The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: kingluke on May 05, 2019, 02:59:12 AM
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Hello,
Now I am planning to make some mlp g1 customs in the future.
I originally was looking for cheap baits, because they are cheap and often hard to/beyond repair.
I can't help but think I'm offending/hurting the community for doing so. I wanted to buy the retro reproduction of them but I can't find them for a reasonable price.
Where I live we have no 10 dollar repro walmart/target ponies :(, for all I know, they have never been sold here at all.
On ebay these ponies (in the pose im looking for) go for at least 20 bucks each without (the often aslo 20 bucks) shipping.
Cheap, slightly baity ponies come up for cheap here tho. Like a white haired posey with big pink pen marks but nothing wrong otherwise, whixh isn't baity enough and I fear for the rage...
edit: I've looked into the hqg1c website but again struggles with poses/shipping/prices
Any advice here? I just want to make my own versions of the celestial swirl ponies and maybe a conjoined twin but I don't know which ponies to get.
Cheers,
Luke
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Cheap baits would do.
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I don't see anything wrong with using common originals that are baity.
I've had a wingless, nearly bald windy wing that I customized, no regrets :P
The retro's are just too expensive right now. You can get them from the UK, but (idk they're still brexiting, so it should be fine) it's still at least 10 GBP at it's lowest, plust shipping.
You could check the HQG1C blanks as well.
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I have mixed feelings about customizing G1 ponies, but honestly if its a cheap, common pony who is well beyond repair I'd go for it. I understand that as more ponies age and become customized they may not be common anymore, but they are the cheapest option by far. Frankly, if a pony needs to be repainted and rehaired anyway to be restored, I'm considering it a custom at that point anyway, so why not have some fun with it?
I also feel weird baiting ponies that are pristine or in overall good shape, like the new retros. I just can't bring myself to "destroy" them even if I will be turning it into something else! The HQG1C blanks are the best alternative so far, since you don't have to feel bad about working on them! :) They can be a little pricey, but I don't think they're too bad if you're looking to customize guilt free! :P Now that I'm out of ponies that I feel are in really bad shape for myself to customize I will probably move on to those next!
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I can't even find the reproduction one's here so my bag of sad G1's is what I use.
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I think this whole issue has got increasingly complicated the more time has passed. When ponies were really plentiful at markets and stuff lots got customised without much thought so long as they were considered more common. Now there's more awareness as supply is less and prices go up that this is actually a finite resource and always has been.
For me personally, any restoration that involves repainting or rehairing is already customisation. But a lot of people don't see it that way. And to be honest, it's a fairly unoffensive form of customising even if like me you see it that way, so long as it's obvious if you ever sell that pony that it's been restored.
However the above kind of distinctions decide whether one person sees a pony as bait and another sees that pony as a restoration project. For me a bald pony is bait because any action to rehair her would be a custom. But to others that's a restore project and so anything other than rehairing with the right colour to make her look original is destroying a G1.
Then there's also a problem of regional availability. It is US-centric in what is and isn't outrageous to collectors in customisation. People are less bothered, for example, if someone customises Firefly, Medley, Surprise than if they customise Honeycomb, Baby Bow Tie, etc...because the latter weren't available in the US. That then puts more cost pressure on people where Firefly etc were not sold(like the UK) to have to import baits so as not to make the community outraged. Honeycomb isn't common here - I just traded a tlc condition one overseas and she's hopefully getting the works to make her beautiful again - but she's more common than Surprise. Yet UK people get censured for wanting to customise a baity Honeycomb because Surprise is considered more common. That makes the whole thing way. more. messy.
My personal view of customising has changed over the years from not really bothered to a bit more aware of limited resources.
For me a pony in wrecked condition - ink marks, missing parts (not just a tail, but like, ears, etc), and no hair - is bait. Now, if that pony is Nightlight, someone is more likely to try and restore her than if she's Cherries Jubilee, and I think that's ok too. But a tailless Tootsie isn't bait, and expecting people to import bait versions of ponies not sold there when there's a hairless, symbolless, scribbled Honeycomb or Baby Bow Tie right there in their back yard...is unreasonable.
I don't agree with customisation of good condition or fair condition ponies. Fair condition for me is some small marks that a skilled person might remove, some symbol scuffs, pindot, a forelock snip...a loss of curl, some tangle or frizz. Those aren't bait flaws. But if the pony is utterly wrecked, then it's fair game to me.
And completely bald ponies can be rehaired with alternate colours to look very striking.
