So we have an artist house guest staying with us for a bit-  she just posted this photo of my recent acquisitions on facebook (outing me as a pony fan of course)

I thought I'd share since I never remember to take pics myself- and it looks pretty neat
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I don't know if this is new or not, but you can now register on Taobao and connect a credit card to Alipay for payment.  I suppose that only gets over one of the hurdles though- as the seller must still be willing to ship to the U.S.

I noticed that for some of the listings for Monster High and for high end dolls (like Tonner's Evangeline Ghastly) the sellers state right on their auction that they will ship to the U.S.- but the sale prices are not really so tempting when you consider the cost of registered shipping from China. 

Also- I doubt the sellers selling the factory reject ponies will be so accomodating- it seems that the sellers who are willing to deal with a non-Chinese person and ship overseas have already listed their goods on the regular ebay. 

Have any of you made any purchases directly through a Taobao seller (rather than using an agent)?

[moving to TS - kaoskat]

I have always loved MLP (have several reassuringly large bins of G1s and no few G3s)

At SakuraCon this year in Seattle (March or whenever that was) I saw a bunch of people dressed up as ponies and a lot of pony customs costumes art and STUFF.  I was pretty impressed and learned about the FIM series.  Ran home immediately to check it out on Youtube and watched them ALL.  I was really shocked how fantastic the series was- particularly the opening and the conclusion.  I can't wait for the next installment.

I love the brony FIM fan base too. I am not a brony- but it is also not considered entirely appropriate for a 30something attorney to love MLP (or childish things in general) so I can relate somewhat. 

Anyway, hi and hello- it is nice to be here