'Old' collectors: how have things changed?

[Pheasant]

I've often read old-timers' comments about remembering the old days of collecting, namely the '90s and early 2000s,and began to wonder: how has collecting changed over the years? How have prices changed? What were the highlights of the aforementioned time period?

I began collecting with my mom in late 2007 on the MLPTP under the username Hobomom and Mimic - I was Mimic, she was hobomom. So while I've seen a lot of people come and go, I'm still very much a nooblet to the hobby. Some things I remember are the famous customizers (not sure if I'm allowed to name names?), new G3 waves, and stuff like that.

I also remember that, due to my young age, I probably irritated most of the community at the time.  If anyone recalls that, sorry for making you put up with me!

So, what were your memories?

[LadyMoondancer]

Flutter pony wings are much cheaper now--even the genuine ones!  Long live the repro makers.   IIRC in the 90s they cost from $40 and up for an unbroken pair . . . not including a pony.

In the late 90s a lot of people didn't have digital cameras or scanners--so there would be eBay lots with descriptions like "lot of 12 ponies, some big some small".  You would have to try to get the seller to describe each one, or else just buy it and pray that they really WERE ponies, not fakies.

Eventually more people did get--cameras?  No.  Scanners.  So then there were eBay auctions with scans of the ponies, floating on a greenish-black background.     For some reason scanners always make Lemon Drop's hair appear pink.

Mimic was "expensive" almost from the very first, but expensive used to mean $40.

Red Roses used to be worth practically nothing.  The Perfume Puffs were considered an unpopular set, low on most people's wish lists, and she was no exception.

[Skeen]

It used to be about the hunt, about patiently waiting to get the pony you wanted.  There was none of the newer, "My Walmart never stocks anything new" laments, because NOTHING was in stock anywhere.  If you wanted it, you had to go look for it in person.  Sometimes you'd travel all over the state and come away with nothing, and sometimes the garage sale across the street had all the MO's at once for a quarter each.  Even if you ebayed, you weren't assured of getting what you thought you'd be getting, since there were often no pictures and only vague descriptions.

You had to WORK for your ponies, lol! 

[Taffeta]

There was no forum like this. The Trading Post was in pink and black and something you sent emails to and Jenn put the trade things up on the board with an email address.

There was also the name registry - people often used pony names and there was a list - I think Ivy managed it, but she can probably tell you for sure - to make sure people didn't duplicate. That's why I chose Taffeta She wasn't a popular pony at the time.

I remember the scanner images LM is talking about. Ebay didn't put thumbnails on auction lists, either, so it was much easier to find hidden stuff.

The first Baby Applejack on ebay sold for $300.

There were some online chat rooms and email mailing lists - ponypeople, dream valley - and the chats on Dream Valley and Dream Castle (I think?) High Queen Tiffany and Chanth (maybe?) were involved in that.

There was a lot of hostility towards G2, the terms G1 and G2 didn't exist then, though. Nirvana wasn't a thing and the only variants we really knew about were the italian ponies, indian ponies, some French and a few oddballs here and there.

There were quite a few sellers selling MIB stuff as end of store stock. I got MIB newborn twins for $35 and Glory and Medley for $30 each. There was no paypal so I had to send cash. We got creative at sending cash in the post and were all very suspicious of paypal when it first came out!

The community was small and so scammers were known and kept under observation as best we could. It was easier to do then, although the safeguards we have now just didn't exist then, so the stakes were somewhat higher. There was no way of pursuing a claim against someone who took your money and ran.

[LadyMoondancer]

Oh yeah, the scammers . . . I think it was Lexi who posted an auction for "Mimic" on eBay, then sent the winner a PHOTO of Mimic.  She was incorrigible.  No matter how many times she was caught, you could be sure she would pop up again.

There was another frequent scammer, I think his name was Roy?

This was back when people mostly sent money orders and checks and even cash (especially on international sales), so it was much harder to get money back after being scammed!

Speaking of checks:  if you sent a check to an eBay seller, they would wait two weeks to make sure your check didn't bounce.  eBay shipping in general was much slower than it is today;  you just dealt with it.

eBay sellers were not responsible for items lost in the mail, so you just hoped they wouldn't get lost (or that you had an extraordinarily nice seller).

[Taffeta]

I remember both of those scammers Also Baby Bouncy...I remember another one too, but the last time I outed her as a scammer I got hate mail, so I'm not going to do it again.

Baby Bouncy stole a Baby Candy from me :-/ one of the only two times I've been scammed in a trade.

European ponies were much more sought after than now as the European side of the community was smaller. There were a lot of rumours and wrong names and some of the European ponies were only termed online by names in different languages, rather than English.

Dream Valley was the only ID site until Lavonia set up her site (which is now defunct). There was no Strawberry Reef and no Wiki. My site originally was on free servers and only dealt with ponies sold in the UK and Europe. There were a bunch of information gaps that have since been filled with the help of the UK people around now

[Sunset]

I wasn't as active in the community during those days what with limited access to the Internet and limited cash.  But here's something that has changed in recent years: Taobao and generally other Asian intities being connected online.  During most of G3, we got our info either from Hasbro or collectors would just find new ponies in the stores.  These days we are getting leaks so far in advance that it seems like "forever" before the actual ponies hit the stores.  We also have more access to prototypes now.  That's stuff that would not have happened in the bygone era.

[Galactica]

I discovered ebay in 1999 and finally took the leap in January of 2000.

I will confess I went a little crazy and bid on a ton of different things, never dreaming that I could (and would) actually win it all...that is actually what started me trying to sell, I had no choice!

My focus was not on MLP but other vintage things- but I do remember buying huge lots of G1 ponies- the going rate was $1 -$2 each. EXCEPT European ponies were super rare and super coveted in the US and always really really expensive. Buying from Europe was tricky too because they wanted a bank transfer...