As for the retros, it would be a nice ideal if everyone could just buy them for the equivalent of $10 but that's another US centric perspective. Ditto HQG1C. I don't think there's a wider understanding from some parts of the community that even where the CP retros are widely available (like the UK), they're still a bit more expensive than the US $10 price. And in other countries where they're not available it's worse, because +shipping has to come into the equation as well. HQG1C involves customs charges or again the cost is higher overseas because someone is paying a customs charge somewhere even if you have a European or local distributer. So making that a moral expectation outside of the US is questionable to me.
I would prefer people to be customising retros if they're inclined to rip apart decent originals rather than wait for the right baity pony to come up. But regional concerns also have to be taken into consideration here.
So for me - baity ponies - genuinely wrecked ponies - are customisable, even if they are Italian ponies or non-US ponies. But fair condition G1s should be preserved, and good condition ones not touched as someone will want to own them.
And if you can get retros to customise, awesome - but not everyone can, so it's not a final solution.
Similar rules apply for customising G2 and G3, albeit no retro option. Customising should only happen to really bad ponies in my view.
G4 I really don't care so much about as, right now, they're still plentiful and there's a glut of M6 ponies that taking some of them out of circulation is probably not going to make a dent :)
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Thank you for all your answers. It really helpen me. I think I will go and find the ponies in worst of the worst condition. :)
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Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die. No store here gets the retro's and I am not spending more that retail to order one for a custom.
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@Moonbreeze - just saw your comment - as far as I know the UK are intending to do EU elections which means unless parliament agree something - which I imagine you'd hear about - Brexit day is currently Hallowe'en. Plenty of time still to buy ponies without import duty :)
I did notice the unicorn pegasus set on preorder on amazon are preorder for mainland only but hopefully that will change once they're actually in stock...I think Smyths are also meant to get those and they are the cheapest place I've seen retros - I think they're an Irish company? Dont know if they ship internationally but they were stocking the CP ponies at £8.99.
I still can't believe how expensive the retros are in some European countries :/ compared to $10 in the US, €20ish (what's that, around $23? $25?) is obscene.
I think it's great to see that so many people engage with the bigger impact of customising now than did in the past. But the retros do help in that regard.
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@Moonbreeze - just saw your comment - as far as I know the UK are intending to do EU elections which means unless parliament agree something - which I imagine you'd hear about - Brexit day is currently Hallowe'en. Plenty of time still to buy ponies without import duty :)
I did notice the unicorn pegasus set on preorder on amazon are preorder for mainland only but hopefully that will change once they're actually in stock...I think Smyths are also meant to get those and they are the cheapest place I've seen retros - I think they're an Irish company? Dont know if they ship internationally but they were stocking the CP ponies at £8.99.
I still can't believe how expensive the retros are in some European countries :/ compared to $10 in the US, €20ish (what's that, around $23? $25?) is obscene.
I think it's great to see that so many people engage with the bigger impact of customising now than did in the past. But the retros do help in that regard.
I don't see how the retro ones help people like me that have no transportation to stores that sell them. Even if I did they probably won't have them.
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Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die.
Don't make a thread asking "Should I.." and then say people were "trying to talk you out of it".
Again, I'm in the mentality that to each their own.. HOWEVER, I think all avenues need to be figured out first before doing it especially if a pony is still in good condition.
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¥Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die.
Don't make a thread asking "Should I.." and then say people were "trying to talk you out of it".
Again, I'm in the mentality that to each their own.. HOWEVER, I think all avenues need to be figured out first before doing it especially if a pony is still in good condition.
Well no one's givin me a viable option. The only option I've had given to me are the retro ponies which I don't have access to.
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¥Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die.
Don't make a thread asking "Should I.." and then say people were "trying to talk you out of it".
Again, I'm in the mentality that to each their own.. HOWEVER, I think all avenues need to be figured out first before doing it especially if a pony is still in good condition.
Well no one's givin me a viable option. The only option I've had given to me are the retro ponies which I don't have access to.
Option: Buy a bait on ebay (Sea shell <$9 inc shipping). Sell your Bubbles to make up cost, or buy dollyhair to give her a tail.
And join facebook groups to scour to see what they have for sale there.
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Well considering I have zero amount of money....I offered to trade this for a bait. Because I can't afford anything on Ebay. But no one seems interested.
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Well considering I have zero amount of money....I offered to trade this for a bait. Because I can't afford anything on Ebay. But no one seems interested.
Then sell your Bubbles first. Then buy a bait. Or just put it off until you can get money. $9 isn't a lot of money... so you might wanna evaluate buying things if you can't afford that. Trading was going to cost $4 or so in shipping anyway.
