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

[Mana Minori]

I get that the brushables are to be looked at as the bread and butter of MLP’s brand, and that is fine. They’re fine. But admittedly, they lack quality, more often than not. And that’s fine, too- it’s a toyline for kids and kids don’t often care much for quality. 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, Kotobukiya, or custom pieces. A $3.00 brushable beside a $10, $20, or $300 work of art would seem jarring, I think, to anyone.

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?

[Carrehz]

I like them all, I don't think a brushable MLP vs, say, a Kotobukiya figure is really a fair comparison. Apples and oranges.

I'm the sort of person that has Kinder Surprise figures sharing shelves with BJDs, though, so I may not be the right person to ask this question. x)

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I do tend to keep ponies of similar sets together, which I think just looks nicer in general. My nicer vinyls are on the other side of the room to my brushables, I bet if you organized by character it might look nicer all interspersed, but I prefer to keep things seperate so I can find them easier.

[banditpony]

A $3.00 brushable beside a $10, $20, or $300 work of art would seem jarring, I think, to anyone.

I disagree...
I think things of different price points can look fine next to each other. That's not saying everything looks great next to each other, it obviously can depend on aesthetics. But not everything cheap looks visually bad.

[Leave a Whisper]

I don't see why they can't be both quality and affordable?  They've always been before. A few lines like the water color baby sea ponies not aging well, and the poor avon exclusives excepting.

Besides, I picked up some Zuru Sparkle Girlz unicorns. They have thick, lush, bouncy hair. And ya wanna know how much they cost?  Two dollars. Two whole freakin dollars. Hasbro's just being cheap and crappy with good hair.

And why should price point come into what can and cannot be displayed next to each other? I've got cheapo dollar store horses and minor brands on the same shelves as my Schleich, Safari Ltd, Grand Champions and Breyers. They look just fine together.

Are you saying that MLP, which is usually only $3-$5 on average can't stand together on the same shelf?
And wouldn't those  doll things probably be better suited to a shelf with other dolls?

Of course, it is up to the individual how they wish to display their collections in accordance to personal taste, size, harmony, brand and other factors.

[KarentheUnicorn]

Opinion on the value of a item is just that, it's an opinion.

Being a collector in regards to what you are willing to pay for an item is subjective and varies depending on the individual.

Being a collector can also give one the opinion that the price being charged is too much and thus, we will complain that X item isn't worth said value.

And then some collectors feel like they're items are way more valuable because someone somewhere insisted the value is a certain amount. However, wanting something to sell for a certain price and actually selling it for said price are two different animals.

[Taffeta]

I looked at my shelf and actually laughed, after reading this. Not because I'm mocking anyone's opinion but because there are custom ponies sitting on top of my one boxed Pullip doll. My stuff is literally mixed all over the place, not just in terms of one toy line but across other toy lines. And honestly, they make me happy that way.

That is the biggest value any collectible can have.

Besides - I know the OP is thinking ahead in terms of new toy lines, but let's be blunt about this. Some G1 ponies eclipse these modern 'collectible' statue objects in both price and rarity. So what is a collectable? Is a shiny new thing of which there are many at an inflated price point more viable than a 30 year old pony for which only one or two survives? Suspect museums can answer that question.

It does depend a lot on what you think of as a collectible. I don't personally believe in manufactured collectibles. I mean, they're collectible, but that's all they are. It's kind of empty really. :/ At least with a brushable you can brush it's hair sometimes. Even if it is cheaper. Even as someone who has basically spent the last decade and a bit studying Japan in some context or another, I'm not interested in the figures you mention, because they're very much a personal taste. I hunted high and low for the Saiyuuki dolls (still only have 2) rather than the figures because they had actual hair. The only figures I would care about getting are those from Haruka 3, as they relate to my research area - but they remain more than I want to spend on any figure. The same amount I have definitely spent on a (probably MIB) G1 pony.

On the subject of the Japanese figures. I wonder whether you feel like that about them more because they are a challenge to obtain on this side of the world. I mention it because I remember vividly the figure section of the BookOff store in Kyoto and all it was was masses of figures. Masses and masses of them. Pinned in bags to walls. In cabinets. In baskets. True, none of them were the pony figures, but I was there in 2017 and I don't have a time machine. This is the value of those figures - passed on really easily and quickly to second hand sellers within a couple of years of production. Is that a collectible or a passing fashion? Not sure. G4 often seems to straddle that line with the different franchises it commands...it's not something that can or should be compared to G1-3.

We sometimes put value on things because they are not as often in our line of sight. This is another reason why it's hard to start comparing stuff. It's fine if brushables aren't your personal thing. Nobody is going to tell you otherwise. On the other hand, implying that because you like Japanese figures that brushables aren't very worthwhile on a forum of mostly brushable collecting pony fans may be a bit tactless.

