Best places to find cheap G1's?

[blazywazy110]

Hey guys!

I've heard of thrift stores, flea markets, even craigslist, but are there any other places you have found G1 ponies less than full price?

Share your stories, too!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yard sales!  The Arena and other collectors, sometimes.    Meets are far more likely to generate that  - the internet comes with shipping costs. 

Also friends and family!  Church sales are another good source.  Oh and sometimes estate sales.    Or newspaper ads, if you live in a very rural area!

[ringwraith10]

Pony meets, flea markets, sometimes antique stores... There's this thing near where I live called the "90 Mile Yard Sale" which is literally 90 miles of highway that all have a yard sale on the same weekend. (Need to find out when that is this year, actually... I missed it the last two years!) When you find bigger second hand outlets like that, you're more likely to find dirt cheap ponies (though you will also encounter jerks who think McDonald's ponies are worth $10).

[otocolobus_manul]

I've had all my g1 luck at cons and flea markets, but I've heard stories of finding them at thrift stores as well 

[LittleSpiffy]

You can find really good deals on eBay.  If you just happen to be online, you can sort by "newly listed" and refresh the page every so often.

Sometimes sellers will list HTF ponies with a cheap BIN.

[mlp4me]

Surf the sales here on the arena. :o)

[hathorcat]

Sales on the pony boards like the Arena. Collectors tend to know what a pony is worth and you are less likely to come up against a crazy bidding war. Finding ponies in the wild will normally be the cheapest way to find them but such finds are few and far between unfortunately.

[CloudyGlow]

I've seen the term "in the wild" used a couple of times.  What does it mean?

[egyptiondragon]

I've seen the term "in the wild" used a couple of times.  What does it mean?

Out at shops such as thrift store yard sales and such

[palaisdejouets]

I have a reasonable amount of luck at my local Value Village (known as Savers in the U.S.). I go once a week and sometimes twice. At Value, as well as many other thrift stores, toys are bagged in assorted mini-lots. Often ponies (new, old, fakies) will get bagged together so they're easy to spot. But you have to check all the bags! Just today, I turned over a bag not expecting to find anything, because what I could see was mostly McDonald's type toys of things like The Chipmunks. But on the other side, there was a Seawinkle!

Thrift stores are a big reason why I got into collecting ponies, actually. Two years ago I moved to a neighbourhood with thrift stores near by and so I developed my weekly habit, and came across G1s while I was hunting for other '80s toys, and when I saw ponies I had to bring them home.

I've said before and will say again, though, that the collecting community is the best way to build up the basics of your collection affordably.

[CloudyGlow]

Often ponies (new, old, fakies) will get bagged together so they're easy to spot.

That's nice of them.  I swear they purposefully put the ponies in separate bags at all the thrift stores I go to.

[palaisdejouets]

Often ponies (new, old, fakies) will get bagged together so they're easy to spot.

That's nice of them.  I swear they purposefully put the ponies in separate bags at all the thrift stores I go to.

LOL that happens here, too! It also depends on how the donations come in -- if someone donates a big pile of their kids' ponies, they'll all be together in a bag or box and then it's easy for the store to just put them together in bags. I think they basically do it as fast as they can, so it's more about what gets pulled out of the donation bags/boxes.