to encourage them to make Mimic, and to Target, to try to get them to stock BF ponies again. I'll keep you guys updated, I have to organize, lol!
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Yeah, actually the reason I was asking is I was thinking of trying to get a crowdfunding thing going on my blog to purchase a Mimic and send it to Basic Fun, as I'm worried her price on eBay will result in them skipping her.
My worry is, with four ponies per Basic Fun set, and 11 Twinkle Eyes they have yet to produce, it would be easy for them to pass over Mimic and choose a cheaper pony. Basic Fun buys the vintage version of each pony they make, to color-match the hair and bodies. (Sometimes the photos on the side of the Basic Fun boxes are actually vintage ponies.) And they went through some tough times with Covid, had to lay off some employees to stay afloat.
I'm also thinking of starting a letter campaign--to Basic Fun, to encourage them to make Mimic, and to Target, to try to get them to stock BF ponies again. I'll keep you guys updated, I have to organize, lol!
That pose is so difficult too. Is it just her and TAF Twilight?
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I thought Basic Fun had been bought by Hasbro. In which case, would they still need to source a pony to copy? Wouldn’t they have access to all the archives and molds?
On PC. I just paid €350 for one in good condition with original comb and ribbon. And yes, I’m now on a pony ban :blink:
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Basic Fun is its own company, they just have the license to make retro ponies. Hasbro provides them with artwork, but Hasbro didn't keep copies of all the toys they ever made. They probably have a handful of ponies kicking around, but no pony library. (Hasbro didn't even keep the molds! Which is wild to me.)
Yeah, in the US there aren't a lot of ponies in that mold. Mimic, Milky Way, Princess Sparkle are the ones I can think of. But if they get a pony they can reverse engineer the mold.
Ooooo, congrats on your Mimic, ScotchHop!
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It's a really good idea. I don't know if I would send them Mimic unless they could promise to make her. But, I really, really hope they do.
The problem with her high price is that it once someone buys it for a certain amount, they'll be very reluctant to ever sell her for less. I can't believe there are 9 of her for sale right now on Ebay. Wow.
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It's a really good idea. I don't know if I would send them Mimic unless they could promise to make her. But, I really, really hope they do.
The problem with her high price is that it once someone buys it for a certain amount, they'll be very reluctant to ever sell her for less. I can't believe there are 9 of her for sale right now on Ebay. Wow.
yeah i think that contributes to driving up the price. i was definitely guilty of buying one at a higher price in 2020. but selling again later because i had overspent on ponies. i guess it's just good old market forces. i don't love it. i just feel put off from buying stuff in general lately.
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It's a really good idea. I don't know if I would send them Mimic unless they could promise to make her. But, I really, really hope they do.
Yeah, my first goal is to write them a letter and see if they even plan to make more Twinkle Eye ponies and to point out how popular Mimic is.
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I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that pretty much everybody who likes g1 ponies is going to want a Mimic! I bet a lot of people will also want 2… one to have MIB, and one loose. If LadyMoondancer’s petition comes to fruition and they see how many people want them to make retro Mimic, I bet they’d listen. They could make so much money! Maybe people could pre-order them so that they can guarantee it’s worth it before they start production? But BF doesn’t seem to want to deal with shipping individual ponies to people, just selling bulk cases to stores. Maybe they don’t have the capabilities for that? I don’t understand why they don’t just sell the ponies on their website. That would solve a lot of availability problems. Yeah, you can get them on Amazon or eBay but the prices are so jacked up… anyways this turned into a ramble. Go Lady!!
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I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that pretty much everybody who likes g1 ponies is going to want a Mimic! I bet a lot of people will also want 2… one to have MIB, and one loose. If LadyMoondancer’s petition comes to fruition and they see how many people want them to make retro Mimic, I bet they’d listen. They could make so much money! Maybe people could pre-order them so that they can guarantee it’s worth it before they start production? But BF doesn’t seem to want to deal with shipping individual ponies to people, just selling bulk cases to stores. Maybe they don’t have the capabilities for that? I don’t understand why they don’t just sell the ponies on their website. That would solve a lot of availability problems. Yeah, you can get them on Amazon or eBay but the prices are so jacked up… anyways this turned into a ramble. Go Lady!!
