The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: FarDreamer on January 17, 2015, 10:10:08 PM

Title: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: FarDreamer on January 17, 2015, 10:10:08 PM

 . . . for awhile.

Howdy,

So I haven't been on the boards in forever, I haven't updated my website in months and months and months, I haven't hardly entered my pony room, and all work on turning it into a giant diorama has halted.

What happened?

I want to move SO BAD!!!

My husband and I have wanted to move back to Michigan, closer to our families, forever.  We've tried several times but have always had a hard time finding jobs there.  That's not unusual, nearly everyone we went to college with moved to the east coast for jobs after.  Now he has a phone interview for a REALLY good position in Ann Arbor this Tuesday.  All I can think about is moving.  I'm already collecting packing materials and such as it's the only thing I'm motivated to do.  I think the anticipation is going to be the end of me.  It's 1:00 am and here I am still awake because I can't stop thinking about it.

I can't be the only one.  Anyone else have things that makes you totally a pony zombie at times?

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Salli on January 17, 2015, 10:36:18 PM

Life in general can numb me to anything/everything sometimes. I feel like its almost like a sparkler firework. I get all this energy, then it burns out and feels hollow for a while. Then the spark comes back and it starts over.

I think it makes total sense for your brain to not invest anything in your current place if you are hoping/trying to move. Your brain might even think it would be betraying your desire to go, kind of jinxing the possibility, if you do anything that might 'anchor' you to where you are.

Don't worry, it'll come back. :) And best of luck with the interview!

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: northstar3184 on January 17, 2015, 11:27:39 PM

I had joined the arena back in 2009 after my interest in ponies was renewed for the first time since childhood (I can't remember what brought that about). At that time, I began collecting petite ponies. Then I quickly lost interest in the franchise and left the arena. Half a decade later, the nostalgia from revisiting the MLP cartoons resparked my interest in 2014 and brought me back, this time with an interested in collecting G3s.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Junipur on January 17, 2015, 11:34:33 PM

For me it is when I can´t find any ponies, or if my luck changes and I find stuff for one or more of my other collections, then I spend time on that instead.
Lateley I have started being more serious in driving with my rl pony, and that takes up a lot of time too, so basically, just life in general :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: prancingstag on January 18, 2015, 01:35:27 AM

As a G4 collector, sometimes it's disappointment in the lack of new characters and exciting releases in the line. As a G1 collector, sometimes it's a feeling of hopelessness at the fact that the vast majority of ponies are in other countries and I'm a scrooge when it comes to paying extra for shipping :P Also when money is scarce my interest in spending on anything goes away, handy dandy for my bank account. Frivolities are the first to take a hit so on slow months, ponies are completely dead to me.

Orrr something new and shiny could come along and take all my excitement with it. Six months ago that was Zelfs, and now it's Monster High. I'm completely enamored with posing/playing with my dolls and swapping fashions. I've been meaning to sell off some of my pony stuff for a long while and recently I considered shedding the whole collection and just focusing on dolls. But I'm going to dust them all off, organise them nicely on the bottom shelves and just wait for the pony love to come back. I know it will eventually, it always does. Last time it was TAF Scoops that pulled me back in... I'm just going to sit tight and wait for my next pony to come along and demand that I get them, as usual.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Miniature Sheep on January 18, 2015, 03:02:28 AM

Wow, that sounds exciting! Fingers crossed for you and your husband!
My interest in ponies tends to come in little waves; I'll have a break from them for a while and then come back to them later with a renewed buzz. Lately I've been more into collecting maneki-nekos and checking out new music but ponies have started catching my attention again over the past couple of weeks. :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: CupidStrikes on January 18, 2015, 04:31:51 AM

As a G4 collector, it's usually a lack of new characters, or, like in 2013/4, the majority of new characters being exclusive to US-stores, meaning we're unlikely to see them, or see them at a high-mark up (plus, the store that carries the Wal-mart exclusives is nowhere near me :( ). Sure I can order them off Ebay or from other collectors but it really kills the thrill of waiting for them to appear on the shelf, and the excitement when you find new ponies when you least expect them.

I also collect G1s, but trying to find them in good condition, for a decent price (and in this country, because international shipping is so expensive these days), and then not get into a bidding war... :(

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Scraleos on January 18, 2015, 04:49:25 AM

The biggest thing for me is lack of money, if I can't buy any ponies, then it's just same old on my pony shelf lol. Another one of the biggest things is the lack of G4 characters and the prices of them in the UK. A $10 pony in the US is most likely £10 or more over here, and I feel as if I am getting a little cheated by Hasbro. The US exclusives need to shift over here too!

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Taxel on January 18, 2015, 05:23:28 AM

For me its been dealing with shipping costs, since I don't collect G4 anymore. In reality its not that much for me, usually, but if I can buy a doll at the store with no shipping fee I'll usually go that route. Money's been a bit tight lately and my interests have been scattered at best, so most of my new toys have been from holidays. Its not really possible for me to send my relatives all over eBay, Etsy, etc chasing ponies.

