The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Artemesia's Garden on April 18, 2022, 04:16:59 AM
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I just used various websites to complete a database of G1 ponies in my collection. Thank you Taffeta for the release dates! My list is much smaller than I thought, under 300 characters. I don't collect a lot of sets because I made some choices that would save me space etc. but for some reason I thought I would end up with more characters represented. I've been through a lot of my ponies now completing a more detailed inventory but I still have around half to go. I find it interesting that I've come to a stage where I know what I'm aiming to collect now and what my limits are. I'm working on upgrades at the moment and then I guess accessories will become more important rather than just incidental.
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when i first started I was all over the place. I stopped collecting for a while because i went a little overboard in 2020. after downsizing and having my collection packed away for months i would like to start collecting again. this time i plan to be more conscious of space but i tend to try to complete sets and replace ponies that i regretted selling. my pony room will also be my office and guest bedroom so space will be limited.
i'm also planning to do an inventory after i move and unpack my collection. TBH after all of the selling i don't really know which ponies i still have.
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When I first started collecting nearly 20 years ago, I was adamant I would only get the first six collector's pose ponies. Well, over 600 ponies later, I'm still not finished! :lol:
My collecting has evolved a great deal over the years. I used the various websites and compiled my own wish lists. At first, I only wanted the ones with subtle colours and shunned all the brightly coloured ponies (I found them garish). I didn't want to collect any G2s or G 3.5s. I didn't want any beddy bye eye ponies (I found them ugly) and disregarded any ponies I considered to be gimmicky, like the Brush 'n Grow and the Dance 'n Prance ponies...
There were many other limitations I imposed on my collection too, but gradually, over time, these changed. There are still some hard rules such as no beddy bye eye ponies (I still find them creepy!) or G3.5s, but I now have many brightly coloured ponies, a substantial G2 collection and have softened a little on the gimmick front.
For me, it's been a process of evolution and constant revisiting of ponies I've previously disregarded. For example, for the longest time, I didn't like TAF Buttons, but then one day, out of the blue, I suddenly loved her and now she's one of my favourites! It's quite scary how that can happen! :lol:
I do have space and financial constraints, so that has been a limiting factor. I've also decided that I won't be collecting any G5s and, I must say, it does feel good to draw a line under my collection and concentrate on filling in the gaps and upgrading existing ponies etc.
Another self-imposed limitation was accessories. I have a few now, but they're mainly combs and brushes so they're small and don't take up much space. I never buy whole playsets.
To sum up, I suppose I decide which ponies to collect based not on completionism, but on which ponies I fall in love with.
I imagine this is all quite familiar to many collectors on here.
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really, just ponies, sets & merch that i find cute, charming or pretty. there are ponies & items i decide not to add to my collection mainly due to their design. sometimes, there are ones that i initially don't like, then they sneak their way into my wishlist... mylittlewiki is my main source for anything but it doesn't have pics of everything, especially merch. i lurk on auction sites (ebay, mercari, poshmark, depop) to find stuff i've never even seen before! it's a lot of fun and i end up with merch i wouldn't have known about otherwise.
i'm not sure about my limits yet, as my collections still on the smaller side (i mean, compared to some people :shocked:) and my collection will have to take residence in my own room for the time being. but just saying, when and if i ever get my own place eventually there IS going to be a pony room. i'm not a completionist, but my collection's going to grow pretty big if i continue on the path of what i have on my wishlist LOL, and that's just for G3. that's why i really want to steer off from other gen's. there just won't be room.
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These issues with large collections is why I only collect orange ponies (mostly). I knew I had to limit myself for space, budget and sanity reasons :lol: But collecting one color can be hard too, especially when there are so many Nirvanas. I'm not limited to just orange either, some yellow ponies have found their way into my collection and I have other ponies who I think are really neat who are different colors too, like Dutch Diary, she's so unique. Then of course, I have my Raincurl army. Raincurl is fairly inexpensive but I also collect art of her and merch (I don't any merch yet but I want some), so that drives the price up.
