Why did you start collecting again?

[Enolaalone]

I have a question for those of you who were childhood collectors and then stopped: What made you start again? I ask mainly because my answer is extremely ironic - I was watching a hoarding show on the TV  . Haha. The person on there had a china horse bookend, I have one exactly the same so I started searching for the matching horse on eBay (I only have one, long story). Instead of finding that, I started searching for horses in general, and then MLPs, and then I bought Baby Quackers and Peachy  And it all went downhill from there. 

So... what's your story?

[sadako]

i always had ponies when i was a child. a few years ago i stumbled upon a My Little Pyramid Head custom and i was enthralled, so i bought a fakie and made my own My Little Pyramid Head. then i bought another fakie so i could make a My Little Sadako . . . and then i started collecting ponies and got into the Arena.

i fell out of collecting a few years ago and came back a few weeks ago because i remembered how much joy my collection brought me.

[SkyCakes]

Well, the reason I started collecting again was because I saw an old pony I used to play with. Medley. After I saw her it was downhill from there. Then I started buying everything in sight just about. Mainly lots of ponies. I have slowed down but I think I am more selective just with G1s. Though with G3s or G4s I still grab everything I can that is when I can buy ponies locally.

[Vintergatan]

hahah, that is really ironic Enola.

I started collecting again because I saw a local add here that was selling a ton of G1s and I also started finding G1s in the local charity store ^^ That basically kick-started it and it slowly escalated.

[Evening_Moonstone]

It was the new show that renewed my interest in ponies.  I had a few as a kid (only remember 3 specific ones I owned but pretty sure I had a few more than that - Seashell, Moonstone, and Baby Cotton Candy, plus the Cotton Candy plush).  I didn't like the look of the G4s at first but after watching the cartoon, they started to grow on me.  Now I (and my husband) have a whole bunch of G4s, I have a lot of G1s that I picked up on the cheap, and even some G3s.

[Radiance]

One of my friends found a load of G3 ponies at a thrift store. We'd been talking about our favorite childhood toys, and she knew I loved MLP, so she bought them for me! That really got the ball rolling and now I'm up to my ears in ponies and there's no end in sight!

[achab1984]

Well I started to collect back in 2004 when the G3 ponies were in the store. I had gotten a job in a small town and was looking thre the toys. I came along the first G3 ponies and had to have them!!!! I bought them and that was the beginning of a very big collection. I collect all the way up till 2007 when the core 7 came out in the same body pose. I stopped collecting and then sold off almost all of my collection in 2009. I was not to sure on the G4 ponies when they came out in 2010. It was not till I took my daughter to a second hand store and there were some G3 ponies for sale. I got her two of them. I got my ponies back out that I still have and looked at them. I was hoocked agian and started to collect on ebay and on here when I had funds. I started back up last year in august 2012. Now I have a very nice big collectin again. I hope that I do not do what I did last time and sell them all off again. I want to stay in something for a very long time.

 I collect them because I loved them when I was a little kid. I loved all there colors and the movies that had them in it. I did not have to many either. My parents did not have alot of money. Most of them came second hand and were beat up. But I did not care I had ponies to play with. Now being an adult and mother I still love them to this day. I am not and will never be one of them people that has to follow everyone with the cool stuff. I do not care if my clothes are up to date, I do not care if my phone is the newest one. I do not care if my car is ten years old. I have always been this way and will always be. Ponies forever  

[BlueyBirdy]

I didn't really collect as a child. I had hand-me-downs (they're now mostly gone - I have 2 left! )  from my cousins and we bought a few brand new and in charity shops. I can remember going into a Toys 'R' Us and buying Hair-Do Bangles for my sister's birthday. Although in the early 1990s I was over "little girl" toys so I didn't really get any for myself as the G1 line ended. G2 was something I didn't even notice as both my sister and I were too old.

I re-discovered my remaining G1 hand-me-downs back when G3 was starting back in 2003. I bought Strawberry Swirl just for nostalgia's sake and then it kind of snowballed from there.

These days I don't actively collect and I've downsized my collection from 150+ down to around 30+. I do buy the odd G4 but they were so expensive when they first came out I only bought Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. I have Lemony Gem now too because I liked her colours, but that's it. I do like the show though! 

