Kids and Ponies

[Marlin]

Oooh... I can completely understand how uncomfortable you must be with this.

I think on a public auction site, I don't think one can really have a lot of control over who buys your items. Just the same as when someone sells up their childhood collection, they might not often consider that the people buying it are collectors (I think Hathorcat mentioned above that not everyone realises there are 'pony collectors' out there). Same as people who donate stuff to thrift stores - not realising the value in that item for someone like 'us', they likely think some small child might love them as they once did 

I don't think there is much you can to to 'stop' her from buying them, but you could message back along the lines of what others here have suggested. A collector might outbid them anyway!

If you are truly conflicted over who may buy any future ponies you wish to put up for sale, perhaps try selling them here on the arena instead? That was you can be assured that it will be collectors buying them, and saves you all the hassle I hear sellers complaining about on ebay! 

Good luck with it all 

[Diamond]

Actually unless you take the time to test for chemicals, you are supposed to list in your auction right up front that they are for collecting due to them not being tested for chemicals.

Other then that, they are toys and you guys all where kids playing with ponies once.  Well most of you, if you are my age not so much. LOL

[LadyMoondancer]

Emphasize that you cleaned them with lots of noxious chemicals.  Then follow up with, "I think they used lead paint in toys back then, didn't they?"

I am all for kids playing with toys.

Toys that are not 20 years old and no longer in production.

[Evening_Moonstone]

I gave a few poor condition ponies to friends for their small children to play with.  A Majesty and a Sundance (I had several of each, which I'd gotten from bait lots).  The ponies had been oxy bathed, tail washers removed and replaced with a cable tie, and the hair cleaned with conditioner.  The kids seemed to love them - the little girl and her dad were playing with the Sundance, and the little boy loved shaking Majesty up and down so her hair would move.  I thought it was adorable.

I don't see anything wrong with kids playing with older toys.  When I was a kid, we had toys from flea markets and yard sales, both at home and in the church nursery.  These were old "vintage" toys.  Nobody was going to claim they were valuable (they had been very well loved) and they were entertaining to kids still.

I don't see ponies as dangerous.  The cereal prize ring my dad had as a kid with a lump of radium in it?  THAT is dangerous. :3

[Desert Rose]

These replys just got me thinking...

It keep beeing mentioned that these ponies have not been tested for dangerous chemicals and may contain this or that which would make them harmfull for the child. But wouldn't the ponies have been harmfull to us as children once aswell then? >.< And as far as I can tell we're all doing just fine, having chewed on a pony or not

Yes the ponies may have been cleaned with dangerous chemicals, that much is completely valid

But if the ponies contain dengerous chemicals in themselves surely they should have been dangerous to us aswell back in the days.

[Sakuyamon]

I would advice the buyer that the G3 ponies are fair game for any use but that the G1s should be seen as valuable collectors items since they are not produced anymore and since there is a demand for them, they arent suitable for a baby's chew toy and if she were to buy them, she should wait till her daughter is an age where she can take good care of her toys and truly appreciate the beauty of them.

(since when can a two year old like a toy? they arent that self aware yet)
 
Back when we were children, it was a totally different thing to give an mlp to a child, back then they were still in production and we had no clue they would become valuable so there was no reason to think twice about giving them a pony. Today there are much less G1s around thanks to parents, pets and even kids themselves, and if we dont preserve whats left, there will be even less. This is why I dont leave any pony behind that I find on a market (unless its a over priced g3 (true story)).

[corra]

But if the ponies contain dengerous chemicals in themselves surely they should have been dangerous to us aswell back in the days.

I'm not sure about this. You might be right, but just because we seem fine now doesn't mean we didn't absorb chemicals from the toys we played with as children. Plastics of all kinds contain chemicals that can be dangerous. It's just something people should be aware of when buying toys for kids I think. Then at least they can make an informed decision. I'm linking to a page about PVC toys in case anyone wants to check it out.

 http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/97/pvctoys/documents/background.html

[kakenterprise]

 http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/97/pvctoys/documents/background.html

I love the link I'm going to have to give it a read over.  I collect allot of older toys and to be honest I never even thought about leaching plastic.  I might have to add a disclaimer to some of my older toy auctions. 



I'd have to say that the buyer has the right to what ever they want with the toys.  The worst case scenario is that they end up in a sand box.  Pony's survive children and these could make it through.  Maybe the parents want's to put some away for when the child gets older.  There's allot of factors that were not given.  I've also found that allot of people say stuff but don't really mean it (who hasn't gotten the I can't pay for that some one died excuse).  She could be saying there for her 2 year old to get a better deal, you never know. 

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

As others have pointed out, they are 3 and up. Also, G1s can't really be handled by children well, being collector's items now and all. You should e-mail back, and tell her that some of the ponies are for collector's only.

EDIT: Ah, yes. And the health issues. Especially if the ponies have cancer/mold problems. That could be very unhealthy for the child, they could get sick. I'd be concerned. 

[Rosette]

I'd like to address this as both a collector *and* a mom.

Obviously, as a collector, my house is filled with My Little Pony.  Everyday they arrive in the mail, they spend some time galloping across my desk, and they are on shelves and in bins and boxes.  My son, now four and a half, loves them.  He has ponies in his room to play with and has always been respectful of them.  He's not going to give anybody a hair cut or toss them into a toy box filled with uncapped markers.  Sure, their hair will need to be restyled at some point, but in the meantime he's loving them the way I did at his age.  My collection is about nostalgia and those recaptured days of being a child enraptured with a children's toy line.  Why wouldn't I want him to experience what made my childhood so magic-filled, too?

To everyone afraid of children gnawing on the toys--not many toddlers do that.  If we were talking about babies, okay, but we're talking about children capable of speech and walking and reason.  Surely a parent knows their child best and can judge if something is safe for them to have.  As an avid thrifter, most of my son's toys are vintage.  I've had to consider safety and suitability issues for him from day one.  Are collectors rolling over in graves everywhere when he props open the lid of his toy box and goes rooting through Care Bears, She-Ra dolls, and ye olde wooden toys to find Cringer to ride through a magical world he has created on the floor of his play room?  I'd hope not.

I might be in the minority here, but I think that My Little Pony was made for children and are still the best play toys around.  While I wouldn't personally let anyone 'play' with some of my rarer mail orders or international ponies, I make it a point to invite my son's friends over and to leave boxes of more common ponies in average condition and Paradise Estate out for them to play with.  Many of them are familiar with FiM and their eyes light up, like Christmas morning, when they see the lovable, approachable faces of my G1s.  Those moments, I think, are what My Little Pony were made for.

Before I was a collector, I was a child--and I loved my ponies more fiercely and faithfully than anyone, of any age, ever could.

[hathorcat]

Before I was a collector, I was a child--and I loved my ponies more fiercely and faithfully than anyone, of any age, ever could.

I like this sentiment...