Ever Think Ponies Will Go the Way of Beanie Babies?

[moonflower]

I'd agree with the "ponies were never collectables they were toys theory"
But I have a disturbing theory I have to get off my chest.
How long will G1 ponies physically last? With things like cancer, plastic decomposition and unnatural factors it will get harder and harder to find, restore and preserve ponies as the year goes by.
Sadly even plastic decomposes, it's a good thing when thinking about litter and garbage but heartbreaking when it comes to ponies. I'd like my grandchildren to have G1s.

Actually, I was thinking about this point earlier.  It's a two edged sword.  On the one hand, your own ponies may decrease in value because they won't look as good as they use to.  On the other hand,  prices may go up over all because it could potentially make them even rarer than they are now.

I too have thought about this issue. I think although the condition will deteriorate, the value will increase. They are not going to last forever, of course, nothing does...although, maybe if we kept them in the freezer...? lol

[Greylady]

I think MLP is gonna keep on strong until Hasbro stops trying to revamp the series when they start losing their audience. I mean, once Friendship is Magic is over (which will sadly happen some day), some of the brony fandom may still be around, but will probably focus even more on fan made items that are more true to the show. So Hasbro may very well let the ponies rise from the ashes again with another style change. I think it's an endless process for Hasbro, really.

[mlpfan]

I'd agree with the "ponies were never collectables they were toys theory"
But I have a disturbing theory I have to get off my chest.
How long will G1 ponies physically last? With things like cancer, plastic decomposition and unnatural factors it will get harder and harder to find, restore and preserve ponies as the year goes by.
Sadly even plastic decomposes, it's a good thing when thinking about litter and garbage but heartbreaking when it comes to ponies. I'd like my grandchildren to have G1s.

I am going to say with what i have seen happen to old plastic. if you take good care of the g1 ponies they should last 100 years under ideal conditions (so we have like 70 years left). the plastisizers slowly evaporate out of the plastic and they become brittle ,crack,discolor. and pretty much self destruct no matter what you do.(this is why i have recomended armor-all in the past to try and preserve them and at least slow down the ageing process

[Zombelina]

This is such an interesting thread, I love all the theories and I agree with toys vs collectibles idea. I think it definitely has a lot to do with how the company markets the line and whether people start buying them because they truly like them, or because they think they'll be valuable someday.

And ponies have always had such detailed personalities, even outside the cartoons, with the backcard stories etc. I get way more attached to things that involve characters with storylines. Beanie Babies didn't have very much beyond the little rhymes in their tags, if I'm remembering right.

And then Ty kind of shot themselves in the foot when they 'retired' the BBs (1999?). The people who really liked them were upset and stopped collecting even when the company turned around and decided to keep releasing more. Then there were so many out there and nobody buying...

But, I really don't know.  It seems so random, what sticks and what doesn't!

[Shenanigans]

I think MLP will stick around. I saw Beanie Babies as more of a fad. Though I admit jumping on the Beanie Baby bandwagon I collected all the dog Beanies and still love them, hehe. FIM seems like a bit of a fad to me, but I think MLP in general will stick around even after the FIM craze is over. So I think we'll have more generations and redesigns to look forward to

[Sunset]

Actually, I wonder if this ties back  to the "is it because their ponies" thread.  Horses are always popular and MLP has rarely ventured outside of the species.  Beanie babies had such a huge range of different animals though.   But how many collectors really want an octopus or a pelican?


I know most were bears but the stuffed bear has to be one of the most common toys.

[Wardah]

Actually, I wonder if this ties back  to the "is it because their ponies" thread.  Horses are always popular and MLP has rarely ventured outside of the species.  Beanie babies had such a huge range of different animals though.   But how many collectors really want an octopus or a pelican?


I know most were bears but the stuffed bear has to be one of the most common toys.

Beanie Babies sold well, perhaps even a bit too well since that is what the problem is. There are just too many of them on the secondary market. If a pony is common *coughPinkiePiecough* she ain't gonna be worth much either.

[mlpfan]

This is such an interesting thread, I love all the theories and I agree with toys vs collectibles idea. I think it definitely has a lot to do with how the company markets the line and whether people start buying them because they truly like them, or because they think they'll be valuable someday.

And ponies have always had such detailed personalities, even outside the cartoons, with the backcard stories etc. I get way more attached to things that involve characters with storylines. Beanie Babies didn't have very much beyond the little rhymes in their tags, if I'm remembering right.

