What will I do when I run out of ponies I want? The woes of collecting.

[tulagirl]

I use to enjoy buying pony lots early in my collecting.  It just seems like at this point they are not a good investment for me anymore.   I look for lots all of the time, but they are full of ponies I already have. I miss getting a lot of ponies in the mail to clean and adding them to my collection.  Now when I shop, I can usually only buy 1 or 2 at a time because, I have such a limited wanted list.  I have collected for so long now and, I have so many ponies.  What is it going to feel like when I run out of ponies I want?  The hunt for ponies is just as much fun as the package in the mail.  I feel I am getting so close to not needing very many.  Its kind of sad for me.  Has anyone felt this way before?

Also I wanted to add that I don't want to sell ponies.

[invaderhorizongreen]

why not hunt some ponies for a swap or to for fill someones wish list on  whim ? Or a random act of pony kindness.

[SFlame]

Well try nirvanas...never ending variations and ponies there...

[tulagirl]

Well, I never thought it would happen, but I am just worn out with swaps.  I don't think I can do anymore of those if they involve ponies.  Plus my wanted list is not a good one for swaps at this point.    Acts of kindness is something I do regularly. When it comes to Nirvanas...well, I am only drawn to a couple and not enough to collect those.  They are just too expensive for me to really go that route.  I am not as drawn to the ones that look so similar to non Nirvana ponies.  Those are good ideas though. Thanks for the thoughts.  I can't really get into customizing either.  Wish I could paint, but I am  not good at that.

[Elfpony]

I was updating my want list for a private swap recently, and I started to think about this too.  I always seem to have another pony that I want to add to my collection (collecting all four gens helps,) but I found that there wasn't all that much left in the G1 era that I could add to my list, or G3 for that matter.  But I've also noticed my tastes changing a bit in the last year, so I added some ponies that I previously wouldn't have wanted at all.  Still, it was an odd feeling, 15 years into collecting, to find myself struggling to add ponies to my want list for the first time.

That wasn't much help, more like comiserating. 

Elf

[TexasGal]

Well, you could practice painting and customizing, you could do rehairing, RAOPKs, host swaps, look for upgrades to your ponies (there is always a mintier pony out there, or so I hear), that kind of thing.  You could also start armies, and adding to them.  There are tons of amazing customs and customizers out there that would love to do more ponies for people! 

[hathorcat]

I am still an active collector and technically I am only on the look out for 2 more ponies and 3 more accessories

But I have plenty I would like to upgrade along with a couple of armies so that does help.

I dont think you need to be "buying" in order to be a collector. Does that make sense? For me there is still plenty of enjoyment in being a member of a big collecting community, talking about ponies, finding out about ponies, sharing information about ponies as well as tidying and maintaining my own collection.

I am sure if you have a big collection and because you have been collecting for so long with so much experience, even if you dont have any more ponies to purchase you will still manage to enjoy being a collector for the reasons I mentioned before.

[Galaxy]

I know what you mean.  I love buying ponies in lots, - that's how my collection expanded to 1000 +.  It became really difficult to find a pony that I hadn't got (and I tended to keep every possible varient of a pony too), so I hunted for upgrades, but even sorting through my collection to find out whether a pony was an upgrade or not could end up a big job and since I don't have space to display more than 30 at a time, most sit in boxes under the bed anyway. Now I am trying something different, partly because I need to raise money for other reasons and partly to bring back some of the excitement of finding that pony.  Those ponies that are fairly straightforward to get hold of, I am selling.  Then I will give myself challenges to get certain ponies when I want to change my display.  Kind of like storing the ponies with other collectors rather than under my bed!  In the end I prefer hunting for ponies online and getting ponies through the post to trawling through boxes under my bed.  I am keeping my nirvanas, most of whom I have found unexpectedly in lots.  This way, I can buy more lots and perhaps find one or two more nirvanas too!  Hopefully by doing this I will become a much more active collector again, because really it has really fizzled lately.

[MyLittleLambie]

Aren't there any custom ponies you want?  You could look for baits for customs!!  I want baby G1 ponies that were never made, more than I want any other pony! LOL

PS I've never customized a whole pony either. I've only just learned how to rehair.

[gypsyunicorn]

you could focus on merchandise if you don't already own all that...it is fun
I like the coloring books and puzzles
the puzzles are fun to put together, the coloring books I don't color in but I know you can make page copies and color those

[achab1984]

I have not come to that time yet with my collecting. I am not sure I ever will though. I am not much help here I know.

[ravengusty]

Perhaps you could try your hand at customizing or even buy some customs of other members who make them. We have many talented fellow pony lovers on here, and I always love seeing the new designs they can come up with.

I'm reasonably lucky because I'm early in my collection and still have many to find, also I collect Monster High so when I'm having a little break from pony buying I buys a few MH dolls and then go back to ponies.

Or perhaps some of your collection needs upgrading? Better examples of some of your fave ponies.

It's easy to get disheartened when collecting anything, perhaps you could take a break from buying and just enjoy your collection as it is for a little while? 

[Galactica]

Customs.

[Sunshine]

I agree, customs...  I thought myself for sure would be able to stay away from customs (other peoples customs) for my collection, but after being to the fair, not only can you have a pony that was never made that you now have (such as Baby Barnacle or something) but you also have a piece of artwork to boot! So, either customizing your own, or getting customs from others, is really fun!

Also, myself personally... like, I don't collect only "ponies I like" because I like them all, lol So I collect all G1 ponies... and right now, I can't buy any of the last ones I need because they don't come up very often, and when they do I'm not willing to pay some of the ridiculous ebay prices for them. I never find ponies at Goodwill or thrift stores EVER in my area, so, I basically branched out into Accessories too... now Accessories are some of my biggest... "thrills", if you will, since I am in the same boat as, "Every time I see a lot of ponies I have them all" - and if I don't it's going to go for such big bucks that it wouldn't matter, but I also enjoy having ponies come in to clean up and stuff - so I also go for other gens. I collect G2, G3 and G4, and between all of that, I know I'm -never- going to run out of stuff to collect!

[ashlyne]

My wantlist is very limited too, and has been for a few years now. I will still buy a giant lot if it's got one thing I need, just because that thing is usually really hard to find.  I clean up the stuff that I don't need and sell/trade them at meets and Fairs.   I do a little of this when I upgrade ponies too, buy in lots, keep the upgrade, sell the extra.  It can be a lot to manage, but it's still fun seeing a big package of ponies on my doorstep

If you're not interested in any more ponies than what you have, you can start collecting accessories for the ponies you've already got.   Speaking from experience, accessory collecting can be just as exciting as pony collecting!   

Another thing you could do is work on the way you display your ponies.   Like, create scenes for them.   Buy some non-MLP accessories and print some backdrops.  Make a soda-shop scene for your ice-cream themed ponies.  A petting zoo for your animal-themed ponies.