Why is Mimic so special?

[Glacia471]

In addition to what's already been mentioned, simply put- she's green. People love green ponies. One of the most popular of the original 6 is Minty. Fizzy is one of the more popular set 1 TEs. Baby Leaper is the priciest Baby Brother. Cool Breeze is one of the most sought after wingers. Ice Crystal is easily one of the most expensive Mountain Boys. Baby Splash generally commands a higher price than Splosh and Splish. Granted, white and yellow also follow similar patterns (Red Roses for Perfume Puffs, Chief and Tex for Big Brothers, Whitecap and Sea Mist for y3 sea ponies, Crumpet for set 2 SSs). Mimic also has the 'omg it's a Mimic' hype going for her too, so her price hasn't really budged much in the past few years

[nhal039]

I have to been honest I never liked her until I saw her in person. Her green body colour is special there isn't many ponies that colour

[KarentheUnicorn]

Mimic is watching you all with her glowing jewel eyes:

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YOU MUST LOVE THE MIMIC

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[svleonard]

I'm personally not that wild about Mimic, although of the second set of Twinkle-Eyes, she is definitely the best.  The green color is nice, and her cutie mark is pretty unique in that it doesn't contain hearts, bows, flowers, rainbows, etc.

[reanna-mator]

I have her now, but can't figure out what's so great about her? I thought she was the only one molded like her several years ago, but obviously her mold is actually pretty common. She's just a unicorn, no sparkles, no special markings, maybe just the color of her body??

Yeah... I think she wasn't made quite as much, and she's also just very popular. I think she's really cute, and it's mostly the pose and my love of TEs. Overall she's a very pretty pony, but it might be partly her initial fame that continues to make her popular!
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[Buddafly]

*squishes mimic*

[BabyInBlue]

Mimic is watching you all with her glowing jewel eyes:
YOU MUST LOVE THE MIMIC

BWAHAHAHAAHAA!! This seriously made my day! I just wanna snuzzle her nosey!!

[LadyMoondancer]

Her release was not any more limited than the rest of her set. 

I'm not upset, I'm just bolding so people see that as they scroll through. 

Her entire set is sort of hard to find, but not rare.   Mimic turns up all the time on eBay, she's not really rare.  She's just expensive.  This is simply because she's extremely popular.

As to why she's popular, my understanding is back in the late 90s, when the entire "My Little Pony" section of eBay was only three pages long, she caused great excitement when she first appeared . . . probably because of her unique color scheme and because she'd been in "The Golden Horseshoes".  So she sold for a high price.  (Keep in mind that in those days "a high price" was probably $10 - $15. )

This snowballed to the point where not only did a lot of people want her because of her colors or as a set completer, but also because she had become a status symbol.

In other words, there is the same supply of her as the rest of her set, but a lot more demand for her than the rest of her set.

Red Roses followed a similar trajectory.  If you'd tried to sell one for $40 in 1997, people would've thought you were crazy.  But eventually she became popular, and now she is worth that much.

[kellyponyfeathers]

I think LadyMoondancer's right.  Her color scheme and pose are unusual and appealing.  The second set of TE's is harder to find than the first one, and Mimic may have had a more limited production than the others in the second group.  I don't know if that's really the case, but I've heard it said before that there weren't as many of her produced (like a manufacturer's box of TE's might contain 2 each of the others, but only 1 Mimic).  But anyway, she's not really that rare now; she's more just sought-after.  Some of it's hype and status, and some is her appearance in "The Golden Horseshoes" (which also made me fall in love with her when I was little, and fortunately I got her back then).  And I remember reading that when Ebay was new and collectors first started congregating online, there was a big buzz when Mimic started showing up, since many of them just hadn't seen her before.  The buzz never really died down, and Mimic has maintained her status as a must-have collector pony that commands higher prices than her rarity really dictates.  And yeah, I think a lot of groups have one pony that stands out that way as a collector favorite who commands a much higher price than the others, like Munchy and Diamond Dreams.

