Ponies and moving

[princessluna11706]

UGH I hate moving.  I'm so over it!  We just moved *again* and everything had to be boxed up.  I did wind up finding a lot of pony accessories I had lost, but at the same time I misplaced some htf stuff, like Gypsy's sticker (realized this today!), Ripple's sticker, Princess Tiffany's wand..  Things being in boxes make it more difficult to re-organize them, look for missing pieces and put pieces with the right ponies (who knows which box they're in.) 

I had professional packers the first time (hubby's company paid for it) and a newborn stroller wound up breaking (the wheel snapped clean off  ) I'm going to have to just hot glue it at some point.  This *really* bothers me when collection pieces get broken or lost!

How do you all deal with it?
Share your stories/experiences!

[Taxel]

When we moved from Southern California to Idaho I barely had anything in my collections, maybe a handful of ponies with hair (most were G4 bling bags/molded hair) and another handful of very expensive dolls. It was pretty easy to get them all packed up since there wasn't much, but the move was so stressful. I kept the dolls and ponies in the car with us so they'd be safer and have controlled temperatures.

The best advice I can give is to unpack asap. Don't put it off! Especially if the stuff is going to be crammed in a garage, shed, etc outside. We didn't unpack most stuff for um, 4 or 5 years and a lot of it was ruined in that time. (From temperatures, plastics in the same box not getting along, dust/bugs, toiletries we totally forgot about expiring, etc)

Over the years I've gathered a decent sized collection and now we're moving again :/ We're staying in the same city (and right now, it looks like we might be 5-10min away from our current place) which is somehow even more stressful. After a long move of course the ponies will need a spa day, but I don't want to deal with that after 5 whole minutes of travel! So I have to figure out a way to get all my dolls and ponies to the new place with as few hair casualties as possible. I have way too many to hold them all along the way.

[Honeycomb]

Argh, I'm about to move to, unplanned and unwanted. Thankfully I only have about 30 ponies in total with me, most of my collection has been constantly going back home to my parents, but it's still an annoying hassle. Especially with custom ponies and MIB ones, they are so easily to be crushed. Right now I just want to throw everything away, MLP, books, clothes, teaching supplies, because I have no idea how to pack everything up and move....... It's so ........ overwhelming.

[Sebby6]

Princess Luna - I would never trust professional packers with my collection. Definitely do it yourself next time and pack them like you are shipping them somewhere

Honeycomb - maybe a clear out is just what you need We had to wait for the keys to our new house and it was christmas, so we couldn't really start packing because we needed the things and didn't want to have boxes everywhere for christmas. So instead we spent the waiting time going through EVERYTHING! All the clothes. All the drawers full of junk. It made packing (and unpacking) so much easier

[Honeycomb]

I have already gotten rid of much, but there is still so much left and not much time .....

[princessluna11706]

Over the years I've gathered a decent sized collection and now we're moving again :/ We're staying in the same city (and right now, it looks like we might be 5-10min away from our current place) which is somehow even more stressful. After a long move of course the ponies will need a spa day, but I don't want to deal with that after 5 whole minutes of travel! So I have to figure out a way to get all my dolls and ponies to the new place with as few hair casualties as possible. I have way too many to hold them all along the way.

Don't get me started with the necessary spa days/reducing hair casualty issues! *_* There are so many that need a bath TERRIBLY, and keeping the mint curls from getting messed-a nightmare! Good luck to you with your upcoming move, since it's close maybe you can move your collection in short trips, part by part and display as you go, so it isn't too overwhelming?  I wish I could have one that, it would have been so much easier!

Argh, I'm about to move to, unplanned and unwanted. Thankfully I only have about 30 ponies in total with me, most of my collection has been constantly going back home to my parents, but it's still an annoying hassle. Especially with custom ponies and MIB ones, they are so easily to be crushed. Right now I just want to throw everything away, MLP, books, clothes, teaching supplies, because I have no idea how to pack everything up and move....... It's so ........ overwhelming.

