The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: emily_katie on April 29, 2018, 03:15:26 AM
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I started collecting G1 in Jaunary so granted I have not been on the scene for too long but something I have noticed is how impossible it is to find any ponies past G4 in second hand shops?
I think this might be a UK problem as other collectors I know from the UK have similar bad luck with finding vintage toys of any kind :what:
So I put this to you, how is vintage toy hunting, particularly MLP in your area? Has your luck changed in recent years?
I personally think it might be a thing with us Brits to want to sell off our old things rather than donate, ebay is full of G1 listings and none are that cheap either :cloud:
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It is harder to find g1 in the wild in the UK but not impossible. It just takes patience. The years if plentiful g1 carboot hauls are long over and the UK is a smaller country than the US for example so we would have had smaller runs anyway.
You just have to be vigilant. Also check antique fairs and stuff as well.
What you say about the UK is true though. We sell more than donate ponies.
I admit most of what I pick up now is for trade and if there are big boxes of ponies I am pickier as people tend to be able to ID stuff too and price it.
The worst thing that ever happened to pony trading is the existence of printed price guides. I have seen a few dealers with them and their existence means people know something is collectable. Only mostly they will try and charge the max price irrespective of condition. Dealers sweep second hand markets too...
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Some areas in the US are honestly the same way. I've only seen one (maybe 2) G1s out in the wild of my area and the daughter of a lady that I went to church with had them (It was Scoops) and I saw wanted to ask her mom about the pony (couldn't ask the kid because she was under the age of 5 at the time).
Other than that I have only found two G3s at a Garage sale one year... So it really does depend on the area too. Both of our Goodwills never have anything really worth it and I can't go often sadly (one barely has any toys when I go to it to start with)
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Around where I live in the US, which is quite a poor place, you *can* find G1 ponies in thrift shops, but they're usually up for 5 dollars a piece because they're old. Personally, I find a lot of G3 and up(and fakies which I do actually collect.) figures in plentiful supply going thrifting because they're not considered old and 'therefore must be really valuable.'
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A lot of UK charity shops also now list ponies on ebay.
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I always think the same! I have never had a truly good haul, but 2 weeks ago I did find a few G3 ponies in a charity shop in my town. It's the only shop in my town that often has decent toys. I do see a few dolls around in some shops, like Barbies and Bratz, but it bugs me when they're unclothed so I don't bother.
My mum also managed to pick me up a couple of G3 ponies from our local car boot a couple of years back, but that car boot doesn't exist anymore.
I can't really report on proper field car boots, due to working weekends I don't often get to go.
But I stop working weekends next week and will trek around! I'll let you all know if I get lucky.
So yeah, to sum it up, the luck in the UK seems dry. Especially in small towns.
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Dealers sweep second hand markets too...
Ugh totally agree! I often see listings on ebay and other such places where someone has very clearly picked a lot of ponies up at a charity shop and are just selling on for profit with no real passion for mlp or vintage toys...
When I was a child I collected the old style polly pockets and probably since 2009? I have only seen one of those in the wild too... priced at 40 pounds... :cloud:
Post Merge: April 29, 2018, 06:01:46 AM
Some areas in the US are honestly the same way. I've only seen one (maybe 2) G1s out in the wild of my area and the daughter of a lady that I went to church with had them (It was Scoops) and I saw wanted to ask her mom about the pony (couldn't ask the kid because she was under the age of 5 at the time).
Other than that I have only found two G3s at a Garage sale one year... So it really does depend on the area too. Both of our Goodwills never have anything really worth it and I can't go often sadly (one barely has any toys when I go to it to start with)
There is quite a few chairty shops (Goodwill equivelent) near my house so i often scour them hoping for anything worthwile, literally never found anything lower than a G3! i often see videos and posts from US citizens with these absolutely crazy hauls and im just like how?! totally feel your pain!
Post Merge: April 29, 2018, 06:04:13 AM
Around where I live in the US, which is quite a poor place, you *can* find G1 ponies in thrift shops, but they're usually up for 5 dollars a piece because they're old. Personally, I find a lot of G3 and up(and fakies which I do actually collect.) figures in plentiful supply going thrifting because they're not considered old and 'therefore must be really valuable.'
I'm at uni currently and where i live could be considered to be a poor area, and its the same here, g3 and g4 sometimes but thats rare too, people sell rather than donate to make a bit of money and really i dont blame them?
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I'm not sure if this applies in the UK but I get the sense that college towns, cities with universities seem to have better variety of toys donated. In contrast to regular rural towns. I think it might have something to do with extreme childhood toy clearouts?? as kids go off to college?
Or maybe it's just the size of town? 100K or larger population? I think if you have 2 or 3 thrift shops in town your odds are higher too.
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A lot of UK charity shops also now list ponies on ebay.
I have noticed that too. Fair play getting the most for your chairty but let me get these sweet deals please! :cry:
Noticed your signature, are you the curator of the mlp scrapbook? its helped me tons with identifying and understanding the UK timeline :)
Post Merge: April 29, 2018, 06:12:16 AM
So yeah, to sum it up, the luck in the UK seems dry. Especially in small towns.
Tbh i live in a city (Liverpool) and its dead here too? My home town is quite small but i have better luck there because i think people are less inclined to be bothered to sell their things (lots of posh people)
I'm not sure if this applies in the UK but I get the sense that college towns, cities with universities seem to have better variety of toys donated. In contrast to regular rural towns. I think it might have something to do with extreme childhood toy clearouts?? as kids go off to college?
Or maybe it's just the size of town? 100K or larger population? I think if you have 2 or 3 thrift shops in town your odds are higher too.
Its possible, as i said i live in Liverpool, theres 4 universities round these parts but second hand stores full of trash, perhaps i would have a better luck if i went to uni in a high income area :drunk:
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I haven't found a wild G1 in years. I go look every now and then, but pretty much a waste of my time.
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I see them pop up in the wild quite a bit, but I'm lucky to live in a large metroplex. There are a lot of flea markets and secondhand shops in my area! Sometimes it is very few and far between, but sometimes I come across an amazing haul. I've had great luck with secondhand sales apps, too, so you should maybe look into those! Often, people selling secondhand don't always know what they have and don't bother to do research on the value.
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It was only a few years back that I was finding G1s fairly often at a local car boot. These days I'm lucky if I see a G3, let alone a G1. G4s are plentiful, though.
I do think that eBay and other, similar sites have played a large part in that. So many resellers attend the car boot sales around here, you're lucky if you find something that's branded.
