Restoration - My Pretty Pony COMPLETED *Updated w/pics 7/9/14*

[sunshine29102]

COMPLETED 7/9/14
And here she is, completed with 5 new hanks of dollyhair in "Goldilocks" -- two for the tail, and three for the mane.  She's fresh out of the pony spa with a new haircut so she looks more like the original.  I'm pleased with her, especially since I think I only paid about $10 for her.  She has now earned herself a place on one of the (top) shelves in my son's playroom.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


And the original box art for the My Pretty Pony
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

 
I put my previous updates/pics in spoilers. You can find them below

Spoiler

UPDATED 7/8/14
I finished rehairing the pony with dollyhair nylon MLP hair in Goldilocks. Five hanks, to be exact.  She has been reassembled, glued back together, and is just waiting for the glue to dry before I can cut/style her new hair so that she looks more like the original.  Here's a quick WIP pic of her, all tied up to keep her seals glued tight. I also included a pic of the internal workings of her (and you can see her horrible mohawk hair once it was removed.

Here's the My Pretty Pony since being rehaired...

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

This is her original hair.  It's pretty close to her new hair color.  I think due to aging it looks a bit more yellowed.  It had been cut into a nice little mohawk when I purchased her last November. 

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

She was actually very easy to reassemble.  The hardest part in the whole process was unsealing her without cracking the plastic of the body along the seams (and I am super-excited to report that I was successful in not breaking/splitting her!)  Easy enough to do with a flathead screwdriver if you're careful...

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

And this is another image of her internal workings that was borrowed a long time ago when I was searching for how to restore the pony, but I can't remember who to credit for it.  Think it came from the MLP TP...

Spoiler

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[/s]
Update:
Decided to restore her rather than customize her.  So, anyone have any clue what color hair to rehair her in? Looking for an identical (or as close to it) match.  Any help is greatly appreciated.


So, I have this lovely My Pretty Pony that is in amazing shape and fantastic working order, but she has the worst. haircut. ever.  I've carefully cleaned her, disassembled her, and removed the mane/tail.  I was thinking of turning her into a custom project.  All her mechanisms are in perfect working order.  Her eyes and ears still move/blink as intended.  Her paint/markings/eyes/eyelashes are perfect.  She really doesn't look like she's ever been played with. 

When I look at her, I see so much potential for a custom project.  At first, I was thinking maybe she'd be pretty as a custom G1 pony but not sure which one I'd choose.  Obviously, I'd choose an earth pony, and maybe one in the collector's pose, but not certain of that yet.

My REAL question is this:  Should I customize her, or would it be best just to restore her?  If I were to restore her, which hair would be a suitable replacement hair to use? Nylon, etc?  Also, what color hair would be best?

Thanks for the input! I love hearing from fellow pony collectors.

And Mods, if you feel this should be bumped to OT or another board, thanks in advance for moving!

[Colorscapesart]

I would restore her.  Those gals are pretty tough to find in that condition.  Is she the brown one or the pink one? 

[sunshine29102]

I would restore her.  Those gals are pretty tough to find in that condition.  Is she the brown one or the pink one? 

Thanks for the reply!

Restoring her is what I'm thinking, too.  At first I was like - "Yay! A custom project that could potentially be really cool!"  (I sort of saw her as G1 Minty)  But now that I think about it, I'm leaning more toward the "restore" instead.  She's the more common brown one, but she really is pretty.  And super clean.  Once I opened her up, I realized she's in almost too great of shape to customize.  With her raggedy hair she looked more baitworthy, but when I removed it, she kinda looked awesome.  LOL

Any idea what color hair to use for her? She'd take a lot, I'm sure.... But unsure of the color. 

[sunshine29102]

So, I'm thinking either "Goldilocks" or "Butter Pecan" from dollyhair.com...

[Katika]

Comparing my meager normal hair colors to my My Pretty Pony, I can tell you that...

Butter Pecan is a little too gold.
Buttercream is close, but not quite as yellow.
Golden Sand is WAY too dark.
Golden Wheat is almost too... greenish?
Goldilocks is a just a hair too... I want to say almost pink?  But is definitely the closest match of any of the colors I have on hand.  Also, the MPP I have has some pretty manky hair, so her condition may be the problem here.

Goldilocks is most definitely a closer match than Butter Pecan is, though

[sunshine29102]

Comparing my meager normal hair colors to my My Pretty Pony, I can tell you that...

Butter Pecan is a little too gold.
Buttercream is close, but not quite as yellow.
Golden Sand is WAY too dark.
Golden Wheat is almost too... greenish?
Goldilocks is a just a hair too... I want to say almost pink?  But is definitely the closest match of any of the colors I have on hand.  Also, the MPP I have has some pretty manky hair, so her condition may be the problem here.

Goldilocks is most definitely a closer match than Butter Pecan is, though

Thank you SOOOOOOO Much for that info! that was super helpful.

[sunshine29102]

for updated pics of my restoration project.  She's been rehaired, reassembled and reglued.  When the glue is dry I can cut/style her hair to look more like the original. 

Thanks again to Katika for her help in choosing a haircolor! =)

[Prideth]

Wow, she looks great Sunshine!  It looks like she's in really fantastic condition, and the new hair looks perfect!  Great job!!

[sunshine29102]

Wow, she looks great Sunshine!  It looks like she's in really fantastic condition, and the new hair looks perfect!  Great job!!

Thanks, Prideth! =)  I just finished trimming her hair and cleaning the little bit of excess glue from around her seams.  Pics to follow.

[mlp4me]

She's looking a lot better. :o)

[ponyqueen]

She's beautiful! I have one who's winky eye has fallen into her body. I didn't think I could get her apart without breaking her so I've never tried. Maybe I will give it a go! ANy advice, besides be careful? You said you used a flathead srewdriver...like how? Just prying? What's holding her together?

[lockette]

She is BEAUTIFUL, aahhhhhH!!

[sunshine29102]

She's beautiful! I have one who's winky eye has fallen into her body. I didn't think I could get her apart without breaking her so I've never tried. Maybe I will give it a go! ANy advice, besides be careful? You said you used a flathead srewdriver...like how? Just prying? What's holding her together?

Thank you! I'm not an expert by any means, but I might try to make a tutorial so others can restore these ponies. Hate to see them being under appreciated due to bad hair.

I used the flathead screwdriver to pry her open VERY slowly. The only thing holding her together is glue against the seams, and thankfully it's very old glue, and not a very thick layer of it.  The glue is along the seams, and there are little pins that snap into holes on the opposite sides.

[hathorcat]

Oh my! Her hair is gorgeous! So much nicer than her original type of hair! Great work.

[ajmeier55]

Very nice restore! Her hair is so soft and silky looking.