Collections are complicated. I think everyone has a way they collect that works for them, you just need to identify it :)
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Usually, I will find a pony that I decide I want and then go hunting for her in lots. I'll get a lot with her, keep any other ponies I don't have, and then sell or trade the extras.
Lately, I've only been adding G5 to my collection, but I keep an eye out when I thrift. I have quite the backlog of doubles to go through! I really need to just sort through everything and make a massive "Keep" "Doubles" and "Don't wants" list somewhere.
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I only have six ponies.
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@BlackCurtains do you count peachy orange ponies like Skyflier? @SpacePinto which 6 do you have and do you plan for any more?
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@SpacePinto which 6 do you have and do you plan for any more?
Fizzy, Wind Whistler, Gusty, Heart Throb, Posey and Mimic, I also wanted to buy a few more that were in the cartoon (like Masquerade or Lickety Split or Surprise) but that was long ago.
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I started back in 2020 so I'm still a newbie to collecting, and my collecting habits haven't changed. I just go after the ones I find really cute! Only set I want to complete right now are the Twinkle Eye ponies, but that one is getting close to done. Maybe my collecting habits will change soon, but there are a lot under the "gotta get because they're cute" category still.
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buy what I like, enjoy it, sell it, buy what I like...
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I dont know when I started but 12?13? years later I have a big collection. I couldnt stop it was like I had some sort of disease. I still love ponies but as the years go by I like the older ones a little more. I still have some G4s and G3s. I only kept my favorites.
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Books, comics, magazines in my language are second only to the Ponies themselves.
For the Ponies I'm a lot more picky than I was. Only a few get to have duplicates or variants, & most of those are limited to different enough ones. I have twins for some Ponies like Tootsie, Butter Kiss, napper & some more, but not for every Pony. Most of my other variants, except a select group of "army-able" Ponies are the likes of Dutch or recently Argie Ponies. And I'm more likely to go for a unique Pony than for a variant.
Money is a huge factor, as is payment plans for more expensive Ponies & stuff. This is why I prefer dealing with sellers here for pricey Ponies
Accessories rea prioritised by what the Pony needs to function, non-Pony characters (still seeking a Spot for Suzie, two floats for Seaside Babies (Splosh has hers), & the shells for Sealight & most of the second set of adult Sea Ponies for example), & big fun scene-setters. Small bits I can find elsewhere I do, bits I can make I do, & bits found in lots I go for often (my most wanted set accessories are the Slumber Party game & spinner). I don't do brushes & combs except the rare ones with extra function, or the Brush & Grow ones or playset ones, & use my own ribbons as originals are so HTF.
Non-book merch has to be useful. I like cutlery & crockery because I can use it, as well as cushion covers & pillow cases. Single bedding not so much, though I do like the sleeping bags as day-bags in winter (I wrap my legs in one in the colder months). But the general rule is: if I can't use it, I don't get it. I do go for posters, postcards, & stickers a lot though, mainly because they take u[p little space when stored.
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@BlackCurtains do you count peachy orange ponies like Skyflier?
Some of them, like Flutterbye is kind of peachy. Skyflier is too pink. Party Time can be too pink if she has really bad regrind and I wouldn't want a pink one. Thankfully, my Party Time is almost perfect :) I have the peachy G2 Teddy in my collection. It really depends on the pony.
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When I first started collecting, my choices were based on nostalgia only. I was only trying to either replace ponies that my siblings or I had and loved as children, or acquire ones that I always wanted as a child but never got ('cuz I'm a grown-up and I CAN!!)
But as I immersed myself more into the pony world, I started wanting more, and finding beauty in the later pony sets that I was previously not interested in because they were released after I aged out of ponies as a child, so I started collecting those too. But only on a 'if I like her colors/design' basis...I don't have a need to complete a set if there's a pony that doesn't appeal to me. I even caught the G3-collecting bug for a while, but now I realize I went sort of crazy there and want to scale those back, as they don't really mean much to me.