Post Merge: April 29, 2018, 06:01:46 AM
Some areas in the US are honestly the same way. I've only seen one (maybe 2) G1s out in the wild of my area and the daughter of a lady that I went to church with had them (It was Scoops) and I saw wanted to ask her mom about the pony (couldn't ask the kid because she was under the age of 5 at the time).
Other than that I have only found two G3s at a Garage sale one year... So it really does depend on the area too. Both of our Goodwills never have anything really worth it and I can't go often sadly (one barely has any toys when I go to it to start with)
There is quite a few chairty shops (Goodwill equivelent) near my house so i often scour them hoping for anything worthwile, literally never found anything lower than a G3! i often see videos and posts from US citizens with these absolutely crazy hauls and im just like how?! totally feel your pain!
The last time I saw a G1 at a charity store was about 7 years or so ago. It was the Lullaby Nursery, with the accessories sold in separate baggies. These days all I find are the odd G3, and loads of the cheap Tesco/Asda/etc. fakies. :zzz:
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That's why I call it a pony hunt! You get very good at spotting tails and hooves sticking out of boxes! LOL
Don't give up - people find them "in the wild" regularly, it's a timing thing. Just keep looking...
And try to trade with as many UKer's as you can find on this forum, that helps. You can't be at every single carboot sale and neither can they...
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US resident here but I wonder if it’s easier to find them at antique/flea markets than in thrift stores these days. Because those instances are specifically for older items right? And to me thrift stores (while fun places to go) sometimes can have a lot of “junk” at least to us toy collectors. Like naked Barbies and boxed baby toys and stuff.
And sometimes it’s just a part of playing the game unfortunatly, getting lucky is a rare event! That’s why it’s so much sweeter when luck Does strike.
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I haven't found a wild G1 in years. I go look every now and then, but pretty much a waste of my time.
I fear my luck might be the same as yours :sad:
I've had great luck with secondhand sales apps, too, so you should maybe look into those! Often, people selling secondhand don't always know what they have and don't bother to do research on the value.
The only time I have found G1 and G2 outside of Ebay is on Facebook market place, absolute steal as well. I check every day (Yes I'm that boring) and a new huge G1 listing has popped up... £120 pounds is a little out of my budget though!
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And try to trade with as many UKer's as you can find on this forum, that helps. You can't be at every single carboot sale and neither can they...
Trading seems like a wonderful idea and it something i intend to try out soon!
US resident here but I wonder if it’s easier to find them at antique/flea markets than in thrift stores these days. Because those instances are specifically for older items right?
I'm not sure how common antique fairs/flea markets are over here, I certainly have never seen one advertised but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough
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Noticed your signature, are you the curator of the mlp scrapbook? its helped me tons with identifying and understanding the UK timeline :)
That is me :D My ponies and I are glad to be of service ;D
I was going to ask which rough area of the country you were in. I actually think the opposite to gabumon - that it is harder to find ponies in urban areas compared with rural. Charity shops as a rule tend not to be overly enthusiastic about toys - I picked up a large Rainbow Dash in a store recently and a BAB one at another store, but quite often they're predominately clothes. There's a local hospice shop in our area that has a large toy section but otherwise most of the others are predominately books, dvds and clothes. So shops are in my experience rarely that good for MLP, and even more rarely for G1.
I grew up mostly on the English side of the welsh borders. That was a hugely successful hunting ground for me with ponies over several years until the carboot sale I frequented closed due to sale of land for building a hospice. This was back in the nineties of course so G1 were plentiful, but these kinds of carboot sale out on fields seemed to yield the better crops. Ones in more urban areas/on tarmac rarely did and charity shops hardly at all.
I am now in London for a lot of the year. I have visited on tarmac carboot sales and they are fine but rarely produce much in the pony line, even G4. I have more often found Monster High at them, but pony stuff hardly appears. Very occasionally. I think I did get a float and an Applejack once.
Within range of where I live there is at least one big field carboot sale outside of London. I find this a much better place to pony hunt albeit G1 are still rare to find.
In terms of my home area, I stripped it out of a lot of ponies in the nineties, both for my collection and for trading to people overseas so I am somewhat responsible for the fact in that area ponies are probably less common than the average now ;)
Are there any toy and train or collector fairs in or around the Liverpool area you could try? I almost always see G1 at these and sometimes at good prices. Once got Spanish Strawberry Fair/Sugarberry at one of these for 30p because male vendors often underestimate girl toys. There are a couple of dealers who frequent fairs I know but their prices are competitive and not unrealistic, usually very reasonable. Also, any indoor markets or anything like that?
I think we have to accept that time has moved on so far that the time of G1 being junk people just want rid of has passed. And the internet is now a lot easier for a lot of people. But don't give up! There must still be ponies hiding somewhere in your area :) Maybe it's worth finding out if there are any carboot sales on field which you can get to from where you are as the summer continues. Summer is the best season for collecting toys because of carboot sales and school fetes and such like, so you might have more luck then.
Maybe you should come to ponycon in October in Nottingham ;)
A lot of UK people do sell and trade on this forum. I'm one of those, when I'm not in London (because my trade ponies are not in London) xD. Maybe we'll trade in the future. :)
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After 7 garage sales this year, I finally found one with ponies. I gave up on thrift shops having ponies in my area, and even antique stores are running dry on those. Collectible stores near me avoid girl toys cuz they don't sell as quickly.
In short, garage sales are the only viable means for me.
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I live in the US, not really a huge city, but a decently sized one (~40k people) and we have a decent amount of thrift stores around here, and in nearby cities, so my G1 luck is relatively decent. I had a streak of three trips to my local Goodwill where I found a G1 pony (two in the last of these trips) each time within the span of about a month, I suspect all these ponies must have been donated by the same person. From time to time I'll also find one G1 in a Value Village toy bag among other ponies or fakies.
G4 is definitely the most common generation to find, of course. I tend to find at least one G4 pony or other MLP item (be it playsets, accessories, merch) during all of my thrifting trips, of course the longer I collect and the more I get, the more likely it becomes that the things I will come across are things I already own, and thus I pass them up. Regular G3s are somewhat uncommon, but much more common than G1s. McDonald's G3s, on the other hand, feel about as common as G4 ponies, maybe a little less, but I still come across them a lot. G1s, as I said, aren't as common as G3, but I've had decent luck thrifting them, especially in the past one year or so. G2 is by far the least common generation to find while thrifting, and I've only thrifted four of them in my 7+ years of collecting MLP. Two of which were from a very small local thrift store years ago, and the other two were in the past year at the Goodwill, I had actually found three during that Goodwill trip, but one of them happened to be one that I had previously got at the local place years back, so I left her there.
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Personally I have never found a g1 in the wild only a very rough looking g2.
