Would you debox a G1/G2/G3 pony?

[cricket]

She did actually, the auctions say 'when I decarded her' on a lot of them. lol

Okay, fair enough... I admit I do like to buy from those people who decard ponies, and I have several in my collection. I'm thrilled with all of the backcards I've been seeing on eBay lately... I've really been cleaning up. But I don't decard anything myself.

She did actually, the auctions say 'when I decarded her' on a lot of them. lol

Okay, fair enough... I admit I do like to buy from those people who decard ponies, and I have several in my collection. I'm thrilled with all of the backcards I've been seeing on eBay lately... I've really been cleaning up. But I don't decard anything myself.

Yes I am specifically talking about the seller who said she bought MOCs to open and sold all of them with their accessories.  I also put the majority of my loose ponies together piece by piece but I personally would not buy a MOC to open.  I would save them for MOC collectors….which I also happen to be.

[Spectrum]

I've opened two G3s, but it was a Minty and a Butterscotch, so nothing too rare. I would open a G1 if there was a chance the packaging could end up harming the pony (like mold or something), but otherwise no. I don't collect G1s in their packaging and wouldn't have one unless it fell into my lap, so I'm pretty indifferent either way.

[Taffeta]

My dream was to open up my favorite flutter pony who I no longer had from childhood. We all have dreams and I dont believe on is more important than the other.

The thing is, deboxing a pony does that exact thing. We all choose to follow our dreams but I think it doesn't hurt to consider the bigger picture when doing so. I completely agree that you have as much right to fulfil your wishes and dreams as much as anyone else. But if that wish or dream takes something permanently away from another collector so that they may never ever attain THEIR dream...I think that is a case of considering one dream more important than another. It's not a direct criticism at you or any individual who has done this or considers doing this in the future. It is an overall broad viewpoint for the collectable and the community as a whole entity. I don't think anyone deboxes a pony with any spite in mind, nor any disrespect for other collectors. I think that they just haven't stopped and thought about all the implications for either the community or the collectable as a whole.

I don't think criticising it is harsh. I think that taking away the right to someone else having their dream is harsher and I think only by pointing out that bigger picture will people stop and think about whether it is a good idea or not to take that pony out of package.

I collect UK ponies MOC. By that I mean ponies on UK card. It is already MUCH harder to get them than it used to be, and I am not a rich person. I have a few I bought at retail from an end of line store - but most of mine have been either trades, or ebay, or buying from sellers direct in the community. Every single UK packaged pony I get is a piece of my childhood, but there are some of my childhood ponies which are true grails to me for very specific reasons.

I already know that some are out of my price bracket, because just normal conditions make them really rare (Sunburst, for example, the pony I had when my sister was born). But, I'll give you a more realistic example of context.

Rainbow Magic (Ringlet) is one of the ponies I would really love to get MOC (UK card). In her case, it has to be English, too, because of the story. I had her as a kid when my mum was very ill in hospital, and I chose her because her story said she could grant wishes and I wanted to wish mum better. I remember it so well I can even tell you the date I bought her - 14th December, 1990.

I have never seen this pony on UK card on sale since I began collecting online in 97/8, but I am sure she still exists out there somewhere. What terrifies me about Rainbow Magic is that, to get mint ringlets, the Rainbow Curl Pony set is a high risk set for being decarded.

That kind of hunt for perfection in loose pony hair may mean I never will find Rainbow Magic MOC. I don't know whether my wish for her MOC is more or less important than the wish of someone to have a pony with mint ringlets, and I don't think that is the point. The point is that their hunt for perfection may take away my chance of obtaining something that has a deep personal meaning to me, even if I spend the rest of my life hunting for it.

Everyone has reasons for their own hunts or grails. I think NOT discussing, and NOT taking them on board them when making big decisions about permanently altering ponies, is the real harsh element in this discussion. Speaking out about how it makes us feel is not criticism - it's just honesty. Especially when you've seen the number of MIP dry up slowly, and the prices rise slowly over the past 10 or more years.