Well...there's a big fat difference for BF paying $5-$20 for a pony to remake and paying $200-$300.
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Yeah, that's the problem - they specifically need Mimic herself, right? Cause of her eyes? She's the only TE in that pose, right? I seem to remember a previous thread where we came to that conclusion.. that they'd need Mimic so they could see how to attach her eyes.. might be misremembering.
I think this is a great idea LadyM! :) I agree w/ waiting for a reply from BF before sending them anything, I'd hate for a Mimic to go to "waste" ;) But if you start a petition, let me know, I'd definitely sign it. I think a repro Mimic would be wonderful.
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Yeah, in the US there aren't a lot of ponies in that mold. Mimic, Milky Way, Princess Sparkle are the ones I can think of. But if they get a pony they can reverse engineer the mold.
And don't forget Bangles! But yeah, there are only four ponies in that pose which isn't a lot!
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@LadyMoondancer, I'm not personally a fan of the Mimic pose however I do love a campaign and will sign anything that might help other collectors and of course Basic Fun... I would have thought that if they do make Mimics they would sell a fair few?
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Hmmm...this is definitely an interesting proposition for Basic Fun! I agree with others that have said that you'd want to get confirmation from them that the pony would get made.
Another thing to consider is that you would want to make sure the specimen in question was a good color; I don't know how much Mimic tends to vary in color with age...I doubt anyone has enough of them to compare! But I know she always looks different in photos, ranging from whitish green to yellow to neon green, and it's likely just differences in photography and lighting. But I'm thinking of Heartthrob, of whom they must have unknowingly purchased a discolored specimen to use as their prototype, because her BF color was definitely not the nice lavender-pink of her original look. I'm probably getting ahead of myself, but figured it didn't hurt to mention it! I'll follow your progress and be supportive of your efforts!
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I was wondering about BF Heart Throb but that would explain it! I'm lucky to have a nice original.
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i'll sign a petition for a Basic Fun Mimic :)
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I'm not sure if online petitions really do anything, personally, I have never heard of one doing anything no matter how much it gets spread around. But if only one in history can actually work I would love to see a repro Mimic. I do believe that HQG1C has her pose as either a blank pony, or at least one character. Maybe both. I think all the would have to do in that case is cut out the eye part before using it to make their mold for her.
Actually, if they would make her, I would expect for her price to actually sky rocket...the demand to have the ORIGINAL, "real deal" would definitely be strong imho.
...Speaking of, I'm still sore that they didn't choose Galaxy to be in the set of confirmed TE repros. No offense to Sky Rocket but I'll never stop believing that she deserves to be in that place!
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A repro Mimic? I'd get 2! Hopefully this petition would work out.
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yeah it would be interesting to see what happens to the price of Mimic if she gets a Basic Fun release. it seems like the prices of the others that were re-released have stayed a little high IMO. though i haven't checked for a few months and prices were higher with the pandemic. i find the prices of collectibles to be interesting since their "intrinsic" value isn't really high. though i have an ongoing argument with my partner about the real value of investing in gold or silver. i'm not a fan.
i definitely have moments where i wonder if i'm silly for spending so much on ponies over the years. i don't collect as an investment but i do like knowing that i can sell if i need money. and i did sell off some of my collection when i needed money. idk money is weird and silly sometimes too.
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If its not on FB or Twitter or something, I'll sign it.
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Thanks for the support guys! <3 I went bit the bullet and bought a Mimic off eBay because I didn't want messiness if I ran a GoFundMe and then Basic Fun didn't end up making Mimic or whatever . . . She is currently drying off after getting her hair washed.
