Romanticizing the (Thrift) Hunt

[Rosette]

The Brag Arena is always chock full of incredible thrifty finds.  There is nothing like the thrill of buying ponies for spare change at garage sales and thrift stores.  Like all fishing/hunting tales, the best catches are the ones worth repeating and memorializing.  Bought Mimic?  Not much story there.  Bought Mimic for a quarter?  Wowza!! 

Any day I have like that is sure to end up as a post with lots of photos and virtual ticker tape parading!  All the hard work, the filthy stores, the wasted gasoline, the fruitless digging is forgotten in the thrill of the find.  So, what I want is to hear your not-so-great realities!  Because we all know thrift shops and antique malls are not paved in rare ponies.  More often than not, even the filthiest fakie is overpriced.

I'll go first dispelling the myths. 

Today was fairly typical in the hunt.  I loaded two reluctant kids into the rental car in a new city.  I wore down my fuel and cell phone battery navigating between thrift shops for about five hours.  (With emergency potty stops, diaper changes, and snack times for my children.). I drove all over creation and while I found some ponies, they are all in rough condition and need massive work (if not baited in the end) and also averaged at least $2.00 each.  I found two G1:  a mangy SS Surprise and Daddy Apple Delight.  Both have rough hair, possibly permanent marks, and hair cuts/trims.  I found five g3s, equally bad shape, and a G3.5.  Today was a huge victory because I found anything MLP at all--better still with g1. 

I'm tired, cranky, dirty, and won't ever recoup what I paid today until some long hours and pony spa miracles have occurred.  Maybe never.  (Especially if I counted mileage and gas costs.). But I saved ponies today and will fix them up as well as I can.

This is not a glamorous way to go about collecting ponies. 

Have any thrift store romanticism to dispell? 

[StoryDreamer]

I've hit at least 13 yard sales in the last weeks and have found zero ponies. I go to the thrift store every other week, I find lots of great stuff - some I can make money on more to buy ponies - but no ponies. Except once. I've lived in Cincinnati for 4 years and have found 1 G1 and mostly G3s.

[achab1984]

I have yet to find anything in my town. I do not even go to rummage sales anymore. I have yet to have any luck with my town.  

[Cool.Breeze]

There's some kind of sudden G3 drought here in Halifax! D: It used to be easy as pie to find them back in 2011. I've been really getting back into them the past few months, and it's a pain to find them locally now. It makes me sad :C It seems there may be a pony sniper about, because three yard sales this summer advertised My Little Pony toys,  I arrived on time at all 3 and they were already gone, every time the last one I went to a couple of weekends ago, the lady running it said someone bought all of her ponies already, and they'd been waiting outside her home at 7:20 am (the sale started at 8!). I should put up another wanted ad on Kijiji or something (not that it's ever brought me any luck in the past). Oh well, I DID find a pretty nice condition Cinnamon Breeze and a mint Royal Rose about a month ago for 50 cents each, so I can't complain TOO much I guess! I hope your pony luck improves, that sounds like a pretty rough excursion for the gotten spoils Dx

[Dewprincess]

I have been having quite a bit of pony luck as of late.  I got Wigwam at a yard sale for 50 cents, and lots of G1s today for $2 each.  I got Dream Castle with box, lullabye nursery, and Megan's Place too for great deals!

[Stormness_1]

Yeah there's a pony drought here in Brissy, too. I got three ponyville and a whole bunch of accessories at my local endeavour's a couple of weekends ago for $6... but that's the only thing I've found in aages... and it was expensive as hell, but I bought it anyway, there was a Magic Marigold PV in there and I'm told she's rare.

[gabumon]

I LOVE thrifting for ponies (and transformers)... But my luck as also been low as of late...

It's just that OCCASIONAL find that drives me on....

[CrazyCatPony]

in the 5 years I've lived here I have gotten lucky twice and found ponies, and only at one flea market. I have never found one at a thrift store but I keep looking anyway. I went to visit my dad in another state and looked at every (EVERY) thrift store in his town (9-10 places) including antique shops and found zero ponies lol (my poor dad) so if you concider I hit at least one place a week and maybe a few yard sales and have found ponies 2 times in the last year... if may seem like a lost cause but its still fun.
I do get frustrated some times when not even a fakie turns up lol (fakies are the road to real ponies! where there are fakies you will find them LOL)

[hathorcat]

Oh my gosh song you are a brave lady tacking all that in the name of ponies!

Personally I always seem to have a similarly poor experience [minus the company of kiddies, usually just accompanied by a cranky puppy who does not like to go to car boot sales very much]. However, I usually end up spending money on random junk which I dont need but am unable to resist

[Rosette]

Oh my gosh song you are a brave lady tacking all that in the name of ponies!

Personally I always seem to have a similarly poor experience [minus the company of kiddies, usually just accompanied by a cranky puppy who does not like to go to car boot sales very much]. However, I usually end up spending money on random junk which I dont need but am unable to resist

Yes, I'm thinking eBay and a cocktail is a better leisure activity. 

[Moony]

I found Mimic at a Salvation Army along with about 20 other ponies. Best day of my life xD Since then (that was about 3 or 4 years ago) I have found 0 g1s at that Salvation Army... Or really any Salvation Army in my area xD I actually went there today... I found a new bathing suit and some great shirts... But no ponies of course

[Violet CLM]

I hit up 20+ yard sales today and found only a copy of Pinkie Pie's Party for the Nintendo DS, which I couldn't convince myself I was interested in. Checked the only local thrift store that takes toys, and found a G3 Minty and G4 Celestia, but both from McDonald's, and models I already had. So yeah, not a very romantic experience, but hey, lots of time in the sun!

[TajazzleGlow]

I used to have a friend that was OBSESSED with finding ponies in the thrift store. :/  She got jealous of all my G1 ponies ( that I bought off eBay). I tried to tell her how impossible it was to find ponies in the thrift store. This was all when I lived in Chicago and we both would go thrifting everyday. We found lots of eighties treasures besides G1 ponies: one time we found all the Rainbow Bright color kids, another time we found a bunch of vintage Littlest Pet Shop STILL IN THE PACKAGES, and then there was the time I found 4 huge bags of vintage Strawberry Shortcake( sold on eBay for $$$). The only key to finding stuff is GOING EVERY DAY. But more often it would be like the OP's story ...you would spend all your time/energy/money and you would find nothing. It's better to shop on eBay/etsy/arena and have the ponies come too you! BUT sometimes you do get lucky. I went in a Value Village by my work. I was looking at dresses and moseyed by the toys and a bag caught my eye. 2 baby G1 ponies!!! Score!!!!

[himmie]

I would be totally thrilled to find Daddy Apple Delight at a thrift store, in any condition! Then again, I love my boys.

I rarely have pony luck at thrift stores, though I find plenty of other 80's stuff. I have created a My Pretty Pony army though.

[Wardah]

I'm lucky I'm not exclusively a pony collector cause I often find non pony stuff I like. It's very rare for me to go yard sailing or thrifting and find nothing at all but it still happens sometimes.