For me it depends on which generation/pony we're talking about as well as how noteable the error is. If the errors are minor I usually don't care no matter what generation.

I haven't stumbled upon any G1 factory errors myself, and it feels like those there are out there are fairly well known at this point. Making them go for hefty prices once the owners are willing to part with them which puts me out of the game most of the time (I'd love to get my hands on a reverse Gusty for example, but the price she goes for is waaay out of my reach.)

I did, however, find a G3 Sweet Breeze at Toys R Us with no symbols which I had to buy because the error was so noteable. She's still in my collection today MIB and I have no intention of letting her go
I wouldn't actively buy factory error G3's if I spotted them on Ebay though.

As for the G4's there seems to be an ocean of them on sites like Taobao etc., and I did buy some online that I found interesting. Primarily of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as those have been my favorites. Had I found a factory error in a store I would probably have picked that up too, but that's about it.

So... 'mildly interested' I guess I could say

I think most has been said that can be said as I'm rather late on the ball. But I can share my own reasons and views.

I'm like Taffeta, a pony dinosaur. I joined the MLPTP forum back in 1997 when I was 11 and the page was nothing more than a black background with pink dropdown links to different topics (if memory serves me right). For a long time that was the place to be. When the Arena was created the community did seem to divide somewhat and many went to the Arena instead, but both sites certainly flourished because forums in general were popular gathering places for niche interests. Personally I staid with the MLPTP out of loyalty for a long time, but the Arena did indeed seem to have a larger pull on the collectors.

Due to life I simply stopped collecting around the late 00's. My love for ponies has never died, but as you get older you get other interests, other things you need to do and so on. So there's one reason why collectors come and go and activity might dwindle. I dare to promise that it has and will continue to happen with many collectors that are here today as well.

When I came back to the MLP world at the start of the 10's the FiM craze had begun and most people seemed to have gone to the Arena at that point. With the quick rise of social media  (which I hate with a passion and no amount of money or promises of ponies in the world could get me to sell myself out and register on any of those sites) forums in general were becoming redundant. Many smaller ones began to or did die.
(I'm part of a gaming community that met the same fate. We had a tight-knit community and an active forum righ up until Facebook came around and ruined everything. People flocked to that instead becasue convenience is more important than community to most. And the result was a dead forum and a fractured in-game community.)
The MLPTP sadly seemed to be meeting the same fate and so I registerd here becasue, as has been said, people will go to the place where they find most people to interact with when searching for an online community. That's kind of the whole point. I did go inactive again for several reasons and I still wouldn't say I'm actually back to any noteworthy activity. But hey, at least I'm writing this.

Now I think there's 2 reasons why the Arena might slow down over time but that it won't die as long as the mods are determined to keep it running and the old school people are still around.
1. The Arena is 'the last frontier' so to speak. The last truly active MLP forum - and those looking for a forum and not the shallowness of social media will come here for that reason.
2. Especially old school collectors will continue to come back to the the forum community because we're nostalgic to boot (that's why we collect childhood toys...) and forums are part of that nostalgia. So we're about as likely to give up on forums as many of our grandparents have been to give in and start using computers. "Back in MY day we sent letters written on paper and it still works fine! So we ain't changing nothing!" We're now the 'grumpy old people' who refuse to change And thanks to that the last truly active MLP forum will survive.

We might continue to come and go as well, as life and interests changes, but as the nostalgics that we are will always come back to the forums.

Didn't think of contacting the bank. That's a good idea! Thank you (Even though contacting the banks in Sweden is a nightmare all on its own, lol. I swere no major companies actually want anything to do with their customers if they can avoid it. They only want their money.)

I've also messaged Paypal about their decision, but yeah calling them might be a better idea. I'll see what they say if/when they respond to the message I sent.

As of right now I'm constantly trying to call the Swedish post to hopefully find a time when not half of Sweden is sitting in their queue

And not to worry. I've PM'd with the mods about this and they know who it is. If they think it's a good idea to share the name to warn others I will be more than happy to do so Because I'd hate to see others ending up in the same situation.