I've slowed down on my pony collecting as space diminishes, but there are still a few grails out there I'd like to find someday. But I pretty much have all the ones that mean the most to me.
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I was only two when I got my first pony so at that age it was literally whoever was gifted to me. My mom hated (and yet got a kick out of) a lot of the ponies with scents so I managed to usually get complete sets of anything that was scented lol. Whenever G1 MLP ended, I was old enough to kind of buy things on my own…a bit. So I tried to buy as much of Year 10 as I could (and I think I got them all thankfully except for a few of the teeny tiny ponies…at least, back then). Whenever the internet entered my house in 1997/1998, I found there were other collectors like me—-and that *gasp* they would SELL ponies to me! :)
The early internet years I focused on any ponies that I always really wanted and ponies that were featured in the TV shows and movies that I didn’t already have.
Then—-as was always my TRUE intent—it became a “I need every US pony.” Years later I was able to check that off the list.
Now it has just become picking up international ponies that I enjoy (even though I go through phases of “I need all of xyz country.” ).
I have a bad “completionist” mindset sometimes lol
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It's been awhile since I've added anything to my collection.
When I first started, I decided I would get the "classic" ponies; the ones from years 1-3. I got a good amount of them. The only ones I don't have are Butterscotch, Minty, Snuzzle, Applejack, Bubbles, Lemon Drop, Peachy, Sprinkles, Pinwheel, Starflower, Flutterbye, and Trickles. A few of them, I would still love to have (like Bubbles, Pinwheel, and Trickles), but most of the others, I'm okay if I don't get them. Honestly, I want to get the ponies that I like; I'm not going to worry about completing a collection or anything. Right now I would love to have Quackers and Crumpet and I realize they're more expensive than any of the year 1-3 ponies, so I think I'm going to save up my money so I can (hopefully!) get those two ponies in nice condition.
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When I started collecting, I wanted to get "everything" - all the ponies, all the accessories, all of them MIP. LOL. I quickly realized this was a bad idea, and over time, I've gotten more and more picky about the pony stuff I keep. I've taken on a "decluttering" attitude where I only keep things that "give me joy." So if I don't really love a pony or accessory, I don't keep it. Of course, I still have lots of pony things because ponies make me happy. :) I just don't worry like I used to about having to get complete sets of everything.
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So my biggest goal is to collect all the male ponies, which means when I'm shopping for specific ponies online or at meets, I'm usually just trying to find reasonably-priced boy ponies that I'm missing. But I am a super, super un-picky collector in general, so when I'm hunting for ponies in the wild, I tend to just pick up anything pony-related I find if I don't already have it. I never pass up reasonably-priced G1s or G2s though, since it's a lot rarer to find them in the wild these days, so I sometimes end up with extras to trade.
In the rare cases that I find too many ponies to actually feasibly purchase all of them, I usually just go with the ones I like the designs of most!
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I'm fascinated to read all the different philosophies!
When I first started collecting, my choices were based on nostalgia only. I was only trying to either replace ponies that my siblings or I had and loved as children, or acquire ones that I always wanted as a child but never got ('cuz I'm a grown-up and I CAN!!)
But as I immersed myself more into the pony world, I started wanting more, and finding beauty in the later pony sets that I was previously not interested in because they were released after I aged out of ponies as a child, so I started collecting those too.
Yas! I'm a grown up and if I want the beautiful MLP collection I can make it happen. I think it's great. I think the latest ponies that were in our family were Galaxy and Honeycomb. So I HAD to find those because I loved those bright colours. And everything up until then. But then I did find beauty in some of the later ones too. I have to say I'm more attracted to those with simple designs though.
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I have a fairly large collection with limited space, somI don’t often have a set want list or seek out ponies. I more so just keep my eye out at thrift store and antique stores to see if there is anyone I don’t have yet at an affordable price. Sometimes I like to search for customs on eBay and splurge on one of them every now and then! :) Since I have most of the common ponies in my collection customs have been a good way to get something new without emptying out my bank account. :P
I’ve also started to sort of seek out fakies! I’ve found a lot of them are cute too and are affordable.