I also sent Basic Fun a letter yesterday saying, basically, "I'm excited about your upcoming Twinkle Eye ponies! I saw the stock photos and they look great! Are you planning on making MORE Twinkle Eye ponies after this set?"
I've found if you ask multiple questions of a company, they're likely to miss some of the info you were asking for. Hopefully they'll write back, and then I'll have a starting point to work from.
Everyone, pleeease buy the current TE set if you can . . . Spending $$$ is the best way to show that this is a worthwhile venture for Basic Fun. I know it's annoying that they aren't sold in more stores, but that is due to the stores not wanting to stock them, not Basic Fun's fault. (Maybe we should start a campaign aimed at Target / other major retailers telling them to carry the Basic Fun ponies!)
I'm not sure if online petitions really do anything, personally,
I'm going to try to get a letter writing campaign going rather than an online petition because, yeah, online petitions are not taken seriously. There's no way to verify that an online petition has been signed by real people rather than bots. But with real letters you can look at the postmarks and see that they're coming from different areas.
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Congrats on your new pony :)
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Congratulations on Mimic! I sent them an email. (If I tried to send a letter, they'd hafta hire an ancient language specialist just to figure out what I'd written. Haha!) And told them that I was excited for the Twinkle Eyes coming soon, and hoped that they'd make more from the set.
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Congrats on the new Mimic! I do hope they make more. Of course I'll buy the ones they just made. I just hope I can find them.
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Are the twinkle eyes available on amazon?
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Well they responded. And they told me thanks, and where I could find them. :huh:
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Well done leave a whisper, for doing all that so far!
Perhaps if more of us write, asking if they are going to do a mimic, they will get the message!
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Well they responded. And they told me thanks, and where I could find them. :huh:
At least you made your interest known! That can only be positive! *hugs*
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Remember the letter writing campaign to get BF to make the colorswirl ponies, did anything ever happen with that? Obviously they didn't make them but did they acknowledge it in any way?
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I'm pretty sceptical about the possibility of Mimic, as you guys know, albeit I think this is more productive and proactive than just saying how cool it would be to get Mimic made and expecting BF to absorb all the expense of a pony whose cost was jacked up by collectors being silly in the first place.
I understand the desire for a $10 Mimic, especially to those who have never contributed to the Mimic price and are just feeling the fallout from the past, but even so. I also don't really care whether the price of the original drops or whether BF do or don't make her, I just feel like collectors have to accept their share of the responsibility for that price idiocy rather than just expecting a company to make a repro one to solve the problem. And it would probably be a good thing if original Mimic's price dropped, anyway, because it is getting to silly levels now.
The one hesitation is that I don't know whether they need multiple of a pony or what they need to do with her other than rip the pose of course.
Might be a good idea to have an alternate pony in the same pose (Milky Way probably the best, given that Bangles is fuzzy and Amethyst has a jewel symbol hole issue?) if you are really serious about doing this, else they might need multiple Mimics to make any kind of product and the gesture would be wasted.
Frankly, I feel like if we don't get Masquerade, Whizzer, Galaxy and Speedy, there's not a lot of point in trying for Mimic, so it's a good idea to ask those questions first. I'm not sure there'll be an answer but at least it puts the ideas in people's heads. I did write to them way back at the beginning about the early unicorns and pegasi, they did come out here, but I doubt that was because of my letter. They certainly did nothing about the unmade concept ponies that people wrote to them about...but that's not a reason not to try.
On Mimic's colour - I don't think there's much variation in the pony herself, honestly. I've owned three or four Mimics and seen a fair few others at ponycon etc, and they're all the same shade really. It's more how she shows up in photos. She's not yellow, or white, or any of those things, but a light yellow green/chartreuse colour. And that is probably subjective on monitors and screens especially. If they had the pony in hand they might be okay - although remembering how yellow Tootsie is in comparison to original Tootsie, they might not be.
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ugh i really want another mimic!
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You're right about Tootsie's color. I picked her up recently, and she isn't even a little bit green. I've never seen a vintage Tootsie in this shade, so I'm not sure how they came up with the color they did. I wonder if they just had trouble making green or something.
