Who are the "Oldie Moldies"?

[Stormy31685]

I probably don't seem like one, but I really got started in 1996-1997.  I was on the boards then but it was mostly email and stalking the hundreds of sites on the ring of rainbows lol!  I disappeared a bit during high school, but got back on the boards full time in 2004-2005.  I remember going to the delaneys ponypalooza in 1999 with my mom, haha!

What a great thread this is.  It is nice to see that we are still here!  Won't it be awesome to see one of these in another ten years?

[LadyMoondancer]

Taffeta, I remember when you joined the PonyPeople Mailing List--there was an undercurrent of excitement because, at last, a UK member who might have access to some of those amazing Euro ponies!  I think Sel joined not too long after, or possibly a little before.  I know she was the one who first told me So-Softs were never sold in the UK.

Anyone else remember the eBay seller "esk"?   Not a community member, as far as I know, but one of the first transatlantic major eBay pony sellers.   He'd put reserves of $30 on every non-US pony . . . and got that price every time, for a long while!

[EStRanger]

I'd forgotten all about esk till you mentioned him. Wow, I remember thinking he must be making a killing off all those ponies with those reserves. Of course, nowadays $30 is a drop in the bucket for what some of our formerly-cheap ponies are fetching!

[Mermaid]

I remember Esk I bought a UK Snowdrop from him for $30....

[MercuryStar]

Wow...I just realized...if I was 16 when I got into online pony fandom, and I'm 32 now....I've been part of the online MLP scene for half my life.

I think I was about 16 when I discovered the online pony fandom (though like I said before, I didn't join in till much later... I was just so scared of everything), and am now 32 as well.   Seems like forever ago.

I must try and get the rest of the scrapbook fixed up when my course is done, too. Of course, it would help if my webhost hadn't taken down a bunch of the new stuff I added last Sept without warning...sigh...

I am excited to hear that, the Scrapbook has always been one of my go-to pony info places, and I was sad when I went there last month(?) and noticed so many missing pages.   I even lamented to some friends on Pony Finders about all the old sites not being maintained, or outright disappearing, as their owners have moved on.

[CapnChan]

I've never really not collected ponies, although I guess I started to consider myself a collector in the late 90s, around age 12, when I started finding lots at yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets, etc.

However, I had no idea the Arena existed or that there were so many other MLP fans until late 2009 when a friend directed me here. So...old to collecting, new to the fan community.

This is eerily similar to my story! I technically began to collect when I was 12 as well, that's when I began searching for MLP's at stores and markets on my own.  I've always technically collected, MLP's were basically the only toy I would keep from age 3 and up.  Ohohoho I pitied the poor child who brought me a "fakie" at birthdays, I have some rudely disturbing pics of me tossing some in a pool at my fourth birthday...

I only found the online pony community in 2006 and just lurked. Till then...I had NO idea any of you existed... Admittedly it was a emotional discovery for me. I had been hiding my love for ponies my entire life, even had a secret room where they were displayed growing up so friends wouldn't see.  You wouldn't know the username unless you played a lot of fps games growing up, I've kept the same tag since I was about 11. Small world though, when I moved to the state I managed to buy an excellent lot from someone locally who had been collecting their whole life as well, we meet for a drink for the exchange and are still friends :>

[EvilMuffins]

I got my 1st pony in '89 and never stopped collecting. I knew about the online communities since I got internet in 2000, but only lurked so you wouldn't have seen me around.

[lilgryphon]

I've been collecting since 2000 (I wouldn't really count my childhood toys as a collection) but I've only been on the boards since 2006. I used to do a LOT of lurking though...

[hokuspokus]

I started collecting at the end of 2005. I wasn't the serious collector then, which i now am. I just occasianally bought ponies i thought were beautiful and had no idea of their values. I wanted the G1s back from my youth.

I didn't enter the international cumminity before 2010. I'm now a member here for a year, also at MLPTP, but i'm not much on there.
I díd enter a Dutch forum in 2006, but wasn't around there that much..

[cloud_weaver]

Hrm...let's see...I've been an active online member of the pony community since 1997.  I remember when the MLPTP was the hot place to be!  Black page w/magenta lettering...*sigh*  those were the days!  And I remember when the Arena started - I was like - "Why do we need *another* mlp board?  The TP is where it's at!  How can something be more popular than that?"  But I signed up anyway, and low and behold I was very wrong!  The Arena morphed into my new pony home when the TP had all those problems with spam before it moved addresses. 

And I remember when Woosie and Nactlight started customizing those gorgeous merponies and pegasi and I was so impressed!  Customizing was very new, and the thought that there would always be more unique ponies coming out was very exciting!

And then there was the release of the G2's and then the G3's...oh I could go on and on!!!

All the drama over the years, the collectors that have come and gone, the new ponies constantly surfacing from countries around the world...it's no wonder I've never left the arena!

I love the pony community!  {{{hugs}}}

[mlp4me]

I'm not an oldie, at least not on the arena...
(I started buying ponies on ebay in 2000; before that I was picking up occasional ones at yard sales...)

[EStRanger]

MercuryStar - We're both 32, and getting younger every day!

[BabyMedley]

OMG I forgot all about the Ring of Rainbows! I could spend hours on that thing! I was a childhood collector, and I took a break to be a teenager and started up again my freshman year of college circa 1996/7. I signed up for eBay so early that my 5 letter first name is my screen name there. That was back before MLP had it's own category and you had to actually search for My Little Pony. I treated Dream Valley like the Bible and looked forward to my ponypeople emails to see what was up for sale.

I have come and gone over the years, but I always keep coming back! I think I have been BabyMedley the whole time, even if I don't say much. I picked it because I like the music notes and the colors, and Medley was already taken. That was before I knew there were actual Baby Medley Nirvanas made (and I have a Nightlight-made custom Baby Medley to fill the void). Oh Nirvana ponies...you will be the death of me.

Anyone remember this? Yeah, this was my pony room at the old house circa 2006:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Star-Watcher]

The first glimmers of my pony collection were around late 1998 / early 1999.  Started with a non working Talk-a-Lot, then a short time later got a really cute Princess Royal Pink with a well done punk mane and tail cut.

My collection really blossomed in April of 1999 when I accidentally sent a post to rec.games.video.classic instead of alt.toys.mi-little-pony...

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.classic/browse_thread/thread/7f0b07d5a9e141d3/8ecb9c053cb2d91?hl=en&q=baby+ponies+found+%2Botter#08ecb9c053cb2d91

That was one of my best misposts ever.  Because of that, another regular on rec.games.video.classic bought up a bunch of ponies real cheap at his various thrift stores and offered them to me equally cheap (cost plus shipping)

I'll have to see if I can dig up the post about that later.  I did do a little more searching, and apparently that big lot I got cheap had a Peruvian Pony in it that I resold for around $60 back then.

[LadyStarCatcher]

I've been collecting my whole life it seems. Heh.I used to be on the MLP Playhouse back in early 2000. Dropped off in 2008 when I lost regular use of the internet. I've had this screen name the whole time.