to unbox or not to unbox that is the question

[hlbmlp]

so i moved back in august and have been stuck at school.  now that i have been able to work on getting everyhting unpacked, I have at least 4 boxes of mib g3s.  I just dont have room to display them anymore and i am extremely sad they are just stuck in boxes.  Now i am realizing that there is nowhere to put these boxes of boxed ponies!!!   

So this is the question.  What should i do?!  I thought about deboxing them, and keeping the backcards etc, except for playsets and ones that have a ton of accessories (id lose them!).  So what should i do?  i think the ones i reaaaallly wanna keep i'd unbox, but the others?  should i unbox them or leave them as is incase i decide to sell them someday? 

is there any ponies i should leave mib??? for like value reasons? 

and how should i go organizing all their stuff... I'd like to keep the brush and backcards together so the brushes don't get mixed up (i like to keep the ponies with the EXACT accessiories they came with... and am devistated that i got my plumbsweet's hamster mixed up with a double hamm...)  but would it be better to tag the brushes and keep the backcards in a file of some sort?

o i am just way confused!!!   

[sabathamk]

I saw pics of someone covering a wall in boxed ponies.  That might work.  I don't know, I don't have any ponies in boxes except one Pinkie Pie (because I already have her loose).  I don't like them in boxes myself, but it's really up to you.  What do you prefer?

[hlbmlp]

i used to love them in the boxes because they were good for stacking and covering a wall that way, but i lost my walls to shelves and windows, which im not complaining, but i cannot stack them like i did... I also have a bunch of babies... and i just want to rip them all out and play with them SOOO bad!!! 

I have the first ones i bought when they came out out of box, but i kept them in their boxes when not playing with them to keep the dust off... but the boxes just take up sooo much room... i think if i unboxed them all i'd have 1 box of ponies instead of 4... wait... i forgot a box. 5 boxes.. :/ bleah!

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

If there's room on the wall you could hang them up.

[sabathamk]

I took mine out of boxes becaus I love to play with them, set them up, that sort of thing, but they do get dusty now, haha.  Boxes are easier to clean.  That said, I don't regret it.  But I'm also not planning on selling them right now... and my kids love playing with them too.  Yeah... boxes take up a lot of room.  It might depend on the ponies themselves though too... value and what not.  I don't know much about G3s.

[hlbmlp]

i dont know much either besides i have this or i dont, and i know from browsing people's want lists which one's i have that people reallly want and im not sharing! ^_^ haha!!!

[scarletjul]

I'd imagine that most g3s are common enough where they won't lose too much value if you debox them.  The only exceptions to this rule might be the holiday ponies and store exclusives.

Personally, I like my ponies deboxed because I like to play with them - I only keep them boxed if I a) plan to sell them and b) have the space.

[Okiedokieloki]

I would say open them, except for the holiday/store exclusive ones, like scarletjul already said. I've learned from the few MIBs that I've bought and decided to open that keeping them in the box doesn't always do them much of a favor....the factory plastic that they're wedged in can leave dents in their legs over time, and some of them have portions of their hair taped to the inside of the box.

Personally I don't mind buying out of box ponies. Though I do like finding cheap MIB ones so I don't have to worry at all about them having hair cuts and sharpie makeup/tattoos 

[hlbmlp]

ok so i started unboxing some that i looked up on strawberry reef.. to make sure... although a few i just went ahead and opened because i HAD to.   

I have mom and baby sets. well not mom but you get the picture... I think that with the boxes beat up from moving im just going to open them because i dont think they'll be making more money like that...  buuutttt....

 I have a aloha pearl and bella luna..... but the box is extremely beat up and ripped and sticky things on the front so i cant see any faces... should i unbox??? I reaaally wanna.... but yeah....

i also have the pc game that comes with baby sparkleberry swirl.  I am confused and should i open?

also, after opening about 12 boxes, almost all had horrible hoof strangulation, and most of the shiney/ glittery ones had slimy... like what i have seen on my pinkie pie and kimono, which is like what's happening to the transparent glittery ponies... ( i think it's not having air in the box with the pony is making the plastic deteriorate).... soo now im afraid for all my ponies and it's reaaaalllly hard not to unbox them all!!! which includes a lot of christmas and target babies....  noooo!!!!!!!!!!   

It's hard.  MIB or nice pony... I dont think i want a pony that is gross inside a box. I'd prefer a really nice pony out of the box.   

Thanks everyone for the advice... but i need soo much more!!!





To organize i have tagged all the brushes and put all the backcards and such in labled sandwich baggies, then put them in a blind bag box(because it's awesome!).  thanks a bunch again!!!

[Okiedokieloki]

In my opinion, if you're going to keep something boxed, the condition of the box is going to count for something...I've got a pony purchase coming next week with a boxed Christmas pony in it. I had planned to keep those boxed if I got them boxed, but I could tell from the picture that the box is crushed and falling apart. I don't really see the point in keeping a beautiful pony in an ugly box.

That slimy/greasy feeling that you mentioned...I think I've heard it mentioned before (someone correct me if I'm wrong) as the chemical that makes the pony plastic pliable separating from the plastic. Not sure if that just happens, or if storage conditions cause it, speed it up, etc. But if a pony's condition is suffering from being in a box, I don't see a point in keeping it in there.

Hope this helps 

[WingsOfMasquerade]

I have this problem too...
I mostly solved it by selling off / trading away my MIBs and then just buying the loose version & keeping that instead. I too ran out of space after I thought I could do MIB collecting. I kept the back cards flattened in a box for the 'store bought' ones who I was able to get/debox in the time G3 was actually on the shelves. So I have a lot like that too.

The only 'problem pony' I have is SparkleSnap the TRU Exclusive SLH

I think she's great, have her MIB, and love her hair ribbon flowers. But the box is whopper! I WANT to debox so badly because you NEVER see her being sold or traded loose with her ribbons. She always has 0 accessories. I really want the Acc's...so that's the temptation to de box her. But then, like the thread says, she's store exclusive meaning you can't. So now...I'm stuck too because I can't display her (box too big) and also can't open her (ruin the value / a MIB collector might really want her some day)

But: keeping the pony nice is what's most important. If the box is going to ruin her, there's no point
If the box itself is a mess, it's not worth keeping her in there the "value" from the box is already gone & it won't look nice
Consider maybe a post to the trade area here for MIB collectors who have loose but want boxed. You may be able to swap same for same, like I was able to a while back