Safely displaying ponies with accessories?

[starryeyed]

How long exactly is it safe to display a pony with a saddle/headgear/etc without risking saddle sores? Is it something that only happens after several years? Is there a safe vs unsafe way to display them, like what if I put a bit of tissue in between the pony and the accessory?

The pony in question (hope it's ok to discuss if she's a fakie), who looks WAY better with her accessories than without:

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[Leave a Whisper]

Oh she is too pretty! It is, as long as whatever she's got on doesn't stain.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Maybe a saddle blanket made of acid free tissue paper? Parts like this do interact chemically, but I've not thought about metallic finishes before so I can't really guess what would happen over time. Plastics are a bit of an unknown thing in conservation terms, which for me is part of the fun. Toy museums do store plastic dolls and thier accessories seperately unless they are on display. I'd say go for it but check her every few months and make sure that the overall storage conditions are good (low UV, low humidity, stable temperature). I tend to rotate my display every year or so and check through things.

[Stormness_1]

Ooh, complete chap mei, very nice!

With chap mei's, I've found that they do stain VERY easily. Like from when I first bought mine in the 90's, straight out of the box, stained. However, in saying that, It does seem to be the metallic pink/red accessories that are the main culprits. As you know, the necklaces aren't removable, and I haven't seen one of this girl with any staining, and I've had a few. However, lots of the ponies with pink or red accessories seem to be stained. If I was displaying a full set, I'd probably gear up those with gold accessories and with the pink/red, but them beside. They do stain very easily, and I honestly don't know that tissue paper would be enough to save them. That is if you can get the stains out to begin with, I've had to sunfade a few chap meis to get the stains off from new, because they came packaged with saddles on (not crowns though thankfully)

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Put a piece of plastic wrap between the pony and accessory...  or risk finding spots and stains.

[Clown]

Oh what a beautiful fakie! I'm fairly new to collecting and hadn't even considered staining  glad to have had it brought to my attention lol

[starryeyed]

Thanks everyone! I'll try some acid free tissue paper, I'm not sure about plastic wrap as I know that cutting off ventilation with plastic causes some materials to sweat/get sticky over time. I do also have a purple Chap Mei with red accessories who had stains when I got her, so the red is definitely riskier.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Best of luck with it. I hadn't seen Chap Mei before, it's an interesting toy line

[Wardah]

Honestly I have one and I'm not too concerned about it. Hidden stains don't bother me.