How to tell if it's nirvana or just evenly faded?

[Karma]

Hi Nirvana friends. As I wandered around ebay trying to see if I  could find some tiny baby bait, should I need it, I kept coming across these ponies in groupings that were either nirvana or darkened or faded what have you. Now, if they are Nirvana, the prices would justify. If they're not, then the seller(s) (I didn't look to see if they were all the same person) are sort of overselling. How do you tell by looking at them?

[Chi]

The number one thing is marks on feet. Secondly, paint.
Does it say "Hong Kong"? Is the "Pat. Pend." missing? Are the eyes a different colour than the U.S. one? Do they look airbrushed instead?
Are there no foot stamps at all?

If you can't see the stamps on the feet, you can always ask a seller. Pulling up a comparison photo of a US pony and putting them side to side should help you out, too.

If you really have no idea if its nirvana or not, you can ask us. There's no shame in asking, you never know what you'll discover!
We're still discovering variants...

[Karma]

Okay, here's the ponies that could be five different things. I have no money to bid, so this is more educational for me
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[princessluna11706]

The above ponies all seem like normal releases to me, except I believe the darker pink Cotton Candy is a US mail order release. 

As Chi said, we're always discovering new variants, so no harm in asking! <3

[Chi]

The only one that looks different to me is the Cotton Candy. She might be the MO like Luna said.
Her body is too bright and her hair is too light to be the 2007 rerelease and her eyes don't look like another country release.

The others appear to just be discoloured/dirty.

Heartthrob and Flutterbye both have glitter symbols and their corresponding standard eyes in their US ponies.

[pinkkittywinks]

They all look like standard release ponies to me

You can learn to tell a nirvana from a regular pony looking carefully. Most nirvana countries have characteristics which give them away for example: lack of a forelock, eye colour, metallic rather than glitter symbols. There is no real hard or fast rule to spotting a nirvana, it is a combination of observation and an experienced eye.

Love pkw xxx