To open or not to open...

[HelloGoodbye]

Personally, I open mine, mostly because having them in the box would drive me nutty.  I love brushing their hair and arranging them and all.  For me, the enjoyment of having ponies comes from having them out of the box.  I can see why someone would want to keep them in, though, because they do look nice in the boxes.  What I do is I keep the box(flattened)/ back card so I have it.  I also do this with Breyer horses.  I have no intentions of selling my ponies or my Breyers any time soon, but having the box or back card does help their value.  Any way, I really like the box art.  I think the Equestria Girls boxes are especially pretty.

[cricket]

I do both.  I'm a MOC collector so most of mine are in the box.  For the ones I really love I usually buy a second to debox.  I have found the majority of my loose G4 collection at yard sales and flea markets.  It really comes down to what kind of a collector you are. I personally love walking in to a room full of MOC ponies!

[Vintergatan]

I just couldn't resist opening G3s and G4s I love the thrill of opening a pony and grooming it!

[Ice Crystal]

I tend to open G3s and G4s unless they are exclusives/con ponies or part of a collection of mine (I collect single release G4 Raritys and keep them MIB). I don't think I could bring myself to open a MOC G1 if I ever got a hold of one. I only have one G2 and it's MOC and I don't plan on opening that either.

[Lollipop]

Open it! Open it! Hate seeing ponies in packets not played with and never brushed  it upsets me lol - I wouldnt throw the packaging or box away though.

Especially G1's poor girls & boys the only reason I would ever keep one in there Box/packet is if I already had the same one opened and out that I can brush

But if I got a super rare one lets say Baby Princess Sparkle & her pretty buggy boxed and packets never ever opened I would have to open it poor girl has been shut away in that dark box for all these years she needs some air. My boyfriend was actually going to get this one for me from Ebay & I said but I would have to open it he said he wouldn't let me  lol. So I told him not to get it for me because I would devalue it by like I dunno £150 don't really no her price but yeah you get my point lol :p

Guess I always think that if I don't de-box ponies I get they might turn out like Stinky Pete the Prospector in Toy Story 2 & we don't want that :p
I have already decided that when I have kids they can play with my ponies, because I will get to play too hehe (the rarer & special ones to me they can play with when there old enough to appreciate them though )

[Pony Adventures]

I open all of mine because I take them traveling with me. I do, however, keep some of the boxes for the rarer ponies. Still, at the moment, I have around 10 ponies I need to debox. I try to style my ponies right after I unbox them and before I open any new ones.

[hathorcat]

I would understand keeping harder to find ponies MIB but for me in general G4 are a current release, very common and largely exist MIB with collectors. A quick trawl of ebay will find more of them MIB than loose; the value of them loose or MIB is not so dramatic that I think being loose rather than boxed would worry me. We have seen it with G3. There were a lot of collectors about when G3 was on shelves and this has lead to some ponies being more common MIB than loose.

However that being said, its very much a personal choice For me I release G4 as I know I am not really loosing money in doing so and because I prefer ponies loose.

As to your questions; its not hard to find earlier released ponies via sites like the Arena or ebay as long as you are prepared to pay higher prices for them due to them no longer being on shelves. And completing a collection of a line like G4 when they are so widely available is easy enough...but with so many releases it will be expensive. 

[WildBlue]

I only have 3 G4 ponies. I left them all in the box. I figure that eventually I will find them/piece them together from the second hand stores already out of box. Well that is my hope at least.

[mlp4me]

I have almost a dozen g3's still in box... I simply can't de-box a pony anymore... If you have the will power to do so and it's a g4, have at it!

[Irkencat]

I keep everything G4 in packige, I guess I prefer them like that, becouse of the mintness and
the accessories will be intact. It's tempting to to free some of them though

[partypony566]

I would open any G3s and G4s but G1 and G2 always stay in the boxes

[UrocyonFox]

I'm like a 8 year old child. I open the ALL! and play with them..... and I'm almost 30....

I guess if I had some in lovely boxes I'd keep them in there but I can't help it I wanna love on them!

[craftEcowgirl]

I'm like a 8 year old child. I open the ALL! and play with them..... and I'm almost 30....

I guess if I had some in lovely boxes I'd keep them in there but I can't help it I wanna love on them!

I totally agree and I am 42!   I cant see keeping in box unless your only buying to sell later. 

[HoustonCollector72]

I just like both ,Is nice to see a minty old release ,more than anything else, to me is really complete if it is in the box
but opening is a thrill as well both do require something , keeping them in Boxes is nice, they can be hung on walls and easy to clean ,
loose ponies require a display area, and there are expose to dust a bit more and cleaning them can become a heavy task as well
I ran out of display area at some point and kept anything new MIB ,I just recently got me more shelves and was able to open some  sets
but it is like everyone else ,what makes you happy
I'm still going for 2 of each, Just got 4 MIB glimmer wings Ponies that I was able to purchase from a member here just missing RD glimmer wings now
and got an MIB FS Fluttershy ,RD and TS  just missing AJ FS ...this is going to be an impossible grail I think wish I had not opened mine a year ago  but her box was smoky so had to be deboxed  either way and it would be easier to find her loose , so there you have it ....some are better kept Mib
makes me happy that I can have both a loose set and an mib set

[WrittenEmber]

I struggle with this all the time. I love loose ponies, I love to play with them and arrange them. My personal collection is almost entirely G4 minis, which are super tempting to open because they are tiny and don't take up a lot of display space. And because I want to hold them!

But at the same time, MIB is appealing. Shiny and new, and "complete" by a special definition of the word.

I started late, so I'm playing catch-up collecting the earlier waves. For those ponies, if they're MIB they stay that way unless/until I get a double. I'm actually really happy when I find one that's already opened when I buy it, because then I can skip the guilt and go straight to enjoying my loose pony!

When it comes to the new waves I can buy in stores, I've been gradually trying to buy two of each pony or set so that I can open one and keep one sealed. It's easy enough to do with blind bag ponies because they're tiny enough and affordable enough to get away with it, lol! (My bank account is suspicious of my pony-buying activities, but so far it hasn't caught on. The trick is to shop somewhere like Target, and then slip a pony in with other, more mundane things like milk and socks. )