Streaky is done! I'm so happy with her, and I'm very happy about how nicely she fits with Ringlet. Definitely need to find another Stripes and a Raincurl for a complete set of rehaired Rainbow Curl ponies!

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Yep Stardancer looks gorgeous like that!!!
Sorry I couldn't reply earlier but last night I needed sleep, this morning I had to get ready to go out & this afternoon I was out.

Thank you so so much! <3

How do you personally determine if a pony is bait?

Personally I don't really buy 'bait' ponies- the closest to bait I would get is bad hair. Rehairing is pretty much the only customizing I do (I don't consider beheading and tail washer replacement to be 'customization', rather preventative conservation), so if I know I want to rehair a certain pony, I will try to find one with a mostly perfect face/body but with bad hair, so as to not remove a completely mint pony from circulation- especially if I'm looking for one that is particularly rare or sought after. I wouldn't rehair my minty Lemon Treats, but I would rehair a Lemon Treats with damaged hair.

Do you feel the same about all gens?

I think it's less about the generation and more the individual pony and type of customization- I wouldn't say it's worse to customize a super common G1 pony than it is to customize a super rare G3 pony, for example.

What about the Basic Fun ponies or HQG1C?

I think those are fine to customize, and I think their existence is a viable solution for customizers that don't want to remove vintage ponies from circulation, or for customizers who don't want to start with a damaged base that needs a bunch of help.

Have you ever witnessed someone customize a good condition pony?

I think 'good condition' is very subjective, so I'm sure I've seen people customize ponies that could be seen as being in 'good condition' by another person, and I'm sure people would say the same to me.

Would YOU customize a good condition pony?

I'm sure I already have, in some people's eyes! My Locket had a frizzy mane and tail, but I'm sure it could have been sort-of fixed if I tried. I personally didn't like it, so I rehaired her and I bought her with the intention of doing so.

To be honest, I don't get that bothered by people customizing any kind of pony or any other kind of toy/doll that I collect, even if it's something rare. I might side-eye if somebody has customized a pony or doll that I've been looking for, perhaps a twinge of annoyance, but ultimately I know it's not their fault that I'm missing that pony and I support their artistry and contribution to the hobby. Maybe they took a rare toy out of circulation, but they also replaced it with something entirely unique and without that artistry, I think the community would be less enjoyable.

 I was actually a little surprised to see just how taboo it is, because I also collect dolls that are much more expensive than MLP, with significantly lower production numbers (less than 3k, usually around 600-1k) and a tendency to quickly triple in value on the secondhand market- and customization still isn't frowned upon in those communities, rather it's usually received positively. Complaints about scarcity and high prices are never framed from the perspective of 'this is what happens when people debox/customize' because customization and artistry enrich the hobby.

Likewise I think of pony customization as a core aspect of what makes the community enjoyable, not a contributing factor to inflation and rarity, and ultimately adds more to the community than it takes.

It seems to be running fine for me right now- maybe try clearing your cache? That might fix it.

  horses and ponies can and will eat meat as a treat (if I recall, large amounts of it isn't good for them though.  So Slugger might want to slow down!).

Back when I still had horses, I once fed a piece of my gas station hotdog to my Arabian and he was very much a fan  they will eat just about anything, though it's obviously not the healthiest thing to give them.

Absolutely dying at all of the 4/20 jokes in here 

I love Munchy! She's so silly and I'd love to own her one day.

We can of course agree to disagree, although I am in no way condoning its use as a slur, nor denying the existence of that usage.

Well that's good, and I'd certainly never say you would!

I do think it's important to respect different cultural perspectives. Although that also includes understanding and acknowledging the more nuanced British usage of the term.

My issue with this statement is that it's also a slur in the UK still; it may have been watered down to the point where most people don't understand the history and oppression behind it, especially in places like the UK and North America, but that connotation is still there and many Romani people have been actively trying to fight against the use of it- which is why, regardless of whether or not it's used in a negative context, I think it's better not to use it at all, and I think there is little consequence in not using it in most contexts (the exception being in an educational setting, or when a term is reclaimed by the oppressed group in an effort to recontextualize)

My opinion is that probably Gypsy was a clumsy 1980s attempt at inclusion.

