What is your collecting strategy?

[RAMChYLD]

I just grab any new ponies I find.

[hathorcat]

I am one pony short of a US/Euro G1 collection [dang you purple symbol Baby Princess Sparkle your magenta sister needs you to come join us lol!]...and if I am honest there was little logic to my getting there

I started with "the ones I want most"
Then moved on to "at least two from each set"
Then moved on to "complete the sets I like best"
Then moved on to "complete all sets"

So little to no pattern! I tended to have 20 or 30 ponies at a time I was always on the look out for and as and when I found them I swapped them out for another pony to keep the list around the same number. Occasionally I would jump outside that list if I purchased from a seller who had other ponies for sale I was still looking for. As to who made that list - the priority was simply down to who I liked best at the time.

As for now I am at that upgrading stage where there are a few ponies I would simply like better versions of so I have the same kind of list. On top of that I also always have 4 or 5 accessory items which I am pretty desperate [always] to track down.

[Hunter-Rose]

MUUUUUUMMM!!!

Hehe.

Being serious, I try to get G4's as they come out. With other Gens (mostly G1) I get the ones I want the most out of those easily availible when I have the opportunity.

[elish2]

Since I mainly collect g3 at this point, I used to buy big lots of ponies that had many I did not have. I would keep the ones I needed and sell the rest to get more funds to buy another. Now that I am doing pretty good on my list, I switch to buying mib. If I get a mib that I have already loose then I sell off the loose version because I do not think it right to hold them when someone else might want them...

[Kitzka]

My list is organized by what I want most. It is a little stressful esp when I see something and if its not available later ...

[DaffyDilly]

G4s I'm trying to purchase as they come out, but with the other generations I'm buying what I can at PonyCon and then the rest pretty much come from swaps.

I used to be a "got to have them all" collector with my G1s-3s but now I focus on the ones I really want.

[MikaylaIsSoCoolLike]

For any previous generation, I have to hope that my mother finds them at a yard sale. I don't have a PayPal or credit card to buy them online, so the internet's been ruled out (except for that one time I bought a blindbag on Amazon). For G4s, I just wander into Walmart or Target and get what I both want and don't have.