I've also sent a new e-mail to the seller essentially asking her if she do plan to send the reimbursement my way or not seeing as it is now entirely up to her. I'll give her a little while to respond and/or to send it, but if she doesn't I will most definitely leave negative feedback and discuss with the mods if perhaps it's time to make this sellers name public. 

Sure, she was honest in the regards that she sent the item. But she overcharges a ridiculous amount on shipping that she does not use on proper insurance, and she is not the slightest bit helpful when problems arise =/

I haven't collected actively in a very long time (G4's as well as other generations) but I do still technically consider myself a G4 collector even though I haven't actually bought anything G4 related in a few years.

I got properly fedd up with the line when the Mane 6 was released for about the billionth time and around the same time life got me out of pony collecting overall anyway.

I do plan on purchasing the G4's I'm interested in and still don't have at some point down the line. Like the pearlized singles that there's only 1-ish versions of and the Reboot series Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as I do have an army of those two. But I definitely don't intend to get every last pony ever released from the G4 line as I've done with other lines. There's only so many doubles a girl can take...

This will all be yet further down the line, though.

It's been a long time since I last wrote on this forum or was particularly active with pony collecting at all. But this issue that I've had with a particular seller from this forum (if anyone is curious about who then feel free to PM me) as well as the Swedish post the past three months was something I not only had to rant about - but also thought I should bring to peoples attention so that others hopefully can avoid the same problems.

Now this will be a LONG story and I apologize for the wall of text. For those who do plan on reading it; grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the tale of the Nightmare Before (and After) Christmas.

*

On September 16th (2018) a fairly new member of this forum contacted me by sending me a PM, saying she had a Brazil Baby Gusty for sale which I was looking for and asked what I was willing to offer. She did point out, though, that she had paid $250 for the pony and would not be willing to go lower than that. I agreed to this price and she asked for my e-mail so that she could send me pictures.

Our conversation continued through e-mail and after seeing the pictures of Baby Gusty I informed the seller that I would be more than happy to buy her, but that it would have to wait until the end of the month when I got my paycheck.

She agreed to this, but told me that when I did pay she wanted me to send the payment as a 'Gift' so that she didn't have to pay any fees. I told her that I never send payment as 'Gift' as that leaves me without any protection should anything happen (granted I have done so on a few occasions, but only to people I know really well), but that I would be willing to pay the fee. After that mail she got rather snippy with me. Told me she was a very reputable collector on Facebook (I don't have Facebook so I wouldn't know) and that I could trust her. She also tried to 'blackmail' me (for the lack of a better word) by saying that if I did not send it as 'Gift' option she would not be marking the price down on the customs declaration to help me avoid customs fees.
I wrote back saying I'm sure she's a great seller, but that anything can happen that isn't necessarily the sellers fault. And because of that I want to make sure that I do not stand without protection if anything were to happen. I also said that what she decides to put on the customs declaration is up to her. I never have and never will ask people to mark it down. Those who do so of their own accord out of kindness I appreciate, but I'm just as fine with people writing the real amount which is better anyway in case things happen. Eventually I simply told her that if she had issues with this then it was better we did not go through with the transaction.

She then wrote back, sounding much nicer and more co-operative. Said she would be fine with me sending it as regular payment as long as I paid the Paypal fee and that she was eager to prove she was a great seller. At this point my gut feeling was starting to tell me not to go through with this purchase, but since Brazil Baby Gusty has been a grail of mine for some time I went against my better judgment. On September 26th, once I had gotten my paycheck, I promptly sent her payment and on October 3rd she sent the package out. She not only sent me the tracking number that clearly stated the package was on the way, but pictures of the package to prove that she had sent it. In other words: So far so good. 

