Pony collecting problems?

[Pandora]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, so if it has please forgive me.

I'm just curious if anyone here has been dealing with something similar.

Do people you know ever put you down because you're an adult collector?  With me it's my in-laws.  My daughter is nearly 5 so you can imagine just how much she loves ponies!  I've had to give her a collection of her very own. One night while using facetime with them she decided to show them my collection.  The comments that I heard were less than kind and they've even spoken to my hubby about it. 

*sigh*  Other than that the majority of people in my life don't mind.  My mom even looks for ponies for me.     Hubby just says I need a new way to display them.  And I really do, but in an apartment it's difficult. 

[hathorcat]

I personally don't encounter any problems with my collecting with family or those I consider friends. The odd ribbing comment but nothing serious and nothing I would not counter with a giggle of my own at their own habits or passions. We all have quirks and all have things which make us happy. But I understand not everyone is as fortunate. Yes, perhaps with some people it takes time to understand its something you do. But for me I find that after a while, people just tend to move from thinking its different to simply accepting it. 

I would say dont worry about it and ignore them but its often not that simple. It depends whether you feel the need to justify what you do or whether you are happy in yourself enough to shrug it off. People collect way weirder things than little plastic toys If its upsetting you, try explaining to your in laws why you collect; what ponies mean to you, the memories, the friends you have made. It may simply be outside their understanding at the moment, maybe you just need to encourage them to at least accept.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I got an "are you actually mental?" from someone I barely know on Facebook last night, to which I replied "yup!" because I am, but I'm not mental because I cellect ponies!

[snwbear24]

Just take pride in it and be like yes I am pretty confident about all this Brush it off and that will show them that you don't care at all what they say an they should back off

[achab1984]

Don't let it get to you. Some people just don't understand. Don't let others that have to follow the crowd tell you different.

You can try to tell them why you collect, but sometimes it better just to leave it alone. Enjoy your ponies and the happiness they bring you

[elish2]

I just get the quirky "really?" from people, but I am pretty forward about the fact that I collect ponies. I wear my MLP laynard to work. At first people are surprised, but now they talk with me about it and tell me that if they see pony things they think of me. And I have had a few people tell me they would look for their old collections for me. I also ran into another pony enthusiast at work. My hubby rolls his eyes about it, but he does nothing to stop me. My in-laws even ask me about how my collection is going.

Just be you. It does not matter what your in-laws think. If you like it go for it!

[gabumon]

Ive had people "distance" themselves from me when they heard I collect and restore MLP.  Not sure if this type of passive-agreesive is worse or better than people outright deriding you.

Sorry to hear if happened Pandora. Cheer up!  Some people never understand, and that's okay.

[brightberry]

It's hard when family treats you that way.  I'm so sorry that happened to you.

Most people don't know I collect.  Honestly, it rarely comes up.  I don't feel ashamed, but my collections are something that I prefer to keep to myself or share with other collectors.  It's a dull conversation when only one person is interested in the subject.   However, I'm sure most people collect something. Pens, coins, ornaments, comics, rubber bands and the like.  Why people think ponies are weird is beyond me.   

[prancingstag]

To be honest, I usually keep it pretty quiet, so I haven't experienced outright derision from friends/strangers. I don't know anyone who definitely likes MLP and I feel like it would be kinda awkward to try to talk to somebody who's completely uninterested in the subject. As for family, my dad is fine with them. He doesn't understand why I love them so much, but after some careful comparisons to the way he collects cars/motorbikes and their manuals, and restores/repairs them for fun, he accepts that it's not abnormal for me to collect, clean and display ponies and accessories for my own enjoyment.

In relation to the rest of my family, I'm one of the youngest members around and never grew much taller than 5 feet, so despite marching on towards my mid-twenties, most of the family still thinks of me as being a youngster and happily accepts that I might be carrying a pony in my purse/pocket at any point in time. Sometimes they will even ask me where my toy is today and take interest if I have one, or laugh if I say I left them at home. I don't tell them exact numbers on my collection or anything though, they might be more shocked if they saw approx. 150 little equines loitering around my bedroom.