The only new ponies I've acquired in a couple of years came from gifts, a few from relatives buying them for me in person when I was visiting them and a massive box from a friend who traded things to get them for me. I miss getting pony mail, and boy do I miss adding to my Sundance army, but things keep popping up! I just "inherited" an antique doll collection so they're gonna eat up all my money for a while. Plus I need to get entirely new craft supplies, I need a better lightbox so I can photograph my current ponies (and other things), I need backgrounds for that lightbox... it just goes on and on!

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Sky_Rocket on January 18, 2015, 05:40:25 AM

Bad deals.  High Shipping costs.  Not finding anything in the second hand stores.  No Time to check the second hand stores.


Bad Deals - Bought a few MOC or MIB's off ebay.  MOC Magic Hat's bubble cracked in shipping.  MOC Baby Katie and Friend were packaged so badly they came off the card and the seller claimed "not my fault".  MIB Oakley was taken from the package, played with and put back in (this was from a very reputable seller).

All in all, that worked out to about $400 lost.  Yea, I still got the ponies, but I paid for XX and got xx and had to fight with sellers, with no resolution.  I don't like fighting with people, which makes collecting less enjoyable.

High shipping costs - I lived in Canada and ebay switched it's shipping to priority only for international buyers if the seller want to be insured.  Lovely!  that means the $15 pony I bought is now $32+ b/c of shipping.  And then there are those that won't even ship international.....sigh.  I wonder how that's worked out for the sellers?

Not finding anything the in Second Hand Market/ Not having time to go the second hand stores - I used to go to toy shows three times a year.  Someone else pays $50 to get in early and buys all the ponies.  And then my job turned into 10 hours days, which met I had no time to go second hand shopping.  It also meant that I had no time to go through ebay (where shipping costs are now too much) or scour the boards for things I'd like.

I guess that means collecting is all about the collecting for me. 

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DazzleKitty on January 18, 2015, 06:07:18 AM

Sometimes I just get a burnout for no reason at all. I go really strong for a while, buy a bunch of ponies, but then suddenly the fire is burnt out and I lose interest. Usually it's when another collection starts to take precedence or I find a video game I get really addicted to.

Right now a big frustration, as others have said, is shipping prices. Especially when someone in my own country on an eBay auction wants to charge shipping of $10 for ONE pony. I think they are taking money from these shipping prices and putting it in their own pocket.

Right now I do have money to blow on ponies. I just made over $1,000 on eBay selling my manga collection (I had a big collection and I just didn't care about it in anymore). I am working on finally getting ones I really want and shipping isn't such a big deal now, especially when buying from overseas because I have money to blow.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DaffyDilly on January 18, 2015, 06:33:47 AM

For me it's a focus on real life. I haven't lost interest and only yesterday I was off pony hunting. But I want to pay off my credit card and buy a house. I amassed maybe 600 ponies in 4 years and as a result I don't think that I did many of them justice. So I'm selling the vast majority to raise funds but also so that I can focus on the ones that I keep and enjoy them as individuals. :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: hathorcat on January 18, 2015, 07:52:50 AM

The drama :P Sometimes the pony world comes with waaaaaay more drama than little plastic toys should ever demand. Thats the only thing for me which sometimes makes me want to retreat and stop collecting. But thats such a teeny tiny part of the whole thing its usually only a 5 minute strop before I move on and am happy about ponies again. 

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: mlp4me on January 18, 2015, 08:51:43 AM

What causes a lack of interest for me is rl stuff taking up my entire day and then some. Some days I really don't have the time if I work 14 hours. I used to go out thrifting once or twice a week, don't even have time to do that anymore...  Also, knowing the last ponies I need for my G1 collection are more htf (and I'm holding off as long as I can from going to ebay for them so this will take forever). However, I do try to stay active here daily, even if it's only for a few mins.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Sora on January 18, 2015, 09:50:54 AM

Not enough ponies out there on shelves - Too many US only ponies. And when they do hit the UK, the markup is beyond a joke for many exclusives *cough*TRU*cough*.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: HoustonCollector72 on January 18, 2015, 10:09:25 AM

I have not been there yet, hopefully never . Guess when I travel, but even last time I went away I came back with ponies LOL :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: rtattles on January 18, 2015, 11:07:14 AM

I lose interest when I have the following, normally multiple factors taking place simultaneously:

-lack of space
-lack of money
-ponies getting too expensive
-surrounded by collectors friends who are no longer interested in ponies

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Majesty on January 18, 2015, 11:15:37 AM

Every now and then I lose interest.  It happens to every pony collector at some point I think.  If you are tired of looking at them you could always store them in a place where they won't get damaged or get mold or anything until you are ready for them again.  Don't sell them, because you may regret it after and you'll have to spend more money to get them back.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Marlin on January 18, 2015, 11:30:52 AM

Sour deals, and drama and immaturity as someone else said.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Bothvar on January 18, 2015, 11:35:18 AM

I've been out of the community before, but that one was G4 based.
But what made me lose interest was;

Lack of respect
Sexism
Innapropriate behavior towards woman (I.e; Sexual harassment)
General childishness
General superiorism (of the G4 base.)
General negativity

Now I'm trying again but just.. sort of trying to steer clear of men/G4 base. Sorry guys I know a lot of nice people are out there. But I've had some way crappy experiences

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: cricket on January 18, 2015, 12:30:40 PM

I come and go.  I still love my ponies when I'm on hiatus but sometimes I need a break from the community and ponies taking a center stage in my life.  Usually the hiatus is related to having a baby and since I'm not planning to have anymore I may be here awhile longer this time. I second the advice not to sell anything if you decide to go away.  You will miss it when you return and it may not be so easy to get back again. 

