Customizing Mountain Boys...?

[EmBee]

I think almost any pony is capable of being restored... And there will always be someone out there who'd really want them!
 
-Em

[hathorcat]

Question....and maybe this is an indication of how out of touch I can be with peoples opinions or how much I prefer "as perfect as possible" ponies...

For example...Do you think a pony with a complete hohawk, no tail, symbol missing, unremovable stains on his body and perhaps something as irritating as age spots - restored back to being a Fireball [repainted symbol, completely rehaired and with the unremovable marks remaining] is as "valuable" as a one of a kind custom? In that condition isnt he just a "kind of custom" anyway?

*Note I dont know what condition these ponies were in...after reading so many opinions on this I am now just curious at what point people think a restore is a restore and a restore is custom....

[Vintergatan]

Personally, if a pony has no hair (or very little left) and no symbol, it's all the same to me whether it gets restored or customized. otherwise - leave it alone!

[Wardah]

I think since the name of the seller is a pony name, that they knew how much Fireball goes for, and that he must have been in truly baity (marked up with no symbol and a haircut) condition to begin with. Especially since they have another pony for sale that is just a rehair. I mean I know some people would rather have it restored but if you would accept the kind of restore a pony that is that far gone would need then why not just have someone customize a common pony into Fireball? Either way it isn't original anymore.

I have a hard time believing he could have been in that bad a state when his customizer confirmed his eyes and freckles were intact and just needed a slight touching up. If a haircut and some symbol loss equals bait now, I can see why G1's are becoming so difficult to find :c

Just because the face was fine does not mean the hind end was fine. For example its original owner could have decided that Fireball's symbol was too plain and took a sharpie to it. I just think if someone doesn't care enough about original condition that they would accept a restore with a rehair and a full symbol repaint they might as well get a replica made from a more common pony. While the ideal is that only truly manky G1 ponies become bait, even super rare ponies are not immune to being manky.

[Rainbowjuice]

I think that Ice Crystal in question used to be a Salty. I could be wrong..
Also I'm pretty certain that Fireball was originally a Steamer, looking at the shade of pink.

But no, I completely agree with the comments above. Check your ponies before you customise!

[TokiBear]

Personally, if someone found a super baity MB of any kind... I would rather see it restored than turned into a custom because of how expensive they can be.  I am at the point in my collecting that I am probably not going to be able to afford a genuine MB in the near future... but if someone restored one, that might be more in my price range.  I just hate seeing rare ponies turned into something else, even if that something else is an amazing piece of art like these boys... although I'm also going to say that "Ice Crystal" was not Ice Crystal to begin with. 

[Kaeldre]

After reading through the comments and looking at the ponies myself, I don't think that they were Mountain Boys to begin with.  "Ice Crystal", while the same color, isn't in Ice Crystal's pose and "Fireball" is a different shade of pink.  Both customs are just beautiful, but people really should do their research before customizing ponies.

[Dyzarktarzk]

Question....and maybe this is an indication of how out of touch I can be with peoples opinions or how much I prefer "as perfect as possible" ponies...

For example...Do you think a pony with a complete hohawk, no tail, symbol missing, unremovable stains on his body and perhaps something as irritating as age spots - restored back to being a Fireball [repainted symbol, completely rehaired and with the unremovable marks remaining] is as "valuable" as a one of a kind custom? In that condition isnt he just a "kind of custom" anyway?


*Note I dont know what condition these ponies were in...after reading so many opinions on this I am now just curious at what point people think a restore is a restore and a restore is custom....

IMO, a restore for me is some paint retouches (eyes, symbol), and partial to full rehairing (depending on the hair, and leaving the body intact, or some paint to cover age spots/cancer), and helping a limbless pony to be complete (always with the idea of not selling it as an original).  A custom for me is doing a full rehair, and a lot of painting (ie. almost full symbol and eyes redone).


I know others will disagree with my concepts, but that are my idea for custom and restoration.


I know there are more heavy-restorations that can be categorized as a  customization, but that's not always the case (I remember the case of a chewed head of a Daddy Sweet Celebration and a legless Galaxy that were restored in a way that still makes me go speechless at the images, that's a really amazing job to stare at for hours!).

[Taxel]

Just because the face was fine does not mean the hind end was fine. For example its original owner could have decided that Fireball's symbol was too plain and took a sharpie to it. I just think if someone doesn't care enough about original condition that they would accept a restore with a rehair and a full symbol repaint they might as well get a replica made from a more common pony. While the ideal is that only truly manky G1 ponies become bait, even super rare ponies are not immune to being manky.

