My First G1 Pony! *advice needed*

[HelloGoodbye]

Twice as fancy Milky Way just arrived today!     And she is gorgeous.  She is just a little bit grubby, but overall she is quite lovely.  I have wanted a G1 pony to add to my collection for a long time, and when I saw this pretty girl on eBay I knew that I really wanted her.  She is in even better condition than I expected from the photographs.  That being said, she is still kind of a "project pony", and I want to make sure I do this right!  I have read some tutorials, but I just want to double check some stuff with you guys.

• Is it safe to clean a TAF pony with regular dish soap?  I don't want to rub her symbols off.
• She has some nail polish on her front leg, can I use nail polish remover to get it off?

• Her mane and tail are lovely, but I still want to wash them.  If I get her tail too wet can it cause tail rust?
• A couple of her stars are a little bit rubbed off, I am a good painter, should I touch them up?

Sorry for asking millions of questions 

EDIT:  There is a little mark on her side that looks like it may be a little cancer spot.  I don't think it is, it looks more like a scuff.  But if it is cancer, can it spread to my other ponies?
If anyone has any additional advice to offer me, I would love it.  I'm just so excited that I finally have her!

[PinkStar_Magic]

I love Milky Way! I had no problem washing Milky Way just like my other ponies - with no damage to her stars. I even used a Magic Eraser to scrub her. If you use nail polish remover to try to remove the nail polish, use it carefully and sparingly on the spot.

If her head is not loose, I would be careful getting the mane and tail too wet. Hopefully it will soften and brighten beautifully with conditioner (I used Herbal Essences Hello Hydration on my ponies - they smelled wonderful afterward).

Re-touching the stars is up to you. I did re-touch a few of mine, I have no plans to sell my ponies, so I wanted them to look their best for me and was not worried about affecting their original value.

Some worry about pony cancer spreading, but I'm not sure whether or not it does. I think that if it is brown mold, then it will only spread if the conditions are right (damp environment).

Congratulations on Milky Way! I hope this helps.

[HelloGoodbye]

It does! Thank you so much! 

[Diamond]

You must post some photos.  We have not had anything spread but we store our ponies in baggies to prevent dust from building up on them, so that helps. 

[HelloGoodbye]

I'll get pictures up as soon as I can.  In the mean time, is there a way to tell if it is just a scuff or if it is cancer?  I think it looks like a scuff, but I've never seen pony cancer in person, and it is hard to tell since it is near all the stars on her body so it blends in.  It is just one really little spot that looks kind of smudgy.

Also, what is the best way to clean her without getting her full of water if her head is kind of loose.

Thanks for the help!

[FluffleNuff]

I'll get pictures up as soon as I can.  In the mean time, is there a way to tell if it is just a scuff or if it is cancer?  I think it looks like a scuff, but I've never seen pony cancer in person, and it is hard to tell since it is near all the stars on her body so it blends in.  It is just one really little spot that looks kind of smudgy.

Also, what is the best way to clean her without getting her full of water if her head is kind of loose.

Thanks for the help!

If her head is loose, wash the body carefully under running water first, be careful that no water touches the neckline. Once her body is clean, flip her over and wash her head again npt touching the neckline

[hathorcat]

Congrats on an awesome first G1 She is such a lovely pony.

Ok...lets see the questions.

- Yes you can clean her with regular old dish soap. Her symbols are painted on so its no different than paint on a wall, it will be removable with acetone or other chemicals but not with just plain old soap and water [unless you scrub really really really hard]. Be careful if you take a magic eraser to her. Magic erasers are essentially just very fine sandpaper and to clean they remove the surface; so they can and they sometimes will remove symbols. Not always but its something you need to be aware of.

- Yes a swipe of acetone/nail polish remover should remove the polish on her leg. Make sure you wipe the acetone off as soon as its applied though - plastic and acetone are not very friendly with one another. If the nail polish remover does not take the stain away, try a magic eraser and unfortunately if there is a stain left you will need to try sun fading.

