So what's the deal with G4 baits?

[PhyllieBean]

So I'm getting back into customizing after having taken a...ohhh...3 year or so break?!  Lol!  So I'm just curious, what's the availability of G4 bait like?  I know when the G3's were out people always had them up for sale or trade and just about everyone used them as their base.  However, G3 didn't seem to be quite as OMG HAVE TO HAVE as the G4's are.  It seems to me that finding baity G4's is a lot harder than it was for G3's, or am I just not looking in the right places?  It also seems like if something is not a part of the Mane 6, it's pretty much hands off right?  Obviously I'd be checking if something was rare or not before I ripped all it's hair out, but is there anything that's just totally unheard of with G4 customizing?  Anything that really shouldn't be used or done?  And what's the best way to get a decently priced lot of brushables or even a few FS size?  Is everyone just paying retail and baiting them?  I'm feel so lost! 

PS.  If anyone has a lot they want to sell....*wink wink*  LOL! 

[keikokukien]

There are some g4s that are harder to find than others for collectors. Like FS Applejack, FS Rarity, Lily Blossom, Blossomforth (I think? ), and in some places, Diamond Rose. Since the mane six is rereleased in every wave and packaged with one new pony in some sets, a lot of people sell the extra Twilight or Rarity or Pinkie as bait, so they are much much more plentiful.

For some reason, the one time I need an extra Rarity to customize, I just traded all my extras and can't find one of the new ones. (I collect the extras but use the duplicate ponies most of the time.) Hope that this helps a bit...

[Cloudclimber06]

I think you will end up paying about the same price for a loose g4 pony plus shipping and a retail one... who knows maybe in a year or two they will start showing up in garage sales for less money..
My first g4 custom was a bit of a nightmare; it took me ages to get the new tail in because of their small size. Maybe there is a way of doing it I'm unaware of; I don't know.
Good luck customizing your g4s!!

[MnDancer]

OMG! The tail on the first was the worst for me too! I tried several methods before I finally had to put half the tail in at a time just to make it fit! And the neck plugs are a pain in the rear, too! But, yes, mane 6 are always fair game. I don't think any truly baity ones exist yet because they're still so new. Perhaps in a year or two.

[PhyllieBean]

Ugh.  I guess I'm going to have to break down and actually purchase some G4s!  The only things I have out of the new line are a couple of Fashion Style ones, but those are going into my collection.  I guess if I'm not buying brushables I can't expect to get any extras huh?  Booooooo....hiiiissssssssss!

[Maniah]

I honestly didn't have any trouble with the tails.. The only trouble for me is dealing with the neck plug.

I'll tell you a trick I have about tails, no matter what pony. Get the hair out that you think you will need for the tail. Will you be folding it in half? if yes, do so. If no, do not do so. Now twist it tight so it makes a cord, like rope. Lay the cord over the tail hole. Does it cover the hole perfectly? Are there gaps on the sides where you can see the hole? Does the hair cover the hole so much that you have hair covering the rump too?

You want to match the cord's width to the tail hole's diameter. Then it ought to fit when you install it.

For the record, I install tails using jewelry wire and pliers. I fold the tail in half around the jewelry wire, then insert the wire from the outside. I grab the ends of the wire inside the pony with the pliers, and pull it through. Then I pull just enough of the tail up through the neck so I can replace the wire with a pair of zip strips, then tug the tail back down inside the body.

Tails have never been a problem once I started measuring using the cord method

[Starly]

I don't have problems with making tails, then again I just kinda shove a bunch of hair in the tailhole that's twice the size of a normal G4 tail and fill the body with glue. >.>

[MnDancer]

The size of the tail wasn't so much the problem for me. I used the original tail as a guide for how much hair to use. But the small hole made it impossible for me to use my usual method of using a latch-hook to pull the tail through by inserting it the same way you do the wire, then hook the tail and pull it through. So finding a new method was like re-inventing the wheel for me. I tried pulling it through with a rubber band (only thing I had available at the time) and it broke, I tried using string and it broke. Trying both those methods left a horrible crease in the hair. I tried wetting it and twisting it and trying to thread it through like threading a needle, but couldn't get it in the hole from the inside. So I tried wrapping scotch tape around the tail and coming to a point to thread it through and got it in the hole but the tape didn't go through the hole, it just all scrunched up around the tail and made the tail sticky. I do fold the hair over for the tail so I tried a variation on the thread method, I put 2 loops of thread in the tail hole from the outside picked them up with my pliers through the neck hole and put half the tail in each loop and pulled one loop through at a time, which was a little tricky, but it worked!
I think I see how your method works now Maniah, I've been going from the inside out and you go from the outside in. I usually make a tail thats just like hasbro's first then install it, you install it then secure the hair. Interesting. I may have to try that, I'll have to check my tool box for zip ties.

[Maniah]

if you go from the outside, in, then the only crease is in the look inside the body. It doesn't show anyway

The wire I use is super thin jewelry wire on a spool. No clue what gauge it is.