Do you consider yourself a collector?

[SeashellnBubbles]

I was looking at all my ponies and thought...I think I've crossed over into collector territory.
I know it may sound weird, but I never thought of myself as a collector before. I thought I just loved ponies. But what makes a pony lover and what makes a collector? G4's I want to "catch them all" but my huge passion is G1 and to a lesser extent G2, but I only want the ones I really like, not every one like G4...where am I on the "collector scale"? Where do you consider yourself?

[achab1984]

I am also a collector. I had them when I was little back in the 80's and stopped when the G1 ended. I did not get into the G2 ponies cause they were so different looking. When the G3 ponies started to show up in 2003/2004 I could not believe what I was seeing!!! I started to collect them all and did all the way till the core 7 ponies came out. I left the hobby and came back it in late 2012. I was not a big fan of the G4 ponies at first. I thought the looked like deer with there big ears and eyes. I missed the ponies and thought I would give them a try. Now I have almost 100 of the G4 ponies alone. I have worked my collection back up to over 300 and growing. I love ponies and always will

So I am a collector for sure

[Zargata]

Good question~! Personally I've had ponies since day 1 and it wasn't until I was in High School that I started to display them rather than play with them. I still wanted ponies, but I wanted to learn more about how to care for them, what ones are rare, and how to customize them. So I suppose that is when I became one. Plus g3 was brand new at the time so it was really a chance for me to start fresh. 

Personally I believe a "fan" doesn't actively obtain items related to a fandom on a mess scale, while a collector does. SO I think you are one.

[Rosencrantz]

More of a dandy highwayman.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I've always considered myself a collector!  I didn't want to be a "My Little Pony Mommy" like in the marketing and advertising...

[Prince Primbrose]

Definitely a collector. Even when I only had 2 ponies and a plush, I called myself a collector. It's all about displaying, maintaining, and talking to them for me.

[ValeofSpring]

I didn't want to be a "My Little Pony Mommy" like in the marketing and advertising...

You and me both!  I remember finding that ad campaign so annoying!

I would say collector b/c I'm very deliberate in what I acquire--I think of a collector as someone who kind of "studies" a certain thing and has a sense of what he/she has and goals for what to get in the future.

[kellyponyfeathers]

LOL, I'm 36 now, but I seriously considered myself a collector by the time I was 8. I did play with them gently when I was little, of course, but even then I was more concerned about caring for them properly and displaying them.  I've just always approached it with a collector mentality, I guess.

[Corona]

I'm a selective collector. I only collect ponies I like or have a theme I like (like my bug ponies.)

[archidraca]

I finally do. 

I've made shelves for a portion of my collection, have sorted through and picked out "favorites of a generation" to keep forever, and have bought and sent ponies overseas. I've even gotten little tokens to match my baby brothers' on their display shelf (although Drummer has his xylophone because I can't find an appropriately sized drum... *mutter mutter*) which I think alerted me to my collector status. Not that my herd from when I was a kid was anything anyone would have considered "small". But I didn't think I was even a hobbyist collector until I went store to store to complete sets and get store exclusives. 

[Vintergatan]

I started thinking of myself as a collector when I moved to Iceland and started finding MLPs in thrift stores and adds, since that is how i get 90% of my ponies. When I came to Iceland I had around 20 ponies all in all (from childhood) and now, just 3 years later I have around 400

[wizzer218]

I am a collector and I love my ponies...I have been collecting since they started making G1s...As a kid I took very good care of my ponies and always knew if one was out of place or missing...so i feel I have been a collector.......And I always will be! ....It will always be one of my passions!

[gypsyunicorn]

How about this for a question....when do you go from collector to hoarder of the ponies? By this I mean I have an entire wall in 1 room that is built in display case style super cool and half the wall holds just about the entire US ponies minus 13 ponies I am missing which includes only a few mail order missing. It also includes deflocks, a few customs, nirvanas, and the g3 is pretty much taking up about 25 percent of half the wall. I have 2 small dvd shelf racks in the same room with extra g1 for swapping, trading, etc. I have 2 big stuffed pillow plush pony in my closet. I have a big pony tote full of g1 pony needing cleaning in my room. I also have pony stuff in a big storage chest in my room. I have 1 pony wanting cleaned in the kitchen. I have pony stored in my closet where our Christmas also gets stored. I was thinking about how I feel like a darn pony hoarder. I mean I love them, love to collect them, love cleaning them, love finding and rescueing them. I collect g4 but don't need all of them. I did down size my g3 and would like to down size my g3 again but find that hard to do. So I keep the g3, all of them. Pony seems to be just apart of my home and I am fine with it. I like to see them where they are displayed and other then the display I prefer them stored out of sight. I was thinking about darn ponies while driving and then noticed a red light and decided I better get my head out of the pony land ha ha...not bad enough to get in an accident, but found myself wondering if anyone else catches themselves driving and thinking pony on rare occasion.

[BigHicks1977]

I am more of a hunter and my toys are my trophies I get HIGH off of turning the corner at a flea market and seeing a big ole pile of ponies or digging threw boxes at a yard sale and pulling out a G1 and when people come in my home I just want them to bask in my hard work  If the day ever came where I no longer keep what I found I would still look and give them away....but that day will never come THERE MINE!!!!!!!

[OLumeVaSti]

I consider myself a collector. I like the term better then fan.