Solitarily liking ponies?

[lovesbabysquirmy]

i've always been a loner... I'm kinda used to it by now

[Shaz]

I'm used to having obscure interests that no one (offline) shares with me, though of course my girlfriend collects ponies with me and that's fun. I don't really need a lot of people to be into the same thing as me, I'm quite solitary really. I'm lucky because my family will usually let me enthuse over whatever I'm currently into.

My ideal online pony world would be full of people wanting to discuss foreign pony names and the wonderfulness of Sweet Talkin' ponies....haha just kidding, I just like to see people chatting about ponies, especially the older generations. It's interesting seeing what different people like and discovering new things through that.

I hope you find someone to enthuse about Takaras with. I think they're cute (especially their little outfits) but they're just too expensive and rare for me to get interested in. I like achievable pony goals!

[Shaiyeh]

I'm also one of those people used to being the only one to like certain subjects/music styles/clothes etc, always been like that, so I don't mind not having many pony friends IRL. I've met some fantastic people through ponies, but we haven't been able to meet up for a few years now ^^'

Tailrust - I really like the PL ponies too! They're adorable IMO ^^ you're not alone

Takara ponies are tricky, they are waaaayyyyy out of most people price range, so I think most people will blank them out.

I am not sure you were saying this... But people don't have to physically own things to be fans of them. People can be fans of any pony, regardless of price, and own none.

Of course they can I think PKW meant some people decide to not get into things they won't be able to afford. I do that, haha. I absolutely adore the Takara ponies, but choose to not get too into them because I'll just be sad I won't be able to get one of my own. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's like that ^^' But of course people can be into something they don't have.

[banditpony]

Takara ponies are tricky, they are waaaayyyyy out of most people price range, so I think most people will blank them out.

I am not sure you were saying this... But people don't have to physically own things to be fans of them. People can be fans of any pony, regardless of price, and own none.

Of course they can I think PKW meant some people decide to not get into things they won't be able to afford. I do that, haha. I absolutely adore the Takara ponies, but choose to not get too into them because I'll just be sad I won't be able to get one of my own. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's like that ^^' But of course people can be into something they don't have.

Which is fine... but I feel like I had to say something because there are other fandoms where if you don't own said expensive item, then you aren't a fan. And I was trying to point it out more generally.

My point was more so I think owning things doesn't mean someone isn't a fan. Price isn't really relevant either... we could be talking about $5 items, and it still rings true.

[LadyAmalthea]

Within the community, I would say no...my pony interests are pretty mainstream. But in real life, I don't know anyone who is into ponies other than my 5-year-old son, who is obsessed with g1 ponies and won't talk about anything else (to the point of being annoying sometimes!). If my family or friends knew the extent of my collection/interest in them, they would probably raise an eyebrow at my being a 40-year-old woman who collects/restores 30+-year-old toys, so I don't talk to anyone about it. My husband straight-up rolls his eyes. My sister knows I have our combined childhood collection in my possession, and that I am cleaning them up, but I doubt she realizes that I'm involved to the point of reading up on them online and interacting on a forum about them, and I feel like she might ridicule me a bit about it if she did, especially since I don't do social media (apparently that's weird to some people?...'so you won't get a Facebook account to talk to me, but you'll go online and talk about My Little Pony?'...) I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, and it's all in my head, but I feel like that's how the people in my life would react, so I keep it to myself. It's okay...I've always been, maybe not really a loner, per se, but someone who enjoys time to myself, and my happiest moments these days are when my son is in school and my girls are napping, and I can clean and style a pony, and I can organize and set them up in my bathroom closet...by myself. This forum is a good place to come when I want to talk about ponies (unless I'm in the mood to listen to my little guy chat my ear off about them!)

[Mana Minori]

Within the community, I would say no...my pony interests are pretty mainstream. But in real life, I don't know anyone who is into ponies other than my 5-year-old son, who is obsessed with g1 ponies and won't talk about anything else (to the point of being annoying sometimes!). If my family or friends knew the extent of my collection/interest in them, they would probably raise an eyebrow at my being a 40-year-old woman who collects/restores 30+-year-old toys, so I don't talk to anyone about it. My husband straight-up rolls his eyes. My sister knows I have our combined childhood collection in my possession, and that I am cleaning them up, but I doubt she realizes that I'm involved to the point of reading up on them online and interacting on a forum about them, and I feel like she might ridicule me a bit about it if she did, especially since I don't do social media (apparently that's weird to some people?...'so you won't get a Facebook account to talk to me, but you'll go online and talk about My Little Pony?'...) I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, and it's all in my head, but I feel like that's how the people in my life would react, so I keep it to myself. It's okay...I've always been, maybe not really a loner, per se, but someone who enjoys time to myself, and my happiest moments these days are when my son is in school and my girls are napping, and I can clean and style a pony, and I can organize and set them up in my bathroom closet...by myself. This forum is a good place to come when I want to talk about ponies (unless I'm in the mood to listen to my little guy chat my ear off about them!)

i don’t see anything the slightest bit weird at a 40 year old being a collector and restorer of pony toys. That’s an actual profession.
It’s cool that your boy is into pony toys, too, especially g1.
Not weird at all. I hope you can find more people irl to share your pony joy with, if ever you want a change of pace in enjoying them alone.

