When you first started, how did you focus?

[Cindercat]

I cannot believe how huge MLP has become! How have I missed it all these years?

The number of ponies available now is quite dazzling.

When I first started collecting (only a few months ago) my aim was just to get back the ones I had as a child. Yeah, that's lasted all of 5 minutes!!

I've been buying this and that, not loads as I don't have the money. I've decided I need to focus on just a couple, rather than a load of random ponies.

I have some G3s, but they are packed away for now. G1s it is.

After reading lots of pony sites, I've narrowed it down to 'just' rainbow ponies, babies to go with the adults I already have and plushies.

But it's got me wondering. Some of you on here have hundreds of ponies. How did you first start? Random pony buying, concentrated on each year? Any other method?

Is there any newbies like me? How are you building your collection?

Basically, how did your collections first begin, back in the early days?

[Aquarel]

I cannot believe how huge MLP has become! How have I missed it all these years?

The number of ponies available now is quite dazzling.

When I first started collecting (only a few months ago) my aim was just to get back the ones I had as a child. Yeah, that's lasted all of 5 minutes!!

I've been buying this and that, not loads as I don't have the money. I've decided I need to focus on just a couple, rather than a load of random ponies.

I have some G3s, but they are packed away for now. G1s it is.

After reading lots of pony sites, I've narrowed it down to 'just' rainbow ponies, babies to go with the adults I already have and plushies.

But it's got me wondering. Some of you on here have hundreds of ponies. How did you first start? Random pony buying, concentrated on each year? Any other method?

Is there any newbies like me? How are you building your collection?

Basically, how did your collections first begin, back in the early days?

I started collecting as a teen so budget was an issue. I still had my childhood ponies and luckily some stores (who had big stocks) had some actual G1 ponies on the shelf still. I quickly grew my herd by fleamarketing/ friends who gave my their childhood ponies and second hand stores. Also trading is a good way to unload doubles and gaining ponies you want.
Right now I'm focusing on completing the regular brushable list of the G4s, not buying any G3 online, selling all of the G2 and focusing on the G1s I really want.

If you're low on budget, don't go looking for pristine/minty ponies as those really are quite rare these days and will be pricier.
(*edited to fix an EEEK your/you're mistake)

[happycootie]

I think my sister and I together had about 12 or so ponies that we shared growing up. Most of them came from a garage sale and were in ok shape. When I started collecting, I replaced those ones with mintier ones. I'm only up to about 75 G1s (I say only because that's small compared to a lot of people here ). I have a tight budget so I like to check out ebay and usually only pick up very minty ones when I can get them at a good price... unless I really need a certain one because I adore her (like Sanddigger!) or if she's needed to complete a set that I have most of (still need Diamond Dreams ). Every once in a while when I splurge, it's on something that I've wanted for a long time.

I personally LOVE restoring ponies, so I like to look for G1s who are in great shape but have haircuts. Those are always more affordable and I love being able to help make them look factory again 

[hellapostalia]

Great question!

I actually started my collecting with NRFB/MOC Jem and the Holograms dolls and fashions in the late 90's while in high school. I'd buy the occasionally pony lot on ebay, but I eventually sold them to fund my Jem collecting.

...A decision I sometimes regret now. Man oh man did I have some rare ones back in the day!!

When the G3's came out in 2003-04, I started collecting them MIB. I still really loved the original G1's, but as a MIB collector, I just couldn't afford it (still can't most of the time!!  )

Now that I have all but just a few of the super rare G3's, I've started back in on the G1's, so in a way I'm in the same boat you are... which ones to buy? There are just so many to choose from!

I'm a super picky collector, so I'm willing to pay a higher price for minty ponies. As a result my G1 collection is growing a bit more slowly, but I know I'll never have to spend more money to 'upgrade' much of anything. I like that.

I started with TE's, flutters and anything TAF. BUT, while searching sales forums and ebay, I always find minty ponies I'm not necessarily looking for.

So, I suppose the short answer to your question is, I'll pretty much buy any pony that's minty and in my pony budget... whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.

I also try to buy ponies in bulk, or several from the same seller to save on shipping.

Good luck with your collecting!!
 

[Cindercat]

Oooo, I remember Jem!! I only ever had an annual but I would wear pink and blue eyeshadow, thinking I was so cool. Think I was 9-10 years old : )

No mints for me. I'm hoping I can get my daughter into ponies (she's 2) so they really would be wasted at my house.

Plus I'm really not sure how much a fair price to pay would be, so I have a self imposed £10 limit on any pony. (For now anyway).

Although I saw a pic of baby quackers on here and fell in love, in fact any white body baby pony, so that's another category.......

Gosh, it doesn't stop does it!! : )

[Diamond]

We started in G3 so that was buy em while on the shelves.  But as we got into G3 we learned about the other generations, especially the G1 and that became who we found out hunting.  Then it moved to who we could trade for or found while at meets and fairs, now it is who we really want and need. 

[ravengusty]

I started with G1 and though and at Ponycon is was G1 and G3 that I went for. I'm generation G1 so that is my main preference but more recently I've become addicted to the pint size cuties that are ponyvilles after trades and sales with members I have amassed a pint sized pony collection. I prefer ponyville to blind bags 

I just got a huge herd off charmypony which I have to sort through (some I need to identify the names of).

I mostly shop on ebay as fleamarkets/charity shops and carboot sales over here get slim pickings when it comes to ponies. Well they do in my area. More recently I've been trying out trades and sales on here.

And of course swaps and recently a raopk off an arena member who knew of my G1 obsession for CP ponies, I am amassing a large Collector's Pose army and am proud of my beauties!

