Would you debox a G1/G2/G3 pony?

[Artemesia's Garden]

Just something to add - I work in an art museum. I'm interested in collections management just as I'm interested in all aspects of museum life.  In museums, collections management includes ethical considerations with the aim of preserving or conserving different examples of items for future generations to admire and understand.  Because we are all private collectors here, it's the rule of 'your money, your choice' what you do with it.  Honestly, I don't like the idea of MOC G1s being decarded anymore than I like an art thief cutting a painting out of a frame, whoever owns the damn thing. But if a private collector wants to buy something they can do what they like with it.  How I wish there was pony stuff in a museum so there would always be MOC ponies to look at!  I need to go back to the V&A Museum of Childhood and ask them about ponies. London meetup anybody?

[banditpony]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

[kissthethunder]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

I hardly feel that should be the case hun. This is a very kind community and if I ran into you on the street I'd have no issues with you decarding. I'd just be happy to have a new pony friend.

My two cents on the issue has been pretty well covered by others. Don't decard a G1 unless under special circumstances but in the long run it's your pony

[banditpony]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

I hardly feel that should be the case hun. This is a very kind community and if I ran into you on the street I'd have no issues with you decarding. I'd just be happy to have a new pony friend.

My two cents on the issue has been pretty well covered by others. Don't decard a G1 unless under special circumstances but in the long run it's your pony

My comment mostly stems from ponycake saying she dislikes people who decard/debox-- and she happens to be in my area. I'm sure she didn't exactly mean *me* , but still I just... eh... I feel like I should hide. I might of upset other people who didn't even post.

V edit to say, thank you kissthethunder I appreciate those words.

[kissthethunder]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

I hardly feel that should be the case hun. This is a very kind community and if I ran into you on the street I'd have no issues with you decarding. I'd just be happy to have a new pony friend.

My two cents on the issue has been pretty well covered by others. Don't decard a G1 unless under special circumstances but in the long run it's your pony

My comment mostly stems from ponycake saying she dislikes people who decard/debox-- and she happens to be in my area. I'm sure she didn't exactly mean *me* , but still I just... eh... I feel like I should hide. I might of upset other people who didn't even post.

Don't want to get off topic or start anything here, but don't worry at all about what others think. Decarding a pony says very little about who you are as a person, if anything at all. If it's taboo, dont worry, there's been topics and threads on this subject in the past and there are plenty of collectors who do like to decard their G1's, so don't worry, you're not alone.

Besides, you already said where you stand on the matter, I think you brought something great to the table that needed to be heard

[Aadra310]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

Don't feel that way!  As it has already been said, I think your story is really an exception to the rule.  MOST people report the euphoria of opening a pony doesn't really last very long and wish they hadn't done it for all the reasons stated in this thread.  I think everybody needs to follow the advice given and wait at least 6 months to a year and see if opening is still something they want to do or if another action (like swap boxes!) would satisfy that desire.

I also want to add that justifying opening because "I'm never going to get rid of my ponies" (just a general quote not aimed at any specific member) is not necessarily a good idea.  I've been collecting for 20 years and for most of that time I said I would NEVER part with my ponies.  But, things change.  I'd give up my ponies in a heartbeat to pay a vet bill or make room for a new baby or any other number of things that might come along in life.  Because, in reality, these are just little lumps of lovely plastic and we all really should have something more important.  If not right this second, then someday!  Just some food for thought!

[ponycake]

My comment mostly stems from ponycake saying she dislikes people who decard/debox-- and she happens to be in my area. I'm sure she didn't exactly mean *me* , but still I just... eh... I feel like I should hide. I might of upset other people who didn't even post.

V edit to say, thank you kissthethunder I appreciate those words.

Does it help I live in Virginia now? Kidding. (I do live in Virginia now though, moved state about a month ago but NE Ohio has been my forever home til then). Seriously my first comment was said without reading any commentary and just expressing my dislike of decarding carelessly, I didn't think the words through they just came out. I tried to show that I didn't really mean it that extreme in future posts of mine saying that eh whatever if someone wants to do it enough that's fine and feel free, but people who rip a lot off their cards, yeah, I would possibly actually mildly dislike them unless I liked them already (but I would also keep my mouth shut about it and also I don't care enough to remember who they are, I didn't go find out who that Ebay decarder was on here or if they are on here, and tbh I'd probably even talk to them in a friendly manner if the opportunity arose). I can be intense online sometimes with how I state things but I'm actually a super nice person and am extremely nice to everyone I meet and even go out of my way to help anyone who needs anything, if that matters. Rambling. TLDR is I didn't really mean it and shouldn't have said it like that. Also I actually really like the Ohio members on here just because I love my state and it's like yay state buddies.

