Restoration- Head swaping and such

[CopperBluJu]

I'm currently going through my collection and purging my extra ponies. While doing so I'm upgrading/adding to my collection of G1's

So I have two Cherry Treats one chewed on but with a tail the other without a tail. Generally I tail swap all the time. But as I hope they clean up enough to resell (not the chewed one obviously but future tailless ponies) SO how do collectors feel about tail swapping? Does it matter enough to break a sale? Is it even worthy enough to mention in a sale, because frankly I will probably forget.

The other problem I have is a pristine white bodied Majesty with a yellowed head. How would people feel if I swapped out her head with another Majesty head that matched? Or if I swapped heads because eyes are scratched, better mane ect. How would you feel if you bought a pony like that? Should I call it restored when I sell it even if no repainting or rehairing was involved. 

What about fixing plugs (with donor hair) without breaking the neck seem vs pulling the head off. I have done it both ways and frankly can't tell a difference except for the head able to come off. Is that something that should be mentioned?

How much restoration matters as a buyer?

Thanks Everypony!

[Radha]

  I personally don't care about head or tail swapping at all.  I think it's a good way to get more good condition ponies.  That said, I've never been lucky enough to have two that I could do that to. I should start saving any loose tails I find! 

  The rehairing might be a bit different, though.  If you are just plugging a few holes without securing it, when the new owner later goes to brush or wash the hair and those come out, I could see them being upset.  I would definitely mention that if I knew how to do it and did it, making a point that I used original donor hair.

   I'm a medium picky sort of collector, though- I don't mind if the neck seals are opened and don't look for mint ponies, just nm or good, so I would also say it depends on who you are dealing with. 

[CopperBluJu]

   The rehairing might be a bit different, though.  If you are just plugging a few holes without securing it, when the new owner later goes to brush or wash the hair and those come out, I could see them being upset.  I would definitely mention that if I knew how to do it and did it, making a point that I used original donor hair.

Actually I can glue a few plugs without removing the head so that the hair wont come out.

[mlp4me]

So how do collectors feel about tail swapping? As long as it matches the mane color, it's all good.
Does it matter enough to break a sale? Not for me.
Is it even worthy enough to mention in a sale, because frankly I will probably forget. Yes, I would mention, there are some collector's that prefer ponies completely original.

How would people feel if I swapped out her head with another Majesty head that matched? Disclosure is always a safe way to go. This doesn't bother me personally
Or if I swapped heads because eyes are scratched, better mane ect. Again, disclosure
How would you feel if you bought a pony like that? I'm not really picky, but do like to know.
Should I call it restored when I sell it even if no repainting or rehairing was involved. Not really restored, this is more like parts swapping.
 
What about fixing plugs (with donor hair) without breaking the neck seem vs pulling the head off. If you're rooting in plugs without tying the end or gluing they may come out when the mane is combed. Disclosure.

[FarDreamer]

So how do collectors feel about tail swapping? As long as it matches the mane color, it's all good.
Does it matter enough to break a sale? Not for me.
Is it even worthy enough to mention in a sale, because frankly I will probably forget. Yes, I would mention, there are some collector's that prefer ponies completely original.

How would people feel if I swapped out her head with another Majesty head that matched? Disclosure is always a safe way to go. This doesn't bother me personally
Or if I swapped heads because eyes are scratched, better mane ect. Again, disclosure
How would you feel if you bought a pony like that? I'm not really picky, but do like to know.
Should I call it restored when I sell it even if no repainting or rehairing was involved. Not really restored, this is more like parts swapping.
 
What about fixing plugs (with donor hair) without breaking the neck seem vs pulling the head off. If you're rooting in plugs without tying the end or gluing they may come out when the mane is combed. Disclosure.

I agree with all this.  To me, if a pony's parts have been replaced with matching/original parts, then it's still an original pony.  Others are pickier though, and everyone expects to know what they're getting into when they buy a pony.

[prancingstag]

It wouldn't break a sale for me, but I would like it to be mentioned if possible. It's part of the overall condition of a pony, I feel. Some ponies are prone to having mismatched parts as original - there was a thread recently about some Sunspots and other ponies having a fading pink mane and non-fading pink tail, or vice versa, so they look mismatched. If a tail or head swap occurred to make a matching non-faded pony, I wouldn't look down on it or consider it of lesser value, but I would like to know that it happened just out of interest in the pony's history.