However my boyfriend found two in one trip on his first time looking. I think it is just luck on the day.
Alternatively try go to a pony con lots of "wild" ponies there ^.^
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I was going to ask which rough area of the country you were in. I actually think the opposite to gabumon - that it is harder to find ponies in urban areas compared with rural. Charity shops as a rule tend not to be overly enthusiastic about toys - I picked up a large Rainbow Dash in a store recently and a BAB one at another store, but quite often they're predominately clothes. There's a local hospice shop in our area that has a large toy section but otherwise most of the others are predominately books, dvds and clothes. So shops are in my experience rarely that good for MLP, and even more rarely for G1.
I grew up mostly on the English side of the welsh borders. That was a hugely successful hunting ground for me with ponies over several years until the carboot sale I frequented closed due to sale of land for building a hospice. This was back in the nineties of course so G1 were plentiful, but these kinds of carboot sale out on fields seemed to yield the better crops. Ones in more urban areas/on tarmac rarely did and charity shops hardly at all.
I am now in London for a lot of the year. I have visited on tarmac carboot sales and they are fine but rarely produce much in the pony line, even G4. I have more often found Monster High at them, but pony stuff hardly appears. Very occasionally. I think I did get a float and an Applejack once.
Within range of where I live there is at least one big field carboot sale outside of London. I find this a much better place to pony hunt albeit G1 are still rare to find.
In terms of my home area, I stripped it out of a lot of ponies in the nineties, both for my collection and for trading to people overseas so I am somewhat responsible for the fact in that area ponies are probably less common than the average now ;)
Are there any toy and train or collector fairs in or around the Liverpool area you could try? I almost always see G1 at these and sometimes at good prices. Once got Spanish Strawberry Fair/Sugarberry at one of these for 30p because male vendors often underestimate girl toys. There are a couple of dealers who frequent fairs I know but their prices are competitive and not unrealistic, usually very reasonable. Also, any indoor markets or anything like that?
I think we have to accept that time has moved on so far that the time of G1 being junk people just want rid of has passed. And the internet is now a lot easier for a lot of people. But don't give up! There must still be ponies hiding somewhere in your area :) Maybe it's worth finding out if there are any carboot sales on field which you can get to from where you are as the summer continues. Summer is the best season for collecting toys because of carboot sales and school fetes and such like, so you might have more luck then.
Maybe you should come to ponycon in October in Nottingham ;)
A lot of UK people do sell and trade on this forum. I'm one of those, when I'm not in London (because my trade ponies are not in London) xD. Maybe we'll trade in the future. :)
Originally I'm from Rural Lancashire, so when I'm home I tend to find the best things (I am probably the only toy collector in the area lol) :frolic:
There are a few carboots in Liverpool around but my inner pessimist tells me re-sellers will get anything good before I can snatch anything. I would have much better luck at carboots back home I wager! Toy fairs may also be a good idea :) My boyfriend likes model trains so I'm sure he wouldn't mind looking round a toy/train fair haha. Trading is something I very much would be interested in :) I just worry I have nothing anyone would be too interested in having!
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personally, I get my hauls from ebay.
But the websites gumtree and preloved could help? Their both uk websites.
Good luck!
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personally, I get my hauls from ebay.
But the websites gumtree and preloved could help? Their both uk websites.
Good luck!
Up to now i have used ebay, its just competing with other bidders and postage can end up a little pricey :sad:
I check Gumtree, Shpock and Facebook often too, funnily enough searching my little pony turns up real horses on preloved!
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In my area of the U.S. I've had slightly better luck with secondhand stores in lower population areas. For example there are two Goodwill stores within twelve miles of my house. The one closest to me is where I found several bags of ponies for $2.99 apiece and at other times I've found many things for my other collections as well as a lot of clothes in great condition for my nieces. On the other hand if I go to the one in the next town over which is a bigger town, it's always totally picked over and I rarely find anything of value. Any "good" clothes brands as well as any toys that might be worth something are snapped up by resellers before I'd ever get a chance.
On the other hand I do find that garage sales tend to be a bit better in the bigger town, just because there are more of them so there are more chances for my collectibles to be at any given sale.
The biggest thing I think that makes a difference is to pop into the shops as often as possible, even if I just have a few minutes to glance over the toys. That way I'm more likely to be the one to see something good shortly after it's been put on the shelf. Also in the summer people dump their garage sale leftovers at the thrift store afterward, so even if I don't have a chance to go all over creation on Saturday morning I might find a few things at the thrift store over the next week.
As for how things have changed in recent years, I do see fewer vintage toys these days. When I first started I found lots of toys from so many lines, and for a while in the early 00s I was the reseller buying up the good stuff to sell online. Now it's been years since I've seen a My Buddy or Teddy Ruxpin or an old style Fisher Price Little People set in the wild, and dolls for my collection turn up much more rarely. It makes sense because the ones who had those toys and wanted them gone mostly sold them years ago, so the people who still have them either who want to keep them or are collectors who want to make back what they paid.
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I barely ever see MLPs "in the wild". A couple of G2s once, some G3s and G1s at one market stall and the odd pony here and there.. but that's about it for me. It is frustrating :(
One thing I always try to keep in mind is, people don't often post about NOT finding ponies in the wild (unless it's a thread like this, I mean) - they only post when they HAVE found something. So that can skew our perception and make it seem like great hauls are easier to find than they actually are, because you hear about them more often. If that makes sense?
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I don't find that much either, but I have to say that I don't go out hunting very often. Kingsday is great because there are huge fleamarkets everywhere, I always seem to hit the jackpot! But thrift stores have nothing to offer here, and I don't have the energy to go to many small fleamarkets. Marktplaats (Dutch version of eBay/Craigslist etc.) is something I just don't get involved with because it makes me nervous.
Long story short, I could probably find more if I went out hunting more often. :)
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I feel with you :hug: unfortunately, I started collecting when G1 already started disappearing from the flea markets. I can remember that when I was a child there always were plenty of ponies, I just didn't look out for them... I also think many people who usually sold their stuff at yard sales or flea markets now get rid of it via the internet. Also Taffeta is right about that collector's guide thing. There were a few people on TV with their pony collections here in Germany and since then everybody thinks he has a valuable collector's item for sale... even if it is a Baby Cuddles :D there are still bargains out there though. Many of the more rare ponies in my collection are from flea markets. And people keep finding them. So there's still hope :)
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I just thought of another idea too, although maybe a bit expensive. Us Americans didn’t get a lot of releases that you guys did (lookin’ at you Tales cast) so if you maybe happen to have something like that you don’t want another way you can get new ponies is to trade them!
