The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: Cwk123 on January 31, 2012, 08:50:07 PM

Title: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Cwk123 on January 31, 2012, 08:50:07 PM

What got you started collecting?
I used to collect Ty beanie babies in college...then got some Barbie dolls after seeing the cute Wizard of Oz dolls. Just bought a few...then BAM! I lost interest in the beanies but continued with Barbies and other dolls. Once the collecting bug has bitten...there is no going back! It's so much fun  :)

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Vintergatan on January 31, 2012, 08:56:16 PM

I was born in the mid 80s and ponies were by far my favourite toys (even though I had Barbies as well). for some reason my pony love never ceased and I remember having many dreams in my lifetime of being able to find G1s in stores :D however I never considered actually collecting (even though I still had all my childhood ponies) until I moved to Iceland and saw an add - someone (a member here ^^) was selling a whole bunch of ponies, mostly G1s and I was thrilled!! That kick-started my collecting. that ,and the fact that I can find a lot of ponies in charity stores here.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: DoctorMowinckel on January 31, 2012, 09:18:27 PM

One of my friends has been into ponies for about a decade. I've known about his hobby for ...since as long I knew him, I never really thought much of it. When FiM rolled around, he suggested it to me knowing that I was into animation. He's a good friend so I didn't think 'PFT! PONIES!', I thought 'well, if he likes it, it must have some merit'. Checked out the show, enjoyed it. Bought the Mane Six G4s, said I was going to stop there. Got into styling ponies, needed more ponies to style, said I was going to only buy G4s, and what could fit on my speakers.

Now I have about 40 G3s and about 30 G4s, and am looking for a bigger shelf so I can add to my collection.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: terabithianprince on January 31, 2012, 09:23:18 PM

I used to like MLP as a kid(still own a dream beauty. Last year I reunited with a high school friend and she had lots of ponies. I helped her to open blind bags and then I got some myself. I started getting g3s and g1s recently. All I need is a G2 and will own all generations.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: scarletjul on January 31, 2012, 10:14:53 PM

Ooh, I love reading people's stories!  :)

I was ot into ponies into a child; I just wasn't that aware of them.  But about six years ago, my best friend gave me a g3 themed MLP birthday present, including Merriweather.  And I thought that the gift was so cute and that Merriweather needed a friend, so I got Silver Glow.  And then I remembered having a coiuple of g1s when I was a kid and I started looking for them online.  I realized you could buy them on ebay and I identified who I'd owned on Dream Valley and then I found the Arena. . .  and my collecting snowballed.  :)

So, now 200+ ponies later it's all thanks to my best friend.  Whenever I spend money on ponies or my mom sees me get another one, she likes to thank her.  :D

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: foxyfennec on January 31, 2012, 10:49:47 PM

Lifelong obsession, GO!!!  XD

I was given Blossom for my second birthday in 1982, and it all started from there.  I amassed over 100 G1s as a child, and once I was in college (and the Internet became widely available), I started tracking down all of the ones I wanted but didn't get as a child.  TE Locket was my first online purchase. :)  I've since managed to collect all of the Twinkle-eyed ponies.  They were always my favorites and it was my one major pony goal in life.

I was STOKED when the G3s came out in 2003.  Not exactly the same as the G1s, but a pony is a pony.  I never got any of the G2s while they were out in stores, but wound up collecting them later on.  Go figure. :P 

My original collection is still complete and intact.  Most of my ponies are in great condition, since I was very careful with my toys as a child.  I'm not sure how many I have at this point.  Somewhere between 200-300, I'd wager.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Taxel on January 31, 2012, 11:10:15 PM

I've admired custom MLPs from afar for years, just over four at this point, but never gave them much thought due to their price tags. I'd rather buy a doll than a $100+ custom, lol. Anyways, last April or early May I'd guess my best friend (who is an MLP collector)/it being everywhere got me to finally watch FiM (my friend had been telling me about it since it came out). I really loved the show and watched all the previous episodes on YouTube. For my birthday I got the molded hair set with Celestia and the blind bag four pack. And that's how I learned about Hasbroken. XP

