I think someone just tried to make me 'justify' why I collect

[starrypawz]

So I had an interesting moment today.

I was reading an article that was about 'Force Friday' and in the discussion about it there was a discussion about toy collecting, namely like a 'do you have to try and grab this stuff first?' type thing.

I contributed because well I felt it was relevant. I basically stated that I'm a pretty casual collector (moreso lately because of not having the money to get anything) and happened to mention that I collect ponies and monster high, since well we're talking about toys right? It's a useful frame of reference. (even though it's a moot point I'd even said 'I was collecting before FiM' as a frame of reference thing)

Then I get a comment later on from someone being like 'Are you an 8 year old girl?' (with a 'right, right?') tacked on the end. I did feel maybe the person was trying to troll, but I ended up responding like 'Nope I'm an adult who just happens to collect those' and then I get another response to them like 'Oh so a adult woman who collects them for nostalgia reasons?' (with the same right, right) tacked on the end.
(also 'adult woman' sounded a bit patronising or a bit weird)

It seemed weird, like I said I think they may have been trolling a bit but at the same time. Why are you so concerned about this statement? Why is it such a big deal/so hard to comprehend. Like you just made me 'reassure' you about my hobby.

I like ponies, I like MH, I like to buy them occasionally. I think they're neat. Isn't that enough?
Also I mean this was on a 'geeky' space so you'd think people there would understand why I'd want to collect them as like it's no different than collecting any other line of toys. Star Wars stuff is also something I would collect if I had the funds (as you can guess from the avatar, star wars is one of my 'things')

But it's almost as if I admitted to 'geeking' wrong because I happened to say I like plastic ponies and a particular line of dolls.

I don't understand. (Or maybe I kind of do)

(also I don't think this is a 'because of FiM' thing since I think MLP has always sort of been misunderstood/mocked in terms of a thing to collect as I remember seeing this stuff before)

[DazzleKitty]

People like that are incredibly shallow, in my opinion. And definitely not someone to worry about. Sadly, there are a lot of stupid people out there who have these kinds of reactions. I've had the same thing happen to me. Don't let it bother you. Collect, and live your life the way you want to. You don't have to justify what makes you happy. If someone else is worried about what you do, it's on them.

[achab1984]

Some people just are not open to anything. They think that you have to go with the crowd and that is the only way. I also have had many people make comments to me about collecting them. I even had a little girl ask me over and over why do I collect them. She thought that it was weird that I collect them. Don't let it get to you!

[ponycake]

There are some pretty garbage judgmental people out there. It's why I keep it under wraps though, because I don't want to be made to question myself or feel it's wrong (except to my friends and I'm friends with more intelligent laid back people). People collect all sorts of things. Rocks, coins, whatever. And toys somehow is weird? Hmmm. No.

I had a kindergarten teacher tell me it was stupid and act awful about it when she came across my Instagram. What a good person to teach kids.

[zombienixon]

A place with people who like to collect Star Wars toys should be one of the last places you'd have to justify collecting ponies. They're all children's playthings, regardless of the fact that one has spaceships and laser guns and another has unicorns and princesses. 

You'd think that with all of the cute cat video compilations that get over 10 million views, more people would understand liking something for being cute.

It kind of reminds me of this one time where there was an image on some kind of board or page for Power Rangers that showed a Pony Megazord and people freaked out. Then someone said, "You realize you're criticizing someone for watching My Little Pony when you're an adult watching Power Rangers?"

[Leave a Whisper]

Why do you have to justify your collections to anyone? Its your life and if it bugs other people that you wanna spend a little extra cash on something that makes you happy then that's their problem for being immature, miserable, little creeps and not yours.

[Taffeta]

Then I get a comment later on from someone being like 'Are you an 8 year old girl?' (with a 'right, right?') tacked on the end.

I would have said, "No, I'm not, thank you. Are you?"

These kinds of people remind me of nusiance phone callers. Their comments add nothing to a discussion, but they think they're important enough to disturb your time thinking about their question anyway.

I've collected MLP for most of my life, in one way or another, and it's gone through various phases.

#1 Kids toy. Boys in the playground "my little pony, skinny and bony". Headteacher banning them because boys kept throwing them on the roof (absolutely no blame with the girls of course -.-).

#2 Secondary School. I had one nasty former schoolmate who decided that when we went up to secondary it was cool to tell everyone I played with MLP still at 11. Probably it's why my ponies went away for a year or two. Ultimately at this point it was too cringeworthy to admit publically. MLP was a forgotten toy for "kids" in the "past".

#3 University. The time when I realised nobody actually cared but most people outside online community were also not interested. No real comments about it. No real interest either. Just one of those things I did.

#4 Work. G3 was out at this time. I had one living on my desk in the library office. One colleague gave her a learner plate (as I was learning to drive still then) and another gave her a welsh flag and a little fuzzy bug. This was "acceptance" and "interest" but not in the sense that it was really a major deal. They just thought she was cute. I used to amuse myself by adding ponies to my colleague's ebay watch list when he was stupid enough to leave his account logged in on the main desk. I never obviously bid on anything, it was just to remind him that leaving it logged in was not a good idea, and it worked.

#5 Return to university. Trickles, Feather May, Starbeam and Honey Buzz lived in my university room all year. People came in that room. Nobody bothered about them at all.

#6 Now. At college people accepted I collected MLP, with mixed reactions but no real disrespect. I had one student obsessed with G4 and we'd have some great conversations about them (whether I wanted to or not xD). He liked working with me though because we had that in common and he knew I knew who Rainbow Dash and co were and the history behind them. I still have a printout on my shelf he did for me of the original six in G1 form.