....Or does that not make sense? Hm. Oh well it’s a thing to think about at least.
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I just thought of another idea too, although maybe a bit expensive. Us Americans didn’t get a lot of releases that you guys did (lookin’ at you Tales cast) so if you maybe happen to have something like that you don’t want another way you can get new ponies is to trade them!
....Or does that not make sense? Hm. Oh well it’s a thing to think about at least.
In theory it makes sense, but in reality it's a lot tougher to do than that.
It used to not be. Back in the late 1990s early 2000s, that's pretty much what we all did.
BUT the UK is not awash with exclusive ponies. Most of the ponies we had were also sold in the US. There are also at least as many ponies sold in the US and not here, but they seem more common (ie Glory, Medley etc) than most of our exclusives are. Dealers go looking for these as well, because they know they can sell them at a higher price overseas. We get stuck paying higher prices on our native ponies because of the demand and that makes buying them to trade harder as well.
Today at the fair I visited, about 90% of the G1 ponies I saw are available in the US and US people won't pay prices fair to the UK currency for those, and won't trade them at the same value as they cost here to buy because of the currency exchange and dollars being the definitive pony valuation currency. (I value by $ as well, mostly, even though it leaves me at a disadvantage. I do sell more in £ now, though, because most of the people I sell to are in the UK and it just makes more sense).
So there are a lot of things that make trading to the US these days less advantageous than in the past. When there were lots of ponies available it was easy to find UK ponies to trade for US ones. But now many of those UK ponies don't show up or are snaffled up by dealers first. I haven't seen a second hand mountain boy at a sale for more than fifteen years. Before that I used to find them a lot...I basically have a collection of mail order US ponies because I found lots of mountain boys and stuff back in the 1990s. So in theory, yeah, it's a great plan and bypasses currency. In reality, it's so much harder than it used to be :(
And I've noticed some US sellers inflating prices on common ponies even. Now it costs $25 to buy a Rockin' Beat, which is ridiculous...but if she were in the UK, I doubt we'd be able to sell one here for more than £6 at most.
None of this is anyone's fault really. it's just how the market is. But let's just say if I end up with doubles of US ponies, I find it easier to sell them within the UK than I find it to sell UK ponies to the US these days. Make of that what you will, but I think there are so many ponies from outside the US in the US now that we just can't compete any more with the US market.
@OP In terms of trade, I will trade for some G4 stuff as well. It's a good idea to know what the rarer ones from the later generations are in case you see them at local sales, because some people will trade G1 stuff for other gen stuff. My G1 collection is pretty complete now but I do collect non-mane 6 G4 and some G2 and G3 and I am not the only one.
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I would go to the flea market every week (spring-fall) and maybe 3-5 times a year I would find some ponies.
I had to be there no later than 7:30am because there are/were other pony hunters in the area-- INCLUDING vendors with stalls there that flip them that day.
Once I left behind a baby crumpet in a thrift store -- really nice condition... and someone here made a brag about it. ;) So there is always someone else looking.
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Trading also fell by the wayside when shipping prices got very high about 5 years ago. :( So that is a definite barrier to international trades whether one likes it or not.
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Trading also fell by the wayside when shipping prices got very high about 5 years ago. :( So that is a definite barrier to international trades whether one likes it or not.
That is also true. I remember my first ebay pony ever cost $4 to ship from the US to the UK. Now she'd cost at least $14 and probably $23 as she was an adult sea pony and they are heavier. True, that was 1998, but how times change.
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I still find ponies at thrifts. no giants lots, usually just one or two here. 2 months ago I found a Baby Princess sparkle, but I usually go to multiple thrift stores several times a week.
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It takes a lot more legwork to find ponies these days than it did in previous years, mostly because of things already mentioned; second hand shops are more savvy that old toys can bring a premium, it's easy to sell online, there are price guides and ID sites accessible anywhere thanks to the internet, and flippers. Our local shops get picked over by the dealers multiple times a day, so it's pure luck if you find anything good. Going often helps, but you have to be prepared to come home with nothing a lot.
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Shipping prices being that much cheaper a few years ago would explain how I got a UK pony for Christmas over a decade ago.
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I have been collecting for 17 years and I have never found a g1 in a thrift shop, garage sale or antique store. I did once have a friend who found some in an abandoned house man years back, but that is as close as I’ve been. I have found g3s and g4s many places though. I’m still waiting for my big find, I know it will happen 😁
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Here in Australia finding G1s in the wild is almost unheard of. Every now and then someone will have a lucky find at a car boot sale or in a secondhand store, but it's just really uncommon to find vintage ponies in bargain bins. In all the time I've been collecting (10+ years), I've only ever found G1s in the wild on three separate occasions. Anything from G3s onwards are much more prevalent. I've all but given up on finding ponies in the wild. I no longer go out of my way to frequent car boot sales or markets, because it rarely pays off.
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My local thrift store has long dry spells, I usually get lucky once a year for gen one at the flea market in the local area. I will say I dont even see gen 3 often and never found a gen 2 in the wild yet. I do have a local antiques mall, but they have them once in a blue moon, dealer wise.
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That is also true. I remember my first ebay pony ever cost $4 to ship from the US to the UK. Now she'd cost at least $14 and probably $23 as she was an adult sea pony and they are heavier. True, that was 1998, but how times change.
Even in 2008 it was only $4 to ship a pony from the US to The Netherlands. I remember because I started buying ponies online at that time (many of them from the US). Now I really have to sift through the sellers to make sure I don't eyeball a pretty pony from the US, because the shipping will scare me off anyway. :( And even when I do buy ponies from the US, I have to keep it under €22, or else I will get a massive import fee. -_-
They sure know how to take the fun out of international trading...
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I've noticed that I have better luck finding good deals in smaller towns. I live in a big city and have terrible luck at thrift stores, and then when I visited my grandma in her tiny town in Minnesota, I suddenly hit the jackpot in Goodwill. My other grandma lives in a small town in Georgia so when I visit her this summer I'm putting my theory to the test.
I actually have good luck at local flea markets, thought. I can usually find at least 4 or 5 G1s each visit.
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I have been collecting for 17 years and I have never found a g1 in a thrift shop, garage sale or antique store. I did once have a friend who found some in an abandoned house man years back, but that is as close as I’ve been. I have found g3s and g4s many places though. I’m still waiting for my big find, I know it will happen 😁
Wow! I have a strange facination with abandonded places and watch a lot of Urbex videos (not brave enough to myself lol) Maybe i should start breaking into empty properties in search for G1 :biggrin: Did you keep them?
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That is also true. I remember my first ebay pony ever cost $4 to ship from the US to the UK. Now she'd cost at least $14 and probably $23 as she was an adult sea pony and they are heavier. True, that was 1998, but how times change.