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DazzleKitty on January 18, 2015, 12:39:50 PM

Quote from: Bothvar on January 18, 2015, 11:35:18 AM

I've been out of the community before, but that one was G4 based.
But what made me lose interest was;

Lack of respect
Sexism
Innapropriate behavior towards woman (I.e; Sexual harassment)
General childishness
General superiorism (of the G4 base.)
General negativity

Now I'm trying again but just.. sort of trying to steer clear of men/G4 base. Sorry guys I know a lot of nice people are out there. But I've had some way crappy experiences

This is why I steer clear of most brony communities. These things tend to breed there.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: lovesbabysquirmy on January 18, 2015, 12:44:38 PM

...Realizing that there is something else in my life that holds more value than displayable vinyl figurines?

Personally in my life I am trying to balance a household of 3 people and about 30 collections, and paying for the property that stores them all is more important than having MORE plastic to put on shelves.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Silver Glade on January 18, 2015, 01:14:12 PM

Lack of variety for any current gen stuff - it started with G3's Bore Seven, and continues with G4.  I used to enjoy pony hunting in stores, but I haven't done it much for years now because of the redundancies in toy releases, and the crappier quality of toys overall.  :(

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Jupiter on January 18, 2015, 06:34:43 PM

G4  obviously is the incredible lack of variety, though I do still buy the blind bags when I find a new wave. In general though my decreased cruising of ebay is due to a desire to  move and reduce the amount of stuff I have and not keep adding to my pile by buying more ponies. Other factors  are personal debts to pay off, the ponies I don't have from US line tend to go for more than I want to pay, a feeling of ' what's the point since I just put them in storage boxes when i get them'  I don't have the space to display many ponies at once anymore.

  I tend to take long hiatuses from the arena too whenever my collecting desire declines. Thrift stores are disappointing too, I'm shocked if I find a pony from any gen at any of my area thrift shops, when I do find anything it tends to be a  McD that i don't want anyway -_-

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Bothvar on January 19, 2015, 12:37:06 AM

Quote from: DazzleKitty on January 18, 2015, 12:39:50 PM

Quote from: Bothvar on January 18, 2015, 11:35:18 AM

I've been out of the community before, but that one was G4 based.
But what made me lose interest was;

Lack of respect
Sexism
Innapropriate behavior towards woman (I.e; Sexual harassment)
General childishness
General superiorism (of the G4 base.)
General negativity

Now I'm trying again but just.. sort of trying to steer clear of men/G4 base. Sorry guys I know a lot of nice people are out there. But I've had some way crappy experiences

This is why I steer clear of most brony communities. These things tend to breed there.

Sad but true...

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DireRabbit on January 19, 2015, 01:07:25 AM

I suffer from anxiety and depression and sometimes the two working together will cause me to lose interest in the things that make me happy. It's a very sad feeling. I feel like I'm play-acting: I went from "Wow somebody on the Arena got one of my favorite ponies, I'm so jealous/happy for them!" to not feeling anything. Also, money...

Sometimes it causes me to grasp at a new obsession, a new thing to collect or learn about.

In the end though I always remember that learning about ponies and having my own collection really does make me happy.

I don't collect G4 but I do enjoy watching the show...that is until unwanted exposure to the brony culture causes me to lose all interest periodically. Basically what Bothvar said.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Shimmer Mist on January 19, 2015, 01:29:46 AM

Definitly the drama as a few have stated.

Before I found this site I was really starting to get burn out on ponies because of the Brony fandom to be quite honest. Don't get me wrong, many are awesome, talented, and have a good sense of humor but many take it WAY too seriously. It was a bit tiring after a while.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Katika on January 19, 2015, 05:50:28 AM

I'm a creature of habit and quite resistant to change, so every time Hasbro majorly changes the line's direction, I lose interest.  I quit caring about ponies when I was a child when G2 started coming around.  It wasn't until I found G3s in college that nostalgia hit and I started collecting (go figure, I was willing to bring in G2s this time, lol), slowed down with the Core 7 and stopped completely with G3.5.  That worked out well because, as some other people mentioned, real life hindered my disposable income that could safely go towards something as frivolous as ponies.  G4 came around and I was still mad at the changes (I miss chunky, wholesome-looking ponies!), but two or three years in to the line, I happened to pick some up as baits and it snowballed from there.