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@Moonbreeze - just saw your comment - as far as I know the UK are intending to do EU elections which means unless parliament agree something - which I imagine you'd hear about - Brexit day is currently Hallowe'en. Plenty of time still to buy ponies without import duty :)
I did notice the unicorn pegasus set on preorder on amazon are preorder for mainland only but hopefully that will change once they're actually in stock...I think Smyths are also meant to get those and they are the cheapest place I've seen retros - I think they're an Irish company? Dont know if they ship internationally but they were stocking the CP ponies at £8.99.
I still can't believe how expensive the retros are in some European countries :/ compared to $10 in the US, €20ish (what's that, around $23? $25?) is obscene.
I think it's great to see that so many people engage with the bigger impact of customising now than did in the past. But the retros do help in that regard.
I don't see how the retro ones help people like me that have no transportation to stores that sell them. Even if I did they probably won't have them.
Sorry, I didn't refresh the thread so I didn't see your post before I posted. I was talking to Moonbreeze because I saw her Brexit comment belatedly. I wasn't trying to make a dig - I was genuinely impressed that so many people were responding with thoughts about the bigger picture.
But this is Kingluke's thread, so maybe that topic is in the wrong place. And honestly, nobody's tried to make you do anything. Suggestions are only that - at the end of the day, you have to make your own decision. But I do agree with banditpony - if you don't want other opinions, then it seems odd to ask the question.
@Kingluke, ultimately the choice of what you do with your baits or ponies is yours as well, you have to decide if you think a pony is bad enough to bait. I understand that where you're located it's a lot harder to obtain baits or retro bases than if you were in the US, but I'm sure there are others in your region who might be able to help you out with trades so you don't have to shell out extra money to import things.
I wish you luck with your quest :D
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Well considering I have zero amount of money....I offered to trade this for a bait. Because I can't afford anything on Ebay. But no one seems interested.
Then sell your Bubbles first. Then buy a bait. Or just put it off until you can get money. $9 isn't a lot of money... so you might wanna evaluate buying things if you can't afford that. Trading was going to cost $4 or so in shipping anyway.
Just a fyi my husband will pay shipping but I don't work and can't work. Therefore have no income and will never have the money to buy a bait.
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For me a pony in wrecked condition - ink marks, missing parts (not just a tail, but like, ears, etc), and no hair - is bait. Now, if that pony is Nightlight, someone is more likely to try and restore her than if she's Cherries Jubilee, and I think that's ok too. But a tailless Tootsie isn't bait, and expecting people to import bait versions of ponies not sold there when there's a hairless, symbolless, scribbled Honeycomb or Baby Bow Tie right there in their back yard...is unreasonable.
I don't agree with customisation of good condition or fair condition ponies. Fair condition for me is some small marks that a skilled person might remove, some symbol scuffs, pindot, a forelock snip...a loss of curl, some tangle or frizz. Those aren't bait flaws. But if the pony is utterly wrecked, then it's fair game to me.
And completely bald ponies can be rehaired with alternate colours to look very striking.
I agree with Taffeta. A pony that's only missing a tail or has other minor issues isn't a bait pony. Getting another tail usually isn't too difficult. I also agree with Taffeta that different ponies might be considered bait material in different countries.
Ponyfan
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Well considering I have zero amount of money....I offered to trade this for a bait. Because I can't afford anything on Ebay. But no one seems interested.
Then sell your Bubbles first. Then buy a bait. Or just put it off until you can get money. $9 isn't a lot of money... so you might wanna evaluate buying things if you can't afford that. Trading was going to cost $4 or so in shipping anyway.
Just a fyi my husband will pay shipping but I don't work and can't work. Therefore have no income and will never have the money to buy a bait.
You seem to ignore my suggestion of making money off of your Bubbles to fund money for a cheap bait. In fact it probably would net you $0 cost (or maybe $1-2), unlike trading which would cost $4-5 because of shipping.
As far as pony collecting goes -- you are very lucky to live in the US, where you do have access to ebay / facebook /etc where you can pay cheaper shipping compared to international shipping.
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As far as pony collecting goes -- you are very lucky to live in the US, where you do have access to ebay / facebook /etc where you can pay cheaper shipping compared to international shipping.
This is very true - but in the interests of absolute fairness, that's just one of those facts of life xD. And if someone has always lived in the US, and never buys from abroad, they don't really get the perspective of how much more it costs to buy the same items when you live overseas.
The US is an amazing market for pony stuff, and so many ponies were sold there that it would be a great place to be a collector. That's why I think there needs to be more acceptance of baiting really wrecked non-US ponies.