Not long after I got into older generations and bought my first pony, a lovely custom named Osaka for $11.50 and soon after bought G1 Sundance and not long after that G1 Baby Stockings. I think before I bought Stockings I signed up here. And that's how I lost all of my spending money. xD

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Rachel-Eyes on February 01, 2012, 12:36:40 AM

I started collecting through Beanie Babies too! I was absolutely a '90s kid, being born in '89, so it was popular and convenient for me. Through the years I also collected Raggedy Ann, but she was too expensive for my 13-year-old girl budget. I also have a collection of Spongebob and octopuses because they are my favorite animal, and I absolutely adore Spongebob. (But only seasons 1-3). I got out of collecting after about the age of 15, but always secretly missed it.

It wasn't until this summer that I got into FiM, customizing, and fakies, that I decided to start collecting ponies. I think part of the appeal of ponies for me, is that I missed a huge chunk of G1, but still remember MLP and even had two of them (in my sig!). In a way, it's like I'm reliving my childhood, but still discovering something new, because of missing out on almost an entire generation.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Timepiece on February 01, 2012, 01:01:01 AM

I'm not really a collector, but I do love to collect some TYs, mainly cats and rabbits. The idea of collecting TYs was from my mom's side, whom she stored the other TYs on our storage shed, as well the Barbie dolls of the 90s (unopened)... But I do not like Barbie so much. (Even though i'm ashamed that I got into the dolls at 5th grade +...)

As for pony-collecting, i'm not aiming for my own shelf, so the quantity was still ratter low and I have to spread them. My proud completed collection was the G4 McD ponies: Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, RBD, Rarity, Celestia, and Cherielee. All don't have bases, but they fit enough on my transparent plastic candy cases, along with my other anime figures.

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Closest picture I can find with the collection shown behind my hand. The one shown at front was a spare Applejack, whom I purposely gave her away to a fellow Pegasister.

I also have random plushies, mostly a bit of Care Bears/Cousins ('03 ver.), Disney, bunnies, a kitty, a few Pokemon, and of course my G3 Rainbow Dash (whom I did not brag about since not sure if anyone is into G3 merch.)... And now my G4 Pinkie Pie on my bed. I also have other things that are stored in my "collectors tins", which include from a few Neopets McD plush toys to some non-TY beanies...

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: PonyMonsters on February 01, 2012, 02:32:57 AM

My collecting story starts with my wife saying "I want to get my old ponies out at take a look at them".... Going on to "they need some friends, ooooh you can get ponies on eBay!"......... One year later we have about 800 ponies!

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: hathorcat on February 01, 2012, 03:34:15 AM

So here is how it goes....I have a rush of nostalgia for some random reason and think "oh I think I ll get out some old childhood toys from the attic"....trots up the stairs and starts going through boxes....hmmmmmm.....where are the ponies? goes in search of mother...."mum? where are the ponies?" insert rather embarrassed mum admitting she "gave" them to the little girl up the road a decade and a half ago as she thought I would no longer want them....suddenly I no longer "just wanted to look out my childhood toys" being deprived of them means I actually need them now and am emotionally traumatised....ha ha!!! I think, "ebay!" Off to the computer.... "just to collect a half dozen or so, Cotton Candy, Apple Jack, Bow Tie, etc"....BAM! 6 years and a complete G1 UK and US collection not to mention the G3s and G4s which make it to my house....I may have over done it!

On the plus side my mum was the one who found the Arena and encouraged me to join so she more than made up for giving my ponies away! Lol....