As soon as it reached Sweden, on October 5th, problems began though... Our post has gone downhill for quite some time and their incompetence would make itself known in this case as well.
When there had been no update on the Swedish posts tracking site by the end of October I called and asked them what was going on. The lady told me to hold, 'went to check', and came back and said that she could see the package had JUST arrived at our customs. (The Swiss posts tracking site shows that it was handed to our customs later - on November 1st, but alright.)  And she told me she was sure it would be with me by the end of next week.
A few more weeks went by and still nothing so I called them again. The lady I talked to that time told me to hold, 'went to check', and came back giving me some evasive answer that it had just landed in Stockholm and that she was sure it would be with me by the end of next week. At this point I was getting fairly convinced that they had lost it, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I e-mailed the seller to let her know about the issues and she replied saying she was happy to hear that we at least knew where it was.
A couple of more weeks went by and still nothing. So when December neared I decided to contact the Swedish post again for proper answers this time. I sent them an e-mail with all the info and waited. Their site says that they will answer within 24 hours, but when two days had gone by with no reply I called them again. The lady I spoke to told me to hold, 'went to check', and when she came back she told me the package had just been handed to their sorting facility. And that she was sure it would be with me by the end of next week. Because I hadn't heard that one before...
A few days later I did get a responds to the e-mail I had sent them from the customs manager herself. She said that since there was no customs declaration on the package it had taken a lot longer for them to process it as it had to be done manually. She asked me to send in proof of what I had paid (so they knew what to charge me) as well as what I had paid in shipping which I promptly did to get the ball rolling. Buuuut nothing happened.
After two weeks I responded to this e-mail conversation that I've had with this woman and asked her if she had gotten the information I sent her since I still hadn't received anything, but of course I got no reply. So on December 12th I called them again and at this point I was livid. The poor lady I spoke to that time didn't stand a chance. I asked if they actually had a clue where the package was because it was starting to seem unlikely. And I also asked for a name and number to a person higher up in the hierarchy that I could turn to in order to get reimbursement for the package seeing as it most likely was lost. She told me it doesn't work that way and that she was sure the package wasn't lost, but said she would go and check on the status of it and told me to hold. When she came back she did reluctantly admit to that it most likely was lost because the last update there had been for it had been December 6th, when it was done at our customs, and it should have been with me by now. She told me, though, that a reimbursement is never made out to the recipient. Only to the seller who is then responsible for making sure I get it.

Hearing that I immediately contacted the seller again on December 12th through e-mail and told her about the situation, asked her to please contact her post office so that we could get this reimbursement and asked her to please forward it to me. I did also add that I understood if she was busy seeing as the holidays was coming up and that I would be completely fine if we waited with sorting this out until after Christmas. But I got no responds.


And then came Christmas.


A few days after Christmas I got a reply to the other mail I had sent the Swedish post where a guy working in the sorting terminal basically confirmed what the lady had told me before Christmas. That my package was most likely lost and that I should contact the seller for reimbursement. The seller had still not replied to me, though, so I went to check on the Arena and saw that she had been active here on December 26th. Finding it a bit suspicious that she had been online here but not checked her e-mail in all that time I did what I could to send as friendly of a PM as I could to her here on the Arena on December 27th - once again telling her about the situation, kindly asking her to contact her post office as soon as she had the chance and to please forward the reimbursement to me. After 24 hours I had not gotten a reply and at this point my patience was running out in general. So on December 28th I decided to open a case on Paypal and message her through that. Another 24 hours went by with no word from the seller and at that point I had had it. I escalated the case to Paypal and - sure enough - not even an hour later she sent me a new e-mail (without history) simply saying that she saw I had opened a case against her on Paypal, that she had sent the item and to please check with my post office.

At this point I just wanted to bang my head repeatedly against the desk, but after taking a deep breath I wrote back as nicely as I could and said that that I know she had sent the item. That I have been in contact with the Swedish post on five different occasions. That they have admitted to that it is lost. That I have messaged her about this three times without getting a responds and asked her again to please contact her post office for the reimbursement and to please send it along to me.

