Has this happened to anyone else? So mad at myself

[Sukey]

I bought a Lickety Split a couple months ago and her body was flawless- I couldn't see a single mark on her. I sat her on my china cabinet along with the other toys I bought. I really wish I had put her on the shelf with the rest of my ponies,  but I didn't. So yesterday I thinking about how I should put her on display, so I go to get her and she has these textured marks on her leg and head.  The only thing I can figure is that my drawstring bag was laying up against her and left marks on her. I tried to wipe it off with water, then the magic eraser, and then nail polish remover, but nothing worked very sad about it and mad that I ruined a perfectly good pony, because I didn't display it right away.

I also had a similar experience with some fairy tail birds that after I fixed their hair, I wrapped it around the base of the tail and put a rubber hair band around it to keep it from getting tangled.  So I take the hair band after a few weeks or couple months and there are black marks around the base of the tail that won't come off

[Taxel]

When I first joined the Arena, in 2011, someone sent me a big huge box of ponies, mostly G1s and some G3s. Most were varying levels of "baity". Hair cuts, no tails, cancer, smooze, etc.

But one of them was the Pony Bride and she was beautiful! Perfectly white and matching. I adored her. People told me or I read that when cleaning my ponies I should use bleach if they had a lot of mildew/rust/etc inside. Poor Pony Bride had a very messy body that was kind of alarmingly gross. So I put her body in a bowl with water and bleach.....

She's not pretty and matching anymore... I was too ashamed to ever add her to my collection site and never put her head back on.

 

[Mermaid]

I have a perfect mint princess Serena that I left on the floor over a piece of heart shaped metallic confetti. Now she has a heart shaped stain on her side!

[Tak]

I let my daughter "customize" some fakies including some of the cabbage patch ponies. She's just now 7 so it was mostly scribbling with markers and gluing various things to them. 

[Ponyfan]

A friend gave me a bunch of ponies including a beautiful pink haired G3 Desert Rose. I didn't want Desert Rose to get messed up so I put her in my display cabinet. One day I looked over and her hair was mostly white. I didn't know she had fading pink hair and by the time I realized it the damage had been done. She has a very faint hint of pink left  but if I had only known that she had fading pink hair I would have put her somewhere else to display. I want to find a pink haired replacement but I will always keep my other one too.


Ponyfan

[Shaiyeh]

One of the worst feelings is when you need an x-acto to be able to pop the head off, and you slip with the knife and cut straight up in the pony's plastic ;_; I've done that a few times in my early collecting days.
I also read somewhere when I started collecting that giving ponies bleach baths was a good idea. I can't remember what happened to the pony, but I'll just say I won't do it again. + bleach stinks
I don't think I've accidentally stained anyone, though. Yet. fingers crossed, touch wood xD

[goddessofpeep]

A Macau Peachy met some printed paper somehow. It wasn't even a long time - possibly as little as a few minutes.  I still don't know how it happened, but part of a college coursepack is now permanently etched on one side of her.

[Broken Irishwoman]

I ruined the forelock of my Sea Breeze. I was so happy that I finally got her, she was a childhood grail. So Took her to the spa, but I wasn't familiar with the "just let them dry naturally with their hair in paper towels"-method yet. I used to blow dry them. It never went wrong before, but with Sea Breeze I held the hairdryer too close, and her forelock melted. It looks so stupid.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I ripped a neck before but it was just on the inside luckily and doesn't show. So I displayed her and made a note never to sell her.

[SkyCakes]

Ive boiled a bunch of ponies with another that had the neon yellow hair and the whole batch was ruined. :/ I also bleached a bridal beauty pony I thought I could get her yellow marks off with her symbol I just made her worse. I don't know what happened to her. :/

[Artemesia's Garden]

So many nightmare stories about bleach!

[Sunset]

I put a bunch of ponies in an oxiclean bath and then discovered that the oxiclean completely took off the metallic paint on Princess Tiffany's symbol.

[BethMcBeth]

I tried to clean my childhood Daddy Apple Delight and I had no idea the tail washer inside had rusted I opened his head and all the rust poured onto his mane and its stained. He also has weird color patches now. My son adores him and that's all that matters but yep still kick myself now and then.

[scarletjul]

I once got two Magic Message ponies in a lot from...  shopgoodwill, I think.  They were filthy, but had *perfect* symbols. 

They were so grimy, I went to wash them under extremely hot water.  Imagine my horror when I watched their symbols slide apart from one another.  Perfect symbols, forever ruined.  I was heartbroken.  But at least I learned never to do that again.

[Shaz]

I once got two Magic Message ponies in a lot from...  shopgoodwill, I think.  They were filthy, but had *perfect* symbols. 

They were so grimy, I went to wash them under extremely hot water.  Imagine my horror when I watched their symbols slide apart from one another.  Perfect symbols, forever ruined.  I was heartbroken.  But at least I learned never to do that again.

I did that too. Back when I first started collecting I didn't know about magic message ponies, and I had an incredibly grubby MM Windy. So I put her in warm water and gave her a good scrub....goodbye symbols.
I also accidentally took the metallic paint off Princess Dawn's symbol. Only one symbol though, so I display her with her "good side" facing out. I didn't realise you shouldn't put princess ponies in hot water and soda crystals. It usually works for everyone and is more gentle than things like bleach.
As I only really collect baity ponies for restoration, I've never damaged anyone valuable, but I always feel bad. I'm meant to be restoring these ponies and making them happy again, not damaging them further! Oh, the emotional roller coaster of pony collecting.