[palaisdejouets]

It's fine to say, it's my pony, and it's my choice - that's absolutely true. But when you join a site like the Arena, you choose to become part of a community. And when you do that, then, simply, the community is also an important consideration. I don't think that, if you are willing to post here and share your pony info, your life and your interests with people here, then it's right to consider the overall community impact of how you choose to treat that collectible, since it does affect everyone in the long term.

This is really well-put, Taffeta. Being part of a community means you get to enjoy the warm fuzzies and fun but it also means there are some responsibilities.

I'm glad banditpony shared the story of deboxing that special pony -- I think it's important for MIB/MOC collectors to see that not all deboxing is equal and it's not always done for the quick "high."

I am not a MIB/MOC collector for anything I collect, because for me the joy is in handling and manipulating the toys I collect.

What I really take away from threads like this is how special the MLP community is for the passion and thought that folks put into their collections and yes, the actual community that exists. Honestly, I'm so glad I dipped my toes into pony collecting because it exposed me to all of you!

[Ponyfan]

I like the look of MOC/MIB so I wouldn't decard a MOC/MIB pony unless there was mold or something else that was damaging the pony inside. It's one of my pony dreams to own a MOC G1 or MOC Ponywear.  I even keep my G4s MOC/MIB

Ponyfan

[egyptiondragon]

I don't collect moc but I wouldnt open G1s or G2s unless I had to (card damageing the pony due to mold, warping, etc) I may open g3s depending on what it was.

[brightberry]

I wouldn't debox a G1 because I think they look pretty in their cards and they bring back waves of memories for me.  But as long as someone knows the value of what they have, I don't mind if someone deboxes their own pony.   

[Taffeta]

As I mentioned, my story was shared to show the flipside. Although, thinking about it, I should of kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to share it to people who might be considering it... or to say that it could kinda be positive in a way. (Yes, I get it, most people don't agree with this last statement).

Although, funny thing is that I am right along hard core collectors in believing things shouldn't be deboxed/decarded. I just think there are minor exceptions to the rule.

Although now I feel disliked. So if I run into any collectors into my area-- I feel like I shouldn't be able to say I'm from the forum due to my story. Oh well, I guess.

I hardly feel that should be the case hun. This is a very kind community and if I ran into you on the street I'd have no issues with you decarding. I'd just be happy to have a new pony friend.

My two cents on the issue has been pretty well covered by others. Don't decard a G1 unless under special circumstances but in the long run it's your pony

My comment mostly stems from ponycake saying she dislikes people who decard/debox-- and she happens to be in my area. I'm sure she didn't exactly mean *me* , but still I just... eh... I feel like I should hide. I might of upset other people who didn't even post.

V edit to say, thank you kissthethunder I appreciate those words.

I think this is a case of disliking something that someone may have done because you don't agree with it yourself, rather than hating the PERSON themselves. There's a distinct difference to me. I don't hate anyone on this thread for taking ponies off cards. There are real reasons to hate people in the world, and taking a pony out of it's package ranks quite low in the grand scheme of things.

But, I think what was meant to be conveyed was that the action of decarding was something that some of us strongly dislike and disagree with.

I wouldn't sell a G1 MOC pony to someone who would take it out of package. But that doesn't mean I hate them, blacklist them, consider them a bad person, etc. I just would rather sell my MOC to someone who would love it as it is. I would still happily trade with someone who preferred loose ponies. We're not drawing lines in the sand. It's just, for me, about considering all the long term perameters and ramifications of taking out the few precious relics of the 1980s/90s pony line that we still have available to us.

I think deboxing is less common now than it was when I first came online, but the prices are more and the availabiliy of ponies is also less. The one has directly impacted the other and after being online for what, 17 years, it's easy to see that trend and that development. It's fine to look at the here and now, but, if we were all deboxing stuff, in 10 years that'd be it for mip MLP. And that is a MAJOR issue in terms of accessory info as well as nostalgia and collecting, since information websites come and go. Also, I really don't like going onto ebay and seeing that even more common ponies mip now are being priced way above what they should be by certain sellers who seem to have developed a stock monopoly.

17 years ago the community was a big consideration because it was small. I don't think it should be any less so for its new and expanded size. The supply/demand ratio has changed, that's all - if anything, we ought to be more aware, not less, about the impact of our individual choices on the collectible we all love as a whole.

[Galactica]

G1 G2- no unless the packaging was already destroyed, 

G3 probably since they have such little value.  Although come to think of it, I had a pile of them that I didn't want anymore, and gave them to the thrift store rather than de-boxing.  I figured someone would get a thrill out of them (not worth it to me to sell $4 ponies)

[kissthethunder]

I want to say I am really enjoying hearing the variety of thoughts and opinions on this subject and am glad that it's being discussed maturely

Yay pony people!

[Ponykit]

Yes. I would never be able to leave a pony--or any toy--in its packaging.