I’m not sure how many people remember me, I was around a lot more some years ago but always as a buyer. My life changed in 2018 when I got pregnant by surprise some years after being told that would very likely never happen without fertility medications.  I now have two little boys and a house in the country instead of a condo in the city. Finding and collecting all these ponies and spending time on the forums was a bright spot in an otherwise very dark time in my life, and I will say without hesitation this is genuinely the kindest online community I’ve ever been a part of. But everything is now in plastic storage containers now and that just doesn’t do my extensive collection justice.  I have made the difficult decision to radically downsize my MLP herd. I want to be able look at and enjoy my ponies, not just have a totally overwhelming number packed in plastic bins for “someday,” taking up too much space. My original purpose, when I dug my childhood herd out of storage and started buying ponies again over a decade ago, was to do and have something FOR ME when I otherwise give so much to my partner, my job, my pets, and now years later my kids and widowed mom. I’m not going full Marie Kondo (yet), but I am trying to make my collection meaningful to me again. It seems like an enormous task and I don’t even know how to start. 

I still have a hobby room/ work from home office that is mostly mine, and my eventual goal is shelf space to display my G1s and Nirvanas, even if I have to rotate them every so often. I’m also keeping a few of my favorite G3’s because there are some that I really like, and most of my small herd of G4’s to play with my kids, since they really don’t take up that much space and are up to modern safety standards for children. I’d like to sell all my G2’s, most of my G3’s, and some of my G1’s and G4’s, maybe a few fakies and a few other toys/collectibles. They would be going out AS IS and are in widely varying condition from bait still in box.

Ideally, I want to make some of my money back to save up for my boys, but I don’t have a lot of uninterrupted time to devote to it. My little one is almost 18 months old and still doesn’t sleep through the night so I’m TIRED and I take daytime naps when I can. I work in healthcare, so humbly but from a practical standpoint, I have to weigh any time spent on this against what I would make signing up for an extra work shift. It may not make sense for me to spend a whole lot more time to make a few extra dollars when I could pick up a work from home weekend shift instead and make a whole lot more.

I am also very aware that eBay, Paypal, etc., heavily favor buyers. Fortunately, I don’t need to sell ponies to pay the bills right now, but I still don’t want to risk a more expensive pony to a scammer. I’ve read infuriating stories from ripped off sellers here over the years and my husband, who collects some action figures, recently had a bad experience with Paypal. The buyer used a Paypal credit card, then claimed “identity theft” and had all his charges refunded. Even though my husband provided proof that the items were shipped and delivered, Paypal sided with the buyer and took back $85 from his account, wasted a lot of his time on the phone, and someone (presumably the buyer) still has his figures. He would be the one doing a lot of the actual listing and shipping, since he is a stay-at-home parent right now, but obviously needs my input for pricing and pony details.

Is there still a market for G1-G4 and a safe way to buy and sell them? It looks like this community has a whole lot less activity than it used to, although when I was last really active I think Friendship is Magic was at it’s peak. Looking around, it seems that many others who were around “back in the day” have downsized or gotten out of collecting altogether. What is the best way for me to sell off several hundred ponies to collectors who will give them the love and care they deserve, without turning it into a full time job or risking our bank account or eBay/Mercari feedback on scammers? I got an email that the MLPTP is doing an auction site now, has anyone tried it? Are regional pony meets still a thing? Would it make sense to sell in lots, especially the G3’s? We are a smoke-free, pet-friendly home if it matters. Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

Aww cool! I have one that looks very similar to that, but it's not the same.

Yes! They made several in that style. One that is an olkive green with purple and gold accents that is pretty much exactly the same. Then there are three in the same pose but slightly larger, a gold one, a blue one, and a red one. I have all except the purple one. She seems to be the hardest to come by despite over a year and a half of searching eBay, Mercari, etc.