I know how you feel about wanting to throw everything away! I threw away so much (not ponies, but so many other things) and sold many things including some G3s I didn't care about to a local buy-sell toy shop.  It felt so good to purge!  And yes.. moving is extremely overwhelming. 

Princess Luna - I would never trust professional packers with my collection. Definitely do it yourself next time and pack them like you are shipping them somewhere

Yes, unfortunately I learned the hard way.  I'm the only one packing my collection from now on!

[Taxel]

Over the years I've gathered a decent sized collection and now we're moving again :/ We're staying in the same city (and right now, it looks like we might be 5-10min away from our current place) which is somehow even more stressful. After a long move of course the ponies will need a spa day, but I don't want to deal with that after 5 whole minutes of travel! So I have to figure out a way to get all my dolls and ponies to the new place with as few hair casualties as possible. I have way too many to hold them all along the way.

Don't get me started with the necessary spa days/reducing hair casualty issues! *_* There are so many that need a bath TERRIBLY, and keeping the mint curls from getting messed-a nightmare! Good luck to you with your upcoming move, since it's close maybe you can move your collection in short trips, part by part and display as you go, so it isn't too overwhelming?  I wish I could have one that, it would have been so much easier!

Thankfully most of my ponies would be considered bait-y by most, so I don't have to worry too much about original curl. I have a Birthflower I de-bagged myself but being in a bag for decades doesn't help one's hair so its not a big deal. A little mess won't hurt her too much, but she'll be transported by hand anyways. I can't imagine the worry with a perfect collection!

That's the plan! Move all the displays to the foldup plastic table, sitting on boxes, etc and immediately put them into the display cases as they're taken to the new place. (Same for clothes, etc, it'll all be put away as we go basically!) So that should help a lot. But getting everything there unharmed is still a worry.

[Chi]

I'm trying to sell the majority of the ponies I don't particularly need so I can cut down on what needs to come with me.
I'm so paranoid that I'm wondering if I should bring the particularly expensive/meaningful ones with me as carryons rather than checking them in with my luggage? I have no idea what's the right thing to do with moving long distance with these. I don't mind having to redo hair, I mind them getting lost or damaged.

Post Merge: April 20, 2016, 06:31:59 AM

Wondered if maybe I should try shipping some in really secure boxes ahead of time with someone to sign for them.

[Sweet_Stuff]

Ugh, it's a pain!! I do wish you well with everything.

Fortunately, my collection is on the small side and my recent moves were within the same neighborhood so it was just a matter of packing everything up and hauling it off in my own car.
I bagged the baby ponies and wrapped the adult ones in plastic bags or bubble wrap and put them in a couple of those plastic see-through containers/totes...tall enough so they could stand on their own, and sandwiched bubble wrap between them all. Definitely leave them there just long enough as needed and take them out/unwrap as soon as you can.
 

[Big_Brother_Bufftusk]

Ugh, I know how you feel...I've moved 5 times in the last 8-9 years or so...before that I had never moved, which was about 25 years! So I've had to pack up my ponies A LOT, which includes all generations except the more recent G4's...

During the first move, I had accumulated a lot of banana boxes (back when they weren't stingy with them, now they hold onto them with iron claws) so they were nice as they were sturdy, uniform, and could fit a lot of ponies. For organization, obviously ziplock bags are a must, especially with all those little pieces some of the ponies came with. I would always make sure to leave the baggie opened a bit though so they could breath, as I think if they don't get enough air circulation it can mess with the plastic...don't quote me on that it's just something I've had to deal with with other toys, sealed bags they come out all sticky or with some weird chalky residue on them :/.

Playsets are a whole other ballpark, as they take up so much space, but large size u-haul or home depot boxes usually work well for them (least for the castles...) But for those tiny accessories the baggies are the best I find. BUT I do know that even the most meticulous packer can miss something...so yea, there's always a larger freezer bag with miscellaneous parts that didn't get put away with the pony they were supposed to because I missed them or they fell behind something! There's really no way around that.

