When they ask you why you collect...

[ravengusty]

Some people just don't get it do they. Haha. When I told my boyfriend he was like ok so write a list of the ones you want so I know what to get haha. My monster high dolls are dotted about the kitchen but I keep my ponies in the bedroom at the moment because I'm not ready to share with anyone other than my other half. I imagine as I get more they will start to get displayed around the house too. Need shelves first mind haha

[wizzer218]

I say that I collect my little ponies because they make me happy and have gotten me through hard times......and of course I have had them my whole life so not only are they a part of my life....the also shape who I am amongst other things!
I could care less what others think.

[Jinxxy]

I am totally out of the closet!! No pony secrets here.
When they ask why (and they always do!) I always say the same thing
"They are colourful with brushable hair!" It isn't really a reason that I need to justify.

I could give them the long winded answer (like in the thread here http://mlparena.com/mlp/index.php/topic,327389.0.html) but really I don't think most people would "get" it anyways unless they are a collector type themselves.. If they do collect something, anything at all really then they understand the mentality behind it.

[spookysage]

The whole family collected things when I was growing up so "I guess it runs in the family" would probably be my answer. I wish I was as handy as dad was with putting displays together, but it's harder to build your own set-in shelves in a fully-carpeted, top floor apartment

[hathorcat]

I completely understand when people start collecting or when people have certain real life situations, that it can be tough to be completely out of the pony closet. I was shy about it initially - but I think that was more an age thing and a self confidence issue rather than to do with ponies specifically.

Some people are always going to laugh...some people are going to be accepting and others will actually be interested. As long my family and friends are accepting or if at worst they simply don't judge, then I am happy. If my friends, or people who think they are my friends, judge me and make a fool of me for such an innocent hobby, then they are not people I would wish to be around. Its a little black and white but when you love someone, when you care about their feelings you accept them for all their wonderfulness or weirdness. And thats why I love the Arena! Its a great place to be whether you tell everyone you collect ponies or whether you just tell us here [dont worry we wont tell anyone!]

Plus...people collect way odder things than MLP!

[Sprinkles]

I've actually never been asked why I collect (other than by people here). But if I were asked, I would give them the same answer I give everyone here: ponies remind me of my childhood and they make me really happy. Pretty short and to the point

[shadowdreamer]

When people find out\I tell them, I say that I collect because I find them cute and pretty. I feel like it is my do over from a not a happy childhood. This is my chance to get all of the things I wanted but could not have, my time to get what I had but had lost or had taken. SO ponies are a way of making me feel at  ease about my past,because yeah bad things happened, yes my G2 Ivy got its mane and tail cut off by the girl next door,but its ok,because at least I know I can now get a better one,and this time we can play and have adventures like we should have been able too.I also say to my grandparents that I am a 17 year old girl....i could be doing way worse stuff then staying home and organizing my pony collections! So yeah, Collecting keeps me out of normal teenage troubles, like Prom, I stayed home and watched ponies instead of going.

[SeashellnBubbles]

I just say that they make me happy! I never make excuses for anything I do. My life is my own and if they don't "get" it then whatever! Their collections are interesting to them, their sports are interesting to them...that's what it's about! When it stops being fun and interesting I'll do something else!
I actually had an eBay seller from Europe ask me today because I told him I wanted to keep the items MIB. He asked me (politely) how old I was and why I collect them. He has a sister in law who's bonkers for the G4's and he wanted to know if it was common for adults to enjoy them as much as she did! Lol
I gave him the Arena address!

[cricket]

I aways tell them it's about nostalgia and trying to recapture a piece of my childhood.  Only those close to me know I collect.  My family is very supportive and my husband is amazing.  He has built me two pony rooms and loves to go thrifting on the hunt for them.  Just today he brought me home two G4 brushables he found while out and about.  No one at my work knows simply because I choose to keep that part of my life separate from business.  I find it easier that way.  It's my own private joke.  I sit in meetings the majority of day dressed in a suit and talking about "business".  Little do they know I'm secretly day dreaming about the ponies that will hopefully be in the mail box when I get home.  if only they knew!  I'm really a five year old in an adult's body.   

[lovesbabysquirmy]

"Because I want to... and I can." 

[Esbayne]

No one knows. xD All my toy collections are kept displayed in my closet and I tell no one.

[brightberry]

I have a few displayed openly in nice display boxes.  I think some people just assume they're expensive.  All of my good friends know that I really love MLP and collect them.  But I don't talk about it to people I don't know well so I've actually never been asked.  I think I would just say I love toys in general and it's my hobby.

[Rosencrantz]

"I find bright colours soothing"

"What ponies? Oh god! Where did those come from!?"

"Oh, you'll see. You'll all see."

What I really say is that I like them. I don't owe anyone anything else.

[rtattles]

Funny how some of you have problems. I am a guy, and I never get so much as a bat of an eyelid from people.

I normally just say "Because I love ponies A LOT!!!!" and people seem to be happy to stop there and not proceed with the conversation. Maybe because they are afraid I'll ask for favours, or maybe they're afraid if I said too much, it will be my turn to probe them instead. lol

[brightberry]

Haha... well I'm not ashamed.  It's just not a conversation that I've ever had.  No one has ever asked me why.  There are ponies in my house where people can see them, but I guess the only people who notice them are people who are interested or have their own collections of toys and such.  They don't ask why I collect.  I don't ask why they collect the things they do in their homes either.  It almost seems kind of rude.  Shouldn't it be obvious? I like them.