On reflection, I think that there are negative attitudes to people who collect "toys" and there are positive attitudes, too. I think different things are criticised, that's all. G4 has made certain aspects of MLP "cool". This has a backlash in terms of the "fringe" element of MLP. Once something becomes mainstream "cool" people react against it. I think G4 is also more girly than G1 (I noticed especially at Wondermint's display in Dudley, actually, how much MORE pink there was in the other generation stuff compared to G1, where there is a lot of pink but a wider colour balance.

Ultimately I don't think it's something FIM did, although I think the offensive comments made by members of the animation's design team towards previous generations do nothing to help those of us who collected before and don't want to be considered anachronistically as "bronies" or talk about symbols as cutie marks, etc.

However, it is more in the public eye again. I imagine, as an adult in the 1980s, it wouldve been seen as odd if you bought ponies for yourself, rather than had them as a kid. I don't know if any collectors here did that. The one collector I knew in the right age range began picking up second hand ponies for her grandkids and got hooked into it that way, but that was after MLP had ended in the mid 1990s.

There are just some people who don't get collecting, or maybe are looking for some justification for their own collecting (if they are being judged) in your answer to such stupid questions. Collecting makes some people judge, other people insecure. It's just one of those things.

Ultimately, if ponies make you happy, whatever generation, then it's nobody else's business. It doesn't improve their life if they make you annoyed or harass you. Questions like that really don't deserve answering. If people want to know, there's a respectful way to ask questions. If they aren't respectful, then there's no point in giving them your time.

[lunar_scythe]

I usually just reply to junk like that with "Because I like them?  Why else would anyone collect anything?"  and that's it.  You shouldn't have to justify where your own money goes, period, would they feel better if you spent your own money on jewelry or something?  Haha too bad, it's not any of their business, so to them! I'm slightly grumpy about that kind of thing; I had someone try a similar line last night at target when I was looking at the Star Wars stuff, and I wasn't even buying anything!

[shadowspell7]

It's sad that some people feel the need to criticize something which brings joy and excitement to so many. I come from a family of toy collectors and they always tell me not to be ashamed of what I like to collect Cruel words from cruel people are worth zip.

[Wardah]

Could their attitudes be because the whole "brony" stigma? Because the sheer amount of "adult" brony fan arts out there a lot of people assume people who like MLP are into ponies "that way".

[zombienixon]

Could their attitudes be because the whole "brony" stigma? Because the sheer amount of "adult" brony fan arts out there a lot of people assume people who like MLP are into ponies "that way".

I doubt it. She said people have had that attitude since before FiM.

[banditpony]

If this ever happens again, don't even reply. It's not worth your time. It's obvious they are a nasty idiot. *meh* people...

[buttonso]

If this ever happens again, don't even reply. It's not worth your time. It's obvious they are a nasty idiot. *meh* people...

^^^
This is pretty much my philosophy.  I don't owe anyone (much less an anonymous jerk on a comment thread) an explanation, and they're just hoping to start something.


I find in real life, most people are pretty supportive/interested in my pony collecting. I post Facebook updates as I go through the childhood herd and clean them up. The family likes seeing it, since they remember the ponies too, and my coworkers like seeing my pony updates too (I'm assuming they're being honest when they stop me in the hall to ask me about my ponies, they're very friendly about it)- most of them are either around my age OR around my parents' age, so lots of people remember MLP with fondness either from their own childhood or their kids'.  The only person who's ever been rude about it was my Grandfather, but he's a cranky old man who doesn't really appreciate collecting ANYTHING so I just don't mention it around him ^^**

But yeah, people on the internet? Or a stranger in real life? You don't owe them an explanation, and someone who leads with "are you an 8 year old?" doesn't ACTUALLY want one anyway.

"Because I like them" is a perfectly good answer anyway if you can't resist.  Everyone is a geek for something, and most real-world people (at least in my own experience) seem to get it. But then I travel in geek-saturated circles even at work so my perception is probably skewed.

[Strawberry Swirl]

Could their attitudes be because the whole "brony" stigma? Because the sheer amount of "adult" brony fan arts out there a lot of people assume people who like MLP are into ponies "that way".

I sure hope not, although I do find people jump to the brony + pegasister labels when you say you like ponies.
Because you know, nothing besides G4 is acceptable and collectors no longer exist. (/sarcasm)



I tend to respond to those questions very sarcastically. I like messing with people who take the time out of their lives to get upset because somebody likes something that they don't want them to. I don't necessarily feel that they deserve a serious answer anywho.

Besides, nothing has an inherit age in the context of who can enjoy them or who cannot. An adult can enjoy Care Bears and coloring, a child can enjoy playing Team Fortress 2 because none of those things have age restrictions. (Ok, TF2 kind of does but trust me. A LOT of kids are able to handle violent video games without an issue. It's rarer for them not to.) 

[Taffeta]

Could their attitudes be because the whole "brony" stigma? Because the sheer amount of "adult" brony fan arts out there a lot of people assume people who like MLP are into ponies "that way".

I sure hope not, although I do find people jump to the brony + pegasister labels when you say you like ponies.
Because you know, nothing besides G4 is acceptable and collectors no longer exist. (/sarcasm)

Fortunately nobody has ever been foolish enough to call me by either of those words. If they did, they would soon regret it. O.o. I am fine with FIM terms, but I have zero tolerance when any of them are applied to me, my collecting, or G1 in general. I admit I won't even bid on G1 ebay auctions if the seller has put 'brony' in the title...

I don't think this is FIM related, though. I think it's just an idiot trying to be clever, or someone who's insecure trying to big themselves up by belittling someone else's interests. (Their being on that location suggests either they went there to troll or they're not totally okay with their own collecting interests and decided to take it out on someone else).