Were you collecting online in the late 90s? Nostalgia!

[LadyMoondancer]

And if you did send a check to pay for an eBay auction (which was quite common), you had to wait two weeks before the seller would ship the item--to make sure the check wouldn't bounce!

[Shenanigans]

Marco's art was sooo pretty!! I managed to find a blanket with his Twilight on it - I know/knew it wasn't really his (just used his picture) but as Twilight is my fav pony and the artwork was so pretty I had to get it.

Found his website: http://www.burningblood.it/marcoalbiero/animemanga/littlepony.html

OMG, thanks for the link!!!! I remember he was the reason I wanted Mimic, Cool Breeze and TAF Buttons I had saved the pictures and I had no idea what TAF stood for til I joined the Arena

[pony_magick]

Glad to help a little with the link!! I have always loved his artwork and I wish he'd sell prints so I could legitimately get something from him.

[STLGusty]

This thread makes me smile.

I was still in junior high when I entered the online MLP community around 97-98, but I still remember a lot of what you all have already mentioned. 

Like some had mentioned, it was very hard for me to convince my parents to allow me to send money to someone I had never met in exchange for ponies for sale.  Thankfully, I was able to convince them (and, of course, sent by check)... and my very first online pony purchase was from TabbyMLP.  Oddly enough, we kept in contact for several years but eventually lost touch.

Tabby also had the MLP Monthly.  Remember that?  She issued out a monthly issue (there were 101 of them!) of random pony trivia, stories/fan fic, "pony of the month," etc.  HEre's a link to the archives:  http://www.fakiespaceman.com/dv/monthly.htm  I had many submissions to this publication, including "Gusty and Tabby's Talking Times"  (reading it now I'm dying from the ultimate cheese factor...ugh!  LoL)

I remember when Spoosh hosted "the most beautiful pony" contest...or something like that!  I remember the pictures of each contestant were beautifully done, and there were different rounds.  I was picked to "become" Gusty (which was already kind of my pony name around anyway...even though there were several of us running around eventually haha) in the contest.  Gusty didn't end up winning the whole thing, but it sure was fun!

I also remember the ponypeople group.  I remember a vote on deciding that "International Pony Day" was August 2nd. .. I remember The church of MOC Mimic, HQT, the pony webrings... 

I always tried to have a webpage of my own (I think I was calling it Gusty's Arena or Gusty's Ice Rink or something like that), but it would never work properly so I gave up.  Good ol' Tripod hosting...

I had a thread about this late last year, but - for those of you who remember Steamerbro - he passed away last year.  He was always one of my closest friends in the community.  Super sweet guy.  A true loss to all toy communities and society as a whole.  (Miss you, Justin!)  He was always talking to me on Dream Valley chat and on AOL Instant Messenger!  I would always get an IM of, "Hey, Gusty!"  ...

Ah, the good ol' days...

[DazzleKitty]

I miss Tabby's website! I bought so much from her and used it as a reference.

[Junipur]

Nostalgia............
Yes, I was around back then, had just discovered that in USA there where other crazy poeple like me, who actually collected those colorfull little thingies 

I hadn´t started to buy/sell online, because I had no idea how to do that to a foreign country, but after some time I managed to get some extras, and then I started to trade, and add to my collection with US specials that way.

My best pony find ever, was when a friend of mine gave me her old ponies, and they contained a yellow Moondancer, Baby Cherries Jubilee, Baby Buttons and 2 baby Lemon Drops. Unfortunately all the babies had severe haircuts

Some of you may even remember me, back then I used the name Love in a Mist, because we had to use pony names as user names

I started out at the Trading post, but at some point it just got to be too much drama over there, so I found my way here in 05.

I do remember a bunch of the names that has been named, and I remember how difficult it was to actually show off pony pictures, because most of the free webhosts or picture hosts, did not allow remote linking, wich was why I finally got my own domain

[LittleSpiffy]

Haha, yes, the drama.

OH MY GOODNESS, does anyone remember Roy?