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Ringlets on February 01, 2012, 03:56:05 AM

I love to read everyones stories!! :lovey: :happy: :frolic:
 
My own story is this.. I grew up with G1 ponies and had some since they were first released in the early 80's ( my neighbour had a Bowtie which I fell in love with and so mom surprised me Bluebelle and Butterscotch .. who were soon joined by many others :P ) . I have 250 childhood ponies , playsets , merch etc.. I still kept them all out and displayed, wrote stories and did pony art until I was 18. Then my best friend moved on (we had collected etc together since we were 8) and I was kinda sad :sad:  .... so I packed up a lot of the stuff and stored it for a while, but I never stopped loving my ponies, or writing the stories.  Then sometime later  I met my hubby :heart: . A toy collector himself, he encouraged me to get all my stuff out of storage and display it (up until then I had only had a few out on display - hehe he was in for a bit of a shock when he knew how many I actually had even then!!! :lol: :devious: :silly: ). He helped me to restore childhood ponies and then he helped me to buy more ponies from ebay, and then he started to buy ponies as well :P  Oh and of course while I was buying ponies on ebay I came across a reference to the Arena, and after lurking a while discovered how awesome it is and joined (YAY!! :cheer:  that accellerated the collecting as well  LOL :happy:   )
  Soooo more than 1000 and something ponies later (yes I deliberately lost count some years back at over 1000 :accomplished: ) , me and hubby are still happily collecting together, and everyone knows about my collection now. I like to be open with people - means more people to help hunt ponies IRL!! dad and mom, my gran , aunt, and others have helped me so far :relaxed:

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: OctoberFlash on February 01, 2012, 04:45:29 AM

My story isn't that exciting, but here I go. xD

I had ponies as a kid; I was 6, 7, maybe 8 when I had my ponies. One was a Kimono in the Sunny Daze pose, the rest were Cabbage Patch fakies. I eventually gave them up, though, they went to my friend's little sister, bye-bye. I never played with them any more by that point (I was 11 or 10) anyway.

Fast forward to March of last year. I was surfing Know Your Meme when I stumbled upon their MLP:FiM entry. I thought "WHAT" and went to see why on earth My Little Pony was a meme, read up on it, and decided "well, if all these guys are watching it, can't be that bad." Watched about halfway through episode 1, didn't really like it (although I LOVED the style), gave up on it.

On April 4th (yes, I remember the exact date :silly: ), I was convinced by some people on a pet sim site I go on all the time to try it again. They had a little MLP:FiM fan club, and they looked like they were having so much fun, and I decided maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance. Watched the first episode. Then the second. Then the third. I think I got to the fourth or fifth before stopping - I was in love!

I watched the entire rest of the first season, and then, after finding out about this place (MLP Arena! :D ), I looked around a bit. I fell in love with some of the custom ponies I saw and decided I had to make my own; I made my first one, a rather badly-made G4, over my summer break. And from there on, I started making customs.

By the time I finished my fourth custom, I had decided that there were some ponies I really liked. I was looking around here when I found out I loved some ponies, some G1s and G2s and G3s and a couple G4s, I had to have them! So now I collect, too, and customize. My collection is small (I have... maybe 8 ponies now?), but I love it. <3

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Varkolak on February 01, 2012, 05:00:54 AM

i had joined the trade post hoping to find a childhood pony i had, she was a hard plastic, but i figured i'd give it a shot there and make a thread seeing if anyone had her. come to the conclusion it was a dream beauty fakie! but still no pictures of her :(
i bought some care bears and a tamagotchi off there, and kept getting intregued by the ponies. my boyfriend didn't want me to start another collection, as i already had a lot going. club penguin plushes, bella sara stuff, care bears, tamagotchis, etc..
well a lady in my local area listed a bag of ponies for sale for $5 and i was like "ME ME ME ME" because i had been thinking of owning ponies, but never really had any. well she bumped the price to $10 after she saw how bad i wanted them, and my mom picked them up on her way to work. when she brought them home, and i cleaned them up, i had to have more. and here i am, a few months later with a little over 100 ponies in my collection, i pretty much stopped collecting everything else LOL my boyfriend was happy with that part at least!

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Dragonflitter on February 01, 2012, 09:06:59 AM

lol it is so much fun to read everyone's stories, especially the youngsters who got into the toys thanks to FiM. *grins and ruffles the little people's hair* Makes me feel like an old lady lol. Though I know there are collectors older than me on here! :P

I had a whole backpack full of the G1's back when I was a kid in the 80's. They were in storage for many years until I entered college. At that point I was very much into the nostalgia craze--I love buying dvd's of 80's cartoons and any toys like Care Bears that remind me of my childhood.