[KarentheUnicorn]

I give you a quote directly from Taffeta's webpage (a collector in the UK who was always my go to for information and in general someone who knows a lot about MLP)

Mimic. What can we say about Mimic?

Mimic is possibly one of the most notorious little ponies among collectors all across the world. When I first came online in 1998 I only vaguely knew who she was or that she existed, after having seen her in the cartoon episode "The Quest For The Golden Horseshoes." But she was the first pony I knew I wanted to acquire from the North American line, and I know that I'm not alone. Whether it was her starring role as the descendant of the very first unicorn is unknown. In terms of her colour scheme, she seems equally loved and hated. Myself, I love her for her originality - there aren't many lime green unicorns in the My Little Pony line!

Mimic's rarity has always been under debate, though it is my belief that she is not as easy to find at flea markets or garage sales as the quantity on Ebay would have you believe. Ebay simply represents one thing - that sellers know Mimic is in demand and are more likely to pick her up to sell than a Tootsie or a Parasol if the choice is there.

What Mimic is actually worth depends on the collector you ask - but the many years of frantic bidding to win her have meant that her price is usually higher than the other ponies in her set. It seems unlikely that it will ever come down to normal Twinkle Eye Pony price levels - the damage has been going on too long for that!

Mimic's backcard story does not mention anything about the mythical unicorn of the horseshoes that is so played upon by the cartoon series. Instead it takes her on a birthday treasure hunt to Paradise Estate, via all of the buildings you can imagine in Ponyland!

Mimic, like so many ponies, was never sold in the United Kingdom.

and here is the link to Taffs page for Mimic
http://www.etherella.com/scrapbook2/mimic.htm

[Henpatch]

I bought my Mimic quite a few years ago - and yes....she was expensive!   

Not sure about the TV series she was in - or whether she was not released in big numbers......whatever....BUT she is always a high price and everyone wants one. She is also a rather unique colour and one of the rarer poses.....her hair too is rather special? AND of course that cute red parrot........

So if you have one you are lucky - if you want one - have a full bank account   

[brightberry]

I've wanted her ever since I saw her listed on those little fliers they include with ponies in the 80s.  I tended to favor ponies with animals/flowers/weather/celestial related cutie marks.  Plus, she's green!  That was a bit rare at the time.  But I didn't know that so many other people wanted her until now.

[rosierjay]

she's cute, but not one i ever wanted. had several of the te when i was a kid and they kinda creeped me out. maybe it was the lack of a pupil don't know. i thought it was the colors that made her popular and her popularity that made her become rare. as once people get her they don't want to sell kind thing. thus upping the price again.

[hathorcat]

Mimic, Diamond Dreams, Red Roses, Crumpet, Munchy...all have the same thing...they are super sought after by collectors and they are all traditionally more expensive than all the other ponies in their sets. However, within the US they are just as common and back in the 80s were released in the same quantities as the other ponies in their sets.

There is a massive difference between rare and sought after. A pony can be rare but "cheap" because she is not one everyone is looking to add to their collection but likewise she can be reasonably common-ish but expensive because everyone out there wants her. The market sets her price - if years and years of auctions happily price a pony at $90-100 then that means people still looking for her know thats the price they need to pay and therefore are happy to pay it. Its perception and expectation.

The Mimic short pack is a myth - 24 MLP to a Twinkle Eye set - 4 of each and every one of the set - 4 Mimics, 4 Bright Eyes, 4 Speedy, 4 TTT and 4 Locket. Thanks to the pony collecting community being international yes Locket and TTT and Speedy show up a little more on the second hand market but thats only because they all got an international release and the other 3 didnt, so there are a few more of them out there.

And all that being said - she is a cutie And the symbol and hair/body colour do make her pretty unique.

[rearing_palomino164]

I love her colors myself.