Even in 2008 it was only $4 to ship a pony from the US to The Netherlands. I remember because I started buying ponies online at that time (many of them from the US). Now I really have to sift through the sellers to make sure I don't eyeball a pretty pony from the US, because the shipping will scare me off anyway. :( And even when I do buy ponies from the US, I have to keep it under €22, or else I will get a massive import fee. -_-
They sure know how to take the fun out of international trading...
Yeah. I can relate on all levels.
Back in the early days we had to send $ in cash and it was a nusiance when someone sent a money order but it didn't really happen very often. In spite of the cash trend, things worked out pretty well. Sending cash is bad. But people were less likely to flake and the costs of things were more reasonable. Custom charges also happened but were more like random selection than every package coming in.
It just got worse with the GSP which allowed sellers to take our money with no respect for us as buyers in terms of how we receive our item, what happens to it, how much additional we are charged for the privelege or anything else. I dread to think how many MOC and delicate items have been lost forever because of that system.
I totally understand why there are people in this day and age who don't want to ship internationally given all of this. I also understand why people don't want to buy internationally given that people outside of the US have the most hassle from trying to buy from abroad. I would rather the GSP didn't exist and people just shipped where they wanted to ship, because good luck to you getting any help or sympathy from a GSP seller if they don't care about shipping overseas. It's mostly not their problem because in a lot of cases ebay has forced it on them, rather than it being their choice to use it. (I have had one exception to this where a GSP seller went above and beyond to sort out a mistake he made in shipping boxes and he was excellent, I am mentioning this to ensure I am being entirely fair in my judgement - but he is an exception).
The only thing that irks me is that people try to make out that international people are somehow trouble or hassle and that's the reason not to ship overseas. There are lots of valid reasons not to ship overseas without being offensive to other collectors based on their geography...not least because most of these people who take that line are happy to buy from us troublesome foreigners, just not sell to us. It's hurtful to know that if the roles were reversed and they had something I wanted, I'd just get the door slammed in my face for being 'hassle'.
This also makes it much harder to trade overseas. There are only so many times that you can be told foreigners are trouble before you just give up and head to ebay.
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There was a time that I used to get pouty (real crybabypeepants here) if I didn't find a *few* new G1 once a month. We used to be saturated here (80% of my collection has been found locally). I don't have time to thrift as much as I used to, I'm lucky if I grab a dozen G1's a year now... I'd like to say it has dropped off quite a bit in the last 3 years.
Edit-I am always open to trades with members in other countries, even if shipping is stinky now-a-days.
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I live in a large Canadian city and have had pretty good luck. Not big lots but finding one here and there. This past year has been very dry though, I've barely found any. I check my thrift stores once or twice a week. I don't check garage sales very often but I'm going to try to do that more this year. My flea market has a booth with lots of ponies but he's a reseller so the prices are inflated and they're not always in good condition. I managed to get a large lot on Kijiji but it wasn't cheap. Otherwise word of mouth is really good. My friends and family know I collect ponies so I've been able to acquire a few from friends of friends getting rid of childhood ponies and one of my friends used to work in a community centre and when the preschool closed she found a bin of really bad condition ponies and rescued them for me. It's getting very very hard to find them and I think you need to be diligent in checking really often to find anything. I also know that there are a few collectors in my city and at least 2 resellers so I have competition. I do hope that the other collectors are finding them before the resellers though :shake: Keep looking, you never know what you might find.
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Ahh, I have never even found a G4 in a thrift store :lol: I think I must be in a super pony-dry area...
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You've been praying to the Pony Gods, right? That's step one. It's very important in receiving pony luck. I suggest making small offerings of MLP combs and brushes at your nearest Pony temple.
When you do get pony luck, it is wise to thank the Pony Gods for their prosperous bounty.
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My first G1 in summer 04 was in a family run thrift shop in a rural town. Fast forward to last summer and I found three G1s in a Goodwill plus a G3. I found a G3 two weeks ago but that's been it. Mostly it's no ponies at all. Location? Folks selling on eBay or even the thrift shops. Who knows but it makes me sad.
Happy hunting everyone.
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You've been praying to the Pony Gods, right? That's step one. It's very important in receiving pony luck. I suggest making small offerings of MLP combs and brushes at your nearest Pony temple.
When you do get pony luck, it is wise to thank the Pony Gods for their prosperous bounty.
I will try this ;)
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My luck is always hit-and-miss. I have found quite a few ponies at carboots, I always get there early so I can snap them up before someone else can get them! :lol:
My local charity shop have actually saved any G1 ponies they've got in for me for about 10 years now. Its not that often, but I have got a few from them!
My best advice would be to look for mislabeled pony bundles on eBay. Quite a few people don't realise what they actually have and so completely mislabel them. I got the Crimp 'n' Curl Hair Salon, quite a few ponies and lots of accessories for a fiver because they were just listed under 'Pony Accessories' ^.^
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My luck is always hit-and-miss. I have found quite a few ponies at carboots, I always get there early so I can snap them up before someone else can get them! :lol:
My local charity shop have actually saved any G1 ponies they've got in for me for about 10 years now. Its not that often, but I have got a few from them!
My best advice would be to look for mislabeled pony bundles on eBay. Quite a few people don't realise what they actually have and so completely mislabel them. I got the Crimp 'n' Curl Hair Salon, quite a few ponies and lots of accessories for a fiver because they were just listed under 'Pony Accessories' ^.^
I have met someone who is well known to their charity shops and they get ponies saved for them :3 I would ask my locals to do that but they probably think I'm Crazy enough anyway let alone being cheeky and asking for favours! I quite often look up 'My little pony' on ebay since a lot of people just list old ponies under that name :)
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Here is where I make myself sound old, but...
I miss the old days where ebay rarely had a picture (or if it did, it was a pony shoved in a scanner, or several shoved in a scanner), there was no gallery option and thus finding a bargain was genuinely a matter of actual hunting skill. I mean, it still is to some degree, with the search terms and also being able to spot a rare item in a lot of ponies that's been badly photographed...but it's not like it used to be.
I know it sounds like that ought to be a bad thing, but it levelled the playing field so far as price went. Now because of the quality of seller photos or at least the presence of them on the list screen, ponies mostly sell according to who can pay the most. I'm not saying that never happened in the past either, but when all you had was a list of descriptions or a small blurry picture that wasn't on the main page, it took time and effort to go through looking for some clue that the pony you wanted was in a lot.