Who went to his home to confront him/get the ponies back that he "scammed" from people?  That was outrageous drama.  Then most people were cool because he said he wouldn't trade/sell ponies anymore (or something...I remember seeing pictures of a pony meet where everyone, including Roy, seemed happy ) 

I migrated from the TP to the Arena because...hmmm...I think I liked the layout more?  It wasn't so much the drama, but the Arena was more adequately staffed.  At the time, MLPTP (Jen) was getting quite busy to keep up with the demand.

Is Jen still around?  I remember trading with her and being so excited that there was another pony collector in my proximity.

[cricket]

Haha, yes, the drama.

OH MY GOODNESS, does anyone remember Roy?

Who went to his home to confront him/get the ponies back that he "scammed" from people?  That was outrageous drama.  Then most people were cool because he said he wouldn't trade/sell ponies anymore (or something...I remember seeing pictures of a pony meet where everyone, including Roy, seemed happy ) 

I migrated from the TP to the Arena because...hmmm...I think I liked the layout more?  It wasn't so much the drama, but the Arena was more adequately staffed.  At the time, MLPTP (Jen) was getting quite busy to keep up with the demand.

Is Jen still around?  I remember trading with her and being so excited that there was another pony collector in my proximity.

OMG I had forgotten all about Roy!!!  He scammed me!  I remember the thread documenting the collectors who were going to confront him but I don't remember who…I think maybe JLM was one of them but I'm not 100%.  I couldn't believe that he was allowed to go to that pony meet but by the end he had made several friends.  I wonder if he's still happily scamming people of if he's moved on to other things…... 

[Sukey]

Wow, this thread does bring back a lot of memories! I started to collect in 1999- I was 18. I remember going through my toys in storage and coming across the only 2 She-ra figures I owned. I remember how I thought it would be so awesome to collect them, but at the time it felt like an impossible feat. Shortly after that I saw eBay advertised in a magazine and the rest is history. I became a total eBay addict for the first few years. My collecting started with She-ra then Rainbow Brite and then to all the other 80's toy lines that I loved. Currently MLP is what I actively collect the most of right now, because I have almost completed my other toy lines and except for a few pieces missing here and there.

I remember:

-going to the post office very frequently to buy money orders- so happy when they came out with PayPal

-The discovery of toys/ characters from familiar lines that I didn't know existed till the Internet and what an exciting discovery they were

-when a lot of auctions on eBay didn't have pics

-Dream Valley also when the card back pics were used- I still enjoy visiting there

-Various individual toy collector web sites for items for sale/trade such as Trish's Treasure Trove

-I did trades a lot more back then

-Dial up and how frustrating it was especially if sites were pic heavy

-Hitting the refresh over and over at the end of auctions- I sniped a lot of auctions back then and had some sniped from me, too

-Also as someone mentioned when I discovered through message boards that there was a large community of adults that collected toys. I was so embarrassed when I first started to collect toys that people would find out.  Now I really don't care who knows that I'm a toy collector. I enjoy my hobby

-Toys were much more affordable back then. Now it seems like sellers want an arm and a leg for some things especially if MIB/MOC.

[QueenStarglow]

OMG! I was just talking to Lady North Star about this on tumblr haha You all remember her site The Dream Cloud right? I've spent hours scouring The Wayback Machine for old pony sites! I recently found mine from when I was 13.... I'm so mortified. omg.

We got the internet in '98 when I was 12 or so and I'd been hunting flea markets and antique shows at the fairgrounds for years and randomly decided to look up MLP on the internet. Changed my life! I joined the TP first and bought my first pony online Masquerade!

I remember (and still worship) the Holy MOC Mimic. I remember IceFeather, the Delaneys, dreambooks!, Lullabye Nursery adoptables, money orders and sending cash overseas, hyper-expensive Euro babies, My Little Pony Name Registry, Elite of Ponyland websites, finding Dream Valley was like the holy grail haha.... Wow if I'm not careful I will lose all productivity today! Oh and the 50 most Beautiful Ponies!

Remember when the first NSS Paradise was found and everyone thought she was fake?