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I have a fairly large collection with limited space, somI don’t often have a set want list or seek out ponies. I more so just keep my eye out at thrift store and antique stores to see if there is anyone I don’t have yet at an affordable price. Sometimes I like to search for customs on eBay and splurge on one of them every now and then! :) Since I have most of the common ponies in my collection customs have been a good way to get something new without emptying out my bank account. :P
I’ve also started to sort of seek out fakies! I’ve found a lot of them are cute too and are affordable.
I've never found a G1 pony in the wild but I'm hoping! I got a few fakies too, it's funny how they become familiar...
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I love the random teasel cutie mark on the yellow one. Botanicals are right up my street.
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I usually pic what I want or interested at the time its pretty random lots of searching and window Shopping per say... lots of websites to brows threw. soo then what ever is the cheapest deal. now I rely on people who can do big orders with payments (they make my dreams come true) I got Night glider this way.
Or I'll go through my list of ponies that I still need and I'll start with the oldest pony and go down the list that way. I got My Year 1 Complete but year 2 is missing Twilight right now so that's what I'll be buying next besides Medley Retro pony, she will come before Twilight because I have Basic fun almost complete I just need Medley and Majesty Who I'll Never get... but I Can Dream...
So all in all its a mix of things... if basic fun comes out with new ponies they take first place in my wants then the pony that's in my USA Lists then it will be International ponies and so on so forth.
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I know it's not logical, but I had to find some way to slow myself down, so now I try to buy ponies when I find them at good prices. :P When I first started, in high school or so, I wanted only to 'replace ponies that I wanted in my childhood herd'; I very quickly realized I wanted them all, and went a bit ham with buying ponies in lots off eBay! (Can't say I regret it, LMAO!)
But in order to keep SOME of my sanity (what little bits remain?! :P), I now try to focus on the ponies that will be harder to find at that price again; so for right now, a lot of that is the newest G4/5 ponies, since when am I ever going to find them at-cost in store again? And even then, I try to wait for sales or coupons. (Target is very good about post-Christmas sales and occasional toy coupons, like 'spend $50 save $10' and the like!) And I'll scroll through the Arena, or eBay, just in case I see a pony from my wantlist hiding in a lot, or for a good price!
Sometimes, I see a pony on auction, or a friend posts a beautiful picture of their find, and I think '... I MUST have her!' and I go on a bit of a hunt! :lmao: There's a lovely gal on Instagram who posts 'Star Hopper Saturdays', and she's single-handedly making me want an upgrade for my Star Hopper! :lmao:
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I decide which ponies I want through just... looking at fansites and such. POTD threads introduce me to a lot of G3s or remind me of ponies I may have overlooked in the past. I haven't gone after a lot of older ponies for a while though; since I've been focusing on other collections recently, my pony collecting has mostly been limited to stuff that's on the shelves, since it's easier to get those when I can rather than try and hunt them down later. So G4/G4.5/G5, the retro Funko POPs, etc. Also HQG1C.
The last few G1-G3s I bought (well actually just G1, honestly can't remember the last time I bought a G2 or G3... :blush:) have been ones where something's reminded me of them and made me go "OMG I need them now!!" and bumped them to the top of my priority list. I.e. I realized HQG1C High Hopes would be the perfect mum for Baby Moondream, so I rushed off to find a good Moondream on eBay.
Hmm, reading through this thread and looking through my collection spreadsheet has really made me realize how long it's been since I've bought any pre-G4 ponies... must rectify that!
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Trying to buy what I had as a kid and then buying all the things I drooled over in the pony pamphlets when I was little. Plus I really want all the ponies from the original TV show and movie.
I started recollecting again when my niece was born and bought so much stuff for her, and then I realized I just wanted to collect too. So, I’ve needed to buy a lot it twice, some of my nieces stuff is in better condition than my version. Lol.