MIP ponies will continue to get rarer as people keep them longer, even without deboxing. It's a natural symptom of the passage of time.

To put the flutter in context, it has taken me almost 15 years to find MY childhood flutter in a box that is almost the same as the one she had (just a difference in language). It still isn't exactly the same, because it's not in English, but it's as close as I will ever probably get. I can remember very clearly at the age of 5, choosing her in Carrefour with my Dad's help, and spending my birthday money on her. I can remember being excited about having her, sticking her sticker on Dream Castle, and the day I cried when her wings broke.

 It doesn't matter if someone down the street from you has a few in package. It's not about those few or that one person. It's about everyone, and someone else having a bunch doesn't justify deboxing a pony in my opinion. There are always going to be more collectors looking than there are ponies available with MOC G1. If it wasn't the case, prices wouldn't be going up. When I bought Medley and Glory, they cost $30 each. So did Big Top and Toppy, and Nibbles and Dibbles.  That should give some context of the kind of difference in price then and now. I have no idea how much of that has been impacted on by deboxing, but I suspect it's not been completely disconnected.

 Taking just one more pony out of circulation puts the price up for EVERYONE, and that is another prohibitive factor in people attaining their grails. It's a complex issue, but also one with serious ramifications. That's why I think, if possible, it ought to be avoided.

[banditpony]

My dream was to open up my favorite flutter pony who I no longer had from childhood. We all have dreams and I dont believe on is more important than the other.

The thing is, deboxing a pony does that exact thing. We all choose to follow our dreams but I think it doesn't hurt to consider the bigger picture when doing so. I completely agree that you have as much right to fulfil your wishes and dreams as much as anyone else. But if that wish or dream takes something permanently away from another collector so that they may never ever attain THEIR dream...I think that is a case of considering one dream more important than another. It's not a direct criticism at you or any individual who has done this or considers doing this in the future. It is an overall broad viewpoint for the collectable and the community as a whole entity. I don't think anyone deboxes a pony with any spite in mind, nor any disrespect for other collectors. I think that they just haven't stopped and thought about all the implications for either the community or the collectable as a whole.

These threads make me feel extremely sad because all I wanted was the experience. Is not like I go destroying mib ponies. I opened one and I have an amazing experience because of it.

My flutter is one off the biggest highlights of my collection. She means so.much more to me than if I had purchased a minty one. If I had gotten a minty one, I wouldn't care for it. It wasn't purely about being mint.

I don't think just anyone should open g1s. But I don't think people should feel guilty either if it is the right choice for them.

Also, I mentioned my friends MiB collection because I find it exciting there are definitely still MiB ponies that aren't in the community yet.

[ponycake]

My dream was to open up my favorite flutter pony who I no longer had from childhood. We all have dreams and I dont believe on is more important than the other.

The thing is, deboxing a pony does that exact thing. We all choose to follow our dreams but I think it doesn't hurt to consider the bigger picture when doing so. I completely agree that you have as much right to fulfil your wishes and dreams as much as anyone else. But if that wish or dream takes something permanently away from another collector so that they may never ever attain THEIR dream...I think that is a case of considering one dream more important than another. It's not a direct criticism at you or any individual who has done this or considers doing this in the future. It is an overall broad viewpoint for the collectable and the community as a whole entity. I don't think anyone deboxes a pony with any spite in mind, nor any disrespect for other collectors. I think that they just haven't stopped and thought about all the implications for either the community or the collectable as a whole.

These threads make me feel extremely sad because all I wanted was the experience. Is not like I go destroying mib ponies. I opened one and I have an amazing experience because of it.

My flutter is one off the biggest highlights of my collection. She means so.much more to me than if I had purchased a minty one. If I had gotten a minty one, I wouldn't care for it. It wasn't purely about being mint.