[Wardah]

How do the Basic Fun brushables fit into it? They have much better quality than your standard G4 but they are still brushable ponies.

[KarentheUnicorn]

For most long time collectors like myself the term brushable walks the line of being an insult. I don't feel like it's a secret in how the male-dominated toy lines tend to be more focused on how much an item is worth. There have been TV shows devoted to 'toy' collecting but it all seemed to boil down to how much money the guy could sell or buy someone's collection for, as in how much profit could be made off of whatever toy was that week's focus.

My Little Pony collectors in general, sure, we have folks who come in and want to make top dollar on their collections. However, I have noticed that ponypeople that tend to stick around are a bit different, a lot of us tend to lowball prices. We, at least in the past, were more active in discouraging super inflated prices. I've had more true ponypeople at a convention give me free pony stuff than try to rip me off or sell me on something being worth a high price. Heck, a lot of ponypeople would rather trade you than to make tons of money off something.

Not to say we're suckers, I mean I want to get a fair price for anything I sell, but I'm not greedy and I don't believe in telling some novice pony collector some bullcrap, that these ponies are right out of a leprechaun's golden earhole and is worth so much money.

So I don't know if within the collectors here you're going to find a lot of people focused on the 'price or worth' or people insisting on our value being supreme.

[Taffeta]

That's also true.

I feel like if you're only in it for money or status you probably don't stay the distance.

It has to be about more than that, at least in my view.

I don't know that brushable is an insult for me but the connitations around it that Uni mentions, and the male-dominated "guy toys are fine but let's mock the girl toys', that's a real thing, unfortunately.

[Carrehz]

I don't mind the term "brushable" since it has unfortunately gotten to the point where we need to make a distinction >_> silly Hasbro and their liking for molded manes... but yeah, I get what you mean there.

I think in general, going into ANY collection with the idea that "this is going to be a good investment", that's something I don't agree with, and I think it's a bad idea in general - unless it's the rare collectable with a price that stays consistent. MLP prices fluctuate so wildly!

[Leave a Whisper]

 

[banditpony]

I think OPs question is less about what people personally feel the value of an item is...

And more so the difference of something that toy quality vs a collector quality. That shouldn't be taken as that toys can't be collected, or are not collectable items. But there is a difference between a hand crafted resin statue (and/or mass produced) vs something designed for play.

and if those things look good next to each other.

ETA: I just don't agree with that if something is cheaper (original price point), it doesn't look good next to something more expensive

[BlackCurtains]

I collect a lot of things. One of my collections is oriental décor. Back when I had it displayed, my cabinet consisted of a very rare, limited edition collector's plate with a beautiful lady playing the flute surrounded by tigers. Parts of it were painted in 24k gold. On either side of that plate I had two porcelain tigers that I got... from the dollar store. They complimented the plate perfectly.

So I think if we're going just for aesthetics, it doesn't matter how valuable something is in order to display it "together" with like-themed objects, no matter what it is.

That said, when it comes to my pony collection, I do tend to keep them in groups - customs together, G1 together, G4 together, etc. But that has more to do with what they look like than how much I value them.

[Taffeta]

I think OPs question is less about what people personally feel the value of an item is...

Probably, but what the OP actually said was shouldn't we hide the cheaper brushable ponies in the cupboard so they don't tarnish the expensive collector model that someone shelled out $100 for...

Which conveys a different nuance.

My IT Jem dolls are next to my 1980s toy Jem dolls, now I come to think of it. They share a cabinet, except Clash who lives on the shelf next to my MH dolls. She has a MH mini on her lap, a unicorn statue next to her, the miniature Glory on the other side and there's a keepsake brought back for me from a holiday by a relative there too.

...I kind of don't see the problem. But then I don't value my belongings on their RRP :/ It kind of horrifies me tbh that anyone would think that the thing that defines 'quality' is cost. It's true that Japan produces some very high quality goods, but I don't think that's the reason to buy something or hide your childhood ponies (which in my case it would be) because I bought it.

I mean, I have some 18th and 19th century Japanese books in my cupboard. They're not hidden there because they're shabby and I'm ashamed of them but because I want to protect them...

I guess it's a completely different perspective, but I tend to like older better. If it doesn't have a history, then it's not really worth much to me. I love the idea that someone else owned something before I did. :/

ETA - this reminds me of the Pinkie Pie plush someone shelled out £500 for at ponycon. Something being expensive/seen as valuable can be seen as a status symbol I guess, or a prize point in a collection...but it feels like compensating for something more important that you can only get by looking at the item, not at the price point. Not all expensive collectables are high quality. (I remember a lot of complaining about quality on one of the G4 Rainbow Dash figures...was it Funko? SOmeone will be able to correct me, and also the scandal of the mould on RocknCurl Jem in the IT line at distribution. Does it cost more? Yes. Is it higher quality? Not necessarily...