Although I would like to hope that someone would use their head before baiting a South African pony (><) since even with no hair apparently someone will pay a fortune for it ;)
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I suggest the blank HQG1Cs. They even have several different poses. :)
Post Merge: May 05, 2019, 07:07:18 AM
¥Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die.
Don't make a thread asking "Should I.." and then say people were "trying to talk you out of it".
Again, I'm in the mentality that to each their own.. HOWEVER, I think all avenues need to be figured out first before doing it especially if a pony is still in good condition.
Well no one's givin me a viable option. The only option I've had given to me are the retro ponies which I don't have access to.
Target delivers stuff.
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I still can't afford one.
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Originally (in the 90s) customizing came about as a way to get rid of cheap ponies or ones you had doubles of. But those were the days when G1 ponies were abundant at thrift stores and garage sales. I don't think "Common pony? Duplicate pony? Bait it!" is going to serve the MLP community well in the long run. (And I don't think it was a good idea in 1997 either . . . I'm not pointing fingers because I was on board the "cheap pony, just bait it" train too, but in hindsight . . . yikes.)
A $10 base for a custom project is really not expensive. It's the price of two Starbucks drinks. And if you're buying it locally, you don't have to pay shipping on it--unlike a bait pony from the internet.
We should be thanking the heavens that we currently have such potential custom bases. I have a friend who customizes ball-jointed dolls and the base for those can cost hundreds.
I'm not saying "never use an 80s pony for a custom ever" because I have seen some ponies that were genuinely so nasty that I cannot imagine anyone wanting them in their collection in their native state. But if it's something like "Has a haircut!" . . . ehhhhh . . . at the very least I would hope people would leave the body alone and just give it custom hair colors.
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Originally (in the 90s) customizing came about as a way to get rid of cheap ponies. But those were the days when G1 ponies were abundant at thrift stores and garage sales or ones you had doubles of. But I don't think "Common pony? Duplicate pony? Bait it!" is going to serve the MLP community well in the long run. (And I don't think it was a good idea in 1997 either . . . I'm not pointing fingers because I was on board the "cheap pony, just bait it" train too, but in hindsight . . . yikes.)
Yep.
Just.
Yep.
Also, I have some rather concerning memories of spray painting ponies in black and silver as an experiment...wonder what became of those o.O.
(They were actually baity ponies, but still...long term paint on old plastic is not a great combination. Hopefully they're not in a box somewhere congealing onto other things O.O).
Basically "my property, my business" is technically sound but from a community perspective is less and less tenable. The rarer ponies become and the more they start to cost, the bigger the impact of taking anything out of the community permanently becomes clear. So it's that balance between sovereign ownership and community interest I think. Now there are retros, the availability of alternatives is also not so much of an issue (especially in the US, where they are, let's face it, more available and cheaper than anywhere else in the world). And now we have the internet at the level we do, buying online is much easier and safer than it was in the 90s, when we were still shoving cash in fakies.
As time goes on, I think the pendulum has swung more and more away from sovereign ownership towards community interest, but there are always going to be people on the other side of this kind of debate.
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I still can't afford one.
Except you could. Maybe not immediately-- everyone is at a different point in their life where they can afford things. But I'm hard pressed to hear that an adult cannot afford $9. As I said, it doesn't have to be immediately.
You could sell something to make the money (Bubbles). You do art. You could sell custom art for $1-2.
Although I would like to hope that someone would use their head before baiting a South African pony (><) since even with no hair apparently someone will pay a fortune for it ;)
*twitch twitch*
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@bandit_pony - that last quote is mine ;)
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I still can't afford one.
Except you could. Maybe not immediately-- everyone is at a different point in their life where they can afford things. But I'm hard pressed to hear that an adult cannot afford $9. As I said, it doesn't have to be immediately.
You could sell something to make the money (Bubbles). You do art. You could sell custom art for $1-2.
Although I would like to hope that someone would use their head before baiting a South African pony (><) since even with no hair apparently someone will pay a fortune for it ;)
*twitch twitch*
Well believe it. Because I don't actually have a form of income. Also no one ever buys my art....I'm going to try to sell this one here. But I need help pricing it.
( I actually haven't bought a pony in years because of no spending money)
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I still can't afford one.
Except you could. Maybe not immediately-- everyone is at a different point in their life where they can afford things. But I'm hard pressed to hear that an adult cannot afford $9. As I said, it doesn't have to be immediately.
You could sell something to make the money (Bubbles). You do art. You could sell custom art for $1-2.
Although I would like to hope that someone would use their head before baiting a South African pony (><) since even with no hair apparently someone will pay a fortune for it ;)
*twitch twitch*
Well believe it. Because I don't actually have a form of income. Also no one ever buys my art....I'm going to try to sell this one here. But I need help pricing it.
