Friends/Family who support collecting?

[buttonso]

I've seen a lot of threads here about family/friends/whoever who react negatively to pony collecting, and it always breaks my heart.  I'm very fortunate to travel in geeky circles and to have a family with geeky inclinations so I have not encountered much in the way of bad reactions to the pony collecting. I've never felt the need to hide my interests and I frequently post pictures of my collection and discuss it on Facebook. My coworkers often stop me in the hall to tell me they like seeing my pony pics!

Last summer when I had a major pony score at a thrift store (over 20 ponies, a Lullaby Nursery and a lot of accessories) my family was excited for me and they were there for the un-bagging of my loot. They were interested in what I had and asked me questions about the ponies ("what's that one's name?" etc). My dad had the funniest reaction when we took Creamsicle out of the bag and he went "..I think this pony has a growth disorder..." and I had to explain it was a giraffe. 

I was wondering if anyone had nice stories about their family/friends supporting their pony hobby, helping them find ponies, whatever. 

[Leave a Whisper]

my boyfriend is quite supportive and i've gotten some g3s from family as presents when they first came out.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

My husband is very supportive of my collection, and my family is understanding and doesn't belittle me for it at all. My friends are also understanding (and onw of my best friend's is a pony collector as well). I'm very blessed and thankful that I don't have to deal with any negativity about my ponies from those closest to me.

I had a friend surprise me once by picking up a pony at a yard sale because he thought of me. Turned out to be a G4 brushable I didn't have at the time!

Oh, and I can't forget my coworkers. They think my collection is neat and don't mind me showing off pictures of my newest additions. It probably helps that one coworker collects Lego's, so she gets me.

[shadowlark]

My husband thinks it's adorable that I collect ponies and comes with me to the local antique mall to help me search for them. My parents don't really get it, but they don't knock me and my mum has even gone on ebay from time to time and bought ponies and had them shipped to me as a surprise. It's nice to have support

[Sweet_Stuff]

I don't have any specific stories, but my mom has always been supportive. We have gotten super close the past five years and whenever I tell her about pony mail she always seems interested and excited. We share a love of antiques/ thrifting so when when we / I find any '80s toys related she gets just about as excited as me!

[Dragonflitter]

When I was a junior in college I lived in a five-bedroom home that I rented with four other girls who were all good friends of mine. On my 22nd birthday I came home late after a long day of classes and found that they had all chipped in and bought me a Rainbow Dash cake. ^_^ She was my favorite G3, even!

[PJSparkles]

My mom and sister are probably two of only three people I confide my pony obsession to, and they're relatively supportive

A few times my mom and sister have brought home little gifts for me...and its wonderful

My sister once brought me a cutie mark magic pinkie pie (which I adore) and some blind bag ponies. In fact, just earlier this week, she was in the store moving the ponies around in the bags trying to find me the cutest one that she didn't think I had and for my birthday back in december, she bought me a white princess celestia and nightmare moon that I had put on my wish list as a long shot...I was so excited! I think I've also started to get her interested because she'll braid my ponies' hair and was talking about making a custom....hehehe. 

As for my mom, she occassionally will see my little pony on tv or in stores and will tell me about it. She brought me home a my little pony coloring book as a surprise, and from time to time will sing "my little pony, my pretty pony..." around the house  just yesterday, she let me geek out about a princess cadence I got from a walgreens blind box. I think she just likes seeing me happy.

[Sparkle Pony]

My mom likes to get them for me as presents because they are fun to hunt for and I love the brighten up my room with them.  She let's me dork out about them sometimes.  By brother doesn't really mind either, he collects Pokémon cards so he "gets" it.  Even my dad and stepmom, who I am not always on great terms with, look for ponies for me when they are out.

I also have two friends, one who likes Calico Critters and one who likes Barbie, so they also get the pony thing, and enjoy it themselves sometimes.  It's pretty supportive all around!

[Starfrey]

I dont have any friends that collect ponies, but they're all supportive. One year when my friend went back home for Christmas, she came back with her and her sister's childhood ponies and gave them to me! It was so awesome of her.
My fiance collects transformers, so my side of the room is mostly ponies and hers is mostly transformers.