I wouldn't say that I ever *lose interest* in ponies, since I've never completely said I quit and sold any of my collection off, but there are definitely times when other priorities far surpass my ponies and I simply put them on hold :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: kakenterprise on January 19, 2015, 06:25:13 AM

I keep thinking about moving myself and I can't help but think if I had less of a collection it would make things easier.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: doxiechic16 on January 19, 2015, 06:25:47 AM

I think I go through phases with ponies.  I’ll get really excited about the hunt for a particular pony or ponies, go on a spending spree, and then I’ll cool off for a while and just casually lurk on the Arena and ebay.  I’ve taken long breaks after FINALLY getting a major grail – I guess I think, “Now that I have her, what else could I possibly want?”  (Also, major grail purchases tend to involve lots of $$$$ and may warrant a break from actively collecting.)  Things going on in real life (busy with work, family things, additional personal expenses, a new video game, a new book series, etc.) will take my attention away from collecting, too.

This Godfather meme is pretty accurate for how my collecting habits go:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Karma on January 19, 2015, 11:39:08 AM

I have PTSD, and one of my triggers is styling size Rainbow Dash G3, Styling Pinkie G3.5 and one other pony I have a hard time remembering at the moment. When I see them, I panic and have a hard time thinking of ponies in a positive light.
Luckily that fades pretty quickly.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: ponycake on January 19, 2015, 11:46:35 AM

Quote from: Sky_Rocket on January 18, 2015, 05:40:25 AM

Bad deals.  High Shipping costs.  Not finding anything in the second hand stores.  No Time to check the second hand stores.


Bad Deals - Bought a few MOC or MIB's off ebay.  MOC Magic Hat's bubble cracked in shipping.  MOC Baby Katie and Friend were packaged so badly they came off the card and the seller claimed "not my fault".  MIB Oakley was taken from the package, played with and put back in (this was from a very reputable seller).

All in all, that worked out to about $400 lost.  Yea, I still got the ponies, but I paid for XX and got xx and had to fight with sellers, with no resolution.  I don't like fighting with people, which makes collecting less enjoyable.

High shipping costs - I lived in Canada and ebay switched it's shipping to priority only for international buyers if the seller want to be insured.  Lovely!  that means the $15 pony I bought is now $32+ b/c of shipping.  And then there are those that won't even ship international.....sigh.  I wonder how that's worked out for the sellers?

Not finding anything the in Second Hand Market/ Not having time to go the second hand stores - I used to go to toy shows three times a year.  Someone else pays $50 to get in early and buys all the ponies.  And then my job turned into 10 hours days, which met I had no time to go second hand shopping.  It also meant that I had no time to go through ebay (where shipping costs are now too much) or scour the boards for things I'd like.

I guess that means collecting is all about the collecting for me. 

I know how you feel. I got a MIB Pony Bride, I forget which one. Her veil came loose in shipping and it's slumped in there and her hair's kind of covering her face. -_- Feels like a waste. I should open the box up to fix it really, I don't like looking at it otherwise. I also had a MOC Baby Katie come and get more damaged in shipping, funny (in the odd way) that you did too. Then someone sent a flutter just wrapped in paper and that got a little crushed (not badly), and I got these awesome 80s MLP kids shoes NIB and that seller did the same thing, wrapped it in paper and sent it so the shoe box was all nice and new but got all crushed down. URGH. And less expensive a mib g3 I bought looked perfect on the auction and had a bit of a crushed bubble when I got it but they had instantly left me good feedback and idk why but I'd feel like an ass to raise an issue with them. *shrug*

Anyway, for me it just happens. I get busy with some other hobby or life and forget about MLP for a while. I did all of high school which is why I didn't buy anything g3, which I regret now.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: 01mlplover on January 19, 2015, 11:49:40 AM

When the ponies change different gens and body styles. It's hard for me to start liking the new styles.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: InkyMilk on January 19, 2015, 11:58:44 AM

For me it's a mixture of finances and display options. I realize when I had my ponies all displayed I felt compelled to buy more. They were separated into groups and I really wanted to complete those groups so they could all be whole and it was awesome when I managed to track a new one down to join the herd. But it left me conflicted since I also realized that I didn't feel entirely comfortable having all my toys out in display that way (plus I was literally running out of room), so I boxed a majority of them up. Since then, that urge to acquire has lessened since I know she'll just eventually go in a box. Added that I started to worry I was spending too much money on ponies (I wasn't, I'm just a Scrooge), just made it worse.

Now I'm slowly easing myself back into it and really trying to focus on one pony at a time. It helps that Sunset Shimmer was released as a fashion style pony now and she's instantly captured my heart!

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: wystearya on January 19, 2015, 02:28:26 PM

Boredom.   When the same pose and colors and such are used over and over and over...

At times I also tend to feel like if you have seen (or own) one pony, you have seen them all. 