In college, 2004, I started noticing MLP's back on the shelves and thought "Whoa I remember those! Gimme!" It was an instant hit with me, I now have over 200 G3's. I started to go online trying to identify them all, as well as my old childhood G1's, which is what led me to the Arena and MLPTP!

Once the G3's hit the G3.5 stage I kinda stopped collecting. To me it's a real turn off if a company is only going to invent six characters and then put them out repeatedly, sometimes with a different purse or a scarf, but always the same character over and over again. >.<

At NYCC 2010 I saw a huge billboard advertising the Hub with Pinkie Pie on it and I was like "PONY CARTOON WUT!?" lol But then I promptly forgot about it, partly because I didn't know what The Hub was and partly because I was still annoyed with Hasbro for the G3.5 toys and told myself it probably would be like the G3 animated features, which weren't that great.

Until I heard from some online guy friends in 2011 that the cartoon was gaining a huge following so I started watching and found it pretty decent, and to my joy the G4 toys are ADORABLE! And here I am back at the Arena, collecting again. :D

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: RAMChYLD on February 01, 2012, 09:44:43 AM

Well, actually, while I was into ponies (or rather, Megan) since the 80s, the ponies themselves were pretty much nonexistent over here. So I lived my childhood without them, only living with the TV series and movie in mind (and even then, I didn't really enjoy them due to my fear of the villains) and dreaming of what it's like to be playing with Megan (ok, I had a weird imaginative life in my childhood. I had a crush on Megan and constantly imagined marrying her  :blush: ), and after I discovered "Tales", Sweetheart.

I started small scale back in 2007/2008. A few online friends retriggered my interest in them and I decided to try out G3, starting with a Sing and Dance Pinkie Pie. Then I decided I wanted the large Pinkie Pie as seen in the Transformers film. So I turned to eBay and got one. About a year later I found a 25th Anniversary Pinkie Pie plush (practically the same plush, but with a 25th Anniversary insignia embroidered to one of the legs) and bought it on impulse.

Things only hit full swing last year. I decided I wanted a Fluttershy and Applejack after an encounter with them at a Toys R Us store and my heart fell for their puppydog eyes. I decided at that time "Ok, I'll only add these two to my collection. Can't be that hard". Then I found out that Andrea Libman was the voice of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and Ashleigh Ball was the voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and decided I want all Fluttershys and Applejacks. Then I discovered that Tabitha St. Germain (Cheer Bear from Care Bears: AiCAL) is Rarity and Tara Strong (Chloe from Madeline) is Twilight Sparkle, and then I heard "Winter Wrap Up"...

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: BridgetsMum on February 01, 2012, 10:45:26 AM

I just happened to come across them on eBay and then it hit me---I remember those! So for Christmas I got my little cousin a set. Then I decided to get them for my daughter. Then of course I couldn't stop. I must've brushed their hair for months. I was soo in love, still am. :)

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: RainbowWindy on February 01, 2012, 10:53:37 AM

They were my favorite toy as a child in the '80s and had always wanted to keep them to give to my daughter someday. Some of you might remember Silver_dawn, she was student at the school where I work in the library and I remember her talking about My Little Ponies and selling them on ebay. I thought 'hey, I still have my childhood collection stored in my parents basement, maybe I should dig them out and sell them as it looks like I will never have a daughter.'
As I was cleaning them up, I just couldn't part with them, they brought back such nostalgia that I decided that since my husband collects collections, maybe I should have one, too. Boy, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I haven't counted all that I have now but it must be over 1000.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: HavACrumpet452 on February 01, 2012, 11:08:38 AM

I'd had ponies since I was a kid in the 80's, but what really started my current obsession was the very first G3's when they came out at KB toys.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: VanillaBean on February 01, 2012, 11:50:05 AM