I don't think just anyone should open g1s. But I don't think people should feel guilty either if it is the right choice for them.

Also, I mentioned my friends MiB collection because I find it exciting there are definitely still MiB ponies that aren't in the community yet.

If that's what you want to do do it. If it means a lot to you then that's what matters. I'm torn on the 'ethics' of it and don't really agree that people need to think of the community (I dunno, can't decide) but I just acknowledge my feelings on the matter. lol. It's funny that you're talking about a Flutter though because I have only a few left that are really hard for me to find. I haven't seen them come up for sale yet.

[Taffeta]

My dream was to open up my favorite flutter pony who I no longer had from childhood. We all have dreams and I dont believe on is more important than the other.

The thing is, deboxing a pony does that exact thing. We all choose to follow our dreams but I think it doesn't hurt to consider the bigger picture when doing so. I completely agree that you have as much right to fulfil your wishes and dreams as much as anyone else. But if that wish or dream takes something permanently away from another collector so that they may never ever attain THEIR dream...I think that is a case of considering one dream more important than another. It's not a direct criticism at you or any individual who has done this or considers doing this in the future. It is an overall broad viewpoint for the collectable and the community as a whole entity. I don't think anyone deboxes a pony with any spite in mind, nor any disrespect for other collectors. I think that they just haven't stopped and thought about all the implications for either the community or the collectable as a whole.

These threads make me feel extremely sad because all I wanted was the experience. Is not like I go destroying mib ponies. I opened one and I have an amazing experience because of it.

My flutter is one off the biggest highlights of my collection. She means so.much more to me than if I had purchased a minty one. If I had gotten a minty one, I wouldn't care for it. It wasn't purely about being mint.

I don't think just anyone should open g1s. But I don't think people should feel guilty either if it is the right choice for them.

Also, I mentioned my friends MiB collection because I find it exciting there are definitely still MiB ponies that aren't in the community yet.

If that's what you want to do do it. If it means a lot to you then that's what matters. I'm torn on the 'ethics' of it and don't really agree that people need to think of the community

If they don't, then there isn't really a community, is there?

And BanditPony, I know how you feel, but from the flip, the fact that people debox ponies upsets me and always has. It used to happen a lot more, admitted. People have made videos of doing it and put them on YT. But, because I had this fight in the Jem community too, it's always been something that bothered me.

The consequence in the Jem community is far far more serious, IMO, since the fashions either no longer exist MIP or are automatically being priced at $500+ instead of $150 where they were BEFORE this outbreak. Ultimately I agree with you, that you have the right to your dream and experience, and I wouldn't take that away. I'm just saying in a bigger picture sense, it has consequences. And if everyone thought the same way about it, it would have a much bigger impact. So I'm not attacking YOU for the decision you made for your pony, nor do I begrudge you your feelings on the subject. If you love that flutter, the chances are you wouldn't be like the ebay seller, who deboxed then sold. That pony means something to you, you are keeping it forever either way, so it isn't quite the same. We all deboxed ponies as kids. We're all equally guilty in that measure of taking ponies from circulation - but we all love those ponies for the years we played with them - so it isn't about that.

My point is that, in my view, rampant deboxing has serious overall ramifications for the price and availability of the collectable. And I don't want to see the same issues in MLP as exist in Jem, where the ONLY people who can afford the rarest flipside fashions are the ones who caused the problem in the first place, by deboxing whole fashions just for an extra pair of gloves...

[TwistedRiver]

I would not seek out MOC ponies necessarily to decard, and a lot of them if they came into my hands I could see passing on to a MOC collector. However there are certain ponies where like Banditpony I would decard them because it is something that I have dreamed of doing.
Yes I see how my doing that takes "the dream" away from a MOC collector, which might be unfair to them, but at the same time it would be unfair for them to take the dream of opening certain ponies away from me.
Pretty much the only ponies that have left my collection since childhood were ones that were given as gifts to friends or a couple of extras that Hannah and I had to sell last December to help our family have a Christmas.
I love all my ponies, they are all special to me, but the ones that I've either opened personally or received as a gift are a lot more special to me.
I think in the end it is a personal choice where every varied collector probably feels very strongly about their opinions.  To each there own, I see both sides of the story, but in the end the only choice that will really matter to me is my own.