[Lightning Twirl]

My in-laws try to put my down because I go to TRU. They honestly think its immature for adults to go there if they dont have kids! Screw them though, thats their problem! They dknt know about my pony collection at all, except my mlp bag. They refuse to come over because of my peach air freshener and reptiles! LOL! My herd is also well hidden. A girl im talked tocl at work calls me a hoarder, and she seems to bring it up a lot. Its funny because she has 5 ppl living in a 2 bedroom house and a baby on the way, so if anyone doesnt have space for anything-its them! xD Thats not my business though, so I dobt mention that to her but I do tell her to stop and it has a bit. I brush off what people tell me or call me. Im free spirited and happy! I LOVE collecting ponies! Im still saving up for important things in life like a car or emergency, just spending my $30 a paycheck on pastel ponies! ^ͺ^ F** everyone who bashes pony collectors or other hobbists! Hobbies are a great way to enjoy our short time here on earth!!!

[gypsyunicorn]

I have enough family drama right now to think about this but if you were to ask my evil sister right now I am sure if she saw this post she would use it against me too so the answer is yes

[Tirac]

My family lives at the very bottom of what is considered "middle class"
a lot of people expect me to sell off my entire collection to support my mom and brother when the two of them do nothing for themselves. The sheer amount of "you owe it to us for having those ponies in the first place" baffles me.
I buy my own ponies with my own money and pay my share of the rent.
The way I see it, as long as you have the means to house and pay for your collection and are not skimping out on food money, you have every right to collect things.
If anything, the fact that collectors have something that makes them happy, the money to fund it, and the joy that collecting brings them, they're ahead in life. If collecting is possible and it makes you happy, why not do so?

[Whippycorn]

Threads like this annoy me. I really don't understand why anyone thinks they have a right to judge and deride you for your hobby. They go on about it being for children, but it seems to me that they are the ones who have never grown up and still snark and judge like they're in the playground. 

[Emberfly]

You aren't the only one.  Most people in my family are actually pretty good about the ponies.  My sister finds it amusing that her 6 yr old daughter and I can bond over ponies.  My dad has bought all my Dream Castles (I kept upgrading) and has sent pony money for birthdays etc and my brother was really chill about the whole thing.  My mom, on the other hand, hates my collection.  To be fair, she hates all my collections and considers them a waste of money, which sucks since I live with her.  Now that I'm selling my collection she keeps pushing me to sell the ponies super cheap all in one go just to get them gone.  Umm, they're in 5 boxes in the parkade storage room and don't take up all that much space, which she's not using anyway.

The most ironic thing of all this is that she got me started collecting in the first place.  When Gen 2 came out I started poking around on the internet and found pony collectors and thought it was pretty cool but that was about it.  Within the month Mom came home from a yard sale, and she never stops at yard sales, with 6 ponies for me I'd never seen before.  She even bought me a pony for Easter one year.  I think she's tried to understand a little but those moments are vastly outnumbered but the 'what did you buy now?' and 'if you've go the money for ponies you should buy new clothes' comments.

The last boyfriend I had hadn't seen the ponies, since they were in storage at my brother's, but didn't like my pony shirt I wore to school for 'Animal Shirt Day.'  His exact words: you paid money for that?  I'm sure he'd have run for the hills much earlier than he did had he seen the pony collection.

You're not alone.  Be strong.  The important thing is your husband and other people in your life support you and are fine with your collection.  There are just some people who don't get it and never will.  You're the same person you were before your in-laws knew about your collection and I'm assuming they liked you then.  Hopefully the surprise will wear off and they'll get over it soon.  Maybe it would help them if they knew that there are lots of adult collectors out there?  Then you're not the only 'weird' person collecting toys.  Just a thought. Anyway, sending you hugs.

[Aflame]

sorry your in laws arnt nice frankly i would tell them to shove their nasty opinions up thair bums ! and tell them if you cant say nothing nice dont say nothing at all ! most people i know including my inlaws -to be  were surprised when i told them butthey dident say nasty things. i dident get to go to TRU until i was about 27 and my BF came with me
hope it gets better for you