Since when does a haircut and some symbol damage automatically equal bait? If that's the case many of my G1s are bait material. :/

Not everyone only wants minty ponies, but not everyone wants to have every grail made into a custom instead so non-baity rare G1s can be customized. One of my biggest grails is a Mimic. . .in baity condition, to add to my collection exactly as she is. One of my favorite ponies in the world in a Moonstone with a missing tail, major symbol rub, and cancer/rust stains all over his face and body. I've wanted to buy bait lots of G1s so many times to add them to my collection exactly as they are, with no restoring or customizing. On many G1s, I prefer them to have haircuts or to be tailless. I rarely mind small marks (pen, pindot, small rubs, etc) and usually don't mind bigger ones (cancer, regrind large rubs, etc). That does NOT mean I'm not entitled to want to have original ponies instead of customs (and yes, I do love customs and have a few myself including two G1 customs; I even plan to eventually get some customs made after Nirvanas I can't afford).

[WickedWonderland]

Since the person knew the names and the term mountain boys they seem to know their stuff and would know better than to customize rare ponies.

I think the baits were Salty and Steamer and that the custom designs were loosely based on the Mountain Boys.

Someone should ask the seller who the baits were (nicely!) just to put the issue to rest.

[Vintergatan]

Someone here did, a few pages back. They confirmed Fireball was indeed Fireball but they said they thought Icey was Tornado (which i´m not seeing at all)

[nhal039]

Wow some of the comments on here made me change my opinions of these customs, I first thought it was horrid baiting a mountain boy but now I think if he was in terrible condition why not. For example
Say if the seller oringally brought their ponies for a high price and ended up with some manky ponies.. say if the person she brought them off lyed about the condition these ponies were in.
Now she has these ponies that were really expensive but the resale value is not even half off what she paid for them...  she hates the ponies...she is not made of money...what does she do? Customize them into ponies she loves... after a few years she sells her collection or these two cause she has outgrown them. Can you really be mad at a person under that situation?
I personally have brought 2 manky thunderclouds.. both sellers failed to tell me about the cancer spots, big stains and a cut in the symbols. Now I have 2 thunderclouds that I hate (and for the record I never want another thundercloud in my life). I wish I brought another pony... but no I am stuck with these 2. personally would perfer a cool custom like those 2 made of one of my thundercloud. It would make me love him again. They are my ponies and I am not going to sell them so why not?

[TuxAndTails]

Wow some of the comments on here made me change my opinions of these customs, I first thought it was horrid baiting a mountain boy but now I think if he was in terrible condition why not. For example
Say if the seller oringally brought their ponies for a high price and ended up with some manky ponies.. say if the person she brought them off lyed about the condition these ponies were in.
Now she has these ponies that were really expensive but the resale value is not even half off what she paid for them...  she hates the ponies...she is not made of money...what does she do? Customize them into ponies she loves... after a few years she sells her collection or these two cause she has outgrown them. Can you really be mad at a person under that situation?
I personally have brought 2 manky thunderclouds.. both sellers failed to tell me about the cancer spots, big stains and a cut in the symbols. Now I have 2 thunderclouds that I hate (and for the record I never want another thundercloud in my life). I wish I brought another pony... but no I am stuck with these 2. personally would perfer a cool custom like those 2 made of one of my thundercloud. It would make me love him again. They are my ponies and I am not going to sell them so why not?

If sellers lie about/leave out crucial information regarding an item, you can contact them and explain the problem, or if they aren't cooperative, you can file a PayPal claim against them to get your money back. It's no reason for someone to deny their fellow collectors of ponies they would probably adore and couldn't afford otherwise

[cloud_weaver]

I'm 99% sure that Ice Crystal used to be Barnacle.  The pose of Salty is *COMPLETELY* wrong.  The only ponies that match that pose are:

*4-Speed
*Quarterback
*Barnacle
*Sunburst
*Thundercloud

And because he has blush, that rules out Sunburst and Thundercloud.  Don't forget she could have dyed a pony to get the color desired.  I lean towards a discolored Barnacle, because going from dark blue to green would be difficult in the case of Quarterback, and he closer matches Barnacle over 4-Speed.  ^-^

[SwordPony]

I do believe that is Barnacle.

I'm not really sure how I feel about the whole ideal of a MB being customized. I think they are way to valuable and rare to be baiting them out. Even if he was a manky Fireball.