Is there a pony "rare guide"???

[Mirage]

Just about everyone and anyone with G1 (sometimes G3) ponies listed for sale (ebay, craigslist, etc.) likes to throw around the phrase "RARE!"

I'm kinda new to serious collecting, but I do know which ponies I tend to see a ton of, and plenty of people are slathering them with "RARE". I must have had 8 RARE HT Tabbys to choose from (I went with Tall Tales instead since there was only 1 of her).

I was just wondering if there was a rareness guide, like say they only made 1,000 of pony A, and 1,800 of pony B. That sorta thing...

[StoryDreamer]

http://strawberryreef.com has a nice rare guide!

[Glacia471]

Hm, there isn't really something like that for G1s that I know of... (G3s yes, check strawberryreef.com )But if you are curious about the value of a pony, do feel free to ask here before spending large amounts of money on one on ebay

In general, the Mail Order ponies are a bit more scarce/valuable than most store-released ponies. This isn't the case for all of them though- the Embers, MO playset releases such as Lemon Drop, Baby Halfnote, Baby Tiddlywinks, Majesty etc, the birthflowers and Lucky don't usually go for all that much. Rapunzel and Sweet Scoops (not to be confused with TAF Scoops) will fetch quite a large sum on the other hand.

In regards to store-released ponies, the second set of anything will usually be more valuable than the first. For example, 2nd set sea ponies, princesses, TAFs, Twinkle Eyes, So Softs and rainbows all go for more than their 1st set counterparts. The theory is that there are fewer of these than their 1st set counterparts, and it does seem to hold true just from what I've seen on ebay.

That being said, there are price differences even among ponies in the same set, usually driven by demand. Green ponies are super popular, and often fetch more than others in their sets (Fizzy, Baby Leaper, Mimic, Ice Crystal, and so on), this holds true for yellow too (Red Roses, Munchy and so on). This isn't because they made fewer of those necessarily, it's mostly because more people want them.

There's plenty more that could be said about it, but let us know if you have any questions still in mind

[hathorcat]

As a general rule if someone feels the need to add "rare" or "hard to find" to an auction description - it normally isnt "rare" or "hard to find"

For G3s Strawberry Reef is indeed a good resource.

For G1 there isnt such a source - however for G1 the key is to make sure you differentiate between "hard to find" and "sought after". As just because a pony comes up in auction with reasonable regularity, i.e. is not that hard to track down [Mimic is a great example] doesnt automatically mean she will be at the lower end of the price scale as if the pony is super sought after even if she is as common as others in the set she is still "worth" more.

Using the popular G1 sites such as Dream Valley and then simply hitting ebay for sales will normally give a great indication of what is actually hard to find.

Or as Glacia says if you are simply wondering about price and rarity just post in the Corral and someone will help you out!

[Hunter-Rose]

Just remember, don't fork out a tonne for a "Rare Peachy" 

[mercynova]

Sometimes checking completed listings on Ebay will give you a rough idea of the pony's worth. If a pony is listed at a high price but doesn't sell, then it likely isn't worth nearly that much. This can be a bit of grey area though when there is a bidding war on a pony and it sells for really high for no apparent reason

[Carolina-chan]

Here's a list for G1 ponies. The site is in Finnish, but you can see
the pics and names there.
http://www.elisanet.fi/myrskytar/harvinaiset.htm

[Enolaalone]

That kind of thing drives me nuts on eBay. Posey is NOT VHTF!  I particularly enjoy it when I've seen the same pony 5 times on my eBay search and then one of them is labelled rare. *eye roll*

I guess apart from what everyone else has said, with G1s the Euro exclusives do tend to be more expensive, esp those released right at the end of the generation, like the sweetie babies and the jewellery ones etc.

[hathorcat]

Here's a list for G1 ponies. The site is in Finnish, but you can see
the pics and names there.
http://www.elisanet.fi/myrskytar/harvinaiset.htm

Thats a great list Its a great example of "sought after" rather than rare ponies - although the majority shown do also fall in the rare category.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Here's a list for G1 ponies. The site is in Finnish, but you can see
the pics and names there.
http://www.elisanet.fi/myrskytar/harvinaiset.htm

This is a pretty good list, actually!