Not naming names because this really isn't that important, but it's one of those things that's been kind of sitting unresolved for a good long time now and I wanted some advice on the situation.

Long story short, I contracted with a trader who some people here may know, we live in the same state and go to a lot of the same shows (pre-covid). I'd given them good business in the past, and so I hired them to do a little restoration on two G1s and a G3, in pretty bait condition (they were dollar store rescues like so much of my collection). Because of the condition I wasn't expecting much, but re-hairing was definitely on the list. I gave them money, their prices were reasonable, and we loosely agreed it'd be done in a few months. That was back in 2019... in the before times.

Some delays occurred, needless to say, but this is a hobby so delays of some time are not unreasonable, I thought. They'd be done by Christmas (along with every other human conflict in recent memory  ).

Of course 2020 happened, and there was no news but we all had bigger fish to fry. I though "well, surely those ponies are getting repaired in quarantine, what else is there to do? No need to worry.". I did reach out to them in winter 2020 when I realized they were a vendor at a online con I was enjoying, and they showed me pictures of the ponies, in a disassembled state. Of course the state of the world precluded any kind of real resolution, but I was glad for the response... it was hard to get in touch with this person as they weren't especially active on social media, or at least the social media I'm on (Facebook & Discord). Admittedly, I'm not super active either.

I also reached out in late 2021, thinking perhaps we'd be able to meet up at a winter con that was happening then, and work something out. I even offered to send someone with money to pick up the ponies, in whatever state they were in, in case I could not come. I received no response, and decided not to go to the con for other reasons.

I am going to be attending a con I know they'll be at this summer... what do you guys think I should do? Should I try talking with them in person and trying to work something out? If they still have the ponies, I'd be happy with them just being returned. I know logically at this point I should probably just give it up but I'm as stubborn as Applejack, and just as silly. It's also just messy unfinished business at this point, and I think it'd be good to settle it at some point given that we're likely to be at the same cons (as long as those cons run). Any advice from fellow collectors that have had to deal with this sort of thing before? 

Hello all! I'm a primarily G4 collector who has recently been getting in to earlier generations of pony as a result of thrifting and a wish to recreate the first ponies I first met (and was sadly not fond of at the time), the G2 Mc Donald Toys. My vintage pony collection actually started as an outgrowth of finding a G3 Minty & a G1 Anniversary Reissue Snuzzles. After that, I acquired most of the G2 McDonalds toys of my youth, picking up Sundancer (MIP, I'm actually looking to swap a spare thrifted Ivy for an unbagged version as well) and an Ivy, and later tracking down a Light Heart to complete (I think?) the set. Ever since then, I've collected all vintage of pony, though I'll admit outside of G4, G2 is probably my favorite.

As for G4, I've got a few brushables, and blind bag scale figures on the true pony end of the spectrum. Then, I have a small army of EQG minis, and almost the entire Seapony\Hippogriff collection,  (I the reimagined Seaponies almost as much as I love the G1 originals song). I've got a few plushies, notably a large Luna, a Trixie (who spent far too long on a TRU shelf and had to be rescued), and a exclusive Night Stitch bat pony.

My dad also collects, we actually got into pony around same time back in 2012-2013 or so. He's on here somewhere, username is OleGrayMane or some variation thereof, same as on FiMFiction.