Newbie questions (glue, neon hair)

[Moxie]

I started collecting G4 ponies back in 2011 and have a pretty unhealthy sized collection! Some styled, some unstyled, some boxed from the first wave, some rarer, some not so.
With G1s I want to eventually be a restorer, I feel it is a shame for some salvageable antiques no longer in production to be turned into customs because of fixable things! Plus I have always been a crafty person. Restoring sounds like my jam.
I've already gotten the thick smell of cigarette smoke out of my Glory. I store my ponies in my walk in closet, and even just having her displayed in there, I could smell it faintly when I opened the door. That's how bad it was. Now I can only smell it faintly on her body if I put her right up to my nose, but holy smokes (pun intended), not to brag, but I am impressed at myself how well I fixed it! It was a lot of very warm/hot washes with soap and water and a 15 minute scrub with a soft toothbrush with a peroxide & baking soda paste (1 part peroxide 2 parts baking soda), done twice one day apart.

Anyways, I am such a sentimental person and I think the G1s are precious little pieces of history, that is why I am being so careful and reading as much as I can. I don't want to ever accidentally 'ruin' or so much as put a scratch on them

So something that confuses me is supergluing the neck. Why is this done? Some ponies I have have glued necks, some don't, I've heard G3s are notorious for having a lot of glue in their neck, but if they were glued how would their heads be moveable?
What would the reason be for two of the G1 ponies I have to have superglued necks, but not the other? This must mean the pony was pried open for some reason at some point..?

Also I purchased a Surprise in wonderful condition. I know there are problems with color bleeding if neon hair colors are boiled or even put in hot water (or is it just boiling?), so if I were to wash and style her mane and tail, what do I need to be careful of, and things I absolutely should not do? Is a gentle flat ironing okay?

Thanks in advance for putting up with my lame newbie questions, haha!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

With G1s, some have naturally super strong factory glue.  Some didn't and it cracks easily when you try to take their heads off for inspection.  This can cause lots of confusion amongst collectors - some prefer a glued head from the factory, others don't care.  Many people glue the necks of ponies because they don't like that the head can turn, or because the pony's neckline has been torn in some fashion.  There is a tiny little mark on the neckline that shows where the alignment point is. 

G3s, well, they just overdid the glue until they started making the heads able to turn 360* .  No reason that we know of.

With Surprise, yes that chartreuse hair does bleed so I would only use warm water on her and try to keep her hair from drying directly against her body - wrap her hair in paper towels or something.  Try to avoid her hair getting wrapped around her in storage especially in warmer climates.  I'm pretty sure you can flat-iron her with no issues. 

[DemureGirl]

Good job getting the smoke smell out Putting it in catlitter (unused of course!) is another way

As for the glue, the G1's at least were all meant to have their heads glued one as most weren't meant to move. The glue has deteriorated over time (plus some over zealous kids pulling off the ponies heads )which is why so many are loose.

I've had no trouble washing my Surprise's hair in warm water, just not boiling. not sure about the flat iron. Tried it a few times myself but just wasn't a fan of using it

They aren't lame questions either. I asked exactly the same type of things when I was new too

[hathorcat]

No such thing as an unhealthy collection

As the others have mentioned, G1s were meant to have glued on heads - that's perfectly normal for them So if you have one which is loose, perhaps yes a previous owner removed it but its also possible that it simply has a degraded glue.

Surprises hair will stain or bleed even if only in hot water. Make sure to wash her hair separate from her body. And when her hair is drying do not allow it to dry against her body [unless you put something between hair and body to prevent the yellow staining the plastic].

[Moxie]

Thank you guys for the wonderful feedback!! I hope someday I can give advice to others!

Try to avoid her hair getting wrapped around her in storage especially in warmer climates.  I'm pretty sure you can flat-iron her with no issues.

oh dear, I live in Arizona and it'll be in the 100s (possibly up to 105, eeek) when she is expected to arrive.. and my mailbox turns into an oven in this kind of heat (problem being the mail box unit is a quarter mile from my house so I never hear/see the mail truck!)
Hope that short amount of time in the heat doesn't do any damage :/