How do you know what the display side of a g1 or g2 is?

[PandoraFox]

This is just a question I've been pondering over.

With ponies looking left, or right, their display side is obviously the one where you can see their face, With g3 and g4 ponies it's the side their cutie mark/symbol is on. But what about g1 and g2 ponies that are looking straight ahead?

I've seen plenty of ebay listings of ponies in the posey or collectors pose, that are listed to have a flaw on their non display side, but is there really any sort of official display side for these girls? Or are these people basically suggesting you should just be displaying whatever side looks best?

[PandaBerryInSpace]

I usually display them facing forwards. :3 Otherwise, for me at least, I display the side where the hair is showing.

[partypony566]

I usually display them facing forwards. :3 Otherwise, for me at least, I display the side where the hair is showing.

Same here

[Elisto]

Display side on G1s and G2s facing forward I consider to be the side the hair falls on (or is supposed to fall on if the hair has been changed)

[hyenacub]

Ditto what ellisto said.  That's what I consider the Display Side also.  C:

[Dyzarktarzk]

Completely agree with Elisto and hyenacub.

That's what I've always considered to be the Display Side =)

[MsTwilight]

Yep, I agree with the above comments. Display side is the side the hair falls on.

[lemontwist]

I usually find it pretty easy to tell, but I have had trouble. Most of them, the head is turned in the right direction, or the mane is on the DS like others said.

[hathorcat]

I ll jump on the bandwagon and agree for me it is the side the hair should be falling on!

[moonflower]

Ditto, for forward facing ponies it's the side the hair falls on. If you are not sure which side the hair is supposed to fall on it is best to find a MOC picture.

[kellyponyfeathers]

I would actually say that it differs between the generations.  It's whichever side was was visible when the pony was MOC/MIB.  So it's whichever side is "supposed" to be their "good" side.

With the G1's, the mane usually falls on this side, but not always.  The shy/turning pose like Applejack is a frequent exception.  For ponies in that pose, sometimes the manufacturers would put the mane on the right of the neck, sometimes on the left.  A better way to tell which is the DS in G1's is whichever way the head turns.

The G2's were packaged differently, and their manes weren't wrapped flat down against the sides of their necks.  Their hair was packaged more like the G3's:  it would go up a little, then fall on their non-display sides.  But I think a lot of collectors wanted the mane to be visible, so they would comb it down and train it to fall on the display side instead, so they'd be like the G1's.  Take, for example, the light-up mom and baby pair of Princess Twinkle Star and Baby Twinkles.  The mom's left side is visible from the box, and her mane goes up a bit and then falls to the right side of her neck.  But her symbol is actually different on both sides since she's a light up pony.  She's got the light-up part on the left side, visible from the box.  But her right side, not visible from the box, is just painted.  See?

Hmm, that sounds a little more complicated than I'd meant it to. . . .  Anyway, the G2's generally tip their heads a bit toward their display sides too, just like the G1's.

[Betelgeuse]

the side visible on a MOC version.
or wherever the hair falls

[LadyMoondancer]

If the pony has a turned head, then whichever direction its head is turned is the display side.  for example, Bow-Tie's display side is on the right and Mommy Apple Delight's is on the left.

But if they face forward, like a Collector Pony, then it's the side the mane falls on. 

I don't have many G2s so I can't comment on that aspect.  I think they are trickier, what with their turning heads.

[PandoraFox]

I never thought to consider the hair! That explains a lot.
Though with some of my ponies, showing the side their hair falls on would mean it covers their symbols, due to length or curls or something similar. I guess they'll have to make do with showing their non display side.

[flowersinherhair]

Whoa, I've been collecting for years, and I never knew that people considered the display side of forward-facing ponies to be the side the mane falls on! The funny thing is, for those ponies I actually prefer to display the non-mane side. For me, I think all that hair in front of the pony is visually distracting. Guess I learned something new today!