Thrift shopped out and discouraged

[ringwraith10]

If you're shopping for kids, it's probably better to look for G3s and G4s, anyway. It's very difficult to find G1s, and G1s tend to have a whole slew of problems that can make them dangerous for kids (mold, lead, one study even said they might have traces of arsenic in them!). By today's safety standards, G1s are best kept thoroughly cleaned and on a shelf.

[FantasticFirefly]

If you're shopping for kids, it's probably better to look for G3s and G4s, anyway. It's very difficult to find G1s, and G1s tend to have a whole slew of problems that can make them dangerous for kids (mold, lead, one study even said they might have traces of arsenic in them!). By today's safety standards, G1s are best kept thoroughly cleaned and on a shelf.

Um. do you have a link in regards to anything about arsenic? I tried to keep my research on these toys pretty updated and from reputable sources and haven't read anything about arsenic thus far.

ok, 1980's era toys including G1 ponies contain lead and cadmium, the concentrations can vary, and some colours of toy is far far higher then others. I'm not speaking of the paint, actually in the vinyl itself. they also contain types of phthalates that are now banned as they are highly suspected of being endocrine disruptions in people. (if you have slimy leaky ponies to clean, use gloves, and wash hands after handing your collection, before eating etc. I personally stopped giving g1's to kids for these reasons to be on the safe side. I do buy g3's/g4's to share pony joy with them though.

G3 era and beyond are safe. they also tend to show age worse then the vintage toys. so something about the older recipes made them hold up far better. maybe it is the unsade stuff. G2 is unknown, and I don't have the kind of cash to send off samples to the quality of lab we'd need to find out.

[daystar217]

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So I went back to the flea market today and picked up the three G3's that I saw from this original post. I wasn't surprised they were still there, business had been slow. But I found a G1! A Firefly in great condition! And the orange G3 still has the packaging plastic around her tail and sewn into her mane. She was also wearing a pony costume with all the shoes and leg warmers and crown...pretty good for $3, right? The purple one was $2, the FIrefly and rainbow haired G3 were $1 each. But something happened to the rainbow hair when I washed it - the pink hair snapped off at the base, as clean as a razor blade. It just fell out in chunks. No other color, the white hair and green hair was fine, but the sugarberry colored streaks disintegrated. Anyway, I had lots of fun dragging my poor kids all over town to bargain hunt today. 

[LadyMoondancer]

Might be this study?

http://www.inhabitots.com/your-hand-me-down-vintage-toys-from-the-1970s-and-1980s-may-be-harming-your-child/

The researchers tested three categories of toys, including vintage non-vinyl, vintage vinyl, and more recently made vinyl toys. Examples of some of the toys tested included Fisher Price Little People sets, My Little Pony dolls, Barbies, rubber ducks, Little Tykes play kitchens and American Girl dolls. The study notes that 34% of the 77 non-vinyl toys tested would violate the current U.S. and Denmark limits on lead while 30% would violate cadmium limits.

Oddly the color of each toy played a significant role in the toxicity of said toy. According to the study, the highest concentrations of both cadmium and lead were found in yellow toy parts. Green, orange, and brown non-vinyl parts were similarly likely to contain high lead or cadmium concentrations. Toys colored with red and peach hues often contained lead or cadmium, and peach plastic was especially likely to contain excessive cadmium. Toy parts colored with white, magenta, turquoise, black, and gray had very little to undetectable amounts of cadmium and lead. The researchers note that while specific pigments appear to be a major source of harmful metals in toys, parents should perhaps avoid giving any older toys to their kids, as there’s not enough research on their safety.

So really we are just saving the children when we snap up all the G1s at a thrift shop. 

BTW, the G3-style fakies with the translucent glitter bodies were tested on a news program they contain lead.  I would never give a fakie, any fakie, to a child.  The fakie companies are too fly-by-night, there one day and gone the next.  They have much less incentive to produce safe toys than "legit" companies.

[Taxel]

That's scary!

I'd never give a child a vintage (or fakie) toy like that to keep but now I'm really glad my boyfriend's little sister outgrew ponies. She absolutely loved to play with my baity G1s when we visit. I'd let her play for a short time as long as she was careful but man, I definitely wouldn't let her do that anymore.


The trend of passing down American Girl dolls without getting the plastic parts replaced is worrying me now too...

[Foxtale]

That's scary!

The trend of passing down American Girl dolls without getting the plastic parts replaced is worrying me now too...

I wouldn't worry so much about the American Girl dolls. I know that plastics are plastics, but their materials used to be of a higher quality. I can't speak for the 1980s dolls but the most popular "vintage" dolls were from the 90s when concerns were a lot higher. Although I do have a Rabbit Hutch that is made of real wood and real wire netting. I always thought it was dangerous even when I was younger lol.

I love going thrifting for ponies although it is highly unlikely that I see anything besides G3 ponies at this point or really gnarly common G1s.

Daystar- There is a known issue with some colors of hair on G3 ponies that do that. Specifically the pink you are describing. Someone can link you to the thread hopefully but it is common that this color gets brittle and just falls out as if a razor cut it. It's so sad that it has happened to so many ponies.

[otocolobus_manul]

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So I went back to the flea market today and picked up the three G3's that I saw from this original post. I wasn't surprised they were still there, business had been slow. But I found a G1! A Firefly in great condition! And the orange G3 still has the packaging plastic around her tail and sewn into her mane. She was also wearing a pony costume with all the shoes and leg warmers and crown...pretty good for $3, right? The purple one was $2, the FIrefly and rainbow haired G3 were $1 each. But something happened to the rainbow hair when I washed it - the pink hair snapped off at the base, as clean as a razor blade. It just fell out in chunks. No other color, the white hair and green hair was fine, but the sugarberry colored streaks disintegrated. Anyway, I had lots of fun dragging my poor kids all over town to bargain hunt today. 

Nice! I rarely find anything at thrift stores, even g3s and g4s. I've also only found a single g1 in my 3-4 years of collecting.

And for the pony with broken hair, I forget her name, but I believe she was sold by Avon. The Avon ponies are notorious for horrible hair that breaks off in chunks.

Also, might you be interested in trading a G3 or 2 for a very nice condition TAF Sundance, by any chance?