I am certain one of the reasons pony prices have gone up on certain ponies is that it's now easier to spot them and so more people bid. Whereas in the past you had to take chances. If my baby Susie came up now, I wouldn't get her. I wouldn't be able to, she'd be snapped up for a high price by someone with more money than I have. I got her because back then she was badly labelled, badly pictured and not identified as a promotional alternate version, just as baby Susie. Because at that time most people online were in the US, most people then weren't familiar enough with Baby Susie's set to know this one was different, so I got her for a bargain.
That happens less these days. And with the growing trend of sellers relisting to get a higher price even when they've put something up for BIN or whatever, it means getting a bargain is so much harder.
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I've seen buyers up prices after auctions weren't successful too! It baffles me. If something didn't sell the first time round its either because it's starting price was too high or it isn't in good condition. So why up the price? I saw a horribly aged gingerbread for a starting price of £9.99. Understandably she didn't sell, but now shes up for £15.99 buy it now!
It's crazy.
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I've seen buyers up prices after auctions weren't successful too! It baffles me. If something didn't sell the first time round its either because it's starting price was too high or it isn't in good condition. So why up the price? I saw a horribly aged gingerbread for a starting price of £9.99. Understandably she didn't sell, but now shes up for £15.99 buy it now!
It's crazy.
Immediate removal from my watchlist - any item on which that happens.
If it didn't sell at the lower price, it isn't going to sell at the higher one. Stop being greedy, sellers.
But that is at least better than selling an item and then cancelling it and relisting it at a higher price.
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I've seen buyers up prices after auctions weren't successful too! It baffles me. If something didn't sell the first time round its either because it's starting price was too high or it isn't in good condition. So why up the price? I saw a horribly aged gingerbread for a starting price of £9.99. Understandably she didn't sell, but now shes up for £15.99 buy it now!
It's crazy.
That's... really odd. If you've failed to sell something and you really want to sell it, wouldn't you make it cheaper?
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I've seen buyers up prices after auctions weren't successful too! It baffles me. If something didn't sell the first time round its either because it's starting price was too high or it isn't in good condition. So why up the price? I saw a horribly aged gingerbread for a starting price of £9.99. Understandably she didn't sell, but now shes up for £15.99 buy it now!
It's crazy.
That's... really odd. If you've failed to sell something and you really want to sell it, wouldn't you make it cheaper?
Absolutely ridiculous I agree, maybe they think Ponies get more valuable with passing days :yikes:
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I've seen buyers up prices after auctions weren't successful too! It baffles me. If something didn't sell the first time round its either because it's starting price was too high or it isn't in good condition. So why up the price? I saw a horribly aged gingerbread for a starting price of £9.99. Understandably she didn't sell, but now shes up for £15.99 buy it now!
It's crazy.
That's... really odd. If you've failed to sell something and you really want to sell it, wouldn't you make it cheaper?
I can only assume that the seller had a "watch" count for that pony - if a large number of potential buyers had placed that pony on their watch-lists then the seller may have thought that putting a (higher) BIN would spur one on to take the plunge.
I think you can have an option to show if your item is being watched or not? i.e. made public or just private to the seller?
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If so they are naive. People watch overpriced auctions with the hope the price will come down. Otherwise they would bid...
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Keep an eye out in odd places. I was at a small scifi convention yesterday. Some vendors had totes of $1 action figures ect on the floor near each table. I found a Moondancer! It's only one but every one counts.
Passing on the tip to pay forward the good luck I was given. :happy: :newpony:
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maybe it’s been said but I think it’s harder to find older MLP because people who arent typically MLP collectors think “Old toys are valuable” and buy to resell whenever they see them at thrift.
When compared to ten years ago these same people would have seen MLP and just though “oh a horse toy” and moved on.
eta
for example , at my largest thrift store for years i’ve seen people in the old book section with their ebay an open on their phone doing serious in store research. just yesterday I saw this same thing happening in toys!
so people are shopping the thrifts for secondary resell income.
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maybe it’s been said but I think it’s harder to find older MLP because people who arent typically MLP collectors think “Old toys are valuable” and buy to resell whenever they see them at thrift.
When compared to ten years ago these same people would have seen MLP and just though “oh a horse toy” and moved on.
I don't know if this is just the UK, but people were doing that over here ten years ago too. It's got worse since the publication of the price guides, I've seen people WITH them at toy fairs which is doubly ridiculous given they're printed in $ and the availability of ponies in the UK is completely unrelated to that in the US - not to mention out of date, so yeah, whatever.
But people have been buying to resell ponies here for a very long time.
What's interesting is that you can tell if a dealer has been through...because they also often buy up the fakies. Today at the boot sale I went to, the regular on site dealer who buys up ponies to resell at a price hike had 95% fakies in her box. She did have some G3 for £1.50 each but I had them all and so wasn't interested. But I knew she hadn't been around today's sale because I found other (g4) pony stuff for cheaper.
There was another lady who was super annoying - she was telling everyone who asked her about stuff how much she paid for it, and how much she said it was therefore worth. She had a Cadence that talked and lights up and when I asked her about it I got a whole spiel about how much it cost her new and stuff. I left it in the end. I'm not responsible for paying for her poor buying decisions, or retail price hikes.
So it's not just those. I still manage to find pony stuff but the dearth of G1 is generational more than anything. Kids mostly have G3 and G4 so that's what I find. Today I got a FS Rarity (she needs a lot of help) and a water cutie Rarity for 50p each. That#'s the same rate I would pay often for G1 back when they were plentiful. I think dealers have always been a problem. I think dealers + reduced availability + existence of online selling options and price guides just makes it worse.
BUT the fact some folk still find stuff means there remains hope. Although I suspect that the huge number of ponies sold in the US vs the UK and other smaller countries probably has an impact on how available second hand ponies still are.
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Also.... I mention this option ONLY if you have a lot of money to spend... you can post a wanted ad on your local sales sites.
Sometimes you find someone who has a giant box of MLP in their garage, as they won't bother to create an account somewhere and list it for only $50, but if you jog their interest that they may get $80 out of you for the whole bin, they'll answer your Wanted ad.
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maybe it’s been said but I think it’s harder to find older MLP because people who arent typically MLP collectors think “Old toys are valuable” and buy to resell whenever they see them at thrift.
When compared to ten years ago these same people would have seen MLP and just though “oh a horse toy” and moved on.
eta
for example , at my largest thrift store for years i’ve seen people in the old book section with their ebay an open on their phone doing serious in store research. just yesterday I saw this same thing happening in toys!
so people are shopping the thrifts for secondary resell income.
My aunt is a good example of this. I visited her recently and she told me she had two Ty Beanie Babies that were worth thousands of dollars. She asks her phone Name of Ty Beanie baby and worth and is convinced that her phone knows the exact value.