[Purpleglasses]

My mom and dad surprised me by building me a pony shelf/studio table, and my boyfriend gave me money to buy Cutesaurus for Valentine's day! He even got me Pink Dreams for my birthday last year. I showed him the one on Ebay I wanted, and since I knew what I was getting, he wrapped her in about ten layers of different papers he'd picked out from Paper Source. It was cute! G1 collecting isn't his thing, but he has no issues accompanying me on Craigslist runs to pick up ponies, and finds my enthusiasm cute.

That and we have gone to two brony conventions together, and met lots of interesting people. He started watching FIM when I dragged him to several consecutive McDonalds to collect the first wave of toys. (Don't worry, it was all in a day but we like to buy them without food!) He saw how excited I got pulling each one out of its bag, thought, "there must be something to this if she likes it so much!" and started watching the show. Aw, pony bonding. And having different interests from your partner but respecting them anyway!

[Baby Crumpet]

My friends all think it is amusing, but they aren't against it in any way. One of my best friends gave me a g3 for christmas when we first became friends over 3 years ago! I have gotten a few other pony related gifts, too.

My sister 'collects' with me. She has a small collection of G1's and 4's. The G1's are often baity, but she loves them. I think it's sweet. Her favourite is a north star with significant flocking loss, but is still soft to the touch. She also has a near complete sea pony, which is another of her favourites. She likes to sing 'shoo be doo'.

My parents have to know a little about ponies for christmas and birthdays. My dad has brought home a few G3's, but my mum is a star. She knows what the vintage ones look like, how to ID them, and has surprised me with many over the years. With a little convincing, she is the reason I have a thundercloud!

The rest of my family also find it varying levels of amusing. My nan always goes 'oh my god!' whenever she sees how the cabinet has grown. She took pictures last year to show everyone at her work. No one I have encountered has been negative about it, thank god, but that might have something to do with the fact that I'm still a 'child'.

[Barnacle_lady]

My non pony friends and family support my collecting. Always showing interest when I went to a convention or the ones I organized. If possible they also look for ponies when they are on holiday. And ofcourse they need to see the ponyroom when visiting my place

[HelloGoodbye]

Everyone I know has been supportive for the most part!  My parents are both really nice about it.  When I'm out shopping with my mom she knows we always have to check the toy aisle for new ponies.  She also will buy me blindbags a lot, which is very nice, and sometimes even brushables.  She is also the one who most frequently gets dragged along on my thrift store adventures    She also helped me build my pony bookcase!

My Dad loves to get me G1s and G3s for Christmas.  He's kind of obsessed with eBay, so he likes bidding on lots and such.  He also has a collector type personality, so he's very interested in knowing which ones are the most rare in my collection, and he loves when I tell him that he picked out good ponies!  Apparently before Christmas this year he talked a lot to a collector on eBay who was selling a big chunk of her collection, and she gave him some tips and stuff, and I've always wondered if it was an arena person!

My brother has gotten me pony presents before, mostly G4.  At the beginning of FiM's huge popularity, he was into the show but never really the toys.  He still likes FiM, but he isn't as into it as he was before, but since he has some knowledge of it he knows what characters I like and such.  My aunt and uncle also included a Rainbow Dash plushie in my high school graduation present!

My best friend is a little bit perplexed by my ponies, but she told me the other day thats he likes that I collect them because it is so "me" hahaha.  It made me happy to hear that!  She isn't nerdy or really a collector of anything at all, so we are super different, but we've been inseparable since age 3.  She's gotten me pony merch (like some buttons) for my birthday a couple of times.  Another close friend of mine got me the repro Firefly figure when it came out as well. 

[Skeen]

My family doesn't mind, but none of them buy ponies for me.  They don't know what to get.  My best friend Aadra collects too so of course we buy stuff for each other. 

[DalaPony]

I'm selective who I tell about my pony collecting.  My boss laughed his head off last year when I told him I was going to Ponycon, but he didn't tease me about it or anything.  My husband pulls my leg about it occasionally, but he likes to see me happy, so I think it makes him smile to see me with my ponies.  We told our two closest guy friends about it and they sometimes joke about ponies, but they also went out and bought me a Rainbow Dash plush, which was really sweet of them

My mum loves that I'm still into ponies.  She thinks they're cute, and it makes her nostalgic for when I was a little girl.