Labelling ponies

[hathorcat]

I personally dont label them and I have a complete G1 collection and variants. But I understand some people may wish to.

I agree with Baby Sugarberry. If it is something you feel the need to do then I would not use a sticky label, or if you want to continue down that path, then make sure to write in pencil and not pen. They are your ponies to do as you with with, including writing or dotting on the hooves - so long as you do it aware that you are devaluing the pony at the same time.

Personally I would be tempted to go the same route as Chrissy mentions, a plain white tag, written with pencil and a uncoloured string around the next. Easy to remove, no damage caused and usually easy enough to not be completely  visible to display with clever angling. Or even perhaps tuck the card with the details underneath their hooves, writing facing away from the pony; again it means nothing permanent on the pony but if you life her up you can see her little card with her number easy enough.

[HelloGoodbye]

My MLPs are not labeled (yet), but so far it is just my G3s from when I was little, and the G3.5s and G4s that I have just continued to buy throughout the years.  I have a really good memory for names, so I have never felt the need to label them.  Anyway, I don't really have that many variants, just some like "Pinkie Pie with Tinsel" and "Pinkie Pie without Tinsel", although I'm sure that there is a more specific name for them, I just don't know it yet  .  Eventually I would like to label them, especially since I have just started to collect G1 ponies (my first G1 is currently in the mail!!).

I do, however, label my Breyer Horse collection because I have more Breyer horses than MLPs in my collection, and I take them to model horse shows, so they need to be labeled for judging purposes, and keeping track of them in general.  It is also useful to have what breed they are cataloged in case I forget.  I label them with string tags written on in pencil looped around one of their back hooves.  Additionally, I write down any information about the model (year produced, year bought, show placings, etc.) in a notebook.

When I start to label my ponies (hopefully soon), I will use the method I use for my Breyers 

[QueenStarglow]

While I'd never recommend anything like that for a serious collector and especially not for someone who was interested in preserving the integrity and value of a collection, at the end of the day they're yours to do with as you please.  If you think the risk of seeping dyes and potential stains are worth the gain of organizing your collection, then go for it. 

Personally I would never want to buy a pony treated in such a manner, because I /do/ consider it a permanent disfigurement.  It's  your collection, you don't need anyone's permission to do as you wish with them, just be aware of the possible outcomes.   More practically, many of those colors are not going to show up on certain colors of ponies, so tags are still a better way to go.

this, this, this ^

If you don't have room to display your collection (which would make organizing and labeling by shelf easy) then at least put your ponies in zip lock bags and label those, so you do anything invasive to your delicate vintage collectibles. It's easy to think of them as just toys and forget that the primitive plastics and dyes used to make them can be easily damaged by foreign chemicals. Please be careful with them <3

 

[High Flutter]

I've been thinking about the tags idea, it's the best solution so far, but I know it won't work as well as it should. I'll send some more pics later to explain.

As for tiny microdots devaluing the ponies.... yeah....... take a look at these lovely photos I just took of my alternate birthflower Poppy I bought for my sister (her birthday is in August).
The colours look washed out - that is just the photo. She is very vibrant.

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Beautiful looking! The seller had several photos.
Unfortunately none of the angles included a view from below.......

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Oh dear. Is that permanent marker?!
.....sigh

And here I am thinking that microdots in the grooves in the "made in" country name is too much!! Or even the acid from the not-so-sticky stickers.

I guess it was my fault for not asking for more complete photos.
No hard feelings. I'm sure she isn't the one who did it.

She is still a beautiful pony, and the fact I totally blanked on photos from under her hooves just shows how much "eye-time" that area gets.
Even the flat foot 1982 ponies can be identified by not looking under their hooves.

Ironically, she is the most marked pony I have!!

Missing tails on bait ponies are a re-hairing labour of love. Removing permanent marker (and you can tell someone has already tried) is truly something else. A very tedious chore.
I'll have to dress her up and expose her hooves to the sun very carefully to get a graduated fade.

EDIT: No, I don't have money to burn. That's not why I don't seem that upset. Sure, she neglected to include that detail, but it is my fault for not asking.
Like I said, she is still a beautiful pony. And incredibly rare. My sister loved her!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I would also go with plain white tags written in pencil. Don't risk your collection and its value just because you "can't remember where a pony is going on the shelf again."

