Who is your grail pony?

[Miniature Sheep]

Heart Throb is my grail; I just don't like the idea of paying about £10-15 for a pony and then another £10 for shipping on top of that! D:

[starstrider]

@Starstrider - you have an enviable geographical advantage for alt birthflowers! I have only one of that set - mine, Violet (who I call Stedmoder because she's from Denmark and apparently according to the card that's the Danish xD) but I would love to get more of them. I just can't afford to go trying to collect them seriously. They're so expensive but so much nicer than the white ones (which the UK didn't officially get either, but did get some on clearance at the end of MLP for some reason).

I have deliberately avoided going out to look for these other than Violet because the financial pain is just too much to bear

@ Taffeta  -  Violet is definitely one of my favourites in the set, she's a lovely one to own.  And I SO understand about being hesistant about collecting them due to the expense - I have deliberately NOT kept track of how much they have cost me over the years    Too painful!

But to be entirely honest with you Taffeta, being in Australia really isn't any advantage at all when it comes to collecting this set.  Of the 12 Alt Birthflowers I have (excluding the elusive Cosmos but including the Alt ALT reverse Holly), NOT A SINGLE ONE of my collection came from Australia.  My regular Alt Holly came from New Zealand, which was exciting for its' proximity and slightly more affordable postage, however it was just as pricey as if it had come from an Euro dealer.  But every other pony in the set came from the US, the UK, or from Scandinavia.  The only reason I have so many of them is that I have hunted them for years and paid a lot of money to secure them from foreign sellers 

I have never seen Alt Birthflowers available on Australian eBay (I mean, it's possible I missed one at some point, but we do NOT tend to get grails or Nirvanas here often).  They're really not any more common here than they are in the US.  In fact, they're significantly more common in the US, simply because of being a larger population equalling a larger market made more collectors who have ended up hunting them down and shipping them into the US over the years. 

Their scarcity of the Alt Birthflowers in Australasia actually makes me doubt the whole "Australian Birthflower" origin, frankly.    I have no memory at all of them ever being sold in Australian toy stores as a child (not that my memory is by any means exhaustive of the range available in the 80s and 90s, but I never once came across them as a child, and between me and friends we had A LOT of ponies).  They are just not found around here.  The back cards come in both Danish and English, but I think the English was actually more for UK market than for for Australia.  Originally I made them my grails because I was excited to collect a set which was super pretty, rare, and (supposedly) local to my home country. However after years of trying to complete the set I am no longer convinced they were ever even sold here as they are just so scarce.  I think that really explains their distribution patterns better if we consider them Scandinavian in origin after all. 

[Carrehz]

Felicidades and a nice deflocked Ribbon.

[Broken Irishwoman]

I have several... Grails that I actually have a shot at include Mainsail, Sugar Apple, Princess Pristina, TAF Yum-Yum (though she and Pristina are probably way above my budget, which is usually non-existent anyway), Flower Bouquet and many others.

However, if "grail" means a pony I really want but I will probably never own, I'll go with Truly and Paradise. They have to be non-So Soft, but I am a.) very picky about any flocking/glue residue and yellowing, and b.) Scandinavian NSS Truly is WAY above my budget.

[Ponyfan]

Mine are mostly the ones that I had as a childhood pony but let slip away and now they’re costly to replace. Baby Palm Tree, Pina Colada, (Hula Hula) Dream Beauty Song Rider and Water color baby sea pony Misty. Also the last G1 Fancy Mermaid baby I need and Lullabye Nursery


Ponyfan

[RoseNoire]

I don't have a specific grail pony, but I always get excited to get a pony from a set I don't have yet (Dance and Prance, Brush"n"grows, Merry-go-round etc...)
Those I'm looking the most for are seaponies (I want them so bad since my childhood ;-; ) and if I have to give myself an objective, I'd say I want every single pony with Neon Yellow (Electric banana on DH) in their mane.
I would also be very interested to get every FF ponies. They kinda fascinate me. I only have Minty at the moment.

