How picky are you with ponies? (with print errors and hair flaws etc)

[vira]

I just opened my Starlight Glimmer and I have to say, I'm really happy with her despite her misaligned eye stamp. In the end, I grew to accept her flaws.

im glad shes grown on you! i have a rainbow dash with some misaligned eyes, and over the years, shes grown on me as well! it does have a certain kind of endearing charm! 

Hasbro is absolutely capable of making ponies without head-body mismatch. Fashion Styles don't suffer from it, or at least the early ones I had don't as far as I know. (Unless it takes years to show up and happened after I sold mine.)

MLP and very cheap toys (often knockoffs) are the only ones that have mismatch to the degree of G4s. Slight mismatch is common, especially with dolls since you often have hard plastic torsos/limbs and vinyl heads, but it is NOT "required". I haven't ever seen a recent doll (ie Barbie, MH, EAH) with mismatch anywhere near as bad as G4s. Hasbro willingly chooses to make this "quality" of product

thats a very good point! i havent really kept up with comparable toy quality, but if they arent having these same issues, its definitely disheartening that MLP is!

also, i have noticed that theres another quality discrepancy between earlier g4 toys and the more current ones! my older g4s have a pretty much matte finishes; they reflect very little light and have minimal shine.

but the newer g4s i have (as well as the cheap bagged single ponies) are made of very shiny plastic, and their hair also seems to be shinier and more untameable than the older brushable hair.

this lack of quality isnt unexpected, but its still disappointing :-(

[Cadence]

I just opened my Starlight Glimmer and I have to say, I'm really happy with her despite her misaligned eye stamp. In the end, I grew to accept her flaws.

im glad shes grown on you! i have a rainbow dash with some misaligned eyes, and over the years, shes grown on me as well! it does have a certain kind of endearing charm! 

Indeed! Here she is - I barely notice the eye misprint!  visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Hasbro is absolutely capable of making ponies without head-body mismatch. Fashion Styles don't suffer from it, or at least the early ones I had don't as far as I know. (Unless it takes years to show up and happened after I sold mine.)

MLP and very cheap toys (often knockoffs) are the only ones that have mismatch to the degree of G4s. Slight mismatch is common, especially with dolls since you often have hard plastic torsos/limbs and vinyl heads, but it is NOT "required". I haven't ever seen a recent doll (ie Barbie, MH, EAH) with mismatch anywhere near as bad as G4s. Hasbro willingly chooses to make this "quality" of product

thats a very good point! i havent really kept up with comparable toy quality, but if they arent having these same issues, its definitely disheartening that MLP is!

also, i have noticed that theres another quality discrepancy between earlier g4 toys and the more current ones! my older g4s have a pretty much matte finishes; they reflect very little light and have minimal shine.

but the newer g4s i have (as well as the cheap bagged single ponies) are made of very shiny plastic, and their hair also seems to be shinier and more untameable than the older brushable hair.

this lack of quality isnt unexpected, but its still disappointing :-(

Starlight Shimmer's my first G4 brushable (non-McD pony) purchase since the 2012-2013 era, I believe. I don't know when exactly the quality changed, but Starlight felt oddly greasy out of the box...
It might just be me, but I don't remember having to examine every pony in store with a magnifying glass during my hunts back then!

[Khayman81]

First I was not picky at all, and I got some really bad ponies, then I tried to restore some of them, starting by the basics (flutter wings) then it became more fun to restore them, and now I almost only pick the bad shaped ones to restore them. still I wouldn't buy ponies with missing limbs.

[daffodil101]

Most of my buys upgrades now so I'm fairly picky.  Probably my biggest dislike is head-body mismatch, followed by frizzy hair.  I really love finding ponies with great body colour-- I found a Powder recently who was a really bright purple (instead of my grey-ish one).  I do love finding ponies to restore though.  I've only done a couple so far, but it's so satisfying 

[EnaRocketQueen]

I'm more picky than I should be for a G4 collector! Minor flaws I can just hide/not look at or notice are ok but I can't have a pony with misprinted eyes.

[Elfpony]

Overall I'm not very picky so long as the pony displays well, however there are certain things that I am very picky about. SS flocking quality and head-body mismatch, and large marks/discoloration are where I get really picky. Also, if it's an expensive/rare pony I'd rather pay more for one in pristine condition than less for one with flaws.

Elf

[josiekat]

The only time I am picky is when I am in the store and there are multiple packages to choose from. Other than that....the flaw has to be pretty bad or distracting for me to worry about it.