[Ponybookworm]

Amalthea, I'm OVER 40!!! And I still collect MLP, Customise MLP & have a plushie sharky perched on my leg right now!!!

If that's weird then we're the weird brigade xxx

[LadyAmalthea]

Amalthea, I'm OVER 40!!! And I still collect MLP, Customise MLP & have a plushie sharky perched on my leg right now!!!

If that's weird then we're the weird brigade xxx

Glad I'm not the only one! And I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are others...anyone who enjoyed g1 ponies in their heyday is either in their 40's or getting close to it, so there are probably more of us 'weird brigade' members out there than we think!

Post Merge: September 10, 2020, 10:44:06 AM

i don’t see anything the slightest bit weird at a 40 year old being a collector and restorer of pony toys. That’s an actual profession.
It’s cool that your boy is into pony toys, too, especially g1.
Not weird at all. I hope you can find more people irl to share your pony joy with, if ever you want a change of pace in enjoying them alone.

Thanks for the support! Maybe someday I will, but if not, my enjoyment of them won't be diminished any. My stepdaughter is coming for a week-long visit around Christmas, and I'm excited for her to see my collection...she is in her 20's now, but she and I used to play with my childhood ponies together back when she was 10 or 11. If anyone can appreciate the nostalgia of them, it's her!

I guess it is a profession...it makes me think of the guy that comes in to fix Woody in Toy Story 2, my husband made a joke about that once when he was referring to my bin of pony-repair supplies!

And yes, I'm happy that my son shares my interest...it's exasperating sometimes when he talks incessantly about it (he is autistic and when he develops an interest, he clamps down hard and it becomes his entire life focus!), but I try to remember that when he is 12 or 13, he will want nothing to do with me and I will wish I had made the most of this time with him when we had the opportunity to bond over something in common.

[Taffeta]

TBH...as an autistic person who started with pony age 2 and is still into pony age 38...I don't think it's a guarantee your kid will outgrow them necessarily. I know it's a 'girl toy' but generally autistic kids don't seem to be as hung up on gender as neurotypical people, nor so fussed about keeping to stereotypes or age expectations. So he may yet surprise you (Though pony does seem to be a thing that attracts autistic people o.O. BUT that is another topic of discussion for another thread xD.

It's the people who judge others for their hobbies that have the real complexes in this society. So you're fine

I don't think we're a weird brigade, though. I mean, people collect dolls. Trains. Cars. Teddy bears. They aren't called weird :/ TBH, it's a harder row to hoe when you're in your late teens and early 20s and you have the judgemental peer group eye on you. Once you reach 30, it seems to be a bit more relaxed...

Ignoring of course the unpleasant pony press in some quarters.

[Glitter Yolk]

I don't have anyone in my RL age group to discuss collecting vintage children's toys, nor would I really dare to bring it up with friends, but my dad is a collector of diecast and sometimes we go looking for collection items together. Because he is also a collector of sorts, I feel much more comfortable occasionally discussing pony stuff, but even then I really only scrape the surface of my interests with family. It's just too hard to share things I like that I feel family wouldn't respond positively to, even if they're not mean about it.

I think takaras are wonderful and part of that is because I'm into fakies. Real takaras are very hard to come by, and I geniunely regret not talking about them to my aunt and uncle back when they lived in Japan, though I wasn't even collecting anything back then!

I find as a collector it's very lucky the internet has come around, as there are many other platforms to share your collection now such as this very Arena!

[LadyAmalthea]

TBH...as an autistic person who started with pony age 2 and is still into pony age 38...I don't think it's a guarantee your kid will outgrow them necessarily. I know it's a 'girl toy' but generally autistic kids don't seem to be as hung up on gender as neurotypical people, nor so fussed about keeping to stereotypes or age expectations. So he may yet surprise you (Though pony does seem to be a thing that attracts autistic people o.O. BUT that is another topic of discussion for another thread xD.

It's the people who judge others for their hobbies that have the real complexes in this society. So you're fine

I don't think we're a weird brigade, though. I mean, people collect dolls. Trains. Cars. Teddy bears. They aren't called weird :/ TBH, it's a harder row to hoe when you're in your late teens and early 20s and you have the judgemental peer group eye on you. Once you reach 30, it seems to be a bit more relaxed...

