I think I posted a similar topic two years ago or so, but I thought I'd poke around again. . .

But yeah, I was wondering if there were any other's, and by vintage / antique I mean anything pre-1960's.

I collect mainly composition dolls from the 1930's to 1940's, like Effanbee Anne Shirley's, Horsman Sweethearts and some Alexander dolls like Wendy and such.  My other big doll collection are Japanese composition dolls of Geisha, Maiko, Tayuu, Oiran and other female figures, most of which are pre-1930.  I just splurged on a Ishou Bijin ( Ishou being a type of doll that wears fabric clothes, and lifelike clothes versus a doll with molded clothing like Hakata being solid clay-porcelain or a kimekomi with fabric molded over the frame, and Bijin meaning beautiful woman ) for $88usd direct from Kyoto that's from the 1890's. 

Honestly, my pony collection is the cheapest of all my collections, not when I have kimono and dolls that are worth several thousand dollars. . . :shame:   Not that I've paid that, no, I'm a opportunist to say the least, but I have easily spent upwards of nearly a grand on some of them. . . 

Unfortunately there are not a lot of places where I can find those who are similarly interested.  There are sites like DoA, but, that's all BJD and I have little interest in it but for old antique ball joints from Germany and Japan( which do not really count to them, from what I've read in their rules).  Other boards are either dead or not too much activity, or else people not really my age. . .  Goodness, I used to do doll shows and I'd be the youngest seller, but I'd be selling the oldest of all the dolls! 

I've also done some work with Cissy dolls by Alexander, but more on restringing and fixing them, especially for my mother's collection! 

But yes, I'd love to talk with some people interested in the sorts of dolls I am, or even just helping anyone whose come into possession of an older doll, both in restoration or even identification.  Collecting can be hard when a doll has NO maker's marks!

Strangely enough, Hasbro actually started out mostly as a small knicknack and doll maker in the 1930's.  They produced sewing and mannequin doll kits, which were made with composition dolls.  Interestingly enough, Hasbro's products were still considered somewhat cheap and shoddy even then.  I have a hatbox shaped doll case from the 1940's that I keep dolly accessories in it, and it's stamped Hasbro!

I live in Florida, where AC is required! 

Growing up in Wisconsin where AC was uncommon ( Believe it or not, class would more likely be canceled because it was too hot at the beginning of the year as most of the buildings did not have AC or weren't fully AC'd, rather than snow days. . . ) and moving to Florida. . .  I can't imagine not having AC and that was one of the things I rather didn't like when I stayed in the UK for several months.  Thankfully it was a somewhat cool summer that year over the pond, but my first couple nights in Cambridge were miserable! 

Still, it's been just too hot here in Florida, and I can't afford to run up an AC bill of $150, so I've been 'suffering,' by keeping it on 75f during the day and turning it down to 71f at night.  No, I've never acclimated, I get too hot, too easily.  I rarely ever go out and do anything outside in the summer, so thanks for dance classes inside, and working as a server that keeps me moving! 

I'm planning on getting a grill for out on the porch.  It'll cut down on the energy costs of running the oven and keep the appt cooler. . .  There's almost always ice cream in the freezer, I must admit, and that helps, and because I've adapted to some aspects of the 'Florida Lifestyle,' I have a margarita machine. . .  I do use it for things like smoothies, or I can just use it to make shaved ice, alla Japanese style, served with green tea syrup and sweet red beans.  I never drink my coffee hot, always throw ice into, and that helps to cool. 

The apartment complex has two pools, but I've yet to use them.  One, I'm entirely too self-conscious, and two, well, a lot of the 'parents,' around here think pool is synonymous with 'baby-sitter,' and there's always twenty kids in the pool with few or no adults at all around.  :Sigh:

Yes, Cream of Tartar will nuke rust. 

It may take a bit more elbow grease, and I was using a kitchen scrub brush, which while unwieldly, is a bit more potent in murdering dirt than a toothbrush. 

No, it does not spread from one pony to the other.  There's a reason why some lines of ponies get it more than others, and that's because the different colors take different chemicals to produce and each of these chemicals respond differently.  Other mentions have been Hasbro remelting other, older vinyls into batches of other stuff and it's a separation. 

