***The incredible unmentionable.....Do you De-Card the MOC pony?***

[Icecrystalline]

Yes, this a a random poll! I was just wondering peoples opinion on this. I think from personal experience, that if the pony is not too HTF and can only be found mint when MOC, maybe I would de-card the pony? Of course, the pony wouldn't be like an incredibly rare, incredibly expensive one. I wouldn't de-card a super OOAK Greek pony or anything, but a pony that I love and would want absolutely mint perhaps. Meep, I'm not sure, I think I'd have to own the MOC pony first and then decide!

[moonflower]

If it was G1/G2 then the packaging would have to be really badly damaged for me to even consider de-carding. To me it is not just their monetary value - opening a G1 MOC pony would be destroying a rare thing.

With G3 it would depend on who it is as most are still quite easy to find MIB. When they were released many people had started collecting and keeping them boxed.

I wouldn't have an issue with de-carding a G4 (although saying that most of my G4s are MOC).

[Einhornbaby]

Hm... I cant pick an answer...
If it comes to G4, I open most of them.
But, if it comes to G1 : I never ever ever ever open any MOC !!!!
Well... uhm... ok, I have to confess I think. I *cough* decarded *almost dies* ... a spanish TE Fizzy. Well, to defend myself, the card was ugly. Really ugly!! The bubble was fastened with staplers to help it stay on the card and I could stand that look. So I ... decarded the pony. *ducks*
Otherwise, I would never ever open a MOC or MIB G1 pony. Wanna know why? First : NO, its old and it will destroy the value when opening it!! Second : you will destroy a wonderful piece of nostalgia when opening it. You sure can find this pony lose!! And third : nobody knows if its really mint!! My friend got Sunbeam MOC once day. She was happy all over, but when Sunbeam arrived, the bubble was slightly coming off the card, so she decided to take out the pony. And guess what?? Sunbeam had a huge brownish-black area everywhere her body had touched the card. It wasnt visible before. A similar thing happened (same friend but different pony), when she decarded her Tunefull. Tunefull was nice, until my friend turned her round to see the non-displayside. And guess what?? Tunefull has a totally flat head and body where she touched the card. Its so so so ugly, poor Tunefull.
So, I decided to never ever decard a vintage toy, because... : Better to think that you have something really beautiful than to open it and find out that its not beautiful at all!

[Taxel]

G1 Card or Box - Badly damaged, falling apart, or the bubble is already falling off
G1 Plastic bag - Lol, just open it. Its not even pretty, its hard to display, it leads to awful hair, and if there's a card inside (like birthflowers) the pony can get stains (one I opened has faint marks from her little card).

G2 - Badly damaged, falling apart, or the bubble is already falling off

G3 - Depends on the pony and condition of the box

G3.5 - Probably open it

G4 - Open it if I want to

Any other gen plastic bags - Again: lol, open it. Repeat reason.

[achab1984]

I do not like to open any that are still in there boxes. But that is just me.

[Icecrystalline]

G1 Card or Box - Badly damaged, falling apart, or the bubble is already falling off
G1 Plastic bag - Lol, just open it. Its not even pretty, its hard to display, it leads to awful hair, and if there's a card inside (like birthflowers) the pony can get stains (one I opened has faint marks from her little card).

G2 - Badly damaged, falling apart, or the bubble is already falling off

G3 - Depends on the pony and condition of the box

G3.5 - Probably open it

G4 - Open it if I want to

Any other gen plastic bags - Again: lol, open it. Repeat reason.

Hehe I feel the same way Taxel!! Only thing is that if given a MOC pony that I cannot find in mint condition loose, and the card is still fine and bubble intact, that's when I would begin to wonder if I should de-card. I mean, it's your pony, so personally feel it should be up to you if you want to open it! x

[Echan]

No way I would open an G1 MOC, it would be like throwing money to garbage bin. I don't like MOC ponies and I rather collect loose ones, so if I got a pony in card I would propably sell it and buy a loose one wth the money

I did open a g3 art pony box but it had already taken some damage and I don't thing newer gen MOCs are that percious.

[Snapdragon]

I actually have a small, moral question with this; I won an auction for a pair of MOC G1s for something insane like $26, like three years ago. TE Sweet Stuff and one of the Magic Message ponies, I think. WHAT A CUH-RAZY DEAL!

... except that the cards are half-chewed away by mice, and there's mold/water damage. I'm terrified of it damaging the ponies, but they're still technically on their cards, and I'm not sure if it's "okay" or worthwhile to decard two not-super-HTF ponies.

Pros: I can say I own two G1s MOC! That's cool! And they do display okay - it's only if you turn them around that you see the HORROR!

Cons: I'm afraid the ponies will get mold damage!! And, obviously, decarding a G1 is not a great thing to do, since they're more HTF and such.

HELP ME, ARENA-WAN-KENOBI, YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE!

[Icecrystalline]

I actually have a small, moral question with this; I won an auction for a pair of MOC G1s for something insane like $26, like three years ago. TE Sweet Stuff and one of the Magic Message ponies, I think. WHAT A CUH-RAZY DEAL!

... except that the cards are half-chewed away by mice, and there's mold/water damage. I'm terrified of it damaging the ponies, but they're still technically on their cards, and I'm not sure if it's "okay" or worthwhile to decard two not-super-HTF ponies.

Pros: I can say I own two G1s MOC! That's cool! And they do display okay - it's only if you turn them around that you see the HORROR!

Cons: I'm afraid the ponies will get mold damage!! And, obviously, decarding a G1 is not a great thing to do, since they're more HTF and such.