I get bored easy, so if it's not new or somehow 'fun' for me, I am done.   I think this is why I like the Pony POP sets so much.  You can change them around, and for me, that is fun.  :)

I have also found I enjoy my 'junk' much more when I have less of it.  I can see what I have.  I have chosen my most favorites to keep, and I honestly don't miss the things I have sold.   I also like selling old things, to make room for new things.  It's like a trade.   ^.^

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: ladyleaf3 on January 19, 2015, 03:49:23 PM

Depression :/

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DazzleKitty on January 19, 2015, 03:50:03 PM

Quote from: ladyleaf3 on January 19, 2015, 03:49:23 PM

Depression :/

I can relate to that one... It makes me lose interest in everything.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Wildshadow on January 19, 2015, 09:54:40 PM

A bunch of stuff for me, right now it's lack of motivation. I feel the need then it fades away when I start on it. Then I don't have shelves to put them on at the moment... then computer and phone and movies and DVR get in the way as well... And I have probably have hundreds of ponies/other collections to wash when I can get shelves.... Never ending cycle I hope that ends soon D=

I still keep buying a few here and there, but they end up staying in the shipping boxes they came in, or G4's stay in the box when I buy them...

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: reanna-mator on January 19, 2015, 10:31:03 PM

Mmm... for me it's usually overexposure that does it. I spend too much time shopping, browsing, grooming, etc and it I get to this "what in the world am I doing with myself" phase. A little time away from the hobby lets me come back fresh.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Strandperle on January 20, 2015, 04:11:27 AM

I have to admit that I vanish from the boards from time to time (although I make sure that all trades and sales are concluded before a hiatus, of course), and during summer I'm much less active... I have a fulltime job and two horses, and a house that has to be fixed, and way too little money to handle all these things without too much stress. I also have some issues with depressions, and that makes the whole thing worse (I know how you feel, ladyleaf and DazzleKitty).
I never really lost interest, I just have no time most of the year :/ I'm still hunting on flea markets and so on, but I don't write at the boards during these phases or update my website.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Honeycomb on January 20, 2015, 05:33:53 AM

So far I have only once completely lost interest in MLP, the forums and everything surrounding something as "useless" (at that point I thought it was), and that was in the late summer of 2009 while I was going through a rough break-up and only existed in my own little bubble, not caring whether I lived or died, let alone ponies.
I do not hope to be in such a mood ever again, and I don't wish it on anyone else either.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: scarletjul on January 20, 2015, 09:27:46 PM

Lots of things make me lose interest.  Lack of money.  Lack of new, interesting ponies.  Interest in another hobby.  Real life problems.  Stress.

But eventually I come back to them.  :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Beth3346 on January 20, 2015, 10:01:00 PM

For me its usually lack of funds and overexposure.  When I first started collecting I spent most of my free time and extra money collecting. I pretty much always had a pony or two on the way.  This went on for a year or so.  I always expected that I would eventually get bored with collecting and sell them all.  This didn't happen but I did get overwhelmed by my collection.  I felt like it was taking over.  I sold of about a third of my collection and i never got back into collecting on such a high level.

I want to focus my resources on other areas, taking care of my house, work, clothes, etc.  Now I try to limit my collecting to buying ponies every few months when I have extra money or for swaps.  Its difficult to stay interested in a hobby when life starts to take over.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: BerryMouse on January 20, 2015, 11:02:46 PM

Lots of things.
There are only a few ponies left I would really like to own.
Then sometimes the vibes of the pony boards (not only the arena but also other boards) are annoying me from time to time - it's prolly me and not the ppl but these are the times I want to quit everything... and that sadly happens much often lately.
Also shipping from overseas raised so much over the past few years that I don't wanna buy there so there's not much options left to get new ponies. =)
I think these are my main reasons for losing interest in ponies.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: CottonTALE on January 21, 2015, 07:17:56 AM

For me it's Bronies.... or at least the brony fandom as a whole.

They have taken what is an innocent, lovable series and have perverted it beyond repair. Most bronies I know are ignorant, childish, self-centred and very much think that they are the target audience (not the little girls) I heard one brony say that the show is not for little girls anymore because of the finale in season 4. Just because there's an action scene, that automatically makes it theirs and not for the intended audience.

Then there are the bronies who lay "claim" over certain characters, such as when I say Fluttershy is my favourite pony, they yell at me and say "No, she's my favourite. Therefore you aren't allowed to like her"

That being said, I only collect G4 ponies, G3/G4 Fluttershy things and the Equestria Girls dolls (so far.) I had some people over at my house and when they saw my collection, they said "Oh you're a brony?" and I almost lost my cool on them. I refuse to be ascociated with such people.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Artemesia's Garden on January 21, 2015, 03:03:07 PM

I met a brony that I like at Ponycon to be fair he's the only brony I ever met so I'm doing well. I don't think bony culture is all bad. The only thing that turns me off ponies is my own lack of space and time to enjoy them.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: northstar3184 on January 21, 2015, 03:16:27 PM

Quote from: Artemesia Floc on January 21, 2015, 03:03:07 PM

I met a brony that I like at Ponycon to be fair he's the only brony I ever met so I'm doing well. I don't think bony culture is all bad. The only thing that turns me off ponies is my own lack of space and time to enjoy them.

Quote from: CottonTALE on January 21, 2015, 07:17:56 AM

For me it's Bronies.... or at least the brony fandom as a whole.