As for finding misplaced pieces, for me...I just stop looking *lol* I swear, I only find one thing for something else when I'm nt looking for it, but rather looking for something entirely different...happens all the time, especially with pony pieces. Just yesterday I found a mess of celebration castle structure pieces I thought were completely lost, haven't seen them in 5 years!

[Stormness_1]

accessory baggies...  tape them shut (even the zip-lock ones!) and tape them to something! Preferably the inside of lids, that's what I do. I've have bags come open, and entire baggies get lost, or get someplace they aren't meant to be somehow...

[princessluna11706]

Ugh, it's a pain!! I do wish you well with everything.

Fortunately, my collection is on the small side and my recent moves were within the same neighborhood so it was just a matter of packing everything up and hauling it off in my own car.
I bagged the baby ponies and wrapped the adult ones in plastic bags or bubble wrap and put them in a couple of those plastic see-through containers/totes...tall enough so they could stand on their own, and sandwiched bubble wrap between them all. Definitely leave them there just long enough as needed and take them out/unwrap as soon as you can.
 

Thank you I put all my ponies in baggies (a very time consuming task!) and bubble wrapped the rest. It is a huge pain in the you know what!

Playsets are a whole other ballpark, as they take up so much space, but large size u-haul or home depot boxes usually work well for them (least for the castles...) But for those tiny accessories the baggies are the best I find. BUT I do know that even the most meticulous packer can miss something...so yea, there's always a larger freezer bag with miscellaneous parts that didn't get put away with the pony they were supposed to because I missed them or they fell behind something! There's really no way around that.

 

THIS! I have at least 10 accessory filled ziplocks floating around from accessories that I missed somehow when I packed the pony.  Of course I can't match the accessory with the pony for a while as I have no idea who is in what box (there are quite a few boxes  )
It is also the 3rd time (4th if you count to an upstairs floor in the same building) we've moved in 6 years, so yeah.. argh!

I'm trying to sell the majority of the ponies I don't particularly need so I can cut down on what needs to come with me.
I'm so paranoid that I'm wondering if I should bring the particularly expensive/meaningful ones with me as carryons rather than checking them in with my luggage? I have no idea what's the right thing to do with moving long distance with these. I don't mind having to redo hair, I mind them getting lost or damaged.

For the next time I move (yes it will happen eventually) this is what I'm worried about! Hopefully sooner than later we'll be moving back to the states, and this has been on my mind-but I don't know if I can as I expect my luggage will be crazy full    Maybe I'll just take my most valuable.  I do worry about some of their hair, I have a few with original curl.

accessory baggies...  tape them shut (even the zip-lock ones!) and tape them to something! Preferably the inside of lids, that's what I do. I've have bags come open, and entire baggies get lost, or get someplace they aren't meant to be somehow...

I'll have to tape them when I repack in my final move, when I won't have to worry about needing them again.  For now I don't because I invested a lot in baggies ; and I can't afford to keep buying a few thousand bags. 

[BabiChuld]

I'm really appreciating the advice above s withing the next fortnight I'll be moving into ym new home- nd my ponies are a worry as I'm still not entiresly sure where to even put them Luckily I don't have an accessories or plysets it's literally just ponies and a few extra bits and bobs so thats not a worry, just my girl- my wingers and my magic symbol ponies, oh dear.

[Elfpony]

I was lucky with our last move, because we had the new place for a month before we lost the old place, so we had the luxury of being able to move the collection ourselves on a weekend. I carefully packed all the accessories, playsets, and merchandise, and those stayed in boxes for awhile. But the ponies we literally just tossed into boxes, drove for ten minutes, then unpacked them onto shelves in the new pony room (not organized in any way, but safely onto shelves).

Prior moves it was much more work, knowing that the ponies would stay in boxes for awhile before they were unpacked. Wrapping them in white tissue paper, making sure everyone's legs wouldn't get squished, making sure there would be no colour transfer. Ugh. I'm fond of saying that we're never moving again, now.

Elf

Elf