Princess pony variant or just bad symbols?

[PonyMonsters]

Hello ponies!

I won a bundle on eBay and it includes this Princess Tiffany - is she a variant or does she just have really bad symbol rub? I’ve never seen a princess pony’s symbols go like this.

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[Leave a Whisper]

Me neither. 

[Heart Of Midnight]

This is an interesting find!  Could the silvering of the symbol have worn off over time? Or would it be a manufacturing error?

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After browsing Google image search for a while, I found this:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/TUQAAOSw38Ri-sdb/s-l1600.jpg
It has that kind of wear on the symbol, but very little of it.

And one more, but I couldn't find any information about why this is also like that: https://mlpcollection.com/images/1_Princess_Pearl_aka_Princess_Tiffany_1_302_20180601.jpg

[QueenNatalie]

Not quite the same, but I've had this one since I was a kid. She was purchased secondhand and has looked like this since I received her. Never really thought about how this would happen to the symbols, honestly thought it was a common defect I guess?

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[milkywaymochi]

My princess Tiffany is like this too, but only on one side. I had assumed that maybe all the paint had just rubbed off, though I thought it was odd that it had only happened to one symbol and not the other, but now I'm thinking that maybe it is some sort of manufacturing error after all. weird, huh?

[Leave a Whisper]

Nothing a nice coat of silver paint can't fix.

[Nella]

Could this be the result of an oxi-clean bath?

[Taffeta]

It is possible for the whole of the gilt to come off, although it's very clean. It could be the result of some chemical...I dunno.

I would err on the side of damage, though, simply because of all the princess variants, Pearl is the LEAST commonly messed around with. And as far as I know the only Pearl-related princess variants we've confirmed in any way shape or form are the Sundance hybrids, with Sundance's body and Pearl's head/tail. If it were Amber or Ruby I might think differently, they seem to have a lot of variant stuff going on, including around the symbol. BUT...with Pearl...I'm more cautious.

PKW's input here would be interesting though.

[PonyMonsters]

Update: I now have her in my hands and it’s damage for sure, because there is a little bit of silver left on one of her symbols. She’s actually got loads of dirty marks under her belly and pink writing under her tail which weren’t detailed so she’s pretty baity - eBay ponies are such a lottery!

[pinkkittywinks]

I'm sorry to say she is not a variant, but rather damaged. On Oxi-Clean bath will do this to Princess symbols and the tinsel in the hair too.

You could give her symbols a coat of metallic paint (gold might be nice instead of silver for a change)

Love pkw xxx

[PonyMonsters]

Ooh gold symbols would look lovely, good idea!