They have taken what is an innocent, lovable series and have perverted it beyond repair. Most bronies I know are ignorant, childish, self-centred and very much think that they are the target audience (not the little girls) I heard one brony say that the show is not for little girls anymore because of the finale in season 4. Just because there's an action scene, that automatically makes it theirs and not for the intended audience.

Then there are the bronies who lay "claim" over certain characters, such as when I say Fluttershy is my favourite pony, they yell at me and say "No, she's my favourite. Therefore you aren't allowed to like her"

That being said, I only collect G4 ponies, G3/G4 Fluttershy things and the Equestria Girls dolls (so far.) I had some people over at my house and when they saw my collection, they said "Oh you're a brony?" and I almost lost my cool on them. I refuse to be ascociated with such people.

I've heard the term "brony" before and always thought it just meant male fan of MLP, but the way its used above has me confused. Can some clarify the definition for me?

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DazzleKitty on January 21, 2015, 03:25:00 PM

Quote from: CottonTALE on January 21, 2015, 07:17:56 AM

For me it's Bronies.... or at least the brony fandom as a whole.

They have taken what is an innocent, lovable series and have perverted it beyond repair. Most bronies I know are ignorant, childish, self-centred and very much think that they are the target audience (not the little girls) I heard one brony say that the show is not for little girls anymore because of the finale in season 4. Just because there's an action scene, that automatically makes it theirs and not for the intended audience.

Then there are the bronies who lay "claim" over certain characters, such as when I say Fluttershy is my favourite pony, they yell at me and say "No, she's my favourite. Therefore you aren't allowed to like her"

That being said, I only collect G4 ponies, G3/G4 Fluttershy things and the Equestria Girls dolls (so far.) I had some people over at my house and when they saw my collection, they said "Oh you're a brony?" and I almost lost my cool on them. I refuse to be ascociated with such people.

Behavior like this has almost killed my love of FiM, but I can't let a group of morons ruin something that I love. However, I will avoid them. What really gets me is how they blast previous generations. MLP has its roots and the older generations don't need to "burn". I'll admit the G1 cartoons are cheesy but they are MLP's foundation.

At first I thought it was great more men got into MLP. Now I'm pretty saddened about the existance of bronies. I know not all are bad, there are good ones. But I don't want to be labed as a brony. I'm a collector and MLP fan.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Loa on January 21, 2015, 03:27:12 PM

I lost interest in the newest wave, from 3.5 onwards. They no longer had the sparkle I enjoyed.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: CupidStrikes on January 21, 2015, 06:05:16 PM

Quote from: northstar3184 on January 21, 2015, 03:16:27 PM

I've heard the term "brony" before and always thought it just meant male fan of MLP, but the way its used above has me confused. Can some clarify the definition for me?

It's a term that was used for any older male fan of MLP, but has come to also be used to mean the group of bad egg older male fans that try to ruin it for everyone else :shrug: There's some in every fanbase, sadly. For the record, all of the self-proclaimed "bronies" I've met have been really lovely, friendly people, so whilst I've seen a few people use it to only mean the bad eggs, not everyone uses it in a negative way.

I've seen some female fans call themselves "bronies", too, though I think the term "pegasister" is more common :lol:

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: OLumeVaSti on January 21, 2015, 06:07:35 PM

I usually get obsessed with something else. I did get fed up G4 and sold them and needing money desperately due to my husband's illness didn't help. I do have my G1s and a few G3s displayed in the living room in an old entertainment center. When people comment on it my interest peaks back up.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: SourdoughStomper on January 21, 2015, 06:23:17 PM

I started losing interest when the Core 7 of the G3s were released. Over and over and . . . over.  Nothing has reignited my interest.

However, I even lost interest in collecting the older toys. Maybe because there are just too many "grown-up problems" demanding my time and attention. My deteriorating health became more important to me than plastic.  In fact, maybe in my desire to discover the roots of my illness and my push to try to minimize my exposure to toxins, I grew wary of the old ponies with their breaking-down plastic and phthalates.

I have to spend money on vitamins, thyroid supplements, saliva tests, switching to expensive organic foods and grass-fed beef. All sorts of things like that. Doesn't leave me with pony money.

Then there's also the realization that, in the end, it all turns to dust anyway. Better to focus on things that really matter to me. If I could figure out the most satisfying way to thin my ponies out without expending too much time and energy, I would probably do it. Sometimes, I think I should just donate it all to Value Village and let the local kids/collectors have at it. I haven't done that yet since I guess I'm still attached to them just enough.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Galactica on January 21, 2015, 07:24:19 PM

There was a lot of unfair deaths in my life last year- and I think as a result I was feeling especially blue at Christmas (which inevitably is a weird time when certain people are missing) and disenchanted with my toys.

I actually ended up gathering all my MOC stuff - nothing valuable or vintage, just the g4 brushables that were essentially different versions of the first, and all my boxed Monster High/Ever After dolls, and even some Strawberry Shortcake dolls- and dumping it all in the Toys for Tots bin of the Bartell's in the building where I work.  I guess I liked the idea of some kid being happy to get this stuff that wasn't bringing me joy and which I didn't have the energy to sell. 