And then Ty kind of shot themselves in the foot when they 'retired' the BBs (1999?). The people who really liked them were upset and stopped collecting even when the company turned around and decided to keep releasing more. Then there were so many out there and nobody buying...

But, I really don't know.  It seems so random, what sticks and what doesn't!

yes, and there is a big difference between buying to collect because you like them, and buying because you think they will be worth more latter on and only want the money. i think it has alot to do with them being ponies like others have said also

[Sunset]

yes, and there is a big difference between buying to collect because you like them, and buying because you think they will be worth more latter on and only want the money. i think it has alot to do with them being ponies like others have said also

Yes, this is what I was trying to get at earlier.  Beanie Babies *sold* well, but do they *collect* well.  Is there a huge number of people actively collecting still?  I don't know.

[RavenWolf]

its kind of a double edged sword, on one hand as long as they stay popular, odds are New ones will keep being made, on the other hand I kind of hope they will, as that would cause the prices to drop. Like it has with the G3s I bought very few G3s when they where being made, because I knew it was a mater of time before they where outgrown and dumped into the second hand market, now that MLPs have moved on to G4s I'm picking up boxes full of G3s for pennies a piece. Not so good for sellers but great for a collector with limited funds. I'm doing the same with G4s, picking up the odd one here and there just waiting until they start hitting thriftstores in large numbers for cheap. 
The thing is if you look at collecting trends, an item will became popular, it will become outdated and will be dumped for the newest thing and will flood the second hand market, then you'll see fewer and fewer, then as the kids who grew up with it become nostalgic adults they will go in search of said item and drive the price back up.

[mlpfan]

yes, and there is a big difference between buying to collect because you like them, and buying because you think they will be worth more latter on and only want the money. i think it has alot to do with them being ponies like others have said also

Yes, this is what I was trying to get at earlier.  Beanie Babies *sold* well, but do they *collect* well.  Is there a huge number of people actively collecting still?  I don't know.

i think there are still some diehards collecting them.

[DoctorMowinckel]

Eventually all collectibles will either decrease severely in value or increase severely in value, depending on the market.
The problem with ponies right now is that the big market probably just passed us - most of the folks who grew up in the G1 era are somewhere in their late 20s / 30s / maybe 40s and may have less disposable incomes.  I tend to think G1 will have this weird issue of not a lot of demand but a lot of value for at least a little whlie.  G3's... give it another 10 or 20 years and we'll see, but I don't think they'll ever go as high as G1.

G4 will burn quick - I think the prices are high now but it's not going to last. 

What happened with Beanie Babies is that everyone said they would be valuable and worth money in several years... meaning everyone bought them.  Meaning there's still plenty to go around but no demand whatsoever.  Hence why they're so inexpensive.  G1 ponies had the advantage of no one thinking that in 20 years' time people would want to pay tons of money for a cute plastic horse.

Yup, this is pretty much it. Beanie Babies didn't last five years, ponies have been going on for 30, and they're still being made. While Dulci is right in that 'peak collecting' has likely been met, I doubt the downfall will be as rapid as it was for Beanie Babies.

I don't think My Little Pony will ever be as widespread as things like the DC and Marvel universe, but it will likely have it's own niche for decades to come.

The latter part of Dulci's point also happened with comics in the early nineties. They were cranking out 'collectible' comics for the sake of it. When 50,000 of something is produced, it's not collectible. Or, in the comics world, it's not collectible. The comics fad died out (much like another, current fad is going to), and the market returned to normal. The best analogy I heard, and I wish I remember who said it, was; 'People thought comics were like arena rock, when really, they're more like club jazz'.

[DazzleKitty]

I don't think so. Beanie Babies came and went fast. They also got a lot more clout. The community of MLP collectors is quite tiny as compared to the BB community. The vintage ones will always be valuable because they are limited. Everyone started to buy up BBs. It's funny.....now you can find them in junk bins at flea markets.

[xeevee]

I definitely think the FiM thing will.  People will still sort of hold on to the love of them, but not in this mass insanity that is currently happening.  It is a really big fad that is for sure.  I also think that eventually some of the rare ones wont be worth as much, because eventually there wont be anyone around who has that nostalgia attachment to them.  However, I don't think that will happen for a long long time.

[lemontwist]

I just hold onto hope that MLP never dies down! I don't think it will, at least in my lifetime, especially if new generations of children form fond memories of the new stuff and grow up to collect old generations too. I think having the popular shows and stuff help make it live longer because of that.