Budget brushables vs Luxury. Should there be equality for quality?

[Taffeta]

This is why it is more messy than a binary discussion on the definition of art and toy. I mean a hand made teddybear is arguably both...but which gives it quality or value?

The OP is not arguing the distinction between art and toy. They are arguing that the things they value/judge as 'quality' are too good to stand beside the things they don't. And GoH being in that also confused me...as GoH is also a toyline aimed at kids in shops. I personally wouldn't even lump together GoH with Kotobukiya - I can see the latter as a collectible figure line that probably won't be played with, but GoH? Really? And the Basic Fun ponies in their boxes are fine - but no mention of any other ponies in their packages? Kind of confusing standards.

What Wardah said about value also has nothing to do with art v toys. Wardah did what the OP failed to do and identified the quality distinction between g4 brushies and previous. G1 brushies are also 30 years old. It's impossible and a bit silly to compare them to something brand new and completely unrelated (apples and oranges, as you said, Carrehz).

[Mana Minori]

This is why it is more messy than a binary discussion on the definition of art and toy. I mean a hand made teddybear is arguably both...but which gives it quality or value?

The OP is not arguing the distinction between art and toy. They are arguing that the things they value are too good to stand beside the things they don't. And GoH being in that also confused me...as GoH is also a toyline aimed at kids in shops.

What Wardah said about value also has nothing to do with art v toys. Wardah did what the OP failed to do and identified the quality distinction between g4 brushies and previous. G1 are 30 years old...comparing them to something brand new is silly.

Excuse me? I’m terribly sorry that that’s what you got out of my post, and I was IN NO WAY saying that I don’t value my ponies. Any of my ponies. Do they have different emotional value to me, given how I acquired some? Hell yes. This isn’t a debate about value, either monetarily or emotionally though. It’s about aesthetic, pure and simple. I already said this. It is a topic that is entirely subjective as many have already brought out. I would greatly appreciate it if people stop trying to flip the topic and my wording (or lack thereof) into what it is not, or what they perceive it to imply.  Sorry for any confusion on the matter

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

Yeah the lumping of GoH with the Kotobukiya figures rather than the traditional brushable toys is odd to me too. Guardians of Harmony is very much a toyline aimed at children, just like the ponies with brushable hair are. They are made to be and are marketed as children's toys as well. Perhaps there's less protentional for play with the static posed Fan Series GoH subline, but the main GoH line with the joints? Absolutely intended to be used for playing just like brushable ponies, with very similar quality too (besides the lack of having to worry about bad G4 hair).

edit - And on the topic of like, displaying different lines within MLP together, I like displaying them together. I separate the different collections I have, generally (like my MLPs, dolls, Furbys, etc. don't tend to share the same shelves), but within the same collection, I definitely often mix different types of items. For some MLP examples, I have my Kotobukiya scales hanging out on the same shelf as all of my blindbag ponies and some other miscellaneous "lower quality" MLP items, and I think they look perfectly fine there. With everything being all bright and colorful, they mix well despite the varying quality of the different items.

As an example from another collection of mine, my anime/game figure collection, I also display different variations of "quality" next to one another as well. I have scales directly next to lower end prize figures, and it looks perfectly fine like that.

[brightberry]

But the question is does this piece of art that was created for young children to play with look good displayed with art design only to be observed. When that toy art isnt particularly well made.

Honestly, under the strictest of standards, none of them fall into the “art” category.  In that circumstance, they are works of craftsmanship.  Still very nice, with more attention to detail for some. 

But, I honestly value the brushables more than the Funkos.  Sure there are some G4s that have bad hair or misprint eyes... but there are a lot that don’t.  They look good together. I love the contrast between the plastic and hair.  I like that they seem friendlier and that they are made to do more than sit on a shelf. They have purpose and they are everything that My Little Pony was intended to be.  Statues, TV shows, Comics are orbital. They basically reference back to the toy.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

I took photos of the examples I referred to in terms of me displaying items of varying quality together on the same shelf.

Here is the shelf which I display my Kotobukiya MLP scales on, which also has my blindbag ponies and various other pony merchandise on and around the same shelf (excuse the two Capsule Chix dolls, one of the rare examples in my display space of different lines being displayed together, when it does happen it's due to lack of space).

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And here is a portion of my anime figure display, I chose to use my Hatsune Miku figures as examples here.