I like the price guides as a reference for ponies and accessories but agree the prices are out of date now.
Ponyfan
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maybe it’s been said but I think it’s harder to find older MLP because people who arent typically MLP collectors think “Old toys are valuable” and buy to resell whenever they see them at thrift.
When compared to ten years ago these same people would have seen MLP and just though “oh a horse toy” and moved on.
eta
for example , at my largest thrift store for years i’ve seen people in the old book section with their ebay an open on their phone doing serious in store research. just yesterday I saw this same thing happening in toys!
so people are shopping the thrifts for secondary resell income.
At the one brony con I've been to so far, one vendor had a few G1s and they were overpriced. Someone else has a fakie for $30 because "it's a vintage mlp but I couldn't find any information online so it must be rare".
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Also.... I mention this option ONLY if you have a lot of money to spend... you can post a wanted ad on your local sales sites.
Sometimes you find someone who has a giant box of MLP in their garage, as they won't bother to create an account somewhere and list it for only $50, but if you jog their interest that they may get $80 out of you for the whole bin, they'll answer your Wanted ad.
I have thought about this before but the anxious part of me thinks they could discover the collectability of the ponies and think they could get a better price on ebay rather than sell to me, which is true because I'm a poor student :cloud:
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Also.... I mention this option ONLY if you have a lot of money to spend... you can post a wanted ad on your local sales sites.
Sometimes you find someone who has a giant box of MLP in their garage, as they won't bother to create an account somewhere and list it for only $50, but if you jog their interest that they may get $80 out of you for the whole bin, they'll answer your Wanted ad.
I have thought about this before but the anxious part of me thinks they could discover the collectability of the ponies and think they could get a better price on ebay rather than sell to me, which is true because I'm a poor student :cloud:
Yeah... there's two ways to that street! :) Some people don't consider it any effort at all to make a listing, take a photo, and deal with online sales, so they are looking for the better, higher price. Others... don't want to give out their address, deal with online sales, or price check, so when you say, "your bin of MLP for $80", they think, "yay more space in my loft!"
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When I look on ebay and I see an overpriced lot with ponies who have not been cleaned or brushed, with elastic bands still in the hair, and the description is "1980s my little pony lot" and that's it...
You know someone just picked that up to make money from it because "ponies are rare".
I hate those people. Genuinely. I don't mind people who buy ponies, clean them and bother to take some care with their sale and description because they may be dealers but they are at least trying to make the product worth buying. And I don't mind ponypeople doing it - we all do it. But just seeing $ or £ signs and not even bothering to do the basics? That really irritates me.
Identify ponies, clean ponies, brush ponies, describe ponies. Otherwise leave ponies for other people who care.
I wouldn't put an ad for the same reason. Unfortunately maybe I'm a cynic but I feel the British second hand mentality is more likely to be greedy than generous in this situation. I admit at sales I never use the words 'my little pony', I never differentiate ponies from fakies when I ask about stuff, I have used the word 'horse' before to ask about ponies - just to make it look more like I;m a mother buying for kids than a collector. Because I know the moment they think you're a collector, you're clearly a mindless money bag who will pay anything for hooves.
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When I look on ebay and I see an overpriced lot with ponies who have not been cleaned or brushed, with elastic bands still in the hair, and the description is "1980s my little pony lot" and that's it...
You know someone just picked that up to make money from it because "ponies are rare".
I hate those people. Genuinely. I don't mind people who buy ponies, clean them and bother to take some care with their sale and description because they may be dealers but they are at least trying to make the product worth buying. And I don't mind ponypeople doing it - we all do it. But just seeing $ or £ signs and not even bothering to do the basics? That really irritates me.
Identify ponies, clean ponies, brush ponies, describe ponies. Otherwise leave ponies for other people who care.
I wouldn't put an ad for the same reason. Unfortunately maybe I'm a cynic but I feel the British second hand mentality is more likely to be greedy than generous in this situation. I admit at sales I never use the words 'my little pony', I never differentiate ponies from fakies when I ask about stuff, I have used the word 'horse' before to ask about ponies - just to make it look more like I;m a mother buying for kids than a collector. Because I know the moment they think you're a collector, you're clearly a mindless money bag who will pay anything for hooves.
I totally understand you! That's some good tips by the way, I have a baby face so I doubt they will think I am buying for a child but you never know I suppose. I will try this out IF I ever find anything worthwile at a sale :P
Yeah... there's two ways to that street! :) Some people don't consider it any effort at all to make a listing, take a photo, and deal with online sales, so they are looking for the better, higher price. Others... don't want to give out their address, deal with online sales, or price check, so when you say, "your bin of MLP for $80", they think, "yay more space in my loft!"
I might have to try that out, but i have compitition. On facebook marketplace i have seen a few adds, one from someone who is probably a genuine collector of MLP and the others asking for any 70's 80's or 90's toys... AKA probably a dealer
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It's funny cuz at the yard sale where I most recently found ponies in the wild, the lady said "$2 for that pony because she's vintage", like that was a lot of money. XD Then again, I got a sea pony and $50 worth of pony accessories together for $2 from her as well because she only recognized the sea pony. (I was careful not to mention what they were, or their worth, until after my bf and I left the sale.)
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When I look on ebay and I see an overpriced lot with ponies who have not been cleaned or brushed, with elastic bands still in the hair, and the description is "1980s my little pony lot" and that's it...
You know someone just picked that up to make money from it because "ponies are rare".
I hate those people. Genuinely. I don't mind people who buy ponies, clean them and bother to take some care with their sale and description because they may be dealers but they are at least trying to make the product worth buying. And I don't mind ponypeople doing it - we all do it. But just seeing $ or £ signs and not even bothering to do the basics? That really irritates me.
Identify ponies, clean ponies, brush ponies, describe ponies. Otherwise leave ponies for other people who care.
I wouldn't put an ad for the same reason. Unfortunately maybe I'm a cynic but I feel the British second hand mentality is more likely to be greedy than generous in this situation. I admit at sales I never use the words 'my little pony', I never differentiate ponies from fakies when I ask about stuff, I have used the word 'horse' before to ask about ponies - just to make it look more like I;m a mother buying for kids than a collector. Because I know the moment they think you're a collector, you're clearly a mindless money bag who will pay anything for hooves.
I totally understand you! That's some good tips by the way, I have a baby face so I doubt they will think I am buying for a child but you never know I suppose. I will try this out IF I ever find anything worthwile at a sale :P
Yeah... there's two ways to that street! :) Some people don't consider it any effort at all to make a listing, take a photo, and deal with online sales, so they are looking for the better, higher price. Others... don't want to give out their address, deal with online sales, or price check, so when you say, "your bin of MLP for $80", they think, "yay more space in my loft!"