She wrote back, but instead of addressing the issue at hand she began complaining about how the $294 I had once sent her was now blocked on her Paypal, telling me it was money she desperately needed and questioned me as to why I had not PM'd her on the Arena about it. Finishing it of by reluctantly asking me what I wanted her to do.

I wrote back explaining again what needed to be done. Told her I didn't like it either that I had to go through her to get a reimbursement as it was not her fault that the package was lost, but that it is how it works. And also pointed out that I had PM'd her on the Arena.

She wrote back, now saying she wish I had PM'd her on the Arena instead on the 12th rather than sending her an e-mail as she rarely checks her e-mail and asked me to e-mail her proof of my communication with the Swedish post where they promised me reimbursement. I forwarded her the two e-mail correspondences that I've had with the Swedish post, said I hoped that Google translate would give a fairly accurate translation and left it at that for the time being.

A while later she wrote back complaining about how my e-mails with the Swedish post were in Swedish. That nobody at her post office would understand that. (I honestly don't know what she expected. I don't speak English with my fellow countrymen.) And once again she said she wish I had PM'd her on the Arena instead of e-mailing her on the 12th because then she would have been made aware of this in time. (As if it was my fault she was not.) Since I hadn't the $294 she desperately needed was now blocked.

I decided to ignore her repeated complaints about how $294 that she desperately needed were blocked on her Paypal because I remember when I purchased Baby Gusty she had bragged that the money would go to some extremely rare, one of a kind ponies. We all love ponies and want them, but there is no such thing as 'desperately needing' money for them. At this point I was starting to get the feeling that she was mainly saying this to make me feel sorry for her and cancel my case on Paypal which was not going to happen.

I did however offer to write her a translation if she needed, pointed out again that she could use Google translate if she preferred that - told her that I had just checked and it had given a fairly accurate translation. And also added that since she had been quick to respond to all my other e-mail communication, including the one where I had first informed her about the problems I were having, I had seen no reason to think she would not see that e-mail that I had sent her on the 12th asking for her help.

The next day she wrote back, ignoring most of our other correspondence and told me there was 'a little problem'. She said she had spoken to the Swiss post and that they had informed her that since she had sent the package as a letter with tracking and insurance up to 150 Swiss Francs (which is essentially the same as the US$) $150 was all she was going to be able to get back. Told me that the only shipping option that would have given full insurance would have cost over $100 - an amount she couldn't possibly charge me. And she added that she thought it would be unfair that she would have to be without $100 as it wasn't she who lost the package.

Finding it highly unlikely that shipping with full insurance would cost over $100 I went to the Swiss posts site to check. And sure enough. There were two shipping options that caught my eye:

* The option to send it as a package (up to 60x60x100cm) with tracking and insurance up to $1000 for $43.
* The option to send it as a letter with tracking and insurance up to $150 for $18. (Which was obviously the one she spoke of.)

Seeing as I had paid her $44 for shipping and the Paypal fee I felt really angry at this point. I confronted her about what I had found out on the Swiss posts site, attached the link as well where I had found the information, and asked what the other approximately $25 I had paid her for shipping had gone to.

She wrote back, defending herself with saying that last time she checked a few years ago it had cost over $100 to send it with full insurance and also said that she always charge a bit extra to cover packing material expenses as well as her bus fair. Said she hoped I understood and finished by once again saying how scared she was that she would now not only lose her pony (how it is hers when I bought it I don't know) but also the money she desperately needed if Paypal took my side (money she is supposed to be sending me anyway and that she in turn should be able to get from her post office). Once again trying to make me feel sorry for her from what it seemed.