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Sorry I’m clearly out of the loop, are old ponies going into production again via a new company?
Post Merge: November 10, 2021, 05:39:08 PM
Maybe a silly follow up but do they need an actual pony of mimic? Seeing what clipper has made makes it seem like having an actual pony to copy isn’t a necessity.
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Sorry I’m clearly out of the loop, are old ponies going into production again via a new company?
Post Merge: November 10, 2021, 05:39:08 PM
Maybe a silly follow up but do they need an actually pony of mimic? Seeing what clipper has made makes it seem like having an actual pony to copy isn’t a necessity.
Re: first comment - yes, Basic Fun have been making a line of repro ponies, we have a thread for them here: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,401206.0.html
Regarding the HQG1Cs, as I recall they actually do use baity original G1s to make the molds for those.
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Sorry I’m clearly out of the loop, are old ponies going into production again via a new company?
Post Merge: November 10, 2021, 05:39:08 PM
Maybe a silly follow up but do they need an actually pony of mimic? Seeing what clipper has made makes it seem like having an actual pony to copy isn’t a necessity.
Re: first comment - yes, Basic Fun have been making a line of repro ponies, we have a thread for them here: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,401206.0.html
Regarding the HQG1Cs, as I recall they actually do use baity original G1s to make the molds for those.
Thanks for the link.
If that's the case with the HQG1's I don't think it's necessary to send this company the real thing. Maybe if someone can figure out the color codes for her that would help but the real thing isn't going to do much unless they have the tech to extract color from old plastic (maybe that's easier than I'm thinking?)
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I'm under the impression they'd need Mimic specifically since she's the only Twinkle Eye in this mold and it'd presumably be easier to figure out how to put her eyes in if they had an original to use, rather than reverse-engineer it... or at least I think that's the impression most of us are under... But I might be misunderstanding or something. I dunno.
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I'm under the impression they'd need Mimic specifically since she's the only Twinkle Eye in this mold and it'd presumably be easier to figure out how to put her eyes in if they had an original to use, rather than reverse-engineer it... or at least I think that's the impression most of us are under... But I might be misunderstanding or something. I dunno.
I think that's the case. But with the others they've apparently had multiples of the same pony so...just think of that in the reality, if they need Mimic for the mould as well as the photos and the colour ident and all those things...think of the outlay that would be.
I personally wouldn't sacrifice a Mimic to them with no guarantees given how many people are looking for her in real terms, but I also don't think they would consider buying her themselves at the stupid prices she currently goes for. She's not iconic outside of the pony community, and we're a very small community. SO.
LM's way is probably the only very slim chance. It's just...I think...still really slim, because they possibly need more than we can give.
And it may just lead to the loss of one more Mimic from the community.
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I'm under the impression they'd need Mimic specifically since she's the only Twinkle Eye in this mold and it'd presumably be easier to figure out how to put her eyes in if they had an original to use, rather than reverse-engineer it... or at least I think that's the impression most of us are under... But I might be misunderstanding or something. I dunno.
I think that's the case. But with the others they've apparently had multiples of the same pony so...just think of that in the reality, if they need Mimic for the mould as well as the photos and the colour ident and all those things...think of the outlay that would be.
I personally wouldn't sacrifice a Mimic to them with no guarantees given how many people are looking for her in real terms, but I also don't think they would consider buying her themselves at the stupid prices she currently goes for. She's not iconic outside of the pony community, and we're a very small community. SO.
LM's way is probably the only very slim chance. It's just...I think...still really slim, because they possibly need more than we can give.
And it may just lead to the loss of one more Mimic from the community.
fair point. I would assume if hasbro still has the G1 molds for them to use that should include whatever they used for the eyes but who knows. I’m always floored by what materials and copyrights etc companies will allow to rot when they aren’t using them.
Technically they could just create a clay cast of the appropriate body model and press the eye gem of any twinkle into the clay eye to get the right look for mimic.