( I actually haven't bought a pony in years because of no spending money)
Your husband has a job, so your family has an income. I'm not questioning your money situation is tight. It obviously is. But if you can't be frugal enough to save $9 in a few months time.. (including selling things) I'm not sure what to say.
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I don't get spending money. I already said I'm going to try to sell the thing here so I can buy a bait. But if it doesn't sell it's getting baited.
I'm trying to get a price check on it....
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Honestly people have tried to talk me out of customizing my sitting Bubbles and do the repro. But I can't find one and the person i messaged to trade a bait hasn't replied. My opinion is it's my property I will do what I want with it and if i offend someone too bad so sad. The G1 ponies won't last forever anyway. Hell I have no kids my whole collection might end up in a landfill when I die. No store here gets the retro's and I am not spending more that retail to order one for a custom.
Its you. You asked what to do with your bubbles and I adviced you to do whatever you want with your property. Thank you for your good advice. I kinda wonder how I ended up a question like this when I already knew. I didnt realize it before. Thanks for helling me realize :)
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If you don't have any income, you aren't going to be able to customize anyway. Like, wouldn't you want your custom to have a tail? So you'd need to buy synthetic hair. You would also need paint for the symbols. And paintbrushes. If you wanted to reroot the mane, you'd need tools to do that. Also, acetone. And ideally some kind of protective mask because it's bad to breathe in acetone.
It just seems like a net win to buy synthetic hair that matches Bubbles' mane, craft a matching tail, sell Bubbles, and use the money to buy customizing supplies and a bait pony.
JMO.
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Maybe I'm late to chime in because the conversation seems to have gone in some specific directions. But for me I see no problem of customizing vintage ponies that are truly bait, in fact I have two shopping bags full of bait ponies I've amassed from finding them in the wild
I have found the retro ponies at the thrift store already a couple times so you can find them there too, it's worth looking at garage sales and thrift stores for them
I do have a question that is related to the topic. I picked up some ponies yesterday, 6 of them are baits and one of them, butterscotch, is sticky and smells of bad cheese/dirty feet. I've never encountered anything like that smell on a pony before. I don't think it could even be customized, but I feel bad putting a pony in the garbage. What do you think?
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I don't think it could even be customized, but I feel bad putting a pony in the garbage. What do you think?
My suggestion to anyone who wants to trash a pony is offer it to the community for free + shipping. TBH, there's people who might want to attempt to get the scent out.
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Well considering I have zero amount of money....I offered to trade this for a bait. Because I can't afford anything on Ebay. But no one seems interested.
Well if you can't afford a sadder bait then I don't know how you'll be able to afford customization materials (paint, hair, etc.)
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I'm very apprehensive about painting on a G1 because of the supply always going down...I totally would opt for the retro ponies, and I think of it as a way to tell Basic Fun I want more than the set I already have. Plus, more opportunities to do fun alt rehairs without damaging original pony? Nice!
I'm not a big customizer though, the most I could ever do as of right now is alt rehairs, which I see as reversible because I don't use glue.
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If you don't have any income, you aren't going to be able to customize anyway. Like, wouldn't you want your custom to have a tail? So you'd need to buy synthetic hair. You would also need paint for the symbols. And paintbrushes. If you wanted to reroot the mane, you'd need tools to do that. Also, acetone. And ideally some kind of protective mask because it's bad to breathe in acetone.
It just seems like a net win to buy synthetic hair that matches Bubbles' mane, craft a matching tail, sell Bubbles, and use the money to buy customizing supplies and a bait pony.
JMO.
I already have custom supplies. Lol who uses a face mask for acetone. But I have been customizing for years before I lost my job.
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gemini_pony: Here is another idea to get the funds to obtain a bait, retro or HCG1 pony: You said you have the supplies to customise; I've seen people saying they don't dare to do rehairs or small restorations such as eye & symbol repainting. You could offer to do that for them. Your customer needs to pay for shipping + materials + fee for your work, and you will earn money that way you can re-invest into your collection, including obtaining "real" baits and retros to customise.
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In general - my thoughts are, if it's easily restorable, restoring is preferable to customizing. If it's beyond help and customizing is the only really viable option, go for it!
Of course, at the end of the day, what people do with their ponies is their business. But I do think that if there's an alternative available (repros, HQG1C), and the G1 in question is restorable, then it's a better option all around to just acquire a repro/HQG1C/etc (or look for a baitier G1) than to take a perfectly good G1 out of circulation.