[Roseprincess1]

Its kinda of a sappy story really...
When i was little my grandma had a bunch of G1's she always let me play with.
When i got a little older she gave them to me.
For a while i had them and played with them... then my sister came home and made cracks about the ponies and that I was "Too old" for them and that if she caught me gone she was either going to give them to her brats or "Throw them away"  first chance she got because someone "My age" had no buisness playing with stupid kids toys.
So left with the choice of either leaving them or putting them away some place... I packed them all up and shoved them into the back of the attic.

some time durring G3 I purchased cloud chaser, minty and pinky pie to put on my desk at work.. and at some point or another got rarity and westeria as well.
When they all got stolen off my desk at work and someone held them for ransome... after i finally got two of them back.. I never did get poor minty back  ... i gave up on G3's too.. tossed cloudchaser and pinky pie in the trunk of my car and never looked at them again.

Recently I stumbled on to G4 by pure accident and I realized how happy ponies had made me.. plus they reminded me of my grandma.. So i got into the closet and dug them out... with my sister 1000 miles away in florida there is no chance of her hurting them...
I found some really good deals on G1's on ebay and etsy and have increased my collection of them.

G4's i fell for when i got a couple to go with my G1's.. i realized how cute.. and frankly how inexpensive ( you can find em really cheeply around here in the various dollarstores) they were.. they just kinda multiplied.

hehe.

[bbassel]

I told my parents if they ever saw mlp at an auction to pick dome up for me because as a child i remembered loving them and always getting them to give to friends at their bdays but never getting many myself. One xmas in 2004 i opened a box and it had about eight g1 s from my parents. They had found them at a garage sale. I have been collecting since. I am 32 lol and am not going to stop.

[hathorcat]

I wasn't a collector as a little girl - I was just a little girl who liked and had some ponies

As an adult - I am not sure what the kicker was but one day I decided I wanted to find some of my old toys so went on an attic search. After searching and searching, I found everything you would expect from childhood except my ponies. A very reluctant mother then had to admit that when I was fed up with the ponies [which I admit I was by the time I was 7 I think] my mum gave them away to the little girl up the road - with the promise they would be returned...of course they never made it back to me.

So in a strop that my childhood ponies were no longer around, I decided I would hit up ebay and replace the dozen or so ponies I had as a little girl - thats all I intended to do just Cotton Candy, Bow Tie, Windy and a few more. But alas I googled MLP as I couldnt remember some names...and I found Dream Valley...and that was pretty much where it all began

[Leopard_Print_Unicorn]

I think it was a therapeutic thing for me in a bad marriage. It was one thing that was for me and only me. I had loved them as a little girl and when I retrieved my childhood collection from the attic and fixed them up and started buying more on e-bay to finish out sets I had always wanted as a child (delayed wish fulfillment!), it was a really peaceful thing for me.

[Bow Tie]

G4 got me back into collecting! I couldn't remember many of the ponies I had as child. I had some G1 hand-me-downs from my cousins who were too old for them (They were born in '81 and '84). I was born in '90 so I was the perfect age for G2 when it came out so I had a little bit of both. I never got into G3. I think once I got into middle school, I stopped playing with ponies.

I went on etsy for some G4 merch, found some G1's and bought a few and then I started finding some at flea markets and it all went up hill from there. I do want to find a Daddy Apple Delight as I do remember playing with him. I did find a near complete Pony Party Gift Pack. It came with the box and was only missing a ribbon and after seeing the accessories, it brought back some childhood memories because I remembered playing with the cake and party hats. It was so nice to have a piece of my childhood back. My mom said she would have kept the ponies if she knew her daughter would be wanting ponies at 22 years old.

[Marlin]

I grew up with G1's and a bit like Hathorcat, had lots of them (about 16 in all) but wasn't an active 'collector' of them. I loved my ponies, and though they did eventually get tucked away into a cardboard box, they were always close by in the wardrobe or something.

Fast forward 20 years.... Had two girls myself - finally - the chance to pull my much loved toys out for them to enjoy.... until I realised I was getting a little too much enjoyment and nostalgia out of them myself lol! 

I stole my ponies back (and compensated my girls with some G3s) and learned to restore my G1's to former glory, all whilst learning about where My Little Pony was at nowadays on the web and discovering the many amazing sets I was never aware of. That spiraled into buying a few that I had always wanted... then ones I thought were pretty... then wanting to complete certain sets... 

...I discovered the arena... and evilbay... it spiraled some more and here I am! A G1 lover and collector and restorer 

[brightberry]

I saw Grannysmith, thought she was adorable and couldn't leave the store without her.  But then... she needed friends.  Technically, I don't think I ever stopped collecting.  I just take decades long breaks.