HELP ME, ARENA-WAN-KENOBI, YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE!

Personally, I would open them. I would feel better setting them free, I'd be worried about mould/condensation getting into the bubble and like 'procreating' () in there! Just my piece of cake. xxx

[Esbayne]

I actually have a small, moral question with this; I won an auction for a pair of MOC G1s for something insane like $26, like three years ago. TE Sweet Stuff and one of the Magic Message ponies, I think. WHAT A CUH-RAZY DEAL!

... except that the cards are half-chewed away by mice, and there's mold/water damage. I'm terrified of it damaging the ponies, but they're still technically on their cards, and I'm not sure if it's "okay" or worthwhile to decard two not-super-HTF ponies.

Pros: I can say I own two G1s MOC! That's cool! And they do display okay - it's only if you turn them around that you see the HORROR!

Cons: I'm afraid the ponies will get mold damage!! And, obviously, decarding a G1 is not a great thing to do, since they're more HTF and such.

HELP ME, ARENA-WAN-KENOBI, YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE!

I would say decard them... MOC G1s are hard to find but if the cards are damaged and it may damage the ponies aswell, I'd say take them off. You could always keep the cards after if you want. But maybe that question is better aimed at someone who collects mint in package ponies, I open all of mine.


As for the OP, I would say do whatever you want with her. She is (or will be) -your- pony, so you're free to do whatever you want with her. It will take away a lot of value but if that's what you want to do, go for it. Though if you can, maybe look around for a minty loose one first.

[Rhubarbpie]

I de-card, de-box them. I love to brush and style their hair, loves me dat fresh pony smell 

I do mention on my want lists that I am a de-boxer so if they have the pony I want in box, its best to save it for someone who will appreciate that more than I will.

All this said, I have a Funko Pony who is still in her box.  However she is not brushable so I am not so hasty to unbox her!  It will probably be the same for any other Funko ponies I get

[KarentheUnicorn]

Speaking from the G1 standpoint: I opened about 90% of my ponies, I've been buying them since 1983. So it would be kind of rude for me to tell someone they couldn't take a pony out of the package. However, I was buying ponies like Mimic when they were under $5.00. I wasn't spending lots of money to get MOC ponies.

It just seems kinda strange to spend a lot of money for MOC ponies from the 80's, just to open them. You could buy MOC ponies and trade someone for multiple ponies you don't have. Unless the card is really damaged I'd say it's a waste of money to buy a more expensive MOC G1 pony if you're only intending to open it.

New ponies, like G4 and even G3. So many people are keeping some MOC so I don't see an issue with people opening the newer stuff right now.

[Snapdragon]

Thanks for the help guys! Maybe I'll post pics - I hadn't thought about saving the backcards separately! Maybe in a Ziplock, to prevent any mold spreading.

Also, since I was a butt and didn't answer the OP - I know some people have mentioned buying MOCs just to open so they have all of the little fiddly bits, accessories, etc. I think this is especially common with G2s, who still have a fairly sizeable pool of MOCs to draw from, and sometimes are equally priced loose vs. MOC.

So, here's my two cents: if you KNOW you are going to love the pony, cherish it forever (or at least for the next ten years or whatever ), then go ahead and do what you want with it. But if you're a new collector, or you've never had MOCs before, or you think there's any possibility that you might change your mind later or get out of ponies entirely - I'd say wait on it. Buy her MOC, and let her sit there for a couple months. Think it over, sleep on it! Buy yourself a super-minty-mint version of that pony, and see if you're "okay" with her loose self, and don't really 'need' the super-minty-mint version that comes MOC. (Also, be aware that - like my troubled MOCs - some ponies have hidden damage, and you might not realize she has mold until you get her out of the packaging! So if you want super-minty-mint, you might wanna buy her loose so you have a GUARANTEED mint one!)

This, at least, is my suggestion - of course, it's your money! But you will be out money (potentially a lot of money!) if you realize you made a mistake six months down the road, and try to sell your now-opened MOC, and realize you can only get a fraction of her price back on the resale. So I recommend patience, and a lot of forethought; you can't un-open a MOC, after all!

As for me, my rationalizing goes somewhat like this:
G1 - should stay MOC except in cases of damage, 90% of bubble is loose anyway, etc. Only open for EXTREME sentimental value/to prevent damage of pony. (And even then I tend to chicken out, see my first post. ) 
G2 - I'm still debating buying MOCs just so I don't have to hunt down all the little accessories, and I have opened MOC babies before, so - less sacrilegious to open than G1. But avoid opening rare ones, if possible?
G3 - I prefer to buy G3 MIB so I can open them myself. It's a weird quirk, I fully admit this!
G4 - OPEN SESAME! (But personally, I've avoided opening my SDCC 2013 pony - it's completely irrational, but I feel weird opening her! "SHE'S SO RARE!" and all. To the point where I bought another one from Taobao just so I could have a LOOSE pony to play with!! )

[Sandi]

G1 or G2: Only if the card/box are in terrible condition.

G3: I have deboxed a few, but kinda regret it. I wouldn't do it again, I only buy loose ones.

G4: I have deboxed/carded all my G4s and don't regret it.

[cricket]

I would never open a MOC G1.  If the box was badly damaged I would pass it along to another collector who was ok with the condition.  Since most G3s are easy to find I buy them loose or MIB depending upon who I'm looking for.  But for me I never debox MOC ponies of any gen.  even G4.  I buy them MIB in the stores and then find my loose collection ones at garage sales and flea markets.