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Yeah that's my worry too, that they'll just end up tossing Mimic or hanging onto her or otherwise Not Use her, and the whole thing will be for naught. :( Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good idea in general and I DO think it's probably our best option of getting them to do Mimic (there's not even a lot of ponies in this pose to begin with.. Bangles, Milky Way, Mimic and Princess Sparkle. the princess' 3D symbols would make their mold difficult to use as a template, I'd imagine, and the others are all from sets they haven't touched.. so our options are pretty limited here) but I am worried about things going wrong.
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Well, like I said before, sending a Mimic with a baity Milky Way for pose purposes might help, since that's as close and as easy a way to get Mimic's pose without sacrificing a Mimic. It would depend whether they needed the exact head to do the twinkle eyes though. I'm not knowledgeable enough to guess at things like that.
Bangles being furry makes her a difficult contender, it would need to be a deflock otherwise I imagine it wouldn't make a great mould, and might not anyway if there was glue residue or remaining fur making it bumpy or uneven.
So yeah. I wouldn't want to see a Mimic sacrificed unless there was real hope that they would use her for the purpose being discussed. And since our previous letter writing campaign didn't bear any fruit as yet...plus other arguably cheaper and more well known projects have not materialised (I'm thinking baby ponies, flutter ponies, as well as the decision not to do Skyflier and Powder), I'd imagine their budget is probably allocated to what they think is feasible, not what some collectors most hope to see.
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Yeah, I'd love to see her but I'm trying to be realistic about it. :( Even setting aside potential issues in recreating it, we don't know if they'll ever redo the other sets Mimic's pose was used in - would they really be willing to remake a whole pose potentially just for one pony? I dunno, they did the sitting pose so maybe, but... I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at the few ponies in Mimic's pose and decided it wasn't worth it. (And again, NONE of the ponies in this pose are from "basic" sets - Milky Way is the most basic of the Mimic poses, in that she doesn't have flocking or 3D parts, but idk if TAFs would be more costly to do..? I'd imagine the extra symbols wouldn't really be any more costly or complicated or anything, but what do I know...)
Still sad the flutters got cancelled. The Lemon Drop playset getting canned I could understand, I dunno if their Pretty Parlour was a big hit or not, but the flutters.. :( And I really can't believe they STILL haven't made baby ponies, that was something I definitely expected them to have tackled by now.
(and yeah, I know Bubbles and Seashell aren't the only sitting ponies, but I really don't imagine Basic Fun ever tackling Nirvanas, so *for all intents and purposes* they remade that pose just for two ponies.)
What'd be great is if they'd release ponies in different molds, instead of just remaking old ponies exactly. That way it'd be easier to justify making new molds, especially lesser-used ones like Mimic's, since they could potentially get more use out of it otherwise.. but.. maybe I'm going a bit off-topic there, heh.
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You're right about Tootsie's color. I picked her up recently, and she isn't even a little bit green. I've never seen a vintage Tootsie in this shade, so I'm not sure how they came up with the color they did. I wonder if they just had trouble making green or something.
I think Tootsie was deliberate design choice. Basic Fun does brighten up or slightly change colors on a lot of ponies. Like BF Skydancer is a more intense yellow than the original. And they initially released Sparkle with half-red / half purple mane and tail. (Which I actually love, she looks sooo good with the red / purple tail.)
I'm not sure if they have to destroy the ponies to get new molds . . . My impression is companies can 3D scan them these days. (I mean, HQG1C doesn't, but that's a small hobby project, it wouldn't be practical for them to buy the scanning equipment. But Basic Fun is an actual toy company . . . .)
Anyway! I got a letter back from Basic Fun! It didn't directly answer the Twinkle Eye thing, but it DID provide some other answers which are pretty exciting! I'm going to make a new thread, since I imagine a lot of people haven't looked at this thread because they think it's solely about Mimic's price, ha ha!
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I have a 3d scanner and several printers.... but no Mimic