I've been taking a little break from pony collecting for a while until I can get my new house organized and go through some files on an old hard drive in preparation to sell some stuff. In the meantime, I've been into plushy dragons. They're much easier to store in bulk and lighter to move around. The two lines I'm actively going after right now are Douglas Cuddle Toys and Jellycat.

There are a couple of Douglas ones that were discontinued. I've been successful in tracking down most of them, except for a purple (my favorite color!) one called Thunderbolt that was discontinued maybe so far back as 2014 or before. I have several eBay and Mercari searches set up looking for one, and I've posted a thread looking here.

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On December 13, after more than a year and a half of searching, my search results popped up with what was clearly a picture of Thunderbolt in the listing. I pounced on it right away. The seller shipped 2 days later, with an estimated arrival date of December 21. Anyone who knows how holiday shipping has been going this year knows that did not happen. I was optimistic, but after days of anxious USPS tracking, it finally arrived on January 2.

I opened it and immediately realized it was the wrong dragon. It was NOT the picture of the one in the listing, but a dragon in a similar pose called Flashing Sword or just "Olive." Also discontinued, but I already have one. I opened a return request right away and sent the seller a message saying "You sent me the wrong dragon. You sent me the green one with a purple belly and gold accents, that I already have. I really, really want the pictured one that is purple with a green belly. Do you still have it? Please?"

The seller accepted my return request but never answered my message. Over the next day, I looked at the dragon and realized she was just different enough from the one that I already have that maybe I could keep her in my collection, like maybe a newer version. Her plush texture is different and her gold accents are done in a different material. After all that waiting anxiously through the holiday season, it just felt like maybe she was meant to be with me. I was also nervous that the seller hadn't answered my question as to whether she had the actual pictured listing, and didn't want to end up empty handed if I returned the one that did ship. At this point I really don't care about the $20, I just want the dragon. Anyway. I sent the seller a second message that said:

 "Hi, I'm having second thoughts about returning the dragon, even though it was not the one pictured. It has slightly different details in the gold and the texture of the material, I think it may be a newer version than the one I already had. However, I am still actively looking for the purple dragon you put in the listing picture. Do you still have that exact one available? I would very much want to buy it if you do. Thank you, "

I received no response to that message, either. She did not close the return, which eBay said I had until Jan 19 to ship back. The seller has excellent feedback including for communication, so I am left wondering what is going on. I was hoping that after the return window closed, she would relist the dragon, which I would happily buy even at an increased listing price. So far nothing.

It doesn't help that my very next eBay transaction, albeit with a different seller, also had issues as the item had undisclosed damage. I found another discontinued dragon, this one HUGE and the retail price when she was for sale was $80-90. However, when she arrived, there was hot glue or some kind of adhesive stuck to her chest. It was not pointed out and can barely be seen in the listing pictures. I'm afraid to try to remove it from the metallic shiny fabric it's adhered to. At least I only paid $30 for her, so I'm going to hold onto her right now because she's the only one I've seen listed in more than a year and a half of looking. I haven't left feedback for either seller. I'm just frustrated and not sure if I'm looking for advice or just to vent. 

Aww he's  cute! All I have is an older Dudley the Dragon that I need to sell. I will keep an eye out when I'm thrifting though!

Thank you! I started collecting this line of plush dragons a couple of years ago and she seems to be the only one that I really want that I haven't been able to track down on Ebay, Mercari, etc. One sold in a lot just before I started looking and there hasn't been one listed since!

Looking to buy this plush dragon. She was made by Douglas Cuddle Toy and her name is Thunderbolt. She has been discontinued since at least ~2014 from what I can determine from other collectors. New or good used condition ok!

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Bump for edits.

I am looking for a discontinued plush dragon by Douglas Cuddle Toys. Her name is Thunderbolt and she is purple with a green belly. She is crouching on four legs and has wings. Her material is kind of velvety with a sparkly pattern to look like scales. Prefer NWT condition but will also do used in clean condition.