I’m trying to complete a lot of the sets I only had maybe 1 or 2 of as a kid, as I always think they look so much better all together.
I’m waiting on lots of pony mail right now to complete many of my sets. I’ve really blew a lot of money this year on pony.
Whoopsies! :)
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Trying to buy what I had as a kid and then buying all the things I drooled over in the pony pamphlets when I was little. Plus I really want all the ponies from the original TV show and movie.
I started recollecting again when my niece was born and bought so much stuff for her, and then I realized I just wanted to collect too. So, I’ve needed to buy a lot it twice, some of my nieces stuff is in better condition than my version. Lol.
I’m trying to complete a lot of the sets I only had maybe 1 or 2 of as a kid, as I always think they look so much better all together.
I’m waiting on lots of pony mail right now to complete many of my sets. I’ve really blew a lot of money this year on pony.
Whoopsies! :)
I loved the pamphlets too, I had to collect some! It's so easily done ;) ;) ;)
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Since I've recently picked up my G1 collection and found my bin of childhood ponies, I realized many are missing. Im not sure if my parents tossed them, if its still in their attic or my nieces stole them.
So I've decided to try to find and purchase those ponies I've had as a kid first. There's about 15 missing ones, give or take. Sometimes I'd find them in a lot with other ponies, and I'd buy them all anyway since they were bonuses for me.
I think once I get those missing childhood ponies back, I'll decide if I want to continue to collect more or enjoy what I have since it's really all the nostalgia factor for me right now.
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I very much just go for ponies I love the colors and symbols of for my G3s, since the generation is just so massive!
So symbols and colors that are interesting or more uncommon to see, brighter colors maybe? I love the red ponies!
For G1, I made it a personal goal to own every single sweetheart sister molded pony as they're my favorite mold of all generations,
and I only have a few left to go (if anyone has a Flowerburst, Frilly Flower or Pretty Belle they're looking to get rid of lmk! :P)
However I love a lot of G1 colors so I usually go for any I see for reasonable prices, which is getting harder to find these days.
For G2, just any more affordable girls that don't have weird movement mechanisms (like the neck or back legs), I love the G2 molds
and the sparkly eyes but the gimmicks really ruin a lot of the ponies for me!
If I grab anything G4, which I usually just don't do, it'll be stuff that's rare or non-mainline ponies in brushable forms. But I don't seek them
out at all really.
In general however I prefer and go for loose ponies, I don't want to open a box and ruin a pony's "mint" collector condition but I do not appreciate or
love MIB ponies as much as my loose girlies with mild defects or staining. All my MIB were birthday gifts from my childhood my mother hid and forgot
to give to me, so now in my collector years I feel bad opening them, LOL! :blush:
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Since I've recently picked up my G1 collection and found my bin of childhood ponies, I realized many are missing. Im not sure if my parents tossed them, if its still in their attic or my nieces stole them.
So I've decided to try to find and purchase those ponies I've had as a kid first. There's about 15 missing ones, give or take. Sometimes I'd find them in a lot with other ponies, and I'd buy them all anyway since they were bonuses for me.
I think once I get those missing childhood ponies back, I'll decide if I want to continue to collect more or enjoy what I have since it's really all the nostalgia factor for me right now.
My Mum gave a way a load of mine, but as adults my sister shared some of hers with me.
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I started with G4. My collecting has been a lot of, oh I'll only collect this particular series of the toys or merch, and then kind of expanding to other areas when there is a dry spell for what I was initially after.
I think I would like to eventually have one of nearly everything, like a complete G1 US collection or almost every G4 brushable, but there are just some things that don't appeal to me as much so I draw a line or at least make them the least priority. If there is something I want that's part of a set, I try to get the complete set, even if some things in the set are meh to me. If it's a set I don't care for, I try not to collect any of it, even if there is a particular piece in it I like.