[otocolobus_manul]

I've deboxed g3s and I probably will with the few g2s I want complete with accessories, but only for the accessories. I'd never dream of decarding a g1.

[hathorcat]

*eyes Good Weather* If I don't find her loose and complete one day...its gonna happen Speaking as a complete and loose collector there is nothing more frustrating than a pony and her accessories you simply cannot find loose but you own and have seen repeated versions of MIB

I buy MOC/MIB and always have - I then buy loose...and sell or trade on the MOC/MIB versions. Its the process that allowed me to get a lot of my collection. There are a lot of ponies I have found cheaper and easier on their cards and in their boxes than when I have put all the individual items together.

However in the main, other than 3 Argie babies who were stained beyond imagining from the backcard ink, and a Thundercloud who tumbled off his card through poor packaging, I havent opened any G1s and I dont think I could ever bring myself to.

But...I truly feel if you purchase a pony its your pony and you may do what you wish with it. What is one persons joy is anothers upset and vice versa. Its not about me agreeing or disagreeing about what someone does with it; its not even about me judging someone for doing it. Its personal property - its their call. I dont believe we own ponies for the sake of the community although it is a kind of lovely idea. If I spend the $$ for it, then it belongs to me; I dont have any right to judge any one else for what they choose to do with their personal property.

[Hannah66665]

I would not seek out MOC ponies necessarily to decard, and a lot of them if they came into my hands I could see passing on to a MOC collector. However there are certain ponies where like Banditpony I would decard them because it is something that I have dreamed of doing.
Yes I see how my doing that takes "the dream" away from a MOC collector, which might be unfair to them, but at the same time it would be unfair for them to take the dream of opening certain ponies away from me.
Pretty much the only ponies that have left my collection since childhood were ones that were given as gifts to friends or a couple of extras that Hannah and I had to sell last December to help our family have a Christmas.
I love all my ponies, they are all special to me, but the ones that I've either opened personally or received as a gift are a lot more special to me.
I think in the end it is a personal choice where every varied collector probably feels very strongly about their opinions.  To each there own, I see both sides of the story, but in the end the only choice that will really matter to me is my own.

Sis put it a lot better than I could.

Reading through these posts it seems like an attack on anyone who opens their ponies even though I know that is not the intention. Opening a pony does not destroy it. I also don't find collections of boxed ponies nearly as appealing to the eye. Ponies were meant to opened. To have their hair brushed and have light kisses on the nose. I would never look down on someone for opening something that belongs to them... I think it's kind of cruel to expect people to put the community first by not enjoying their ponies..? For many of us our love for ponies came long before we knew what a community even was.
A year or so ago I got a MOC g2 Silver Swirl and decarded her immediately. I got her with the intentions of opening her. However that was because no matter how much I searched I could not find one for sale even without accessories but I was thrilled to have her complete. I still intend to buy at least one G1 to open because I never got to experience a brand new G1 pony. I'll probably get a lot of flack for this but hey if I buy it it's mine to do as I please. Granted if I ever found an unopened Mimic or Rapunzel then no, I wouldn't open them. They'd be sold/traded to someone who really wants them, even if they want to open them. I also think it's very unfair to refuse to sell to someone because they want to open it..???

It's just that a lot of reactions here seem like the question was would you ever toss a pony into a bonfire?
In the end it's all about the happiness the pony brings to the individual. We shouldn't have to abide by expectations like this?? I don't intend to ever give up my collection so what should it matter? I refuse to make my choices based off the fact that someday I might not be here and it will be sold off and deemed 'worthless' because I opened them.

