The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Loa on October 17, 2021, 02:56:48 AM

Title: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Loa on October 17, 2021, 02:56:48 AM
Earlier G1's or later?

For me I think its the 4 billion Peachy's that are so much easier to find than anything younger than 1986!
I think the Tales ponies & 90's G1's are even harder to get hold of.

What you think?
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: bright rabbit 1 on October 17, 2021, 03:02:13 AM
Baby Blossom I keep seeing her on eBay.uk I’m thinking of getting some.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: tailrustedtealeaf on October 17, 2021, 03:42:41 AM
Earlier G1 for sure. That's when pony was at it's most popular, so it makes sense.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Carrehz on October 17, 2021, 06:00:12 AM
I haven't been pony-hunting in a while, but earlier, definitely. Especially since most of the earlier ones were released in more places than the later ponies.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Taffeta on October 17, 2021, 07:11:00 AM
I agree, the earlier ones.

The last 2 years are kind of an exception anyway because their distribution missed out the biggest markets of USA and Canada,meaning there are fewer around anyway.

And it's not necessarily the case that all early G1s are easier to find than later.  I mean, Mountain Boys are probably less common than peekaboo babies...even though neither were sold everywhere...

But in general the early ones and especially those with playsets. Or here, the Groom and Style set (what the US calls "Year 3 earth". They're pretty iconic here I guess, in the absence of the early pegasus and unicorns as toys.

Ironically over here that means those y2 pegs and unicorns are like gold dust, and mountain boys and tales ponies are easier to find (it's all relative) than Firefly and Medley.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Leave a Whisper on October 17, 2021, 07:30:09 AM
Early to mid are easier.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: ponyprincess2021 on October 17, 2021, 09:04:08 AM
Earlier the latest g1 ponies I’ve gotten were older. But it could also depend on how rare or how wanted that pony is. I usually find a lot of collectors ponies or ponies like posey or fire fly a lot or flutter ponies are another common find.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 on October 17, 2021, 09:12:33 AM
Absolutely the earlier ones. Almost every time I find G1s in the wild they're from the first few years of the line. I think perhaps earlier in G1 ponies got produced in higher numbers, and production numbers must have lowered later in the line. It's so much harder to find ones from mid and especially late G1 compared to early. And I think this also gets reflected in prices nowadays as well. Early G1s go for less than later ones because they're significantly more common.

It's a shame because most of my favorite G1s are mid and late ones. I really think the line kept improving as it went on, designs became so much more interesting IMO.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Taffeta on October 17, 2021, 10:53:44 AM
I think it's also maybe because there are more ponies available in later years; there are far more sets on release each year, meaning children would be picking between characters more often.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Bekuno on October 17, 2021, 11:01:39 AM
Definitely earlier ponies, if I can even find them anymore. Anytime I'm thrifting these days it's all G4...

I think latest released G1 I've found from thrifting was Caramel Crunch from y7 (1989)
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: SkyCakes on October 17, 2021, 08:17:25 PM
I think I would go with eariler ones they just seem to be more avaliable. I did go and buy the sets and earlier to last. ( im silly like that.)
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Marshie on October 17, 2021, 10:12:36 PM
I have seen more early G1 ponies on sites like here and eBay, and I agree with all the Peachy ones!! She's everywhere!

In person, I have never seen an original G1 pony at thrift shops, antique stores, or thrift shops. It may just be that my area was just not that big with MLP back in the day.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Taffeta on October 18, 2021, 04:52:44 AM
I have seen more early G1 ponies on sites like here and eBay, and I agree with all the Peachy ones!! She's everywhere!

In person, I have never seen an original G1 pony at thrift shops, antique stores, or thrift shops. It may just be that my area was just not that big with MLP back in the day.

It depends on when you began looking, honestly. If there weren't any in the nineties, then you might be right. But if it's more recently, then more than likely the area's already been cleansed of the G1s that may have been there in the past. Either through the original sellers selling them on, or them being grabbed up by dealers to resell, or local collectors, or whatever else. Or they go straight to ebay which is now more common than it was back then.

In the nineties my sister and I saw thousands of G1 ponies at the local carboot and honestly speaking, between those we kept and those we traded, we probably bought at least 1000, maybe 2000 of them. In later years when we used to go sell at that boot sale (and others in the area, after it closed), there were hardly any G1 ponies at all.