I was lucky enough to experience 3 gens as a kid.  :P
I was born in '92, so I grew up with G2 toys. One of my best friends had two G1 videos & we watched them over & over again. I didn't know about the original toyline back then, so I kinda wondered why all the characters were different.   xD
The first G3s came out the summer before I started year 6, & I still considered myself an 'acceptable' age for ponies. My parents disagreed, so I didn't get any ponies then, but my best friend got Sparkleworks & I was jealous, haha.   :lol: We played loads of pretend games back then in her garden, revolving around the original 8 G3s. I was always Sparkleworks & she was Rainbow Dash.
Anyway, I admired the G3 artwork & toys until the dreaded core 7 began. During secondary school, I found the pony community online. It made me so happy when I re-watched the old G1 episodes, & I decided I HAD to buy some.
I lurked around the Arena for a looong time, then joined & bought SS Paradise, my first G1. :) She & Surprise had always been my favourite characters in the show.
& the rest is history.  :D   I now collect mainly G1 & G3, although I may buy back some of my G2 childhood ponies.  ^-^

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Ginger on February 01, 2012, 12:21:00 PM

These are fun stories, thanks for sharing!! Mine is less interesting but here it goes,
 
I was a 1990 kid. When I was really young I had just a couple ponies. The first was a G1 given second hand. The second was a G2 that my Grandma bought me when she took me toy shopping and I got to pick out a toy. That is one of my favorite memories- it was so FUN and I remember every bit of it.
 
I really liked them but we hardly had any money and at the time, I was more interested in American Girl, Polly Pocket and Beanie Babies. Nothing ever became a "collection", I just had a little bit of everything.
 
Fast forward to now, my boyfriend watched FIM before me and liked it. He knows my tastes well and encouraged me to watch it too. I loved it. So I went to TRU to "just get one pony" for the sake of having a pony from a show I liked so much. When I opened it, I sort of re-lived the joy I felt when I went shopping with my Grandma.
 
I took a trip down memory lane, looked them up on google, found this forum, and then the ponies multiplied.  :biggrin:

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Flitter on February 01, 2012, 12:35:53 PM

Hm, I can't quite remember exactly how it happened (I probably saw some on flickr or something) but sometime last summer I realized that the G4 pony toys were really adorable and wanted to buy some. I remember just like one afternoon I decided I needed to go a mission to find the toys and walked to the store since my husband was at work and had the car and I didn't want to wait for some reason. I was so happy that they had all the mane 6. I started watching the show at that time too. Now I've completely fallen in love.

I had seen like an episode or two months earlier and felt just kind of 'meh' about it but somehow now I'm hooked. I really enjoy collecting the toys as a hobby now too since my previous collections (Re-Ment and BJD) are a lot harder for me to keep active and involved in than they once were.

I did have G1s as a child, and my sister had a couple G3 which were cute too but those are all gone now and after finding a few at a thrift store I've realized I only really feel nostalgic about the G1s I once had and don't really want to collect them again.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Saoirse on February 01, 2012, 12:39:23 PM

some amazing stories!

I grew up with them( I was an 80s child) Ive only 4 of my original ones left but the arena and ebay have helped me rebuild!

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Icecrystalline on February 01, 2012, 12:40:57 PM

When I was 3, my mum and I used to route charity shops and car boot sales for toys that I'd like, I must have chosen a pony at one point (can't remember my first) but I know I loved them ever since (I was born in 1995), I stopped playing with them when I was 6 probably and sold off my very poor condition ones and kept about 15 ish and then when my grandma died this august, I got my ponies down from the loft and they reminded me of happy times, so I decided to start collecting them with the pocket money I get, although my mum doesn't approve of spending £200 odd on two ponies at one time... :S I know that they bring me comfort, and they remind me of the happiest childhood a child could wish for, and since my grandma died, my health has deteriorated, and by collecting ponies whilst recouperating, I feel content with what I have. I 'm getting better now and everytime I see my ponies in my room, it makes me smile. (I don't have anything major, I just suffer very badly from IBS, I'm not dying!)
That's why I collect ponies :)
xxx

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: tehrin on February 01, 2012, 01:00:36 PM

I think it was on my 3rd birthday, I got Gusty as either a birthday or christmas present. I remembered how much I enjoyed her. From there, it all went downhill during my childhood. I loved ponies and ended up getting a lot of them!