In a general way, I just want new ponies to my collection, they make me so happy and discovering them at the bottom of a box in a flea market makes my day, I feel so proud and happy to have found them and picturing how I will restore them back to their glorious selves.

[vira]

Mine is the Surprise Twins Pony! I don't even need her to have her babies, I just think she's really cute! 

[Taffeta]

@starstrider - backcards are a tricky thing, and sometimes what they say can't be trusted. I know there are 2 really different design ones - more often I see the Danish card though.

I know they weren't sold here. But it's never black and white what the intended market is. It's possible that they actually were only in NZ and then maybe select stores in Australia. But you're also right. People buy and trade a lot from other countries to the US. I think the same is true with some UK ponies now as well.

It's hard for UK people to get hold of Mountain Boys for cheap because of the general market, MOC is impossible and half of them aren't known to survive MOC anyway. MB prices lately seem to be on the rise, which is a bit mysterious. I'm slightly concerned about that...

[BuckinghamAlice]

Mine was G2 Queen Sunsparkle, but I got an amazing deal for her on ebay like last year.   I suppose now mine are the Apple Delight Family, the flower fantasy ponies, and the Halloween G3s (Pumpkin Tart and Abra-ca-dabra).

[CherryTreats]

Mine would be MOC Confetti on a card that has Trickles, Tickle and Flutterbye on the front. Not sure where that is from. Or Cherry Treats on a non-US card.

[Taffeta]

Mine would be MOC Confetti on a card that has Trickles, Tickle and Flutterbye on the front. Not sure where that is from. Or Cherry Treats on a non-US card.

I would love one on that card too. I only know of one surviving example in English of a 2nd set Rainbow on that card though and it's Flutterbye. Though there are some Nirvana versions (Italy,Spain etc) on those cards in German/Spanish/French. The girl I know who has the Flutterbye says she thinks she bought it from Australia originally.

[CherryTreats]

I would love one on that card too. I only know of one surviving example in English of a 2nd set Rainbow on that card though and it's Flutterbye. Though there are some Nirvana versions (Italy,Spain etc) on those cards in German/Spanish/French. The girl I know who has the Flutterbye says she thinks she bought it from Australia originally.

Thanks for the info.! I've been very curious about where it was from. I saw a pic of Confetti online on that card in English, but I have never seen one for sale. Have you seen that pic? She looks so pretty on that card and is one of my favorite ponies.

[Beckysaurus]

I got outbid by less than a dollar on a green-haired Peruvian Lickety Split (she sold for less than $50! [sob]) years back, and the few that have come up since then go for waaaaay more than I can afford. I suppose all 6 Takara adults (especially the blue and green ones) are pretty impossible grails as well.

However, by far my most wanted ponies are - and I know this is weird - the last few Hasbro Pop/Design a Ponies made before the line got cancelled. Specifically, Starry Eyes, Meadow Flower and Cloud Chaser, as well as small Celestia. I waited too long to buy them on Taobao and they sold out, and as far as I know they were only ever sold in stores in Scandinavian countries. If you know where I can find these, PLEASE PM ME! I'm starting to give up on ever owning them.

hello, I saw your despair for the pop ponies and I might be able to  help (especially for tiny celestia), so I pm'd you.
Hope you don't mind

So awesome!! That's why I love these threads. I know I am new this arena, but I've seen this on another fandom forum I'm part of and many grails have been matched just because of awesome group members like this. WTG!!

Post Merge: May 09, 2018, 09:52:10 AM

My grail isn't exactly that - the only thing holding me back is a quick hunt and price point (a real grail to me, as many of you have listed, is one that is SUPER hard to find, not something that is separated by a price point), would be two of the UK exclusive dragon companions: Flash and Pickles. I had collected the others probably 20 years ago and was never able to finish the set. Maybe I'll start working on those again 

I'll try to keep an eye on this thread in case I have any that anyone wants.

[poniesthatsparkle]

Night Glider is my grail!

[splooto]

Mimic for sure <3 shes just so beautiful