My assumption is mostly that it just wasn't understood to be a bad word to most people back then (and still isn't), rather it was assumed to be an innocuous, cute name for a pony. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but in a modern setting I think it would be best to acknowledge that it was a mistake to give her that name (along with other ponies like Wigwam, though I think in his case it's more a matter of the entire design instead of just the name, though I do love orange ponies lol).

The reason why I don't see her as offensive is because she was a very popular character and beloved. Whether you can find stereotypes in her character - maybe, but broad strokes, rather than specifically cringey moments. She likes music and dance. She doesn't have a tent and a crystal ball.

I personally don't think something needs to be intentionally offensive, or even portrayed as negative to be criticized.

As for the tambourine, well, my sister plays the tambourine too. She's a percussionist. As a kid she loved the fact Gypsy had tambourines, because when she was a kid, people didn't take percussion seriously and she dealt with a lot of issues. So for her Gypsy was validation that it was ok to play percussion.

That's great! I love everything about her design, and I love that ponies are so diverse that everyone can find one to relate to, but I think her name was a mistake on Hasbro's part and I think she would have been much better with a different name (like Tambourine- it even rhymes with Tangerine, so it's perfect for her lol- I actually wonder if this was intentional)

As an autistic person I've learned and come to value that awkward attempts to reach out and include are better than being ignored completely. It at least begins a discussion, which can lead to improved awareness and education.

I agree with this wholeheartedly; it's better to try to show kindness and work to learn despite the potentiality of saying the wrong thing instead of doing nothing at all- especially because those moments do open up the opportunity for education and a better understanding- like we're doing right now!

I also say this from the standpoint of someone who has seen the r word used regularly and liberally in discussions on equality and diversity, so I know that this whole thing can be very complicated.

Totally understand this, I'm a member of an often poorly understood group and frequently have to make a balance between understanding people and simultaneously wading through incorrect assumptions and term usage that is often offensive and based in oppression ( historical and contemporary), both unintentionally and otherwise.

You are as always entitled to your opinion, and you don't have to agree with mine in the slightest. All I really wanted was to say that not all opinions have to be binary.

Agreed!

The one thing I do find weird, though, is that you guys still want to own her although she makes you uncomfortable. If it were me, I wouldn't want her in my collection at all.

Personally, I love her design; one of my favorite poses, favorite color schemes and I love her little freckles. Despite that, her name does prevent me from getting her- I've turned down several so far because of her name, though I will likely still get her in the future.

A big part of loving anything is understanding and acknowledging the less positive aspects of it, it's important to criticize the things you love.


And that's all I have to say about this.  Back to the ponies!

Gypsy was a childhood pony for me, she was a second hand find at my Dad's school's fete.

Gypsy is a word in the English language which means 'free-spirited.' It's also a girl's name with the same meaning. This is also in keeping with Gypsy's character in the comics.


Over here in the UK the term is used to self-identify by a lot of the people in question. I went to primary school with some of them. My Dad taught others. It's absolutely true that the word can be used in a derogatory sense - but that's the thing. Using it as a derogatory label and using it in the context of a name to express a meaning of free spirit are two different uses of the same word.

The nuance may be a British thing, but it's a British pony, so probably relevant in terms of Hasbro's decisions.

 

Not to turn this thread into an argument, but this word is (at least contemporarily) thought to be a slur, regardless of whether or not people sometimes use it to describe a 'free spirit' or if it is sometimes used by actual Romani people, regardless of location. It's popular to use it for other reasons (as you mentioned- this is not exclusive to the UK and is sill quite common in the US), but it still originated as a descriptor for Romani people, which eventually developed into a slur and is inextricable from that origin (the use of it to describe a 'free spirit' is also a result of it's use to describe Romani people), at least not when Romani people are still oppressed.

Acknowledging it's origins is important for understanding the way it's used today, in any context.