Pony storage advice please ^_^

[Angelshy]

Hi everyone ^_^

I recently picked up a bunch of G3s at a trash 'n' treasure market but I really don't have room to display them. I've decided to clean them up and then put them in storage until either a) half of my stuff mysteriously disappears and I have room, or, b) I move out and finally purchase me a pony shelf 

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any advice for long term storage of ponies. I don't want to pull them out of the box in 6 months and find them ruined.  I know I should avoid damp, extreme temperatures, direct sunlight or somewhere where dust/bugs/other creatures could get in but am I missing anything?

Any and all advice most appreciated, thanks 

[Loona]

(sorry I can't help, but) aww, this is something I'd really like to know too! I'm experiencing sort of the same problem. and I have another fear: I do know some plastics tend to stick together when stored right next to each other (I mean they actually start to unite ...  I experienced this with various things made of softer plastic). do ponies tend to do this? if it's better to prevent than find out myself what should I put between them to keep them from touching each other? what's the type of material (cloth? paper? what kind?) that'll do this, but at the same time won't do any harm to the ponies either?

[butterflybuttons]

I'd say the archive boxes would work well

[partypony566]

I agree with bfb

[PhyllieBean]

My ponies have been stored in plastic totes for pretty much about a decade and I've had no ill effects.  I use the shallow ones that are meant to fit under a bed.  They're just the right height to fit ponies standing up.  I have the ones that are about 2 or 3 feet long (not the kind that go the whole legth of a bed) and I fit about 50 G3's in each one.  I've always stored them in the house, so it's probably not necessary but I always toss a couple silica bags in each one.  The only thing I would warn against it stacking them too high.  I don't know about the G3's, but with a couple of my G1's, I have some smushed unicorn horns from stacking the bins too high, where the lids started to sag a little under the weight.  Luckily they popped back into shape.  These aren't the best pictures, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about: 

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[Katika]

The longest-term storage I've ever done of collection ponies has been a couple months, and I used the plastic bin method, also.  The only thing that I did different was put each pony in its own sandwich baggie, also (mainly to try to keep their hair in order, as I'm pretty particular about how manes and tails ought to lay).  I'd pull tails through the back legs, through the fronts then, with the G3s at least, pull the manes through the front legs (front to back) and then wrap back up towards the neck.  This kept the "natural" swoop that I prefer my ponies have.  Then, each pony got put in a baggie, air expelled, and then stuck in a bin.  Depending on who and how many you have, I find it easiest to store them by pose, as they kind of puzzle together.  Hope this helps!

[PhyllieBean]

I agree storing by pose is probably the easiest way.  Of course I like to make things hard for myself since I keep them in order of release!  I manage the hair before I put them in too.  Tail wrapped around back leg and mane around a front leg.  I only put ponies that are scented or prone to problems in individual bags, as I find it's hard to keep everyone lined up and standing once they're in the bags (they slip around in there).  Plus, once I actually get my collection on display, what am I gonna do with 1200 baggies?!  I haven't had any problems with plastic melt or color running. 

[Desert Rose]

I've never been able to have my ponies up on display and I'm really looking forward to it now once the renovation is done.
So basicly I've always had my ponies stored in plastic boxes (pretty much like the ones in PhyllieBeans photos). Except my boxes doesn't have lidds on them. So I've put every pony in their own little plastic ziplock bag (i think that's what they're called anyway in english hehe). That keeps the dust off of them and I can seal the bags which I thought was great since the ponies wont come in contact with eachother if one of them would have cancer god forbidd. The plastic containers are placed underneath my bed, away from sunlight and fortunatly we have no damp or bad air in these flats. So they've survived well there.
I brought a few of the containers out just a day or two ago and checked some of the ponies and they still look great after all these year (and we're talking about 13 years or so that they've been stored that way). So I'm pretty sure its a safe way of storing them

Hope that helps

[teresat]

I found a good how-to on doll storage:
http://collectdolls.about.com/library/weekly/aa012201a.htm

We live in a fairly dry environment so I found that the following work pretty well:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10014032&N=&Ntt=ornament+storage

I figured even though they are a bit more than plastic storage, they prevent the ponies from falling on one another and getting smashed. No color bleeding. There are different sizes to accommodate different ponies. The ponies are also wrapped in acid free tissue paper listed at the bottom of the above page. One sheet goes a long way.

There are also different desiccants to avoid moisture:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10011712&N=&Ntt=mold+away
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/storageBoxes/archival?productId=10014951&green=4692796F-BB74-5050-AFF9-C417E907D603
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/clothingCare/dehumidifiers?productId=10023927&green=4692796F-BB74-5050-AFF9-C417E907D603
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TD24PY/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00

Good luck!

[hathorcat]

I think I may be more cautious than other people...but when storing ponies even for a short period I would wrap them individually in acid free tissue paper [mainly to prevent the colours from some rubbing up against the colours from other ponies] and the store them no more than a level or two high [as per PhyllieBeans pictures] and finally I would probably store them in plastic with small air vents and toss in some silica gel packs just to be on the super safe side....ummmm....paranoid much me? I think now

[Angelshy]

Wow thanks guys that's all really good advice! Right now they're all sitting in a canvas shopping bag waiting for their pony spa treatment . I'd better start storage box shopping