An alternative to labeling the PONIES?  Maybe try creating a planogram, especially if the shelves are also coming with you in the move!     Take photos, compare them to the planogram, use those to help you put everything back together.

[NoDivision]

...I just put my ponies on a bookshelf or in a box. I probably had a couple hundred at my highest point, and I never needed anything to tell them apart.  I feel like I just got a peek into a whole new level of collecting that I never suspected existed.

Like Level 7 of SHIELD.

Haha, that's a good way to put it. I don't really need to label my collection because it's small

The only ponies of mine that I label are my Barnacles, because I have so many of them. Most of them actually have names (The Captain, Scurvy, First Mate, Swashbuckler, Rusty, Deck Swabber, etc. etc.)  so I put their names on their hooves >.> I have them painted on in white acrylic paint, which is easy to remove and doesn't stain.

[FairyDust]

NoDivision I you beat me to it.  I was also going to suggest white acrylic paint!  Though I've never done that to mine.

Yes, I agree with everybody else.  I suggest very highly that you get the stickers with the ink or marker off them.  It will soak through and onto the body.  I learned that the hard way.

Good luck with your organizing project!

[LittleSpiffy]

I had no idea there was a Ponydex.  This is a really cool idea.  I don't have a large herd, but I think I may use the site!

[summerday]

For those wanting to use colored tags, why not laminate the tags? You get the advantages of color coding without the potential for staining.

[Baby Sugarberry]

Might be kind of fiddly, but encapsulation of tags after marking is a viable option.  Gets kind of expensive though - best value is likely to remain basic white labels and pencil.  If you've got the budget for that, go for it. ^u^

I'd still be careful white acrylic paint - anytime you are introducing two reactive materials to each other there's always the possibility of an unwanted interaction.  Paint is a complex solution, made of a solvent as the carrier, an adhesive or binding agent that makes it stick together and to the surface applied, and the suspended particulate (pigment) which is the visible color.  The solvent isn't usually a problem since it evaporates quickly and is commonly water for acrylics, but the pigments themselves or the resins used to hold them together may interact with the nylon and/or its dyes.  Again, just something to be aware of.  There are so many different plastic and paint formulae that it's impossible to say what may happen, could very well be nothing at all.

There are very few substances that are truly artifact-safe, among them mylar, glass, acid-free tissue, unbleached/undyed cotton or polyester, certain polyethylenes, and polycarbonate (aka Lexan or Plexiglas).  That said, it's a bit silly to go all out for a collection that is going to degrade no matter what, given how unstable most of of the plastics toys are produced from are, by their very nature.

[Twilight Pink]

What's Ponydex? 

[Snapdragon]

Oooh, this thread is such a good read! I hadn't even considered - it wasn't until Baby Sugarberry mentioned it that I realized, I wrote on my (very few) labeled ponies' tags with a PEN! Oh no!! Time to go change that out!! (And here I thought pen would be more permanent and therefore better than pencil! Ugh!)

I love the idea of color-coded tags, if only they could be made safe for ponies! Sigh! When it comes to marking variations (usually ones that are identical in almost every way, such as Blind Bags), I use a small dab of white paint under their hoof! White doesn't stain, and acrylic paint is easy to scrape/acetone off if you decide that you don't like it anymore. Also, one way I've been differentiating my G4 releases (such as the absolutely-identical ponies released with different accessories) is with tail ribbons! Yellow for first-release, blue for second, and so on. I have a little list and everything!

Now I wanna go out and buy tags for ALL my ponies!

[hathorcat]

What's Ponydex? 

www.ponydex.com

Its an online site which many collectors use to store lists and details of their collections.

[PinkRosedust]

You could always use white tags but then color one side of them with colored pencil, if you wanted to use colored tags. I have considered using tags for some of my ponies but I'd probably cut them very small and tie them into the tail ribbon (I add ribbon to most of my display ponies). I think it could be made pretty discreet if you try.

[Kazzellin]

I have my ponies currently in boxes, and I've started to sort them. I select a color of yarn to use, make a list and note any/all issues, then take photos of the pony and loosely tie the yarn around the pony's neck. So far, I've done white, gray and purple. n__n

Then they go back into the box, in a more organized fashion.