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That larger Miku in the back holding the staff is a high end scale figure, costed over $100 MSRP. The other three Mikus? All prize figures, which means they could be obtained basically free as prizes from arcade games. I paid about $15 or so each for those three. And they all look fine next to one another despite the difference in quality (and believe me there is a big difference there).

[Carrehz]

great example Beatles (personally I think the Capsule Chix look cute there! they fit in surprisingly well with the EQGs)

I think by GoH, OP probably meant the statues? I've never seen those in person (did anywhere in the UK get those...? they never showed up in my neck of the woods, anyway) but those did seem to be more collector-based to me. agree w/ the other GoH toys being just as much of a "toy" as any other G4 by Hasbro, though.

Like I said, though, I'm probably the last person to ask about this sort of thing anyway, I mix all my collections together. x) I mean heck, look at my avatar, collection mixing right there. G1 and G3 and Ponyville and Ojamajo Doremi. partly cause space is at a premium, but also cause I just like having everything all together. :>

[Taffeta]

great example Beatles (personally I think the Capsule Chix look cute there! they fit in surprisingly well with the EQGs)

I think by GoH, OP probably meant the statues? I've never seen those in person (did anywhere in the UK get those...? they never showed up in my neck of the woods, anyway) but those did seem to be more collector-based to me. agree w/ the other GoH toys being just as much of a "toy" as any other G4 by Hasbro, though.

But again, the OP did not specify. They didn't specify what kind of brushable, what kind of GoH, what kind of Funko, what kind of anything.

The figures being mentioned from the machines are also really very common in Japanese second hand stores, which is what I was referring to earlier. So are some of the higher ticket items, I suspect not MLP, but others are. Geography also makes this a subjective discussion, because it affects availability. There are pony collectors in Japan who struggle to get hold of brushables for their collections - and I have sold common G3 ponies to Japanese collectors who haven't been able to get them, even though they're swimming in figures.

I could've come back from Japan with a ton of figures (and a few MH dolls, actually o.o, the Japanese box was tempting but I didn't have space) but not a single pony.

Looking at my MH shelf, I just realised my special release Skelita, in her box, is on the back row behind the store dolls. I already mentioned this is the shelf IT doll Clash (RRP $125) lives on...and my two Pullips live underneath, one in box with a custom pony and a MHMini on her box

I don't have some of the most expensive IT Jems, and the couple that I do have I got when they came out, and I admit Regine is not on display or removed from her box because of how difficult to get she is. But I have Astral in my cabinet and right behind her is a normal toy line release doll from the 1980s....:/ Alongside her are the Stingers IT dolls. I like my Jems altogether, since the IT dolls fill the gaps the original line left behind. Thus in my view they belong together, even in different styles.

I think that's also what TheBeatlesPkmnFan42 is doing with her figures, combining by theme not by price point.

Diversity is the spice of life, right?

[SunPony]

But that’s just my own interpretation and thoughts on it. How do you guys feel about quality and detail in the lower end of the price tagged ponies? Could a brushable ever stand hoof to hoof against a more luxury piece and look like it serves to compliment it, rather than the lower end pony needing to be locked in a closet?

I haven't really thought about it, but maybe this is why I don't have any of my few G4s displayed     The hair...the stray plastic bits...

Speaking of price point...what did regular brushable ponies go for in the 1980s?  Like $5USD?  That would be about $12 in today's USD.  If today's G4 brushable is $5, it would have been about $2 then.  Interesting.  I wonder if this is due to wage stagnation leaving average families less discretionary income so toys need to be cheaper to sell well. 

As far as display, my ponies on display are all almost all G1 and G3 brushables, so I haven't really thought about contrasting quality levels displayed together.  However, I do display Transformers of different qualities together - but they have something in common - being a specific character.  And none of them are like...suuuuper high quality...so the quality difference isn't too blatant.  Would I display a G4 brushable alongside a Funko?  Yes, especially if they were the same character (pony army ftw!).  Alongside an actual well-done artisan sculpture?  Probably not.  Would probably display the sculpture all by itself.  The custom ponies I have on display are by themselves, so they can be in their own spotlight, as it were.

[KarentheUnicorn]

At the end of the day does anyone really care what is displayed on another collectors shelves together? They're our shelves, usually it's what makes someones collection interesting, it's less about value IMO.

It's not like if Sundance is Sitting beside Rapunzel on a shelf that Madam Longhair is going to lose value by association. Plus I don't think sitting G1 Moondancer by a mystery luxury diamond Funko Pony will cause said LDF to deflate in value.