And your example of Majesty - I know that there was the first Dream Castle version and then later, an MO version that came separate from the Dream Castle reissue. I have heard that the MO version is a lot more prone to flaws. If say, an MO Majesty with a yellowed head was swapped out and given a first issue head in replacement, I would like to have that information. Just in case in the future, one part starts developing odd flaws that don't come up on another, and I'm like, "Why is my perfect [pony] suddenly so mismatched?!" You never know, some heads or bodies might be more prone to cancer or regrind or other flaws, and might degrade or discolour at a different rate.

As for fixing plugs, that definitely warrants mentioning. You don't have to title it as a rehair but in the description, mention which plugs were replaced (photograph if possible), and maybe even state "It was rehaired with [Supplier Name] [colour] nylon hair" or something to that effect. You can mention if the head is removable or still glued in place, I'm not sure how much something like that matters to the average buyer. Personally I like my heads loose as I scrub inside and out and check my new ponies all over during spa time.

[Stormness_1]

I headswap, tailswap, replace washers, etc, all the time! I do always disclose this if I sell though. When I'm restoring I'm bonding wth the pony, so when I pick them up again, I can remember what I did to them, and the more work I did, the better I remember what I did - so for me, that's a non-issue, and it's almost like a brag about a great restore when you do end up selling - look at all the work I did - and she still looks sooo original!

[hathorcat]

I am quite a fussy collector; however within my own collection I have certainly swapped out for replacement tails on occasion and filled in the odd plug with original pony hair [original hair not new hair]...replacement heads not to much...there is just potentially too much of a difference to make it worth while for me. I guess it maybe depends on individual collectors where they draw the line of acceptable.

I think the key is just make your buyer know what has been done - whether it be something as simple as a tail switch or more significant as a head/body switch. Declare it all in your listing and let buyers make the decision if they are happy or not. I am sure you will find so many differing opinions on who thinks what is acceptable to their own collection and what price difference certain "improvements" make to those ponies. You will also find plenty of collectors who will simply pay a lower price for a pony which has issues - because perhaps they are not too fussy or because they would like the challenge of fixing her up. You could always offer ponies up in their current condition and have a price range - $X for pony in current condition, $Y for pony if you change something, $Z for pony if you change a couple of somethings. Personally I think that is the easiest option.

[Teddy]

Head/tail swaps wouldn't bother me at all since they are all still original parts. Also doesn't bother me at all if a pony's head has been removed (I've done it to many many ponies in my collection to properly clean and remove rusty washers).

When it comes to replacing hair plugs, I wouldn't mind either but I'd want to know about it. Mostly just so I know if I should be gentler when brushing said pony's hair or something.

I am not a picky collector at all, so none of what you've mentioned would bother me or affect a deal at all. But there ARE some very picky collectors out there, so to play it safe I would disclose whether the head has been removed, if tail has been replaced, and also if any plugs have been replaced. Just to cover yourself and so the buyer is aware.

[Unicorn_pops]

So how do collectors feel about tail swapping? As long as it matches the mane color, it's all good.
Does it matter enough to break a sale? Not for me.
Is it even worthy enough to mention in a sale, because frankly I will probably forget. Yes, I would mention, there are some collector's that prefer ponies completely original.

How would people feel if I swapped out her head with another Majesty head that matched? Disclosure is always a safe way to go. This doesn't bother me personally
Or if I swapped heads because eyes are scratched, better mane ect. Again, disclosure
How would you feel if you bought a pony like that? I'm not really picky, but do like to know.
Should I call it restored when I sell it even if no repainting or rehairing was involved. Not really restored, this is more like parts swapping.
 
What about fixing plugs (with donor hair) without breaking the neck seem vs pulling the head off. If you're rooting in plugs without tying the end or gluing they may come out when the mane is combed. Disclosure.

^ This for me too
I've part swapped myself on my coolbreeze army. If I get a coolbreeze in that has nice wings but barely any hair left, I'll remove her wings and put them on one of my better conditioned coolbreezes. And now that I've done it several times with my wingers, I don't even need to remove the heads to get the wings off. Everything can be pulled up and stays intact It's tricky but doable.  I don't ever plan on selling them though, but if I ever had too, I'd let the future buyer know.

[Shenanigans]

I would much rather have a matching body/head color than be fussy about a broken neck seal Head/body mismatched colors are one of my collecting pet peeves so I would much rather have them match up than not have the neck seal broken

And tail swapping is fine with me too!