Stalking online listings religiously and seeing what great stuff other people find also inspires what I aim to get :P
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When buying ponies at average price I will just go for whatever pony looks good to me I want to try completing some sets such as the first twice as fancy ponies but it will be hard for me because I have a hard time focusing on long term goals I also check Facebook marketplace frequently to see if they have any good pony lots and will sometimes go on eBay and search the name of each non mane six pony to see if someone is selling them for a good price
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@SpacePinto which 6 do you have and do you plan for any more?
Fizzy, Wind Whistler, Gusty, Heart Throb, Posey and Mimic, I also wanted to buy a few more that were in the cartoon (like Masquerade or Lickety Split or Surprise) but that was long ago.
I love how decisive that is. Those are some seriously gorgeous ponies if you're only going to have 6.
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Pure nostalgia. I have all my childhood ponies still, so I ended up buying those I always wanted as a kid. And then I ended up also buying some I didn’t even know existed but would have loved to have as a kid: like Baby Bowtie and Macau Jenny.
I love accessories, and have every accessory to all of my ponies (except the ribbons). I also collect the backcards and stickers as well ;)
This is my current collection only missing NSS Buttons, baby Buttons, baby Cherries Jubilee, Birthflower August and Gypsy.
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(https://flic.kr/p/JYRCPH)Collection 2016 (https://flic.kr/p/JYRCPH) by Katrine (https://www.flickr.com/photos/katinthewoods/), on Flickr
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Pure nostalgia. I have all my childhood ponies still, so I ended up buying those I always wanted as a kid. And then I ended up also buying some I didn’t even know existed but would have loved to have as a kid: like Baby Bowtie and Macau Jenny.
I love accessories, and have every accessory to all of my ponies (except the ribbons). I also collect the backcards and stickers as well ;)
This is my current collection only missing NSS Buttons, baby Buttons, baby Cherries Jubilee, Birthflower August and Gypsy.
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(https://flic.kr/p/JYRCPH)Collection 2016 (https://flic.kr/p/JYRCPH) by Katrine (https://www.flickr.com/photos/katinthewoods/), on Flickr
Well, that's completely adorable! I love how you picked the three white unicorns together. I also love Baby Bow Tie...
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Well, that's completely adorable! I love how you picked the three white unicorns together. I also love Baby Bow Tie...
Ah, thanks! I should really take a new collection picture though. This is a couple of years old. I just love all the pastels! :biggrin: would love to see others collection too!
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Well, that's completely adorable! I love how you picked the three white unicorns together. I also love Baby Bow Tie...
Ah, thanks! I should really take a new collection picture though. This is a couple of years old. I just love all the pastels! :biggrin: would love to see others collection too!
Beth did a post with all of her recently, and I have some in the link in my sig, but not a whole display :) I need to take some new photos too... but then I like the old ones.
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I only have been buying G1's from an indoor swap meet for the most part. So for me this basically comes down to two things, condition and cost. I'm not buying duplicates at this point, so if I have a decent one already, I am not likely to spend money on a duplicate pony (maybe if it was absolutely perfect I might think about it for an upgrade)
1) Condition -
Is the pony basically okay? Anything major visibly wrong (tail rust, mold, etc)? Has the hair been chopped? Do I think I can get the marks off and are the marks in areas that are not that obvious or hidden by hair?
I tend to stand there for quite some time looking them over, running the hair through my fingers (it's a texture thing - checking for washing, products used in it, or if it feels like original unwashed played with toy), inspecting hair plugs and tails looking for rust and mold. If the pony has mold or major signs of rust or a lot of bad marks or a hair cut it goes back on the shelf. I just don't have the time or energy to be able to spend fixing major issues at this point, and also some lack of know how or confidence that I could fix it.
2) Cost
Assuming that the pony is basically okay, or just a little dirty the question comes down to cost.
How much is it being sold for, and how much cash is currently in my purse when I am there. Having to choose the best ponies of the ones you want because you only have so much money with you. Which to be honest is probably not a bad thing because rather than "OMG I want them all!" it's more of a "Okay....who do I REALLY want to take home today." because otherwise they would all just come home to be rescued.