Also trying hard not to collect new stuff, but that is actually harder...

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: starrypawz on January 22, 2015, 07:28:28 AM

I've sort of put ponies on a backbuner/lost interest over the last year and a bit.

It started with me being unemployed and just during that time I wasn't in a great place, and of course money issues because I was claiming JSA so had a very limited amount of funds so couldn't really buy any ponies and stuff, and even though I started studying and have a bit more money because of student finance it's just been hard to get back into ponies, like I'm out of the loop and at least with FiM I just don't see much in the current toy line I want, haven't caught up with the show, and just I mean I need to get my collection sorted out but just haven't had the time/motivation. I still love mlp but at the moment my motivation for anything collecting based has sort of gone lately and I also sort of stopped hanging around here as well.

And like a lot of the time the 'you shouldn't be buying toys or anything that's /not essential/' kicks in as well so that's been dampening my interest. Like even though I know it's good to occasionally get something indulgent as a 'sanity break' it's like 'But that's 15 quid, so that's like nearly two days worth of train fare!'

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Truly on January 22, 2015, 09:02:02 AM

Mental illness (PTSD, Depression, etc) has really hit me hard, though I may not be collecting I still love my ponies and currently I'm just browsing through people's collections and such here online, and just looking at pretty ponies in my room and on eBay etc.
Postage prices lately have also caused me to not buy as much actively, and also I think I may be nearing completion of the sets I like.
Also being bullied/picked on over my collection doesn't help, especially from people who I care about.... It just takes some joy away...
Also as much as I hate to say it, the bad eggs of bronies. But otherwise than the usual bad eggs of this fandom, the rest are fantastic and I love seeing you guys around! Thank you for being great members of the pony community!
Another thing that makes me disheartened in ponies in generation hate, and when I went to look for funko ponies there was two guys and one had pony stuff and I got excited to see another pony fan around and trying to get up the courage to say hello to make a new friend, as they were in line to buy their pony stuff, the guys friend was excited too and asked if his friend had seen g1 ponies at which his friend said very unkind things, the boy that asked about g1 ponies looked really sad at all the things his friend was saying and went quiet and looked away. It just made me really sad to see that.
And the amount of times on my deviantart ages ago that I had to put in my description to not say negative things about the generation of the pony as it has nothing to do with my art, and well they mean a lot to me and there's no need to be so hateful really. I appreciate critique if I had the colours too dark or whatever, but seriously, I don't need a comment on how much you hate g1 ponies, it was a picture for myself of my childhood pony, I do not want to hear it... I just don't understand the hate, no one is forcing anyone to like different ponies, it's just silly.
But yeah, going through a big rough patch where family refuse to acknowledge my existence and knowing that other mental illness that I have is incurable, unresolved break up, etc has really taken the sparkle and joy out of ponies that used to be there... They still make me happy, and I'm definitely keeping them, but still, just waiting for the sparkle to come back into my life again and to get back into collecting :)

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Karma on January 22, 2015, 09:20:20 AM

Quote from: CupidStrikes on January 21, 2015, 06:05:16 PM

Quote from: northstar3184 on January 21, 2015, 03:16:27 PM

I've heard the term "brony" before and always thought it just meant male fan of MLP, but the way its used above has me confused. Can some clarify the definition for me?

It's a term that was used for any older male fan of MLP, but has come to also be used to mean the group of bad egg older male fans that try to ruin it for everyone else :shrug: There's some in every fanbase, sadly. For the record, all of the self-proclaimed "bronies" I've met have been really lovely, friendly people, so whilst I've seen a few people use it to only mean the bad eggs, not everyone uses it in a negative way.

I've seen some female fans call themselves "bronies", too, though I think the term "pegasister" is more common :lol:

In this connotation we're meaning the "Me" bronies, that are self-entitled and celebrate taking something away from little girls (my brony group had a post like that and I just about went to all of their houses to give them severe talking to) and over sexualize ponies, not the  kind bronies I more call "fans of friendship" who enjoy the show and use that enjoyment to further enhance the enjoyment for others, rather than detract.
I have this issue too, as there used to be more fans of friendship in my area, but they all got fed up with the "me" bronies and left. 

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Cobblestone on January 22, 2015, 08:42:13 PM

When there are other serious things going on in my life, ponies go on the back burner. Sometimes it takes months or years for things to cool down (and of course, money is always something to be aware of).

Other than that, sometimes the community will turn me off or I'm not into what's going on right now. I'm pretty exclusively a G1 fan overall (save a few G2s for reasons I don't understand) so things are slow a lot.

 :think:

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: disturbed-rainbow on January 23, 2015, 02:53:07 AM

My deal was I fell in too fast, and hasbro kept repeating the same characters, I grew impatient with going to the toy aisle and not seeing what I wanted, you know, a new pony.. I ended up getting into EAH and mh so it kinda dwindles my ponies out, I still have over 40 at I couldn't part with...