I think it all falls down to personal preference and what you want on your shelf. Really, most people don't care about your shelf of collectibles except you. Well maybe some greedy relative waiting for you to die so they can resell all your junk.

But I'm not going to care as much about another person's ponies as must as I care about mine. I wouldn't trade any of my original ponies for some super expensive "insert random item here".

There is something about the ponies being MY ponies since the first day I bought them, some of these ponies have been with me for over 35 years. If anyone expects me to think some other pony is more valuable than that then they don't really understand ponypeople.

[Leave a Whisper]

At the end of the day does anyone really care what is displayed on another collectors shelves together? They're our shelves, usually it's what makes someones collection interesting, it's less about value IMO.

It's not like if Sundance is Sitting beside Rapunzel on a shelf that Madam Longhair is going to lose value by association. Plus I don't think sitting G1 Moondancer by a mystery luxury diamond Funko Pony will cause said LDF to deflate in value.

I think it all falls down to personal preference and what you want on your shelf. Really, most people don't care about your shelf of collectibles except you. Well maybe some greedy relative waiting for you to die so they can resell all your junk.

But I'm not going to care as much about another person's ponies as must as I care about mine. I wouldn't trade any of my original ponies for some super expensive "insert random item here".

There is something about the ponies being MY ponies since the first day I bought them, some of these ponies have been with me for over 35 years. If anyone expects me to think some other pony is more valuable than that then they don't really understand ponypeople.

All quite true.

[Tropical_Sunset]

Just personal preference for how you want your displays to look, I guess. I actually really enjoy displays that have a bunch of similar items together, even if the price points for them are wildly different.

I've got a messy little corner of my room that's my Princess Luna collection and it has head-body mismatched brushable Lunas next to build a bear Lunas and one day it will have one of those Kotobukiya Princess Luna figures thrown in there with all the rest. 

[Carrehz]

There is something about the ponies being MY ponies since the first day I bought them, some of these ponies have been with me for over 35 years. If anyone expects me to think some other pony is more valuable than that then they don't really understand ponypeople.

This! This is what it's all about!!

[Zapper]

So personally, the things like brushables, plushies, and Mc Donald’s ponies don’t often seem to sit well, for me, among my collection of more of the finer tuned pieces- for example, the FUNKO vinyl’s, GoH (...)

Is this a joke? I am legit asking because Funko and GoH are mainstream, run-of-the-mill hunks of plastic. They aren't "finer tuned pieces" just because they have no hair or are geared towards slightly older collectors (14+)

Your opinion aside, it looks like you just look down on things geared towards younger kids (plushies, McD toys, brushables) and prefer plastic statues instead. That has nothing to do with quality, just your personal hang-ups. Case in point, most of the official plushes aren't bad quality at all. They just lack perfect show-accuracy, something that plastic statues are known for. By the end of the day they are all made from the same-ish materials.

[Taffeta]

There is something about the ponies being MY ponies since the first day I bought them, some of these ponies have been with me for over 35 years. If anyone expects me to think some other pony is more valuable than that then they don't really understand ponypeople.

This! This is what it's all about!!

Indeed so.
And we can switch out pony in that statement for anything. For me the OP took an attack on all of our childhoods by trying to present these brand new (and entirely lacking in nostalgia) items as 'quality' that somehow shame those toys we grew up with and loved and are lucky enough to have real memories from.

I guess on the one hand if what you like about collecting is showing off expensive tat to other people or keeping trinkets on a shelf to brag about the price you paid, then that's all right...but I don't think most pony collectors think like that. I think we probably care more about ponies because we grew up with them, and we never did that thinking they would one day be 'valuable' or thinking about stupid things like someone else's view of their 'quality'.

@Zapper - apparently not.

The thing is, the OP has set in stone values for "quality", which are problematic because such judgements are subjective depending on a lot of factors. So it just comes over as "I value this more than this, so should we hide the cheap and nasty brushables away in the cupboard so they don't taint the "better quality" items in our display?"

As opposed to "What do you think comprises "quality" in a collectable?

Or even closer to what the OP may have meant, but absolutely didn't say...

"Do you display brushables alongside collectable figures and other franchise items and if so/if not, why and how do you feel about mixing themes like this?"

...Words like quality should never come into it, especially when referring to things from G4 which frankly are not always high quality anyway. (I exclude Kotobukiya, they're different, but yeesh I've seen so many complaint threads about imperfections in Funko figures in the last several years...)