Some questions from a starting-again collector :D

[magikrosefarm]

Hi everyone I've been wading through the boards here and I've got some questions:
1. What are Nirvanna ponies?
2. How in the world do you all rehair those ponies? These CMs are just amazing!
3. For people who do customizing, how are you getting the glittery stuff off of the minis?
4. I understand that the G1s are the original ponies (i.e. Cotton Candy and Lemon Drop--names that make me feel ultra-nostalgic lol) but what are the cut-off dates for the other generations?
What are these little mins considered?
5. OMG--I never knew how many over-seas releases of our favorite ponies there are! How in the world do you guys keep up with all of them?

Thank you!

[Bow Tie]

I'll help as much as I can. I'm a starting-again collector myself.

1. I believe Nirvana Ponies are the G1 international ponies. I'm sure someone else can explain this one better.

4. G1 is 1981 - 1995; G2 is 1997 - 2003 (G2 I think ended in 1999 in the US); G3 is 2003 - 2009; G 3.5 is 2009 - 2010; G4 is 2010 - Present. My dates might be off a little, but I'm sure someone will correct me. The easiest way to figure out which ones are which is by looks/style. At least, that's how it is for me. Each generation is pretty distinct.

[PinkRosedust]

1. What are Nirvanna ponies?

Ponies manufactured in basically any country other than Hong Kong or China. They'll have something different (or in some cases, nothing) stamped under one hoof. I'm pretty sure Italians are the most common Nirvanas, though even those aren't THAT common. Most others are very hard to find, especially in good shape!

2. How in the world do you all rehair those ponies? These CMs are just amazing!
3. For people who do customizing, how are you getting the glittery stuff off of the minis?

Not sure about these 2. Rehairing takes some skill that I don't currently posses!

4. I understand that the G1s are the original ponies (i.e. Cotton Candy and Lemon Drop--names that make me feel ultra-nostalgic lol) but what are the cut-off dates for the other generations?
What are these little mins considered?

There is some debate about what constitutes a certain generation of pony. Generally though, between the generations, there is a major design change for the whole line. As you see more and more different ponies, you'll learn that there are pretty significant differences between the 5 generations!

I'm assuming by "minis" you mean the blind bag ponies that are currently being produced? Those are G4. There were also similar miniatures during G3 and G3.5, though back then they were called the 'Ponyville' line (and mostly weren't sold in blind bags). They were released alongside the standard brushable ponies.

5. OMG--I never knew how many over-seas releases of our favorite ponies there are! How in the world do you guys keep up with all of them?

By sitting here and reading all these posts every day! =P We have fellow collectors all over the world! We all share what we find and what we know. =)

[invaderhorizongreen]

As for re hairing that takes a lot of work , I have re haired a few and it takes a good long while to get all the plugs in place. However there are several guides you can find here to help you learn how to do it.
 
this is a re hiar of a gen 3 pony I customized it took me two hours .

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this is a gen 3 I re haired with yarn to make her a perfume puff pony

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this is a restore of lickety split

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and lastly here is one of my nirvana ponies

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[hathorcat]

1. What are Nirvanna ponies?
If you check out the Nirvana forum there is a great informative guide to how we term such ponies at the top of that forum - super helpful to anyone just starting to learn or anyone who has been around for a long time! And for drooling value the Nirvana Gallery is always lots of fun to click through. 

2. How in the world do you all rehair those ponies? These CMs are just amazing!
The Customs forum also has lots of helpful guides about rehairing and customising; and if you are still stuck just start a thread and ask for tips

3. For people who do customizing, how are you getting the glittery stuff off of the minis?
Again you will have much more luck asking over in Customs for information on this.

4a. I understand that the G1s are the original ponies (i.e. Cotton Candy and Lemon Drop--names that make me feel ultra-nostalgic lol) but what are the cut-off dates for the other generations?
Do you perhaps mean what years each generation span? 1982/83 to 1993/94 for Gen1; 1997-2003 for Gen2; 2003-2009 for Gen3; 2009 to 2010 for Gen3.5; and 2010-onwards for Gen4 - roughly.

4b. What are these little mins considered?
Assuming you mean those currently in stores? Gen 3 although as PinkRosedust says G3 and G3.5 also had their own mini ponyville characters.

5. OMG--I never knew how many over-seas releases of our favorite ponies there are! How in the world do you guys keep up with all of them?
Reading here and asking questions - talking to members and learning!