Why are there so many Mib/Moc ponies from the 80's?

[Cinnabar]

Maybe some parents purchased the toys for an upcoming holiday or birthday, tucked them away into the attic or closet or some such and completely forgot about them.

[LadyMoondancer]

IMO most were not saved by collectors.   Back then "collectors" also meant "little girls", ha ha . . . "Collect them all!"  I'm sure there were a couple teens and adults buying them because they liked the look, but probably not many.

I think most G1 MOCs came from old store stock that was sold off years later. 

I found quite a few ponies like this at a store in Spokane.  They would buy surplus stock from stores that had gone out of business, meaning they were always getting random toys in.  They had a whole STACK of MIB Dance 'n Prances in the middle of an aisle.  Between 1997 and 2002 or so I also found the following:  Pony Bride, the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe, the Perm Shoppe, the Fairy Tails gazebo, Watercolor Baby Sea ponies, Dream Beauties (only four), the Petite Pony Castle, Lil Litters, and Baby Sparkle ponies there. 
But not all at the same time.  Most of the time you'd go in and there'd be nothing.   It just depended on what they got in that week. 

Eventually I traded or sold most of them all off (I like MIBs / MOCs but they take up so much more room than a loose pony), so that one store added a bunch of MOCs into the collectordom.

But not all at the same time.  Most of the time you'd go in and there'd be nothing.   It just depended on what they got in that week. 

The other source of MIBs / MOCs is probably ponies bought as birthday and Christmas presents and then hid so well that they were forgotten by the gift-giver.

Only a small percentage of G1s remained MOC / MIB, but that's a small percentage out of a toyline that sold MILLIONS of units every year.   

[therestornadosinmysoup]

I did purchase one special MOC pony, Flat foot Cotton Candy. She was a forgotten gift that the seller had found hidden in her spare closet.

Otherwise, I prefer them to run freeeeeee   

[achab1984]

That would be something to walk into a store and see G1's on the shelves!!!!!  I am pretty sure I would buy them all if I could afford it. 

[baby_yoyo]

About 6 years ago I was in a warehouse with my dad getting some textiles stock and I spotted a MIB G1 French bath tub playset, I literally screamed and was happily dancing round, when the warehouse manager looked at me in a very puzzled manner and said

'do you want more of them?'

me  'yyyyy...esssss!!'

Next thing you know he pulls a sheet away and theres approx 40 of them

 

My dad bought the lot and sold them on, I kept one, he kept one (he has a soft spot for MLP's) and my sister Pangel also kept one.

Thats been my only recent viewing of old shop stock. I tried to go back to the warehouse but its since long gone

[scarletjul]

Not MLP, but when we were renovation our house last year I uncovered a couple of MOC (but heavily damaged) Worlds of Wonder toys that my mother had bought and saved, probably for Christmas in the later 80s when my Dad weird there.  So, misplaced gifts are definitely a possibility. 

And, old stock.  When the Target near me remodeled, I found early 90s era coloring books and Barbie clothes that must gave been stockpiled in back.  But agin, sadly, no ponies.

[karrie91]

I agree with the old stock.. When small chain stores go out, they usually put anything that didn't get sold or clearance out in old warehouses or storage units and they sit there for years and years until someone buys the units or lots. And then you end up with MLP and everything else popping up in lower standard grocery stores.

In the foodtown in my city, last year I spotted a whole shelf full of 90's-early 2000's NSYNC mini martinets. I had the whole set when I was a kid lol.

[BlackCurtains]

One of my friends when I was a kid had a bunch of toys she never opened, mostly Barbies. I asked her why she didn't open them and she said it was because she knew she wouldn't play with them and that she liked that they looked like decorations in the boxes. I remember she had a dresser and the whole top was nothing but unopened toys, all neatly stacked.

I want to remember that she had ponies too... but then again I'm not sure if she did. I have her on Facebook, and we were close as kids, but I haven't had the guts to pop up and say, "Hey, do you still have those unopened toys? Are there any ponies?!"

[kitkatvintage]

When the Kiddie City toy stores went out of business in the early 90's, I remember seeing tons of old stock ponies on their shelves. They must have been found when the company cleared out their warehouses. I picked up year 2 adult sea ponies & the Waterfall play set brand new in the store almost 10 years after they were released. I was one happy little girl that day.

In the 80's stores didn't heavily push things out with clearance sales when a season was over, the way they do now. Inventory is computerized these days, so they want to keep the stock moving. In the heyday of g1's, all a store needed was a price sticker on the package to sell a toy. If you took an old stock toy up to a register at Walmart today, they wouldn't be able to scan it & get a price quickly, lol.

Also, as many others have stated, I grew up in a family that thought "things would be worth something one day". When I was little, my great grandmother hid all kinds of things in her closet, thinking they would be a gold mine later on (unfortunately no ponies).

[Shenanigans]

I was just wondering about this I know my Grandma has a "present box" where she would keep presents for years until she finally gave them away. No ponies though!

[Einhornbaby]

I was just wondering about this I know my Grandma has a "present box" where she would keep presents for years until she finally gave them away. No ponies though!

lol my aunt has a box like this too lol. No ponies in there though

[Wardah]

In the foodtown in my city, last year I spotted a whole shelf full of 90's-early 2000's NSYNC mini martinets. I had the whole set when I was a kid lol.

They have those same marionettes at the Job Lot near me.

[invaderhorizongreen]

I don't collect mint on card due to the plastics reacting on the molecular level with each other, they react very badly most of the time. It is only now we are finding out that certain plastics should not touch and besides that  I would rather play with the collection and enjoy it.

[Buffy]

are there any collectors pose (original 6) MIB or MOC ponies? i see on ebay everything else than CPs!

I got a Butterscotch MIC(she has a yellow bubble, but I love her so much) in autumn. There were a few other CP MOC from the same seller...and one year ago there were a lot of MO CPs in their bags on ebay :-) But you are right, the first ponies are hard to find MOC

[Mandy85]

When I was younger, I remember we had a handful of MOC's in my closet. Whenever my parents' friends or relatives would ask what I wanted for any holidays, my mother would always just say "anything My Little Pony", so there were many times were I'd get doubles of those I already had.

My mother had always intended to bring them back to the store, but she just never got around to it. For years they sat in storage, and I assume they eventually either got thrown out or given away with the rest of my childhood collection. :/