not sure if this belongs in this catagory but here goes nothing

[SkyCakes]

When I started I kinda made it hard on myself. I went by year then set. Now its whatever I see I still have a bunch of baby sea ponies that are harder to find on my list. I have the 35th ponies to grab and then the HQG1 ponies too. I think my choices kinda are random sometimes.

[Dragonflitter]

I started collecting G3's for nostalgia sake. I saw them in the store and I was like "Oh I remember these!" so I bought a few that I thought were pretty. Kinda an impulse purchase.

Then I went online and found an entire MLP collector community and discovered I could actually buy the ones I had as a kid! I was ecstatic!

So when I started seriously collecting, I started buying the G1's that were characters that meant something to me from my childhood. So the first ones I got were from Firefly's Adventure, my favorite of the animations. Then I started collecting the ones from the movie and the MLP & Friends tv show. After I got through all those, it was a couple years later and I just started collecting sets where I really liked the design, like the Merry Go Rounds or the Rainbow Curl ponies.

[goddessofpeep]

A lot of things factor into what ponies I go after. 
1) I do have a completionist streak, so I sometimes go after the last ones I need for a set.  I don’t collect every set(I’m not a fan of boy ponies, those monster Newborns, or the Sweetheart Sister line, and Dream Beauties are too much expense and hassle), but I usually fill in any holes in any set that I start collecting.

2) I like the theme/symbol. I’m a fan of summer ponies, rabbits, and celestial things, so I’ll usually go for those.

3) They’re just pretty to me.

4) I hate to say it, but failing at getting something often pushes it right to the top of the wantlist.  I lose an auction, I miss an opportunity to get something, or I have a hard time finding one to buy - it quite often becomes my #1 thing to get.  It can take something I’m lukewarm on and turn it into an obsession.

5) There’s something weird or funny about it. A lot of things I didn’t like at first, but they grew on me caught my eye because of this reason(Dance ‘n Prance, that UK Mummy pony that gives birth, Fancy Pants babies, etc).

6) Nostalgia.

As for what makes me not go after something - Cost is a big factor.  I do have some heavy hitters in my collection, but I do draw the line at some of the really big ticket ponies(Takara and South African in particular).  Space issues factor in(I’m less inclined to go after larger items since I don’t have space).  Don’t like boy ponies, any generation.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I'm just going though my ponies now and I find that I would like to upgrade my Starshine and Rose birth pony. Generally I get to know the signs of good condition and try to interpret the photos as best I can. Some ponies I will pass on because they have features that I'm less fond of. I'm not a fan of cartoon stick figures like Rapunzel, so luckily for my wallet she's not on my wish list. Some ponies I've given up on collecting because they are more prone to issues with condition. Luckily some of these have come out as BF ponies so I'm happy about that! Particularly Trickles, Sweetie and Gingerbread.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I mostly thrift so the randomness of the universe makes that decision for me!

[Carrehz]

I just go after the ones I like... I look through the wiki and think "oooh, that one's nice!", there are some specific types of pony I go after i.e. boy ponies, Diva pose G3s. I'm not a huge completionist - the one type of set that seems to get my "must buy them ALL!" streak going is weird/obscure licensed sets, like Chupa Chups, Kinder Surprise etc. I dunno why! I'm just crazy for tiny little things, I guess.

I collect most of the gens (not into G3.5, I've got the only G4.5s I wanted, and G5 doesn't particularly interest me so far), so these days I tend to prioritize buying ponies that are currently in shops or were released recently - some of the G4 stuff can get annoying to try and track down later. HQG1C ponies are next on the priority list. I haven't been buying a lot of G1-G3 recently, actually... since I collect other toys too, those have been taking priority in recent years (another of my main collections had a big anniversary + movie release, lots of shiny limited edition merch released, you know how it is ). When I do go after G1-G3 my priorities just tend to be whoever interests me at that particular moment. I.e. I always had my eye on Baby Moondream, but when I got HQG1C High Hopes and realized she'd be a perfect mum for her, Baby Moondream shot to the top of my wishlist and I had to track her down right away. :B

I try to stay away from anything that's too expensive. Luckily a lot of the Nirvanas don't interest me anyway... either they don't do it for me, or I think "Well, they're nice, but they're not £1000+ nice". I try to limit my high-ticket wants to just one or two that I REALLY love (Felicidades, alt December Holly, Birthday twins) - you've gotta have something to dream for!

[SunPony]

I do a mix of things:

Thrifting/flea markets - if there is a G1 or G3 pony, I will mostly likely buy it regardless of condition/who it is unless it seems really overpriced.

ebay lots - I buy lots in moderate condition, usually with at least a few ponies I actively want, and then clean them all up.

Individual ponies - ones I am specifically after, in good condition, usually purchased on the Arena but I have used ebay and FB marketplace for this as well.

As far as how do I choose what I actually want:
I don't care about completing sets or anything (except my Sugarberry pose army), I just go with ones I personally enjoy looking at.  I have a mental priority list with some I am actively looking for and others I would like to get sometime but am not actively searching for.

[SweetNightmare]

For g1 and g2 I basically buy every pony that I can find for a good price (good enough for me) since I mostly try to buy locally online and these rarely show up.
With g3 and g4 I'm a bit of a completionist, so I try and look for ponies to complete my sets. They're fairly common so I look for ones that I'm missing for a good price.
And g5's are not fully in shops here yet (seems like the stores are still waiting for shipments) I will probably try and keep up with new releases once things get back to normal.

In all cases I will go for for single ponies or lots of ponies (depends on the price).
I did buy lots just to get a single pony, I'm in a process of selling of all my doubles (too many g4's >.> ).

[LadyMoondancer]

how do you guys decide what ponies you want?

With my heart...

and money. Yea, usually money decides.

[Toilandtrouble123]

I have a wishlist too for my grails.... I know it's a crazy amount but I was happy to have bought the entire G1 Merry Go Round set for £225 the other week, as I never was given any of them as a kid... and I had a limit of £230, it was a close call on that auction.

I based that particular auction bid on 4 main things:

A- I really wanted them
B- I can't recall when I saw a Diamond Dreams for sale
C- my bosses surprised me by saying they were going to pay me back my hotel costs (£160) for an overnight stay in London when we went to dinner with them, so that was extra cash that wasn't on my calculated monthly budget
D- I always look at how much the individual ponies are going for at the moment, and then calculate how much of a good deal getting the whole set is i.e Sparkler from that set on her own is pretty expensive at the moment

When looking at bait, I try not to spend more than a fiver per pony... although I'm rather stuck on getting flutters on Cloud Puff pose right now, so might have to go deeper than that.


I have found that for ponies that are pretty rare on the market (think Dazzleglow, Glow n Show unicorn.... or the Hair-Do ponies) that I need to complete certain sets, I will go up to about £40, but basically I set myself a budget each month on ponies and customising supplies together, and just see how far I can make my money go.