I'm not too fussy with condition either as I'm not too shabby at rehairing ponies (I cringe at how fearful I was this time last year about rehairing).

[Kiwi]

Mostly my focus has been whatever is in the stores (started collecting at the start of G3), and then whatever I find in thrift stores. Online buying is a distant 3rd for me, and is pretty random.

[Rhubarbpie]

I have only been collecting for about 2 years.  I first started out on G4 ponies having become a fan of the FiM show.  I then started going to car boot sales and charity shops and kept seeing older generations for silly cheap prices and figured, well I am on the Arena now, most of the Arena peeps collect the older ones, maybe I can sell them on??  Well, I still have some of those first ponies, never brought myself to part with them 

As to how I focus my collection. One of my first purchases was the Summer Hayes G1 Collectors inventory. Though this is only based on the US releases, its still a great start, the way she has organised it to show the sets released and what accessories goes with which pony was invaluable.  That way I could focus on my collection one set at a time and (hopefully) not spend too much money at once!!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Whatever pony I could find in a second-hand way, from yard sales or thrift stores.  But when you're shopping at a yard sale with $5.00 as a child, you have a small budget.  I've had ponies all my life so the herd kind of just grew.   

[CrazyCatPony]

i always had my childhood ponies and loved them. when G3 came out i went crazy for them for a while then had to stop because of budget. i stoped buying when G3.5 came out but started up again when G4 came out. i get a lot of my ponies from the fleamarkets, and buy a lot of less than perfect G1's online. i dont have a whole lot of fucus lol. online i try to get the ones that i really want but if i find any G1 at a fleamarket i buy it if i have the money. there really arnt any ponies i dont want so i just go though phases, i just got some of my grails so now i focusing on G1 babies and G4's. i dont think there is any right or wrong way to go about it, just whatever keeps it fun 

[QueenStarglow]

This will be a fun thread to watch!

I was a baby when G1 MLP were in stores so I don't have any memories of going into stores, which I wish I had. Most of the ponies from my childhood were hand-me-downs. My parents' friends had four little girls who modeled for toy catalogs and commercials and they did a lot of work for Hasbro and got to keep all the toys they modeled with. They ponies coming out their ears there were so many, so they gave some to me. We have an old family VHS of those girls letting six-month-old me play with their ponies and I've got giant round dragonfly eyes as if I were holding diamonds the size of my fists instead of little plastic ponies.

I've always been obsessed with them. Until I knew there were other collectors, I used to follow my mom and grandma around to flea markets and antique stores using my allowance to buy ponies. In the sixth grade, we got internet for the first time and the first thing I looked up was My Little Pony and it changed my life. I found the MLP Trading Post circa 1998 and realized there were ponies I'd never even heard about and I could buy any of them that I wanted - it was an amazing feeling. The first pony I bought from online was Masquerade, whom I fell in love with after searching different kinds of ponies and discovering the Twinkle Eyed ponies.

Today ponies are very hard for me to find around where I live and even when I travel 100 miles or so, I still rarely find them. I wish the flea markets I haunted when I was in elementary school were still around. I remember a vendor who had ponies every time. So now, I stick to online searching.

[Sabrina]

When I first start collecting as an adult I just started with the ponies I'd lost from my childhood collection, Moondancer, Firefly and Bow Tie. I also got some G3s but they just weren't the same as the ponies I remembered from childhood so I only collected the occasional pony here there for years.
Then last year I really got back into collecting again. My first goal was to get all the ponies I loved as a child but never had like Skydancer, Sand Dollar, Glory and Nightglider.
But the problem is that there are just too many ponies I want to get! So I wrote up a big list of all the ponies (mainly G1s) I would love to have. From that list I choose about 12 ponies to focus on and then when I've got those I choose another 12 and so on. I do that to help focus where I want to go with my collection and so I don't go nuts and want to get everything at once!
At the moment I don't have a list though because we're coming up to a big bill time so I don't want to give myself anymore pony temptation than there already is!


 

[NoDivision]

My collection philosophy is: Buy what I want.

By that I mean, I don't really have "rules", I just get the ponies that I like. My wishlist has gradually grown as I've been collecting, but right from the start I had this philosophy. I don't feel like I have to get all the ponies. I don't even feel the need to have certain sets complete if I don't like the ponies. I only buy the ponies I like. Whether its because of a symbol I find interesting, or a color combination, my wishlist is just "ponies I like." If I only like one pony from a set, then I only want that one. There are plenty of ponies I don't like, so that limits the size of my collection, heh.

[hellapostalia]

Oooo, I remember Jem!! I only ever had an annual but I would wear pink and blue eyeshadow, thinking I was so cool. Think I was 9-10 years old : )

No mints for me. I'm hoping I can get my daughter into ponies (she's 2) so they really would be wasted at my house.

Plus I'm really not sure how much a fair price to pay would be, so I have a self imposed £10 limit on any pony. (For now anyway).

Although I saw a pic of baby quackers on here and fell in love, in fact any white body baby pony, so that's another category.......

Gosh, it doesn't stop does it!! : )

Yes - Jem was and is ... truly outrageous! (Sorry, I had to do it

If you're unsure about fair prices for individual ponies, you can always search the price check archives on here. 10 GBP per pony is quite a bit for the more common ones, especially if you don't need them to be minty mint. 

It's so great that you'd like your daughter to start playing with ponies! Buying 'lots' on ebay might be a great option.

I'm sure you've seen groups of 5, 10, 20 or more ponies in one auction up for sale (often if there are no rare ones included the prices are very reasonable). They vary in condition, but you could give your daughter the 'play condition' ponies, and you could keep the nicer ones for yourself.

Just a thought, happy pony hunting