My mom ended up selling off my collection when I was older, like 10 or 11, though I still got ponies here and there for Christmas in the early 90's. No idea what happened to them, except that they probably went to my niece who was 6 years younger than me.

I had a friend who loved ponies and we'd play with them together and other toys when I was about 11 or 12. But her grandmother wouldn't let us see eachother anymore after she found out I was turning 13. :(  So, we'd sneak and borrow ponies!

During high school, and once I got internet in the late 90's, I was in an 80's nostalgia craze, looking up old toys and things like that.  A friend bought me the G2 computer game, but that was all I had as far as G2 ponies go.

Then when I was in college, I met up with my old childhood friend who had ponies. We hung out a lot. She eventually gave me her childhood collection and a custom! I had them on display in my room, but I never did much with them or collected further...

Fast forward nearly 10 years later, I see V-day Pinkie Pie at Target. I was disgusted at how "dumb" they made the ponies look. I swore it off.  Then I started seeing ponies on facebook, some other site, livejournal, convention forums... you name it.  My one friend (Rayechu here) is to blame for getting me into collecting. I saw pictures of her G4 ponies, and fell in love with Rainbow dash. I caved in and bought her, then watched the show. I had to get my childhood ponies back, and get those ponies from my parent's attic!

My first G1 purchase was Gusty.

9 months later, I have like 120ish ponies from all generations. x_x LOL!

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Marlin on February 01, 2012, 01:08:20 PM

Ponies were my favourite toys as a kid (80's). I cherished them dearly, and the 16 or so I had accumulated eventually were stashed away in a box. No way were they ever being thrown out or donated!


Years later, I pulled them out for my eldest girl to look at. Watching her play with them was so warm fuzzy-ish! But... the play got a little rougher, and as I did yet another hair tidy up on one of them, I realised I might not quite be ready to have my beloved girls ruined just yet! Coupled with a sudden google-fest of all things pony, I started lovingly restoring them to former glory, and then got thinking about what other ponies I had wanted as a kid...


...well, over a hundred G1's later (daughters were given newer substitutes!) I've gone, fair to say, pony mad! I don't know what it is really. They just make me happy. It's a nostalgia thing I guess, and the restoration side of things, whilst I am still pretty fresh at it, has become a very satisfying hobby!


My girls still get to cuddle 'Mummy's' ponies now and then, and very sweetly seem to understand that those particular ponies, are very special  :)


Here's what's left of my original childhood ponies below  :)  :


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Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: SkyCakes on February 01, 2012, 02:32:18 PM

I think it all started when my mother bought me a cotton candy plushie for a birthday or something. Then I think my mother got me Cotton candy the toy pony. She had no idea I would become a collector. I think I started collecting ponies with my allowance back when the Toys R Us's had rows after rows of toys. I remember a whole wall of ponies. Anyhow I remember when they were only 5-6 dollars back then. I started gathering more and more ponies about around 100 or so. Then unfortunately I gave all my ponies away :/ I still regret it. I only kept two: Sparkler and Curly locks.
Flash forward to 2007-8 I found Dream Valley. I saw Medley staring at me. Then I wonder if they had any on ebay? And then she started me back into collecting. I have been off and on a (year break) Im still active as usual and gone pony mad like everyone else that loves ponies. Even now since I stored most of my collection away I still have a handful here. They maybe stored away from my sight but not from my heart.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Ice Crystal on February 01, 2012, 03:19:35 PM

I have been collecting my whole life! My first major collection was Sylvester the cat from when I was about five years old until I was ten. I still have the collection in storage, actually! Over 200 items. I also had some general collections; TY beanie babies, Boyds bears (or cats in my case), bone china/Haegan Renaker animals.

Starting when I was fourteen, I was really serious about collecting pokemon toys, focusing on a few monsters in particular. I paused collecting pokemon last year after I hit most of my major goals, and because I wanted to focus on ponies. There are still a few things I would like to pick up but they are way out of my price range and hard to find besides. I was roped into pony collecting by FiM. G1 and G3 are my focus now though. G4 ponies are so disappointing in comparison. :'( But I do have a G4 Rarity collection and strive to collect all of her figures and plush (should she ever get any).

