What Are Your Restoration Horror Stories?

[Cloud Dreamer]

I always comb out my ponies' hair before washing them- but with G3 Green Apple, one quick swipe of the comb ripped out her tail O_O
Unfortunately, this is quite common on budget ponies (especially the pink haired ones for some reason.) What really sucks is that she was one of the top ponies on my want list at that time. I still haven't found a replacement.
This isn't a restoration horror story, but when I was a child and G4 toys were starting to come out, I got the Canterlot set  with Starbeam Twinkle (my favorite G4, I still have her! Thank goodness this didn't happen to her..) and Shine Bright Twilight Sparkle. I was brushing Twilight's hair one day and her tail just ripped out! I must have pulled too hard. I remember immediately starting to bawl my eyes out But thank goodness I've gotten a replacement.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Hmmmmm probably the time I opened up a Candy Cane Molasses pony and all this mold/mildew/rust/GUNK flew up into my nose and eyes, and I ended up getting a really bad case of bronchitis from it.  I jokingly called her Plague Pony after that...

[vira]

Augh! I have Taffy, the flocking on her body is beautiful, hair is fine quality, BUT! Even though I was so, so careful....the flocking on her head is all patchy and fell out while getting some surface dirt off her. :'-000 Still a bit sore about it, but she still has a home with me!

[Shimmer Mist]

I have a baity G3 Denim Blue. Yellowed from smoke, stinky, and she also had a marker make-up job. Other that she looked fine. Good hair, nice paint, glitter, and cutie mark. At the time I thought maybe she could be salvaged if I sunfaded her. I wanted to see if I could at least remove some of the marker on her face with acetone beforehand. I had peeled off some layers of a cotton swab and ever so slowly and carefully started to clean above her eye when my hand slipped. The acetone, of course, smeared and removed some of her eye paint.

[mlp4me]

Hmmmmm probably the time I opened up a Candy Cane Molasses pony and all this mold/mildew/rust/GUNK flew up into my nose and eyes, and I ended up getting a really bad case of bronchitis from it.  I jokingly called her Plague Pony after that...

Now I'm going to have nightmares... Oh my! I've opened up some rather gross ponies in my time as well.

[chateaushelton]

I'm still a little too uncertain of my restoration skills to tackle big projects but I did have to remove some interior rust from Wigwam using the Oxyclean and boiling water method. I guess I misjudged how much of each I was supposed to use because 1. I think I overfilled the body and 2. when the water made contact with the Oxyclean it started to bubble and fizz much faster than I expected. It was like lava spewing from a volcano and got all over the counter before I could move him to the sink.

I am happy to report that aside from the mess - Wigwam survived and is now rust-free.

[Artemesia's Garden]

@ Artemesia's Garden : Yes I already tried straightening it again, I've also tried soaking it in shampoo for hours and hours but nothing changed. That's why I'm so upset, my mistake is irreversible. I've done that to G1s, to Italians,... I'm extremely unhappy about that.

it's good that you posted here so others don't have the same problem.

[hyenacub]

Well rust-filled ponies are a pain, but not terrible.  It's just rust, so it doesn't gros me out or anything and it's satisfying to clean.

I hate when I have to clean out a freaking newborn.  I try not to open them unless I see tail rust.  Because their heads are hard to open, and I've ripped the weak point in the plastic.  Good thing I'm keeping the latest pony this happened to.  >P  The newer G1s are better glued on than the older ones, it seems, lol  Older G1s are easy to behead!

lovesbabysquirmy....that SUCKS! 

I heard of someone way back when who supposedly got a pony that had freaking dog poop in it!