I might have to try that out, but i have compitition. On facebook marketplace i have seen a few adds, one from someone who is probably a genuine collector of MLP and the others asking for any 70's 80's or 90's toys... AKA probably a dealer
Sadly Facebook has made online selling far too convenient for many sellers who really should find it too inconvenient, as they are rude and often not respectful of a buyer's time/money. But if they are reaching out to you in reply to your Wanted ad, you kind of have the upper hand. Sort of. If they take a pony out of the box and curiously find out what it actually is... this can backfire. and it's happened to us all! :(
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It's funny cuz at the yard sale where I most recently found ponies in the wild, the lady said "$2 for that pony because she's vintage", like that was a lot of money. XD Then again, I got a sea pony and $50 worth of pony accessories together for $2 from her as well because she only recognized the sea pony. (I was careful not to mention what they were, or their worth, until after my bf and I left the sale.)
Yes. This is exactly it. The way I feel, dealers generally don't play fair. They buy up everything, don't bother to clean it and expect us to pay hiked prices for ratty Peachys. So I think it's only fair that we play them at their own game.
I think 20 years of doing this has made me a little bit evil at times when it comes to second hand pony hunting. I'm not evil to other collectors - actually on two or three occasions I've helped other collectors by telling them stalls I've seen ponies. If someone else gets to a pony first, that's their find - I don't have a right to try and take it from them or persuade them to part with it. I won't take ponies from kids. And if the dealer is a nice person and reasonable, then I will pay their prices and I'll come back.
But often there's the other kind.
Ignorance works well at carboot sales. If they don't think you're a collector and you have a good poker face you can get great deals on stuff, like Khoufu mentioned.
It works less well at collector fairs. If it's a dealer of mostly boy toys, it's often not hard to negotiate a low pony price cos you know, just girl toys. This is sexist and I apologise, but it's also the case that male sellers at these places mostly underestimate prices on ponies, or massively overestimate them. Women are more cagey, often know more about them, and can be harder to negotiate with as a result.
I think it's fine to point out a flaw to a seller if you think something is priced too high. Ultimately the power is with you as the buyer. If you show yourself too desperate to obtain the item, they'll hold firmer on the price. Sometimes it can't work, of course, but it's worth a try. At collector fairs, sometimes the more knowledge you have the better, because you can actually intimidate the seller a little with that if you think something is overpriced. And by intimidate I don't mean threaten, glare, shout or argue. I mean simply stating politely, "but the pony has this flaw, or is missing this accessory, or is faded," or so on. If they realise that you know what you are talking about, they sometimes back down.
It's a gamble either way. Either you exploit the ignorance or you overpower it, but you need to pick your battles based on the environment, the pony, the price and the seller. Sometimes it just won't work and you have to walk away. Unfortunately that's life.
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When I look on ebay and I see an overpriced lot with ponies who have not been cleaned or brushed, with elastic bands still in the hair, and the description is "1980s my little pony lot" and that's it...
You know someone just picked that up to make money from it because "ponies are rare".
I hate those people. Genuinely. I don't mind people who buy ponies, clean them and bother to take some care with their sale and description because they may be dealers but they are at least trying to make the product worth buying. And I don't mind ponypeople doing it - we all do it. But just seeing $ or £ signs and not even bothering to do the basics? That really irritates me.
Identify ponies, clean ponies, brush ponies, describe ponies. Otherwise leave ponies for other people who care.
I wouldn't put an ad for the same reason. Unfortunately maybe I'm a cynic but I feel the British second hand mentality is more likely to be greedy than generous in this situation. I admit at sales I never use the words 'my little pony', I never differentiate ponies from fakies when I ask about stuff, I have used the word 'horse' before to ask about ponies - just to make it look more like I;m a mother buying for kids than a collector. Because I know the moment they think you're a collector, you're clearly a mindless money bag who will pay anything for hooves.
I totally understand you! That's some good tips by the way, I have a baby face so I doubt they will think I am buying for a child but you never know I suppose. I will try this out IF I ever find anything worthwile at a sale :P
Occasionally, when I browse toy tables at flea markets, when I go straight for ponies, the dealer will ask if I collect them. Don't ever fall for this, lol, as it's a clever way for them to try and hike up the prices if one hasn't already been negotiated or marked. I ALWAYS respond to this question with "Oh, I have a niece" or "My boyfriend has daughters." I'm not out-and-out lying lol, but I'm also not opening myself up to being ripped off.
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Occasionally, when I browse toy tables at flea markets, when I go straight for ponies, the dealer will ask if I collect them. Don't ever fall for this, lol, as it's a clever way for them to try and hike up the prices if one hasn't already been negotiated or marked. I ALWAYS respond to this question with "Oh, I have a niece" or "My boyfriend has daughters." I'm not out-and-out lying lol, but I'm also not opening myself up to being ripped off.
When my mum is out pony-hunting for me, she always says, "I have a little girl who likes them." She doesn't let on that her 'little girl' is 25 and a hardcore pony collector :D
One unlikely place that we've found is good for pony purchasing is vintage car shows. They often have stalls selling all kinds of vintage things, including toys, and are generally sensibly priced. There's a lot of G3s, but I've also found several G1s.
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https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/32224328_1661043027336276_2903017796080238592_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=a6ca60fcb64961bcf5af40e00a9b434c&oe=5B90D503
mimic ... giant fleamarket ... 14 bucks :)
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https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/32224328_1661043027336276_2903017796080238592_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=a6ca60fcb64961bcf5af40e00a9b434c&oe=5B90D503
mimic ... giant fleamarket ... 14 bucks :)
I am going pony hunting tomorrow, Heres to hoping your mimic of good luck will bless me :happy:
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hooves crossed for ya! :)
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Man, I feel really bad, especially for those who haven't found any G1's for years. I find one or two once in a while.
I also hate I have to keep poker face on, I just want to scream and run for them. :lol:
Just got these two yesterday from car boot sale. Caramel Crunch cost 1,50€ and Baby Takara fakie 1,00€.
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Soooooo lucky! Congrats! I wish the Takara fakie molds had been released in North America...
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Managed 52 G1's on Friday! Local rummage sale. They had like 65 in the picture... Amazingly it was all so the so softs and a TE galaxy that were mia. I should be super thrilled for that many ponies, but feel duped because they weren't all there. I showed up 2 hours early... commitment people. Doubting the guy will email me back that he found the rest...
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Sounds like everyone is having good luck! I am still yet to find any G1 >_<