Sorry for getting so riled up over this. Just how I feel. 

Edit: I wanted to add a quick apology in case I seemed like I was attacking those against decarding right after suggesting they were doing the same.  But I still feel the same on the subject.

[cricket]

I would not seek out MOC ponies necessarily to decard, and a lot of them if they came into my hands I could see passing on to a MOC collector. However there are certain ponies where like Banditpony I would decard them because it is something that I have dreamed of doing.
Yes I see how my doing that takes "the dream" away from a MOC collector, which might be unfair to them, but at the same time it would be unfair for them to take the dream of opening certain ponies away from me.
Pretty much the only ponies that have left my collection since childhood were ones that were given as gifts to friends or a couple of extras that Hannah and I had to sell last December to help our family have a Christmas.
I love all my ponies, they are all special to me, but the ones that I've either opened personally or received as a gift are a lot more special to me.
I think in the end it is a personal choice where every varied collector probably feels very strongly about their opinions.  To each there own, I see both sides of the story, but in the end the only choice that will really matter to me is my own.

Sis put it a lot better than I could.

Reading through these posts it seems like an attack on anyone who opens their ponies even though I know that is not the intention. Opening a pony does not destroy it. I also don't find collections of boxed ponies nearly as appealing to the eye. Ponies were meant to opened. To have their hair brushed and have light kisses on the nose. I would never look down on someone for opening something that belongs to them... I think it's kind of cruel to expect people to put the community first by not enjoying their ponies..? For many of us our love for ponies came long before we knew what a community even was.
A year or so ago I got a MOC g2 Silver Swirl and decarded her immediately. I got her with the intentions of opening her. However that was because no matter how much I searched I could not find one for sale even without accessories but I was thrilled to have her complete. I still intend to buy at least one G1 to open because I never got to experience a brand new G1 pony. I'll probably get a lot of flack for this but hey if I buy it it's mine to do as I please. Granted if I ever found an unopened Mimic or Rapunzel then no, I wouldn't open them. They'd be sold/traded to someone who really wants them, even if they want to open them. I also think it's very unfair to refuse to sell to someone because they want to open it..???

It's just that a lot of reactions here seem like the question was would you ever toss a pony into a bonfire?
In the end it's all about the happiness the pony brings to the individual. We shouldn't have to abide by expectations like this?? I don't intend to ever give up my collection so what should it matter? I refuse to make my choices based off the fact that someday I might not be here and it will be sold off and deemed 'worthless' because I opened them.

Sorry for getting so riled up over this. Just how I feel. 

I don't think it's an attack on anyone who wants to open ponies it's just that decarding is an issue many feel passionate about.  These posts pop up every so often and the reactions are pretty much always the same.  As I acknowledged, I do feel that people have the right to do what they want with their ponies but it doesn't mean that I have to agree with it or support them in doing it.  And because I don't agree with decarding I would not agree to sell to someone who made this intention clear.  You may think that's unfair but I think it's unfair to have a pony who has survived intact for 30+ years to be taken off its card and made just like every other loose version.  It's just the way I feel.  Even though there are disagreements this is what I like about the collecting community in general.  We all have a different idea of what collecting is for us and have a place to freely express it.  In the end I will never decard, you may every now and then and someone else may do it every time.  We're all still collectors in the community.    

[Carrehz]

In the end it's all about the happiness the pony brings to the individual. We shouldn't have to abide by expectations like this?? I don't intend to ever give up my collection so what should it matter? I refuse to make my choices based off the fact that someday I might not be here and it will be sold off and deemed 'worthless' because I opened them.

[Elfpony]

I'm immensely grateful to the MOC collectors out there, who have these ponies we can refer back to, to see the back cards and accessories and history. But I'm not one of them, and so I generally avoid MOC ponies.