- A nice shampoo/condition will work for her hair. But if you get her wet inside then yes it probably will cause rust over time. She has a metal tail washer and grip holding her tail in place. So either you need to carefully wash tail and mane [avoiding their root] and try not to get any water inside her or remove her tail completely to wash. Or of course, go ahead and just wash her...and just monitor her over time for the rust to develop. You can treat tail rust after all so even if cleaning her does cause it you just need to be prepared to fix it in the future.

- Its pretty normal for the occasional TAF pony to have a symbol brush or scratch, covering the whole body means its only to be expected. Its up to you whether you restore them or not. Doing so is probably not going to add value and its something you would need to declare if you were selling her. But as she is for your collection, if touching up the symbols would make you happier then go for it.

- Age marks can take every form from a dark dot to a bruise like mark. Either way there is no need to worry about it spreading to other ponies just keep an eye out for it spreading on Milky Way; it may never expand beyond that one mark or it may appear elsewhere.

[HelloGoodbye]

Thank you so much for all of the advice everyone!  I am very excited to see how she looks all cleaned up.

[hathorcat]

Make sure to post us pictures when she is all done so we can drool at her cuteness And take some before pictures as well - you will enjoy looking back at them to see how much of an improvement you have made!

[HelloGoodbye]

I have some before pictures, I'll take some after ones, too.
I'm trying to dry out inside of her now (she got wet inside) and her head won't come all the way off...

[findlay_pvet]

I'll get pictures up as soon as I can.  In the mean time, is there a way to tell if it is just a scuff or if it is cancer?  I think it looks like a scuff, but I've never seen pony cancer in person, and it is hard to tell since it is near all the stars on her body so it blends in.  It is just one really little spot that looks kind of smudgy.

Also, what is the best way to clean her without getting her full of water if her head is kind of loose.

Thanks for the help!

If her head is loose, wash the body carefully under running water first, be careful that no water touches the neckline. Once her body is clean, flip her over and wash her head again npt touching the neckline

I wouldn't even be this careful.  If her head is loose, you're in good shape!  Pop her head off, remove the tail and clean the body inside and out.  As long as it FULLY dries (<24 hours) before replacing tail and putting head back on, you won't get tail rust.  The only reason to be as careful as Fluffle Nuff is suggesting is if the head is NOT loose and you're trying to keep it that way.

As far as the painting goes - do whatever you want to do to make her look nice.  If you're going to keep her in your collection, value doesn't matter anyway.  If you decide to sell later as long as you're honest that you did the touchups then it's up to the buyer - some people don't mind, some do and you frankly can't please everybody.

[Ringlets]

Congrats on your new pony!!
Looks like you've got some good advice already
 

I'm trying to dry out inside of her now (she got wet inside) and her head won't come all the way off...

No worries   I've washed hundreds (literally) of G1 ponies without removing their head etc and never had any of them get tail rust.  I've even soaked them with no problem - as long as you dry them properly. You can do this without removing the head by holding the tail as far across as you can get it and squeezing excess water out , then balancing the pony with her butt and tail hanging down   - some people use a cup or bowl or something similar to balance her in so that the water drains out of the pony's body through the tail hole and down the tail into the cup (Hope that makes sense! its kinda late ..or early... here in the UK and I'm not explaining this as best as I could! ).
It should dry out pretty quickly so rust doesnt develop. I usually balance my own ponies in front of my fire to dry them out more quickly - or you can use a hair dryer    You'll know the pony is ready when  the tail doesnt feel wet anymore.

[hathorcat]

I have some before pictures, I'll take some after ones, too.
I'm trying to dry out inside of her now (she got wet inside) and her head won't come all the way off...

Its up to you whether you remove her head completely but with some hot water you should be able to melt the glue enough to remove it. But thats only if you actually wish to separate her head/body that way Otherwise just drain her completely as Ringlets suggests and keep an eye on her for potential rust in the future, which of course may or may not arrive.

[snwbear24]

That is def a great first pony!!!

[Tirac]

She's a gorgeous pony isn't she?
I'd be extremely careful with the symbols, but what everyone has said applies. I can't wait to see pics.