Why are baby ponies so expensive?

[Emerald]

I'm a new collector and I don't have any baby ponies yet. I've never even looked for them until recently, and I realized they seem to cost MORE than adult ponies the vast majority of the time. Is there a concrete reason for this, or is it just a supply and demand thing/people will pay more for cuteness thing?

[Sweet_Stuff]

I will guess it's the cuteness factor..

 

[Leave a Whisper]

I don't know, but you can find some for twelve or less. Common, cheap ones are
Baby Stockings
Sparkle Baby Gusty
G3 Babies can sometimes be had for cheap
Beddy Bye Eyes
Baby Surprise
Baby Lickety-split
Baby Tappy
Baby Moondancer

Baby Bros are more expensive but I've found Baby Lucky, Baby Countdown and Baby Whirly-twirl for relatively cheap.

Of course it depends on who it is, what set they came in, their condition, if they come with accessories and how wantable they are.

Baby Leaper
Baby Racer
Baby Clipper
Paradise Babies
Special Orders
Pearly Babies
Are outrageously expensive.

For the most part thoughy ou'll most likely be paying 10-15 for alot of them

[Emerald]

I generally won't pay more than $5-10 for a pony and haven't paid more for one yet. I guess it'll be a hope I find them in the wild situation for me.

[Majesty]

Most common ones are cheap but you get the nirvanas and really rare ones, which will be expensive.  Congrats on becoming a new collector but don't turn away from a pony, because it's more than $10.  It depends a lot on the pony itself and condition of the pony.  I bought a baby bowtie at the last Rhode Island MLP convention and she was around $20 but she was near mint, still had her original curl a little.  Most people here know value (how much a pony should cost) so you can buy from people here.  You're lucky if you can find G1's in the wild, I did once at a yard sale and it never happened again. (lol)

By the way, did you make your avatar?  It's cute.

[Emerald]

Congrats on becoming a new collector but don't turn away from a pony, because it's more than $10.

My current financial situation doesn't allow me to pay the higher prices. I'm not just being a tight wad. lol

[Majesty]

Congrats on becoming a new collector but don't turn away from a pony, because it's more than $10.

My current financial situation doesn't allow me to pay the higher prices. I'm not just being a tight wad. lol

I understand.  I just thought you didn't realize, as a new collector, that not every pony is going to be $5 to $10 but lots of common ones you can as cheap as $3.   Sorry if it seemed like I took what you said the wrong way, it wasn't my intention.

[Emerald]

It's okay. I know they won't all be cheap unless you get lucky. My sister has been collecting for at least 15 years so I do have a working knowledge of collecting and the ~collecting scene.~ I just didn't know if babies were harder to find in general or if there was some other reason why they seemed to cost more than the adult ponies on average. I guess there isn't a real reason for most of them.

[Baby Sugarberry]

It's likely a supply/demand thing.

Baby ponies were more of a luxury buy than adults back in the 80's by and large - a lot of the babies came boxed with accessories, and cost 2-3x more than an adult pony with just a brush/ribbon or came with playsets.  It's likely there are fewer examples of each, which drives up their price when you compare them to adults of their year.  Poor condition ones are still popular for customs, as their smaller size makes them faster to do and the common 'make a baby pony for an adult design that never got one' projects, which further shrinks supply. 

There are exceptions, like anything else, but Hasbro didn't make nearly as many babies as they did adults.  Perhaps as a marketing choice?  Later years featured carded babies much like the adults but for most of the run they never sold baby ponies without a playset/large accessory or a bunch of small ones.

[Emerald]

It's likely a supply/demand thing.

Baby ponies were more of a luxury buy than adults back in the 80's by and large - a lot of the babies came boxed with accessories, and cost 2-3x more than an adult pony with just a brush/ribbon or came with playsets.  It's likely there are fewer examples of each, which drives up their price when you compare them to adults of their year.  Poor condition ones are still popular for customs, as their smaller size makes them faster to do and the common 'make a baby pony for an adult design that never got one' projects, which further shrinks supply. 

There are exceptions, like anything else, but Hasbro didn't make nearly as many babies as they did adults.  Perhaps as a marketing choice?  Later years featured carded babies much like the adults but for most of the run they never sold baby ponies without a playset/large accessory or a bunch of small ones.

This makes a lot of sense, thank you! Custom G1s in general make me tear up a little (I'm TEAM RESTORE vs. customize) so a lot of babies being customized when they're already in short supply makes me super sad.

[ghouldilocks]

Most common ones are cheap but you get the nirvanas and really rare ones, which will be expensive.  Congrats on becoming a new collector but don't turn away from a pony, because it's more than $10.  It depends a lot on the pony itself and condition of the pony.  I bought a baby bowtie at the last Rhode Island MLP convention and she was around $20 but she was near mint, still had her original curl a little.  Most people here know value (how much a pony should cost) so you can buy from people here.  You're lucky if you can find G1's in the wild, I did once at a yard sale and it never happened again. (lol)

By the way, did you make your avatar?  It's cute.

I've never paid more than $5 for a baby pony, lol, and I have several that I've bought in the wild. So they ARE possible to find!  Even though I've been collecting for quite some time, I was always a little surprised at the higher going rate for them compared to adult ponies, too. As far as not turning away from ponies because of cost, everyone has different parameters for their collections, and finances can play into that.

I'd probably shy away from a $10-20 baby pony as well, unless I'd been able to work it into my budget.

Baby Sugarberry, thanks for that! I never really thought about it too much, but when I look at checklists, you're right, there are definitely a lot less babies to begin with.

[Baby Sugarberry]

It's always surprised me how few baby ponies there are - during my childhood I had far more baby ponies than adults (I guess because I expressed a marked preference for them, especially the twins of which I had four pairs and adored.) 

Particularly if you're willing to do some cleanup/restore and not fussy about complete with accessories, there are good deals out there to be found.

[appleponygal]

Some times you can find the odd baby for cheap at thrift stores & stuff. I got a couple that way. You might do the same when you least expect it! Plus there is nothing like finding a pony like that, it makes your day I think!

[Leave a Whisper]

It's okay. I know they won't all be cheap unless you get lucky. My sister has been collecting for at least 15 years so I do have a working knowledge of collecting and the ~collecting scene.~ I just didn't know if babies were harder to find in general or if there was some other reason why they seemed to cost more than the adult ponies on average. I guess there isn't a real reason for most of them.

You can buy in lots of two or three for 20 something bucks and feel like you are getting your money's worth.
The least I ever paid for a baby was 8 bucks, the most was 12.99 plus shipping.

Who all are you after ?

[Emerald]

Who all are you after ?

Nobody in particular. I can't buy any more until January (points to sig ) but I window shop on eBay a lot and noticed the prices of babies and figured I'd ask about it.