It made me think that, bearing in mind how many we took out of circulation by collecting and trading them, and that there was no way to replenish that, that probably G1s are harder to find now in part because of the length of time since they were sold, but also because of the collectors over the last 20+ years taking them out of the market.

There are a lot of pony collectors who used to be around who no longer are. Not all of them have sold their collections, either. So there are probably a lot of people no longer in the community who are still sitting on collections of a signficant size. It was really easy to build a big collection then compared to now, so that may be one reason.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on October 18, 2021, 05:43:08 AM
I agree, the earlier ones.

The last 2 years are kind of an exception anyway because their distribution missed out the biggest markets of USA and Canada,meaning there are fewer around anyway.

And it's not necessarily the case that all early G1s are easier to find than later.  I mean, Mountain Boys are probably less common than peekaboo babies...even though neither were sold everywhere...

But in general the early ones and especially those with playsets. Or here, the Groom and Style set (what the US calls "Year 3 earth". They're pretty iconic here I guess, in the absence of the early pegasus and unicorns as toys.

Ironically over here that means those y2 pegs and unicorns are like gold dust, and mountain boys and tales ponies are easier to find (it's all relative) than Firefly and Medley.

I cried when I got Medley. I also cried when I got Glory. Uh, and I may have also cried when I got Twilight too!

I agree the earliest ones to find are the Peachy, Cherries Jubilee early ponies. Also some of the later ones seem to have got much more expensive recently, even in grubby condition. I just saw Love Melody has about doubled in price on Ebay since I was buying TAFs. I'm less attached to these later ponies so I don't mind. I'm working on accessories for the earlier playsets (that I collect).
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Taffeta on October 18, 2021, 07:27:51 AM
I relate on Medley and Glory! Glory we found at a carboot here, with Moondancer, once. Such a fine day! Medley was a trade. I still remember the first time I realised they actually did exist and it wasn't just in the stories. :D :D :D

...American collectors will never understand that feeling xD. There were a ton of ponies not sold in the US, but they weren't ever promoted in US literature and merchandise the way those unicorns and pegasus ponies dominated everything here.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: TickledPink on October 21, 2021, 06:15:44 PM
I haven't gone pony hunting in years :C  I rarely ever found g1 ponies when I did.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Purpleglasses on January 06, 2022, 11:06:27 PM
I agree, the earlier ones.

The last 2 years are kind of an exception anyway because their distribution missed out the biggest markets of USA and Canada,meaning there are fewer around anyway.

And it's not necessarily the case that all early G1s are easier to find than later.  I mean, Mountain Boys are probably less common than peekaboo babies...even though neither were sold everywhere...

But in general the early ones and especially those with playsets. Or here, the Groom and Style set (what the US calls "Year 3 earth". They're pretty iconic here I guess, in the absence of the early pegasus and unicorns as toys.

Ironically over here that means those y2 pegs and unicorns are like gold dust, and mountain boys and tales ponies are easier to find (it's all relative) than Firefly and Medley.

LOL, please, I’ve got plenty of lovely Medleys and Firefly’s I’d happily trade you for an Ice Crystal! Or even just Gypsy? She went way up in price while I wasn’t looking.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on January 08, 2022, 08:51:06 AM
I would say Years 3-5 are the most likely to find on the secondhand market.
It is also VERY TRUE that a lot of g1 collectors have gone "in-active", but they haven't sold off their collections yet.  either they don't have time/inclination, or they know that shipping and scammers will cause a lot of trouble.

i imagine in the next 10 years, people's personal storage units will start to be emptied out more, and we may find more G1.  like that MASSIVE find of all those MOC/MIB ponies about 5 years ago
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: goddessofpeep on January 09, 2022, 03:50:02 PM
I think G1’s peak was 2-4 years in.  They were everywhere, and everyone I knew had at least one, even my friends who didn’t have many toys. I remember seeing Surprise and Sparkler hanging on pegs in the grocery store.  I think part of the reason they’re so common was the incredible availability, but also there weren’t as many possible ponies to get in those early years.  If you found a pony for sale in a store, it was one of a smaller pool of possible characters.