So I guess I have a collecting bug and ponies are the perfect franchise for somebody like me. I also like styling their manes. :3c

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Majesty on February 01, 2012, 04:43:02 PM

My story goes back to the late 80's to start.  I was born in 1984.  I was told when I was around 3-5 years of age to pick out a pony.  I picked out Princess Royal Blue.  I think I remember asking my Mom if I could have a baby to go with it and she said I could so I picked out Teen Tiny Baby Little Whiskers.  I had some childhood friends who were kids of my Mom's friends.  One of the kids had brought over some ponies, which she didn't want anymore and asked me which ones I wanted.  I picked out Princess Starburst, So-Soft Twist, and Moondancer (with a cut tail).  I pretended that Princess Starburst was actually a boy and was married to Princess Royal Blue.  I pretended Teeny Tiny Baby Little Whiskers was their baby and she was a newborn unicorn and too young to have her horn.  I thought my Twist was a male, because she had faded to gray.  I didn't know at the time that male ponies have the furry hooves.  Moondancer was my So-Soft Twist's wife.  I remember all the girls in my neighborhood had ponies and most had more than I did.  Every now and then we would all get together and play ponies.  I remember my next door neighbors had Paradise Estate.  I also remember one neighbor had Baby Shady and her Beddy-Bye Eyes were the reason she was very coveted by the other girls. (lol)

When I was around 13 or 14 years old I decided I was too old for ponies, or decided I wanted to be overly generous because I remember I used to give away stuff as a kid because I was too kind....I decided to give my ponies to a younger neighbor who I also used to play ponies and Barbie's with.

I think when I was around 16 or 17 I saw my first G3 commercial for the Cotton Candy Cafe.  I was in shock at seeing My Little Pony again and it brought back fun memories of my childhood, playing with my ponies.  I suddenly had the urge to look for my childhood ponies, forgetting that I gave them away.  Since I didn't find them I sort of wanted to get back into ponies again but thought I was too old for them.  My parent's were against it but I started buying ponies for myself, starting with the early G3's, which came with the charms.  I was obsessed with the stickerbook game which had :  pinkie pie, kimono, sunny daze, minty, wysteria, rainbow dash, and another one I can't remember.  You could do the cafe as a scene, ponyville meadow, or celebration castle.  I know you can still play the game if you search for it.  Anyway, I tried really hard to get those ponies that were in that stickerbook game.  I got most except kimono.  Later, I received Celebration Castle from someone who knew I loved ponies. 

Some time after, I began to miss G1's and that time period.  I thought it would be hard to get G1's but it turned out to be easy.  I found a message board called Ponyfinders and found out someone in my state of Rhode Island also was into ponies as an adult and she lived near my town.  I traded and bought G1's from people on that website.  Eventually, I found the arena and trading post and bought more ponies.  I acquired lots more ponies than I had in my childhood collection.  I displayed them proudly on a small 3 foot shelf in my room but had to put them away, because my cat liked to mess up my display too much. (lol)  I also requested customs from people from ideas I had, which I wanted put to life. 

I attended my first My Little Pony fair when the first one appeared in Rhode Island I think in 2008.  I was beyond awestruck.  When the second My Little Pony fair appeared in Rhode Island I acquired my dream playset to own:  Dream Castle from emerly.  She gave me a near complete Dream Castle in pretty good condition, complete with spike.

Currently, my collection is in my closet in boxes until I can one day display them properly--hopefully in a pony room.  I want to make nice display with my Dream Castle and make a sort of pony scene.

Sorry this was long but I hope you enjoyed reading it.   :enthralled:

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Juri on February 02, 2012, 12:56:14 AM

I had lots of ponies when I was little, though at that time I didnt think of them as being a 'collection'. I did have a            ' proper 'collection of Russ Trolls  growing up, and about 200 odd cuddly toys :)

When I started re buying my girls, I only intended to get my childhood ponies back, but I realised that I just love so many of them that the purchasing kept going :D

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: little.fox on February 02, 2012, 01:19:45 AM

Being born in 83 I had G1s growing up, both shop bought and second hand ones. I had Confetti, Trickles, Sweet Clover, Baby Blossom, Bowtie and Mommy Apple Delight to name a few.


