Crazy Collectors?

[PurpleCheeseStick]

Throughout our adventures in collecting ponies, either searching through the vast sea of eBay or trekking through the lands of toy fairs, flee markets, thrift stores, Goodwills and conventions, I'm sure we've all met or seen collectors who might have been either a few hair plugs short or perhaps just gone completely cuckoo. I've even met one, and I'd like to hear your guys' stories, too! Of course for the sake of safety and general politeness and all that, names should not be mentioned nor any way for us to contact these silly collectors.

And it doesn't even have to be the collector that's silly in your story- perhaps an experience you had with a perfectly lovely collector that was just too crazy to believe?

To start, I'll share my story 

From what I gather this collector's been collecting ponies for a while, but she has particular attachment to G3.5s and G4s, and her... Attachment to Big Mac from the FiM cartoon was what really freaked me out. I saw she was sketching him in her notebook, so I asked if I could see since I like drawing ponies myself. At this point she proceeded to hiss at me, grab her notebook and hold it against her chest, stare at me like I'd just told her I was the antichrist and say "MY Big Mac!"

Her other friends would also try to ask or peek at her notebook- I caught a glimpse of it, all it was was a sideview of him standing, nothing naughty- and she would do the same, always chanting "He's mine!" "MY Big Macintosh!!"

If you try to ask her why she won't show you her sketches of him she'll just stare at you, hiss at your and/or stare at you some more. Needless to say, I do not talk with her about ponies anymore " Perhaps she feels particular attachment to him because she identifies with him, perhaps she just really likes his character, but either way... She acts pretty silly about him.

She also claims to sit down with her collection of ponies every night and brush their hair. Every pony. Every single night. For hours. 

[achab1984]

Oh my.....I would not even know what to say if I was you. I kind of wonder what is going on in her mind? She must really like her Big Mac!

[gabumon]

the only crazy collector I know is the one I see on the mirror!

I do secretly hope to bump into a pony fan someday in my pony hunting escapades.

[kakenterprise]

I can't help but wonder what would happen if you drew Big Mac and showed her.
Or if you really want to make her brain explode wear him on a shirt!! 

I have yet to really meet a pony person in real life so no crazy stores.  I've meet lots of crazy Pokemon people though.

[keikokukien]

Oh...My. :x Oddly enough, she sounds like my friend from high school. She wasn't into ponies, but she was the exact same way when it came to a cartoon character from Rurouni Kenshin. <_< She was sweet as could be, but she actually firmly believed that her soul mate was that character (not even a main or secondary character, really) and that she had been reincarnated and was waiting for her "soul mate" to return to her...

I met her not too long ago after 7 years and she said she still hasn't found him...which meant that she is still actively searching for this cartoon character soul mate from an anime. Now, I may be an oddball, too about my games and bands, but there is a limit to how far the imagination should go. I hope it doesn't hinder her life to the point that she misses out on things she wouldn't have if she didn't hold her fantasies too close... I have always thought that, too.

[PurpleCheeseStick]

@ keikokukien
That sounds like me back in middle school, I was obsessed with the character Deidara from the anime Naruto. I'm glad I passed through that phase, and I hope that your friend passes through hers, too :c it's okay to like a character but there comes a time when you need to draw the line between "liking" and "obsession", I think.

[Elisto]

Maybe she just didn't like showing her art to people...

[StarlightGaze]

I've seen character worship/soulmate on levels of insanity, but it's due to mental disorders like schizophrenia.

[PurpleCheeseStick]

Maybe she just didn't like showing her art to people...

/shrug
She's never had problems showing us her art before, though. She'll come up to us all the time with new sketches that aren't Big Mac related.

I'm surprised nobody has any stiries they'd like to share, though xD"

[MimiTheMuse]

I've seen character worship/soulmate on levels of insanity, but it's due to mental disorders like schizophrenia.

We have a member in on the Baby Sitters Snark LJ comm that has "soul bounds" and she's provided us with information about it. She's a very intelligent girl and very creative, I sincerely doubt she's schitzophrenic. I do think maybe the whole 'soul bonding' thing is a self-help mechanism. I mean, when I went through some pretty rough stuff (and sometimes now when I have memories poking at me) I like to take my writing characters and put them in that situation too. It's therapudic and their survival makes me stronger by the time I'm done with the story. So I think it's a shade of the same thing, only they use fictional characters that speak to them. I can't completely say it's nuts when I've rallied myself in hard times with thoughts of Severus Snape, Agent Scully and Murphy Brown. They just take it an another, perhaps excessive, step.

[elvenwine26]

There's always going to be someone who's a bigger fan than me. Lol.  I've don't know that I've had extended conversations with scary pony fans but I've met some pretty intense members of other fandoms. It's definitely an experience. Haha 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Many of the more colorful pony collectors tend to get banned from the community for tasteless behavior or scamming in various forms.  Not all, but a great majority of them.

[hathorcat]

I can't say I have come across anything to that extent - for her sake I hope your friend just means it in jest!

[Taxel]

The possessive thing sounds like what I've seen with crazy anime fanatics (and other fandoms too, but I've mostly seen it with anime). People claim a character is their husband/wife/soulmate/etc and FREAK OUT if anyone else dares to like the character and stuff like that. Its absolutely insane. I stop associating with people like that really quickly.

As far as the hair brushing thing goes, it could be something really calming for her? I've picked up a pony and mindlessly combed its hair with my fingers for quite a while, I find it calming and kind of fun in a way. Its a nice way to bond with my ponies (and dolls) too.
Or maybe she's just nuts. -shrug-

[UnicornTamer]

I laughed so hard. That is so funny.