After the movie, there was a massive diversification of the line.  Instead of just a few different sets to collect, there were dozens.  All that product takes up space, and only the biggest toy retailers could hope to carry all of them.  Because of this, smaller retailers would have to pick and choose which sets to order, so distribution started to get complicated.   

Also, the first few years had mostly simple, single ponies that came with a ribbon, comb, and (usually) a sticker on a plain backcard.  They were around $5 almost everywhere, so they were just in the impulse buy range for most people.  Later on they started adding in more accessories, coming in boxes, and the price started to creep up.

This pattern seems to have repeated itself for every generation, and as a general rule the last few years of a generation have usually had the rarest ponies.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: honor_h on January 10, 2022, 10:31:16 AM
LOL, please, I’ve got plenty of lovely Medleys and Firefly’s I’d happily trade you for an Ice Crystal! Or even just Gypsy? She went way up in price while I wasn’t looking.

Mountain boy ponies do come up regularly in the UK, but they still go for high prices (presumably to overseas collectors) and thanks to Basic Fun their versions of Medley and Firefly are around £15 each so you might not find any takers. Gypsy is cheaper around £15-35 before postage in the UK.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: LadyMoondancer on January 11, 2022, 08:35:36 AM
The most common MLPs imo are the Year 2 ponies (Glory, Cotton Candy, Windy, etc), and the early playset ponies.  I used to have ten Majestys from thrifting.  And not a single Dream Castle between them, lol.

Also lots of Baby ponies (first set), BBE babies, and Flutter ponies.  And Baby Stockings.
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: LightingElectricDream on January 24, 2022, 10:04:32 AM
The last ponies I found at at the flea market was a so soft Likity split and a 2017 peachy yesterday.

A few years back I found
Flutter ponies no wings
Star hopper
Baby giraffe
Baby crumpet
Dancing butterfly
And first years g1s
Title: Re: Who do you think are easier to find?
Post by: Taffeta on January 24, 2022, 03:39:34 PM
I agree, the earlier ones.

The last 2 years are kind of an exception anyway because their distribution missed out the biggest markets of USA and Canada,meaning there are fewer around anyway.

And it's not necessarily the case that all early G1s are easier to find than later.  I mean, Mountain Boys are probably less common than peekaboo babies...even though neither were sold everywhere...

But in general the early ones and especially those with playsets. Or here, the Groom and Style set (what the US calls "Year 3 earth". They're pretty iconic here I guess, in the absence of the early pegasus and unicorns as toys.

Ironically over here that means those y2 pegs and unicorns are like gold dust, and mountain boys and tales ponies are easier to find (it's all relative) than Firefly and Medley.

LOL, please, I’ve got plenty of lovely Medleys and Firefly’s I’d happily trade you for an Ice Crystal! Or even just Gypsy? She went way up in price while I wasn’t looking.

The irony is that there has never been a time where Medley and Firefly equalled Ice Crystal in trade even though Medley and Firefly were in demand here, and I have never found either of them second hand in the UK, in all my years collecting on and offline. I am guessing it's because the mountain boys were offered to a much smaller market for a very short period of time. The UK had them for around 6 months between the end of 1987 and the beginning of 1988. Only a handful of other countries also had them, like in Scandinavia. Even Germany, etc didn't get them. Plus when I first came online there were so few UK people around, that added to the supply/demand issue.

Most of the UK and Euro ponies no longer command their original prices, but the boys tend to hold theirs more or less :)

Over the course of my time carbooting in the late 1990s I probably found around 15 Ice Crystals, but never a Medley. Albeit I've not seen any in a long time now.

The fact is, when UK and European ponies first surfaced online, they got pushed out by DV into a separate special section of 'other' where they still sometimes belong. And there was a general assumption that all the ponies in the US were sold everywhere, and only Europe and the UK had these 'additional' ponies. So it meant that the trade value of those ponies ended up higher. It has balanced out a lot now, but there's never been a time when the US traders were able to take advantage of ponies sold there but not here. And certain ponies in the UK are more expensive even between UK traders because of that artificial market that kind of happened 20 years ago.

It's one of the reasons why I would love to see everything reorganised to identify which ponies were really mainstream, which were sold in only some places and so on, so that European ponies would stop being marginalised and that overall trades would be more balanced. But it hasn't happened yet.
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