But at this point I was livid. I wrote back to her and said that had I known that a staggering $25 out of those $44 I had sent her for shipping would go to other things I would not have gone through with the purchase as that would not have been an amount I would have been willing to pay for 'other expenses'. $25 is not 'a bit' extra. I pointed out that there had been no mention of that the $44 I sent her would go to anything other than shipping with full insurance and the Paypal fee.
Adding that I know that the package being lost is not her fault, nor am I blaming her for it. But that it was not insured to its full value is. Finishing it by saying that from my point of view as a buyer who paid for an item the Swedish post has lost, and full insurance which she as a seller did not get, I hardly think it's fair that I should be out $300 on nothing because the Swedish post is incompetent, or $100 because she decided to spend the money I had paid her for full insurance on other things.

She wrote back a few days later. Simply saying that she had only charged me for shipping, her transportation and the Paypal fee. Said 'I really didn't charge you for anything else' after which she replied to Paypal - fighting my claim.

I wrote back and pointed out once again that she had not mentioned that $25 would got to her transportation costs. We agreed upon $44 for shipping and the Paypal fee. That was it. She can't come now, afterwards, and say that $25 was for her transportation. Now it is nothing but a poor excuse for that she cheaped out on shipping and kept a large amount of what I had paid her for full insurance for herself. Told her what I thought of that behavior and asked if she honestly thought it was fair that I would now be the one who risk being without $100 when I had paid for full insurance that she didn't get.

I have not gotten a responds to this nor have Paypal decided an outcome yet. And obviously still no sign of the package.

I don't know if I've been out of line at some point during this ordeal but I'm just so thoroughly sick and tired of this by now. I shouldn't have to fear losing $300 or even $100 when I paid the seller for full insurance. And if Paypal takes her side I honestly don't think I will be getting any reimbursement at all.

If anyone has any tips on what I should do in that case please let me know. If anyone want to know who this seller is so that they can avoid a similar fate (or even just getting ripped off on shipping) send me a PM. (Despite everything I still don't want to drag the persons name through the dirt.) And if anyone has any plans to ship anything to Sweden... use DHL or something more reliable than PostNord...

I have a little spare time over to handle transactions again, and so I'm hoping to sell off as many of my doubles as possible as I do need the space.

As I don't know when life will get too busy again to have time to sell ponies I would appreciate as fast payments as possible so I can move things out as quickly as possible.
I thank you for your understanding of this.

You can find all ponies I have to sell along with pictures and descriptions on my site: http://desireeerica1986.wix.com/desert-roses-dream#!desert-roses-pony-shop/c10sf
(Please read my terms of sale that you can find at the bottom of this page aswell!)

Here's a short list of all the ponies I have for sale along with prices (in Euros) :

G1 ADULTS
GERMAN SKYDANCER €65

G3 MERCHANDISE
ANNUAL 2005 €2

If you find anything you're interested don't hesitate to PM me here or send me an e-mail!

Well I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but english isn't my main language so I thought I could add some input  

We were obviously taught english in school from a very young age and have english classes every year untill we graduate. I did graduate almost 10 years ago now but still keeping up with the english

What I've found most helpfull to really get a grasp of the language is that I use it in every day life, that I'm surrounded by it and that I get to talk to people every day that do have it as a native language. Most shows on TV are in english with swedish subtitles, i read loads of books in english, most sites on the internet are in english and heck, I get to practice it every day when talking to you guys on here

Yes I know english is a "world language" and that some might not know it is unthinkable since it's so common But fact remains that it is a second language to me


So what I recommend are some courses in spanish, if it's an evening course at a certin place in town or if you buy computer programs and the like that teaches you the language it's both good. Allthough a course with a real person is probably better. And as some others have suggested, try to get it into your every day life. Read books in Spanish (starting with simple ones ), watch shows in spanish with english subtitles and maybe even get some help from your friend


I took French in school for 3 years, visited France a handfull of times, have some childrens books in French and also have some educational computer programs in French. I still remember a little, but as I don't use it frequently I've noticed it's really slipping my memory and I can't properly communicate in it as I can with English which I use so often.

So I think it does make all the difference to keep practice it and to keep using it in your every day life