Ignoring of course the unpleasant pony press in some quarters.

I hope he doesn't outgrow it...I think society in general is more accepting of boys who like 'girl' toys now than it was 30 years ago, so hopefully no one will crush his spirit. The staff and students at his small school are very accepting that ponies are his 'thing', and I hope it stays that way. He has always gravitated toward toys that are usually reserved for girls-last year it was Frozen/Elsa stuff and before that, Rapunzel. My husband keeps trying to steer him toward other 80's cartoons-He-man, GI Joe, Ninja Turtles, etc that he can relate to, but none of it sticks. I told him, like it or not, the kid just likes bright colored toys with brushable hair, and no matter how many drab-colored action figures he gets shoved down his throat, he will always go back to the things he likes, and we should just be grateful he's not into Barbie! (I say this not because it's a 'girly' toy but because *I* don't like Barbie, never have, mostly because of the oversexualized and perfect-body idealism it breeds)

I can see how there is a lot here for a person with autism to embrace; hair play is a soothing, sensory experience, and there is a lot of information to catalog (my son has to know what color eyes each pony has and what color ribbon it came with, even on ponies we don't own!). But, like you said....a discussion for another thread! I've digressed enough 

You are right...adults collect many other toys without being considered weird. Maybe I feel like collectors in general are a tiny bit stigmatized; society's recent obsession with minimalism makes me feel the slightest bit judged. Shows like Hoarders give people who have a lot of stuff a bad rap, even when it's well-organized stuff. Perhaps it's not *what* I collect so much as the fact that I *do* collect something. But here I am going off topic again...maybe this is also a topic for another thread. I ramble sometimes...

[Taffeta]

Collectors are generalised and stigmatised, but again it's the people who do that who have the real complexes.

At the end of the day, if someone is more concerned with judging what other people are doing than thinking about how to enjoy their own life,they're the one with the problem, right? At the very least they're wasting time and energy disapproving of something that's nothing to do with them...

There are a lot of people out there who need more imagination

I'll let the other stuff alone because it's going way off the topic, but I have a lot of theories why pony is so popular with people on the spectrum.

[otocolobus_manul]

G2s. I know I’m not the only one who likes them, but there are so few, especially in the US (which makes collecting them a pain).

G4 Hasbro Pop/Design-A-Ponies. I think I’m one of the only people who likes these things. I hope to have a complete collection of these some day, and the fact that I have as many as I do is one of the prides of my collection

G4 EqG Minis. I actually do have a complete collection of these guys (aside from the last few Sunset Shimmer variants I need for my Sunset army) and I LOVE them.

[Ponybookworm]

Collectors are generalised and stigmatised, but again it's the people who do that who have the real complexes.

At the end of the day, if someone is more concerned with judging what other people are doing than thinking about how to enjoy their own life,they're the one with the problem, right? At the very least they're wasting time and energy disapproving of something that's nothing to do with them...

There are a lot of people out there who need more imagination

I'll let the other stuff alone because it's going way off the topic, but I have a lot of theories why pony is so popular with people on the spectrum.

I think we need a thread on that xxx

Post Merge: September 11, 2020, 04:06:54 PM

G2s. I know I’m not the only one who likes them, but there are so few, especially in the US (which makes collecting them a pain).

G4 Hasbro Pop/Design-A-Ponies. I think I’m one of the only people who likes these things. I hope to have a complete collection of these some day, and the fact that I have as many as I do is one of the prides of my collection

G4 EqG Minis. I actually do have a complete collection of these guys (aside from the last few Sunset Shimmer variants I need for my Sunset army) and I LOVE them.

I predict a post merge...
I love G2s, a lot!!! And though some of the articulations are a pain (looking at you, Dizzy Lizzie), others I can handle & I love the ones who sit down!!!

G4 POP/Design-A-Ponies (if you mean stick two halves together) are quite fun & I not only like the idea, but the fact this is how I have a G4 Sugarcube Corner which Ponies fit in & is close to show accurate.

Not so big on EQG Minis but then I'm not so big on EQGs full stop. The DVDs are cool but not the toys imo.

[LadyAmalthea]

Collectors are generalised and stigmatised, but again it's the people who do that who have the real complexes.

At the end of the day, if someone is more concerned with judging what other people are doing than thinking about how to enjoy their own life,they're the one with the problem, right? At the very least they're wasting time and energy disapproving of something that's nothing to do with them...

There are a lot of people out there who need more imagination

I'll let the other stuff alone because it's going way off the topic, but I have a lot of theories why pony is so popular with people on the spectrum.

I'd be interested to hear them sometime if it ever comes up in an appropriate thread...that's all I'll say about that! It's a fascinating subject to me.