Almost everyone in the US paid with personal checks or postal money orders.  I HATED getting a postal money order because you had to stand in line at the post office, then buy the money order (which was not free) then mail it off to some random stranger in the hopes that they wouldn't scam you...  I hated receiving a personal check because sometimes it would bounce...

When Paypal was invented- hardly anyone used or trusted it until ebay started using it as the default method of payment.

About 50% of my auction listings would end with no further contact from the bidder, and no payment.  You could leave negative feedback for horrible buyers- but they would instantly respond with retaliatory negative feedback.

[Wardah]

I wasn't as active in the community during those days what with limited access to the Internet and limited cash.  But here's something that has changed in recent years: Taobao and generally other Asian intities being connected online.  During most of G3, we got our info either from Hasbro or collectors would just find new ponies in the stores.  These days we are getting leaks so far in advance that it seems like "forever" before the actual ponies hit the stores.  We also have more access to prototypes now.  That's stuff that would not have happened in the bygone era.

I remember there being excitement over someone posting pictures of the leaflet when they got a new G3.

What I'm curious about is how were Fairs and such handled in those early days. If they happened that is.

[ValeofSpring]

Ha ha--reading these posts was a walk down memory lane! I joined eBay in 1998 and got involved online w/ MLP then. It's funny b/c at that point it felt like it had been FOREVER since I bought MLPs in the store, but I had gotten Petite Ponies in 1991-92 when I was in 8th grade or so and did not get rid of my original collection (sad face) until the end of 1994.

EBay was something so new and I remember Oprah having a show about it with experts talking about how to use it and what to do/not to do. People were getting scammed left and right over Beanie Babies and many other things. Someone paid $2000 for "Wingless Quackers" and got a regular "winged" one from the seller with the wings cut off. MLP wasn't as risky b/c the prices were nowhere near that high. When I was first on eBay, I remember there might be 300-400 MLP listings max. As LadyMoondancer said, there were almost no pics at first, so it really was a roll of the dice to see what you got! I got really lucky with one lot and I still have some of those ponies--almost 20 years later!

I was one of the people who was suspicious of PayPal at first and wouldn't use it. I am sure I sent cash through the mail dozens of times! Luckily I never had any problems.

I do remember that feedback on eBay was kind of a free for all. When I would buy or sell with people on the MLPTP or wherever who were also on eBay, we would leave each other feedback there even though we hadn't used eBay for that transaction.

The internet is more perhaps "lights on" now? Most of the MLP info back then (like everything else) was on private, very very homemade web pages that could be difficult to navigate or even read . . . and the G2 wars only added to the "darkness"!

[kitkatvintage]

When "G1s" were just "ponies" because there were no other generations. I remember the H.O.O.F. (help our obsolete friends) petition that we all signed to get Hasbro to bring ponies back, only for the outrage and disappointment when G2 debuted. Of course we still bought them anyway.

There was so much more trust back then. We sent cash and money orders to strangers in hope they would send us an item they described but could not send a picture of.

When PayPal came along they offered you a $5 credit for every friend you referred! Then PayPal went international and blew open the door to easier international purchasing.

[Galactica]

When "G1s" were just "ponies" because there were no other generations. I remember the H.O.O.F. (help our obsolete friends) petition that we all signed to get Hasbro to bring ponies back, only for the outrage and disappointment when G2 debuted. Of course we still bought them anyway.

There was so much more trust back then. We sent cash and money orders to strangers in hope they would send us an item they described but could not send a picture of.

When PayPal came along they offered you a $5 credit for every friend you referred! Then PayPal went international and blew open the door to easier international purchasing.

Oh yeah! I remember that- I think I made $10

[Taffeta]

I had to sign up to both Ebay and Paypal as a person in the UK when both were still run only by and in the US. That was interesting, especially paypal. With Ebay, I used to send my fees to them in cash and they would mail me back a receipt. I actually found one a while back. Not sure if I kept it or not, though!

There wasn't even a MLP ebay category back then. You had to type it in the search and sometimes you'd get hits on other keywords, too.

My ebay seller account still bills me in $US, even though it's registered in the UK. :-/

Shipping was a ton cheaper, though. My first ever ebay buy, as I've said before, was Adult Sea Pony Sea Breeze. She cost $5 and shipping to the UK cost $4.

On the negative, a lot more sellers only shipped to the US. I used to contact sellers often to ask if they would ship to the UK. Given all the risks, some did and some didn't.

But as a person in the UK with a thriving carboot sale which turned up ponies most weeks in the summer, I was able to do lots of trades. And I loved trading. It was so much more fun than buying and selling!

[Loa]

I have more wrinkles now.

[princessluna11706]

Oh yeah, the scammers . . . I think it was Lexi who posted an auction for "Mimic" on eBay, then sent the winner a PHOTO of Mimic.  She was incorrigible.  No matter how many times she was caught, you could be sure she would pop up again.

There was another frequent scammer, I think his name was Roy?

I definitely remember them! Like it was yesterday.

Anyone remember UpUpEphiphany? (sp) I got scammed out of a pony from her, but luckily it was a common.

When "G1s" were just "ponies" because there were no other generations. I remember the H.O.O.F. (help our obsolete friends) petition that we all signed to get Hasbro to bring ponies back, only for the outrage and disappointment when G2 debuted. Of course we still bought them anyway.

There was so much more trust back then. We sent cash and money orders to strangers in hope they would send us an item they described but could not send a picture of.

Aww I didn't buy the G2s when they came out.  At the time they were just too different for me.  Go figure, I like them now.

Ahh I remember when I would send concealed cash for eBay wins..

I also remember it was so much easier to win large lots for decent prices, and I remember finding quite a few nice surprises in them!