How to adjust to the Arena?

[Juliepants]

Hello!! *waves*
I don't own any Nirvanas, and don't much about anything apart from I had a few ponies as a child. But I love looking at other peoples ponies!!! I just love ponies!! So.... Don't worry!! If you love ponies, you'll fit in just fine

Jules x

[pickwick_pirate]

Just be yourself! Stick to the areas you're comfortable with we all have different collections. Some of us only collect one generation, or only collect brushable hair. Or Blindbags or merch. At the end of the day we are all adults who love a toy brand aimed at children so we aren't in any position to be judgemental in my opinion.

I always felt a little out of place for not having any nirvarna ponies to start with. I have a few now, but I'm no more enthused about them that I am "normal" ponies. I love going to the nirvarna board to have a look but I have no interest in collecting them. I still feel envious when I see peoples beautiful collections displayed and mine are all in a suitcase in the dark

I tend to hang about the intros, art, customs and brag boards. I pop In to the corral daily but mostly to read, and I've been a member for some years now!

[SunPony]

I hope you can feel more at home soon   Let me say, your collection sounds just like mine!  I just collect the ponies I like without worrying about completing sets or having impressive nirvana ponies (though there are some that are super-cute and I wouldn't mind having someday...).  So no worries about your collection size/content.

And I have noticed that there are all ages, backgrounds, and interests represented here on the Arena.  It's great!  So I think you'll find topics to interest you if you poke around.  The Pony Corral, Brag Arena, Customs, Art, and Off Topic areas might be good places to start.  For example mlp4me always does the pony of the day (PTOD) thread in pony corral and you can see a new pony each day and see what you think of her/him. 

Good luck and hope to see you around! 

[Harmonie]

I'm a very casual collector - I only have a very small collection. Even still, I have found this community to be very friendly, and I've never felt out of place here. So I can't imagine that being a casual collector would hurt you, either. You'll be fine. =)

[melodys_angel]

Goodness, breathe hun.  Stop thinking about trying to fit in with the cool kids and start being yourself--things will just fall into place without you realizing <3

[Leave a Whisper]

Hi puddingpie,  no need to be nervous, you don't hafta be a super collector with loads of high priced ponies.

The people here are nice and would never judge you and your herd harshly.

 If it makes you feel better, I have 32 ponies including fakies, one HTF girl and not a single Nirvana. We're all mad here, so you're in good company and Happy Halloween.

[PuddingPie]

thank you all very much everybody ;A; i'm going to try hard to post a lot! and i'll post some art from my Instagram too. (i do watercolors of Ponies!)
i think mostly it's just been scary going from the BJD community, which in my experience was a lot more uptight and dramatic, to the MLP collector's community. i think i'm carrying a lot of that over into here, even though they're entirely different communities.
it's nice to know that the MLP community is more open than i had first assumed. the Brony community has always been very kind, so in retrospect it was a little dopey to think the collectors would be any different. 
thank you very much!! you're all very very kind m(_ _)m

[Iceglider]

I started collecting ponies online when I was 16 (I had mine since I was 4). This forum didn't even exist back then, but there was another similar one. I was one of the younger collectors at the time, but I was always treated with kindness. I have a few rare ones (Ones I saved up for as a teen), but no nirvana variants. They are neat, but I am not going to be putting down that kind of money ever. Sure I am an adult now, and I still like my ponies! (Though, I don't actively collect at the moment.) Bronies are not the only adults the like G4. There are plenty of ladies and moms who LOVE the show, we just don't blog/youtube about it or get much media attention. I watch every single episode with my husband. And I love it! Adults are not really that different from their teenage selves, sometimes. Sometimes priorities have to change, but we still have many of the same likes and interests.

Just be yourself, the Nirvana section is ok to look at now and again. Maybe drool over a few ponies, but the fact is most collectors do not own those extra rare ponies. You don't have to feel obsessed over it. There are plenty of cheap ponies that are gorgeous. I remember one collector who would only buy ponies with brown spots or hair cuts because they liked ponies whether or not they were in good condition. My own collecting goal was to get a pony in every pose, but that is not a priority right now.

[rearing_palomino164]

It's all in good fun and being in the company of pony friends! I don't even collect mlp's anymore (all g3's) and I'm still here because I just can't leave my arena family. There's different forum sections with tons of new threads everyday on different topics. Just be yourself and comment where you see fit.

[Aadra310]

I've been actively collecting for 20 years and I'm one of those lucky enough to have a pony room!  While I LOVE my large collection, I very much appreciate smaller collections whether they belong to new or long-time collectors.  The thing about small collections is that it's a lot easier to really appreciate each pony individually.  I especially enjoy looking at small g4 collections.  Since I'm not into the show or g4 toys (okay, not too much  ), it's neat to see what other people purchase and what's new!

My pony collecting restarted when I was in the sixth grade.  A new friend (who is lurking around here somewhere, I'm sure) and I bonded over shared childhood memories and it just took off from there!  Collecting was also something my mother completely supported and we spent entire weekends driving out of state just to go to flea markets.  This was way back when you could find ponies everywhere for a quarter and there was no eBay!  That's a big reason ponies mean so much to me.  It's something my mom and I could do together when I was a tween and teen.  So, collection size doesn't really matter for a lot of us.  There's a lot more to it than that and as long as your collection has meaning to you, then you are doing it right!

[NovelNerd]

Don't worry about collection size! I think I have 20 ponies and really have no intention of buying more. It's more about making friends and talking. I know half the time I don't even wander into the pony sections of the forums anymore and just chat elsewhere.

[Miss Violet]

Welcome ! we all share a common thing here -our love for ponies ! Just enjoy and explore 

ponyhugs from Greece Athens!

[Taffeta]

  If you want a Nirvana, I hope you are able to save up and eventually get one!  But having one wouldn't necessarily make your collection any more special... you do that by loving them.

I think this sums it up, especially that last part. Everyone else has already said all the good stuff, but I just wanted to add my agreement. A collection isn't how many ponies you have, how much they cost, or how rare they are. A collection is how much you appreciate them, what is special to you, and nobody else's judgement/comparison matters. We all have things we're passionate about.

I came into the pony community properly at the age of 16 too. It was a smaller community then, granted, and some time back, but the first ponyperson I knew was (at the time I met her) in her seventies. I think that illustrates the wide range of people interested in MLP. It's probably wider now with G4 taking up the interest of children, there were a lot of them at ponycon this year.

The beauty of the Arena to me is that it's a place where people all over the world can share their love of ponies and also their knowledge. We all learn stuff from each other; nobody is really an expert because there are still questions and new things being discovered all the time. That discovery element was what got me involved in the first instance back when UK stuff was just getting online and I find that it;s still the biggest draw for me, even though I can't afford all the beautiful rare Nirvanas that now are known about.

Basically, your ponies are awesome. They're awesome because you love them, and that's also why you're here. Generation doesn't matter. Price, rarity, condition doesn't matter. A pony is worth what it's worth to you, no matter what price tags you see floating around.

If you want a Nirvana, that's up to you. But if you want one, choose one that will mean something, not just because you feel it's something you need to 'belong'. You already belong Everything else you do should be because it makes you happy and enjoy MLP, not for the sake of anyone or anything else.

Hope to see you around the boards

[Emerald]

This is such a great thread with wonderful responses! I'm new, too. I used to collect as a child but I'm a mom of three now and only have one pony. My kids have some FiM stuff, but I'm only interested in the G1s. It can definitely be intimidating seeing other peoples' large collections. I hope you have a lot of fun here!