Vinyl does not grow mold or bacteria within it.  It can survive atop of it, but even then that is iffy to say the least.  Vinyl and plastic is non-organic, as in, it has no natural materials in it.  It's all chemicals and extracted elements tossed into one big mishmash.  Environmental situations may play into it degradation as well, which could potentially suggest to collectors that it can spread from pony to pony.

Pindot is not a mold, it's dirt getting trapped in the pores of the plastic, usually by a fine dirt.  Dust can cause pindot, and if you have a dusty house and a lot of dusty ponies that now suddenly have pindot, you could come under the assumption that it spreads. 

I've done work with dolls for the last ten years, and that involved working with a lot of the earliest American plastic dolls.  Regrind is nothing new, it happens in old plastic dolls too, as does pin dot and the such, and then there's worse issues.  I've yet to see a pony crumble into dust, but I have seen older dolls do as such or produce a fine dust of its own, or turn deep brown and crack with fissures.  I have a love hate relation with vinyl!  But it's all chemical, not biological, your driving factors are going to be how it was made and quality control, and heat and humidity.  Not biological.  It's like fabric eating moths.  What fabrics are they going to eat?  Silks and cottons.  Not polyesters and rayons because they are inorganic.  Bacteria function similarly. 

And this is exactly why I am trying to keep my sales to the Arena and local.  I used to be a silver powerseller, meaning I sold $3k a month total or more.  But fees got higher and there were more rules.  It was so stupid, so I quit it.  And then the stupid people.  I'm a server, and it makes me realize the same stupid people are on Ebay as are sitting in my restaurant.  "Why does my food take so long to get to my table when it's mother's day and the restaurant has a two hour wait for seating?!" is the same argument of, "Why does my package take so long to get here when I picked the cheapest(slowest) rate and I live three thousand miles away from you?!" 

People are stupid, and it's sad when I feel like I have a better safety net trading and selling here than touching ebay. 

The only issue is that I do not have the same outlet for selling some spare kimono.  It's ebay or etsy, so I may try Etsy here soon. 

Vintergaten - Try baking supplies.  It's going to be along with baking soda, as it's part of what makes up baking soda.  It's powdery white and looks like corn starch.  Cream of Tartar is a byproduct of wine production and its scientific name is Potassium bitartrate if that helps at all. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bitartrate

Yeah, Gingerbread is bad.  My Gingerbread has no splotches but then I paid through the nose for her( and would charge what I paid for her if ever I were to sell her! ).

I've yet to find a Quackers in similar condition.  They're wrecky too.  But Bosenberry Pie is bad too. 

I just invented something awesome in my kitchen.

Being out of the pony community for a few years, I've been out of Oxyclean for ages and I found two ponies with Pindot and had been about to throw in the towel with them when I suddenly got a bug up my rear to try to experiment.  OCD is wonderful, what can I say?

Anyways, I have a backround in doll restoration and have been doing that for ages and ages, so it's just like me to find another means clean ponies of things like pindot.

My first idea had been vodka.

No, vodka does not clean pindot, sorry to burst your bubbles, you all can put that terrible smirnoff back in your cabinets.  ;3

I've recently have taken to using cream of tartar to clean my pots and pans.  It's very mild, natural, non-toxic and it's absolutely amazing for getting crap off of crap without scratching or damaging. . .

Cream of tartar cleans ponies.  Get your old, ugly toothbrushes out and mix some cream of tartar with some glycerin or dishsoap.  I used dishsoap.  I simply ran some hot water over my two test subjects to warm the plastic and make the pores of the plastic expand.

Flutterbye's pindot came off completely on the spots I cleaned.  I didn't have a tooth brush, so I used a new dishwand.  A bit big to get at the small spots.

Minty's pindot was lessened considerably, and I think I can fully remove it with repeat cleanings or making a pot of very hot water and sticking miss Minty in it to get her plastic really hot and then scrub her. 

So, it's something else for ya'll to try, and it will definitely take dirt off like no one's business, so have fun!