How to properly mark a rehaired pony. Thoughts? Opinions?

[kitkatvintage]

Since I see many people rehairing Nirvana ponies, I thought it might be a good idea to bring up this subject: How should we mark ponies that have been rehaired?

Collectors have divided opinions on whether or not to rehair a rare pony. Whatever the owner of the pony decides to do, it's important to make some kind of permanent "note" on the pony so any future owner will know that the hair is not original. Recently I have been cataloging my collection & found several rehaired ponies that I bought under the assumption that they had original hair. Its often hard to tell a really well done rehair from the outside.

So what should we be doing to prevent accidental sales of "restored" ponies when buyers think its original? (Please note: a pony can change hands many times & even though "seller A" tells "buyer B" the pony was rehaired, "buyer B" may not tell the next person they sell it to. I'm not pointing fingers, its just easy to forget when you have a large number of ponies.) Should rehairs be marked under the foot, and if so how? Does any one have any other recommended methods of marking a rehair?

I've upgraded several ponies in my collection. Before I sell the doubles, I want to be sure that they are properly marked, so they will only be sold fairly for what they are in the future.

[shelti]

I think when someone finds a rehair in their herd, they should mark them as a rehair even if they don't know who did it or it was not previously marked.
It use to be, before the rehair tools became so much in use, it was fairly easy to tell a rehair but now days not so.
 I personally don't want rehairs in my collection.
UnMarked Rehairs are my Pet Peeve and it seems more and more of them are coming into the Main Stream and making it hard for collectors to know if they have the "Real Deal".

[himmie]

I agree that it should be made known to potential buyers, and that they should be marked in some way. However, I do not really like the idea of permanent marker... I have seen it bleed into a visible part of the leg.

[shelti]

I agree that it should be made known to potential buyers, and that they should be marked in some way. However, I do not really like the idea of permanent marker... I have seen it bleed into a visible part of the leg.

Besides Carving into the Foot or Marker any ideas how to mark a pony as a rehair?

[lunar_scythe]

instead of regular permanent marker, seal the foot, then use something like a micron marker (non-acid, and waterproof), then seal again? 
That would make it hard for someone to remove the mark, sealing it first would prevent bleeding, using a pen designed not to bleed would be extra-sure.

[kitkatvintage]

instead of regular permanent marker, seal the foot, then use something like a micron marker (non-acid, and waterproof), then seal again? 
That would make it hard for someone to remove the mark, sealing it first would prevent bleeding, using a pen designed not to bleed would be extra-sure.

That's a good idea. For those not familiar with customizing supplies (like me), what do you use as sealer?

[Lady Starflower]

instead of regular permanent marker, seal the foot, then use something like a micron marker (non-acid, and waterproof), then seal again? 
That would make it hard for someone to remove the mark, sealing it first would prevent bleeding, using a pen designed not to bleed would be extra-sure.

That is a good idea to prevent any bleeding.
As for marking I put rehair, the date (if known) and my initials if I did it. If I got a rehair that's not marked I'd write rehair and the date. I prefer writing on the bottom of the hoof to carving, I find it less damaging and if your hand slips or something when carving you could have a potential disaster.

I've heard of writing on the neckline but I prefer the bottom of the foot. If the neckline bleeds that would look sooo terrible, the bottom of the hoof is easier to spot as well since not everyone is gonna rip their pony's head off all the time.

Great topic. I think it's essential to mark a rehair especially if its a nirvana pony.

[pinkkittywinks]

i have not heard of a micron-marker

i use a permanent marker to mark under the hoof and i always mark my rehairs. some people ask me not to mark their ponies, it is hard for me since the pony is not mine and i have had people upset with me when i have marked a pony in the past.

i use the tool method to rehair so as soon as you remove the head and looks inside it is obvious the pony is a rehair. the problem comes when people use to weave method to rehair as it does look like a factory weave. i always leave the head loose too so it is easy for people to check inside.

love pkw xxx

[Pythia]

I was thinking maybe a marker inside the neck seam, where it's not visible. Obviously breaking neck seals wouldn't be a problem for rehairs, and it would save actually visibly marking the pony.

[relcelestia]

i have not heard of a micron-marker

i use a permanent marker to mark under the hoof and i always mark my rehairs. some people ask me not to mark their ponies, it is hard for me since the pony is not mine and i have had people upset with me when i have marked a pony in the past.

i use the tool method to rehair so as soon as you remove the head and looks inside it is obvious the pony is a rehair. the problem comes when people use to weave method to rehair as it does look like a factory weave. i always leave the head loose too so it is easy for people to check inside.

love pkw xxx

[NoPonySpecial]

Note: I do not re-hair myself, this is from the perspective of a plain-old collector.

 Personally I prefer a carved indicator rather than a marker, due to bleeding issues. (Although to be fair, the issues probably aren't severe too often, but things happen, so why take the risk?) But I can understand people not liking that. I figure if I ever do it, I'll leave a note on a piece of paper inside the pony, but that could be discarded if someone really wanted to rip people off.
 Why not carve a tiny indicator inside of the pony? Do you think it'd be hard to do without damaging the pony's outside (like leaving tiny indents or suchlike)? That way, both the body and the head could be marked. However, it'd be much harder to see.  Hmm.
  Maybe, if one is really careful/skilled, one could carve an indicator on the lip around the hole leading inside the head and body?

[Sunshine]

I use a non-bleeding fine tip pen and then a little mod podge over the ink. *shrug* I don't rehair anything to sell...

[NoDivision]

There are always problems with ink. Permanent marker can bleed in unpredictabe ways. Other ink pens (almost ALL ink pens) would be easy enough to sun fade off. Not that intentional deciept like that would be the norm, but it could happen.

I have tried to carve the mark in, but I just... fail.

What I'm hoping to do from now on is actually stamp "RH"  under the hoof with a metal stamp. I haven't tried it yet, but we'll see how that goes.

[pinkkittywinks]

ND ~ i tried carving into a ponies foot once and it was a fail for me too that is why i have always stuck with a marker pen.

love pkw xxx

[shelti]

More Thoughts? 
Everytime I see someone ask about hair matches I HOPE they are going to Mark that ReHair.