But with the new pops and the water ponies, I ended up spending $50 yesterday on the hasbro site.. Lol I don't think its a reintroduction to the pony craze, but I do feel a little more joy haha.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: maycrestmom on January 23, 2015, 06:27:18 AM

so many good answers in this thread thanks to everyone's thoughtfulness for sharing

I second

drama... especially since for me it's never been about the stuff - I love hanging with fun pony peeps so really don't need or care for drama over stuff

real life hitting like a tsunami kinda like others said  = crisis crap wakes ya up and forces priorities and it's not gonna be spent styling pony hair... that for me was huge last year for me to realize at the end of the day  life is like a monopoly board game and after the game is done and it's time to pack up, I don't want to be so attached thinking "I'm the hat" instead of I just move the hat that I get put away in the box... stuff is just stuff but the time spent with friends is the reason we hang here, go to meets, make customs, do swaps etc.  so when that can't happen for me, pony interest fades

I really hope to see you guys again before you two move but I am excited for you all as I know that's been a goal of yours for awhile so fingers crossed and sending good vibes your way  :hug:

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: MJNSEIFER on January 23, 2015, 01:25:44 PM

There hasn't really been anything that makes me lose interest in ponies.  I mean, season 4 of FIM contained a lot of badly thought out decisions, and it and season 3 very rarely had the charm that the previous seasons, and previous generations had, but I haven't lost interest in ponies as a whole.

Can I just say, I'm pleased to hear that there are people on this site who know that they're are more than one types of bronies out there - I always try to avoid being that guy who points out that "not all bronies are like that", and I am fully aware of how bad bronies can be from experience, but I do feel bad sometimes that the bad bronies ("me bronies", as Karma called them) can have such an impact, that other ponyfans feel that they are all like that.

I know this is off topic, but it just makes me feel better seeing that people know that there are different types of bronies out there, especially after people here don't seem to hear me when I say that there are some bronies who don't want to be treated like the main audience (but at the same time, appreciate the subtle shout-outs like in season 2). 

Thanks, it means a lot to me.  Sorry for going off topic, but it really does mean a lot to me.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Ianthe99 on January 23, 2015, 03:09:07 PM

For me, I'm mainly a G1 collector. I'm getting down to the point where the ones I want are the more expensive ones. I really can't be spending a lot of money on ponies, and really, the part I like best about collecting is getting them as inexpensively as possible. So, at this point, I just collect whatever I find thrifting, which isn't much,vintage pony-wise.

That, and I'm running out of space. I collect SO MANY vintage toy lines, my house is overrun! There is stuff everywhere, and it's starting to make me crazy.

I've been gone from here for a while.. just doing other things.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Sarah-Bee on January 24, 2015, 04:33:18 AM

Nothing really makes temporarily lose interest any more but when I moved into my new house I did then. I set the pony room up and that was so much fun but then the newness of having my own home and all the responsibility of that, along with getting my first cat made me not do anything with my pony collection for over a year! I found out about the fifth Ponycon and that re-sparked my interest and I haven't stopped since  :biggrin:

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: partypony566 on January 24, 2015, 09:41:56 AM

I am selling almost all my collection simply because I need the money..... I have nearly $1000 of ponies and accessories in the loft yet I need to pay $300 on my car which is essential for us and other really important bills yet I have no money.. So the ponies will go (I have kept gifts and customs and some other special ones though)


So, money is what makes me lose interest in ponies sometimes.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: BlueyBirdy on January 24, 2015, 02:18:23 PM

I don't actively collect like I used to (lack of space and money mostly, but also waning interest in collecting ponies in general) and only occasionally buy G4 ponies that spark my interest. With all of the non-stop repeats, dolls and US exclusives in the toy line I'm almost completely done with it. -_- G4 started off really interesting and then burned out very quickly.

The overall interest in ponies is still there though, don't get me wrong. :P

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: Moonbreeze on January 25, 2015, 01:11:31 PM

The current G4 line is really dissappointing and not really bringing anything new. Maybe one or two new brushables along with the main six and the princesses... yeah... well I'm done with those pretty quick.

I'm a G2 person and am currently only focussed on getting those MOC and loose. I'm picky about G1s and G3s (in terms of colours and poses), so both collections are quite small.

But it's mainly the lack of imagination of the G4 line now and the late G3/G3.5 line that made me lose my interest mostly. It made me collect Monster High and EAH instead XD

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: DazzleKitty on January 25, 2015, 01:12:49 PM

Right now G4 is making me lose rapid interest in the current line of ponies. I wish new brushables would come about.....not Pop Ponies and EG.

Title: Re: What Makes You Lose Interest In Ponies? . . .
Post by: ShugarGlider on January 25, 2015, 04:43:57 PM

I wasn't active in collecting ponies or even posting on the MLP Arena for a few years while I was in grad school. I just didn't have the time or energy. Now I'm done with school, still having horrible anxiety which I thought was school-related, and trying to remember my favorite things. PONIES!

One daunting thing is that I'm not sure I quite updated my spreadsheet of G1 and G3 ponies. I have so many G1 and G3 now, I don't always totally remember which ones I have. (I have about 350 total)

I love FiM, but there hasn't been a lot of interesting things for the toy line. Mainly I just want NEW brushables and Hasbro just like, refuses.