Whereas with time most other toys got disgarded as I got older I hung on to the ponies, and would pick up more at flea markets etc if I found them. When G3 was released it sort of reignited my interest for ponies and I bought a fair few of them. And I've been slowly adding to my G1 and G3 collection ever since really.


I recently joined here and had the intention to continue collecting strictly G1 & G3, but I now own some G4s and a MIB set of G3.5, so I'm on the lookout for a couple of G2s in order to have a little bit of each gen.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Koudoawaia on February 02, 2012, 10:03:58 AM

Friendship is Magic and this board got me into collecting ponies.

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: StarDragon on February 02, 2012, 10:21:44 AM

I grew up with G1, even though I was born in '92. I watched all the MLP episodes and was completely obsessed over ponies since I was two. I've been into ponies all my life (unless you count being 11 and "too cool" for toys/cartoons, except that didn't last long... at 12 I got back into everything!).

I never had pony toys growing up, though (seeing as G1s were discontinued). When I got my first job in an office at age 14 and also began babysitting earlier that year, I used my babysitting money to buy pony toys and that was when I officially started collecting. Five and a half years later, I have about 200 ponies from all generations included.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot to mention... as a child, I loved to collect beanie babies (mostly cats, dragons, and horses), Pokemon cards, and Lisa Frank stickers and binders. :) I am patching up my Pokemon card collection, but just only the first four generations of cards, nothing afterwards. As for beanie babies, I have all my original childhood ones, and I never gave any of them away... I still have my Lisa Frank things, too (I only really liked her animals, not the weird kinds of people that came in the 2000s, lol).

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: LilSpark on February 02, 2012, 10:30:58 AM

I had a few ponies as a child in the 80s/early 90s and 3 years ago a good friend of mine gave me a Toola-Roola as a Christmas present because I always wore rainbow hair. And then I bought a Sweetie Belle and started to search for ponies online. Bought my first ponies on ebay. After a while I started to collect G1 newborns next to the G3s and then it got out of hand. 3 years later I have like 700 ponies  :lol:

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: Lightninglover on February 02, 2012, 12:44:49 PM

I was a child of the 80s & got my first MLP for my 3rd birthday (NSS Buttons or Shady, not sure which)... my collection spiralled from there & I had about 50 ponies by the time I was 11. MLP were then discontinued and although I kept my childhood ponies, I didn't start collecting again until 2001. I saw an article in a magazine by a UK collector & I had the urge to dig all mine out again! I discovered eBay & the MLP online community and the rest is history :D I now have 700+ across all generations, although my buying has slowed down consideably!

Title: Re: What is your collecting story?
Post by: xkelpiex on February 02, 2012, 04:58:38 PM

As a child in the late 80's, early 90's, I loved to watch reruns of My little pony on tv. I vaguely remember owning some ponies, too. I remember Star glow and a fancy mermaid pony, not sure which one, but I have an inkling that it was Baby sea Princess. Growing up, and moving alot, I lost the toys, the tv stopped running the cartoon and I basically forgot about them. Then a year ago, I started looking for more info on Rainbow Brite. I never had the toys as a kid, I was born too late, but I distinctly remember watching the cartoon and being utterly obsessed with it as a kid. I ran into some MLP on youtube and watched a few clips, and suddenly memories of Rescue at Midnight castle came rushing back. I just kept this in the back of my mind til this July, when I started to get curious about the FiM hype. I fell in love with FiM and for beans and giggles decided to look up G!. I found the TP, and after about an hour of scrolling through I had made a decision: I was going to collect ponies. A little while later I found this place, and I joined. Now I spend most of my time here! It's more active and larger and everyone is so amazing. I quickly learned about the differences between gens, and fakies and so on. I still have alot to learn, believe you me, but I am loving it. My collection is still rather small. My mom (yes, still live with the 'rents) would have a freak out if I was an uber collector. She has this thing about me not 'wasting' my money, which I can understand. I have a bit of a spending problem, hehe.