[ghouldilocks]

Lol, I cannot tell you how long I will stand there comparing every pony on the shelf to find the least flawed one. Eyes are my #1, symbols, body and hair all next. I think I have mild OCD.

Spoiler

I'm much more forgiving with previous generations, but then I've never seen a G1/2/3 with eyewonk. I do have G4 ponies with errors, and most often I find a way to accept it instead of replacing or buying a double... because a lot of the time I can't find better, every pony on the shelf is flawed to some degree (really how hard is it to print the eyes correctly?).
So yeah, you're not the only one.

Quick OT because misunderstanding mental illness/psychological disorders is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, but OCD actually has nothing to do inherently with wanting things to be "just so." That's a really big misconception - people with OCD have very strong, genuine feelings of anxiety/dread from intrusive, obsessive thoughts, and they try to cope with or keep at bay these thoughts and the resulting anxiety through the use of compulsions.

For *SOME* people, a compulsion they might use as a coping mechanism is to have things neat or orderly, but that isn't the case for everyone. They also can't control their obsessions or compulsions - it's not that they "want" things to be a certain way, but they need to have it just so in order to try and ease the obsessive thoughts.

In short, being a neat freak or being particular about certain things isn't the same as struggling with OCD.

Rant over 

Back on topic, for me it just depends. I take it on a pony-by-pony basis. I'm more forgiving with G1, for example, just because considering their age, some flaws are to be expected. I used to be less forgiving with G4, but quickly realized the quality overall is just not very good and there's likely to be a factory flaw on pretty much any given pony now.

Also, the more I think about it, the more I start feeling bad for the ponies sitting on a shelf or in a For Sale box someplace, unloved and unwanted just because they aren't perfect. In some cases, once I start thinking along those lines, I start appreciating them flaws and all, like they just have their little quirks as people do. I also like to think of them as battle scars of sorts, like they came to me with a history and a story to tell.

(Yes, I was the kind of kid who treated her toys as if they were living things  )

[SkyCakes]

G1s: I find I am getting a little more picky as time goes on. If its a glaring flaw like pony age spots in a area that just looks bad I end up trading that pony. Sometimes I find a flaw in a NDS. I dont mind that. I don't know why but I dont like age spots very much or regrind. However, if they have pen marks, smooze, things like a mohawk I don't mind that very much though. I am more accepting though of the big brother ponies I have a few with age spots. Also if the pony has a full different body color from the regrind I could live with that. Head mismatch isn't so bad to me either. I try to accept that my ponies are getting older someday they might be considered antiques.

G3-G4: I really don't care about any of those flaws very much.

[Haruna]

I'm a fairly picky collector, and I try to get ponies as mint as possible. (I usually am happy with very good condition, though ) Hair and eyes are super important to me while for some reason marks and symbol rubs don't bother me as much (within reason).

I've wondered about my shift to minty ponies for a while because growing up and in my first ten years or so of collecting I didn't think about it as much; I got secondhand ponies and ponies with buzz cuts, frizzy hair, etc. and didn't mind overmuch. Nowadays I find myself buying nicer, "display-worthy" doubles of those ponies (but I'll never get rid of my childhood ones).

There are a few exceptions -- I love my Euro Baby Ribbon with half a horn because I have a whole backstory for her, and Moondancer with a jewel glued where her horn used to be, and Thundercloud with marks on one side. And when I was younger my super-chewed-up High Flyer had been through a battle, in my mind. (No doubt she was, with a previous owner's pet.) So sometimes the huge flaws give a pony character.

[cannibalism]

im totally fine with minor flaws. my biggest concern is usually hair and agespots/cancer. i wont buy a pony if it has cancer or age spots, and if the hair is espeically bad ill usually pass. buying hair can get expensive and as much as i like to restore them, i can't be doing it all the time.

im also very particular about symbol rubs? i like symbols to be in as pristine condition as possible.

[Mareacooda]

I can be picky... I don't like buy brand new G4s or G3s ponies dirty in packages; Wondering eyes drives me nutz, discolor head and scratch symbols or eyes...
When it comes G1s I tend dislike discolor bodies and major scratches... I don't mind discolor in hair. I tend look for character in G1s... I few oddball that love just because unique...

[Epona]

If there are multiples of the pony, For G4 I will check every pony in the store to pick the one with the best paint job. It drives my hubby crazy...But when he picks ponies up for me he tries to get the nicest ones.

For everything else Im not picky.  I even have a headless one in my bait drawer.

Age spots and regrind make me sad because the pony is breaking down, but I welcome them into my herd regardless.