But I have opened a few G1s, because the pony was getting damaged on the card (either ink from the card staining them or mildew and mold). I don't personally see the point of keeping a pony on the card if the pony is getting damaged. They're not MOC at that point, they're just OC.

Like Hathorcat I've been sorely tempted at times to buy a MIB to get those pesky accessories, but I'm not going to do it. I'll just glare at the MIB pictures.

Elf

[Taffeta]

 I don't really care about the "value" of ponies, in a money sense. I didn't pay a lot for most of my ponies; if I had to buy them now, I wouldn't be able to, because prices for a lot of the ones I got in trade are now a lot higher. I don't collect MOC because they are worth anything, financially. They are worth something to me emotionally, because they are markers of memories and I think that is true for a portion of MOC collectors out there. I choose which MOC I buy based on how much it's worth to me emotionally, not how much it's worth financially. I think a lot of people see MOC collecting as "detached" in some way, not engaged with the pony - but it's the complete opposite. Especially for idiots like me, who trashed most of their early childhood cards.

I think it's sad when a pony gets deboxed. There are hundreds of ponies out there, loose, and some of them are in lovely condition. I don't think it's about what pony is or isn't rare, because ponies that were not rare 10 years ago MOC are rare now because of deboxers. I remember when Argentinian ponies were really common moc, and they could barely sell them for like, $20. Now, you don't see so many. But you do see a lot of loose ones in mint condition that have come off cards. I know some fell off, some were on damaged cards, and I'm not criticising that - but it's just a fact of trade. It isn't just about boxed ponies. It spreads right into Nirvana pricing as well. The collectors coming in and starting off now, too, might not get stuff that those of us here longer had the opportunity to get some several years back. That's a fact of timescale, but I think that it is relevant to consider that because even if it is about bringing individual joy to a pony, part of collecting is sharing that joy with the community and helping that community. The collection I have is thanks to being online in the 1990s, not because I'm especially rich or smart at finding good deals. That is becoming an increasingly necessary skill with prices going really through the roof. We can't stop that happening, but we can try, as a community, to limit the damage. I am pretty sure most people are not in it for the money side, either.

I really don't take it personally if someone outbids me on ebay on something I really wanted, because I can't say that that person didn't want it as much or more than me. But I can't understand someone outbidding me on a MOC on ebay just to debox it, when there are 10 loose ones there selling for a lower price. I see a difference in that. I know other people won't, but it's just the way this issue is and will always be.

One thing I must quibble with, though. About choosing who to sell to and it not being fair. If the pony is yours to do with as you like, then its fine for a seller not to sell it to someone because they'll debox it. Because, at that point, it is the SELLER's pony. And, as such, the owner of the pony can do WHAT THEY LIKE with it, including deciding who they sell it to.

If that seller chooses to sell it to someone who will keep it MOC, that is not unfair, it is their right as the owner. If you have the right to debox, you also have the right not to sell to a deboxer. And if people should not be criticised for deboxing, they should also not be criticised for trying to preserve that pony mint in package.

Emotive logic works both ways.

[prancingstag]

I don't think I could ever alter a G1 or G2 pony's condition - whether its within or without packing. G1 was decades ago and survived mainly as a children's toy, and G2s whilst existing at the same time as the early collector's market, are overall less common for not being produced in the US. We'll always need MOC G1/G2s for accessory identification purposes as they weren't sold online and didn't have lovely promo and stock images produced and distributed like we have now.

G3s however seem to be a dime a dozen MOC/MIB/MIP. They were released at the right time for maximum adult collection purposes, and the only ones that are truly rare were late in the line, special event releases or non-US releases. Their cheap plentiful nature and the fact that they're incredibly well-documented makes me think it's not that bad to release a few from the packaging. Maybe in another decade or so my opinion will change, but the fact that there are so many MIB collections of G3s and they get sold and traded all the time for relatively cheap prices makes their preservation seem less important or even unnecessary.