And oh the scammers...... I remember 13 year old me saving for so long to buy a Paradise Estate for $300 and winning one om eBay and the jerk never sent it. eBay was no help at all. Glad that has changed!

[kayveryn]

I joined several Yahoo groups (1995-96ish), besides people's personal sites.

Learning to customize, finding hair was a nightmare. Most came from scalped dolls, and wigs until we found Dr. Locks and Tartberry, and even then, the colors and types were limited.  Using marine epoxy putty for sculpting, needle and thread, or wire for rehairs, and a time on ebay where it seemed like people selling customs were seeing how many feathers, rhinestones, glitter and other stuff they could glue to a pony...=]

My name on the boards at the time was Leanderjj.  (I doubt I was active enough to be remembered, was more into CPK at the time)

Kayveryn

[Lady Starflower]

Great thread. Brings back so many memories.

I had Pinwheel make me a Starflower blinkie...wish I still had that.
And Marco would trade artwork request for ponies. I sent him 2 ponies for his Starflower artwork. His artwork was to die for.

Ebay was hilarious, you could see everything and email the winners, and anyone could leave feedback.

I remember when the Argies and Greeks were flooding ebay. I wish I bought more back then. My grail was Baby Cherries Jubilee who was going for hundreds of dollars. No one really cared for Mimic and Punzie back then..should have bought them then I guess lol

I'd always be going to the bank to get a money order or US cash to send. Things took sooo long lol
The birth of paypal which scared the heck out of everyone hahaha

I still have 2 of Iceceather's custom babies. Baby Wizzer and Baby (SS) Twilight. I was so thrilled when I got them. I still love them very much.

[aero_oceana]

I didn't have the internet until the late 90's and didn't join the online community until 1998, I believe... but I remember much of what has been mentioned. I never was very chatty on the boards, so people may not remember me so well. I used to go by Aerosmith_Gal.

I, too, remember having to send payment by money order! It took so long to get ponies in the mail back then... waiting for the person you were buying from to get the MO and then for them to send the pony. Torture! Yahoo! Auctions were my go to for ponies back then. I remember seeing Greek ponies MOC selling for under $100 - definitely won't find that nowadays!

I was soooo excited to find Peppermint Crunch in an auction - I had him as a child and lost him somewhere along the way, he was my very first pony (yes, was always a boy in my herd). He was one of my first online purchases, ever.

I was the only person in the online community from South Dakota at the time who was a collector, I used to think I was the only one in my state! Boy, was I wrong. xD I used to be able to go to thrift stores and flea markets and find ponies, but over time more collectors popped up in the area and my luck faded away.

My best pony collecting friend was littleponysunbright. I miss seeing her around the forums!

edit: I remember Pinwheel's blinkies and always wished I could get one from her! I used to fantasize about what I'd have her make for me, they were so cool.

[Sunset]

I was not active in the community in the late 90's but here is my story.

In mid to late 1998, I was 18 and just graduated high school that spring.  It would be years before I had regular access to the internet at home.  However, my mom had it at work.  During her lunch hour or on the weekends, she would let me come up to her work and use the internet.  That was when I first discovered that there were people out there collecting MLP.  I had adored MLP when I was younger but put them away during my pre-teens.  I still had all of my old collection, though (about 30 between myself and my sister.)  Finding out that there were people out there collecting and buying and selling  inspired me to pull out my own collection.  That's how I started collecting as an adult.

Since my access to the internet was limited and I didn't have much money being a new college student, I never bought or sold online at that time.  However, I was reasonably successful finding ponies at garage sales.

I am also one of those people who printed off Dream Valley so that I could put it in a binder and use it at home.  I still even have it.  I would color in the pony pictures and mark off the ones I had.

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[Shenanigans]

Ebay was hilarious, you could see everything and email the winners, and anyone could leave feedback.

Oh man that reminds me... My sister was sniped on a pony auction and was so mad she sent the winner a "how dare you!" message to which she replied "you should have set your max bid higher" Ah, ebay had no privacy back then