Do you think of your collection as an investment?

[banditpony]

No... but in a quick pinch I could get some emergency money. So it's not like some value isn't there. They just aren't really going to increase in price-- and more than likely they will decrease as age starts gnawing away at them.

[Delaneys]

Oh gosh no... we'll never get near the money out of ponies that we put into it (believe it or not).  But that was never the point - pony collecting brought us an activity our whole family participated in, brought us friends and contacts from around the world, brought endless hours of happiness and activities for friends and family alike, rushing to the thrift stores on the days they put new items out (to beat the other local collectors each week),...  And that is worth an infinite amount more than the cash and time invested in pony trading.  We were emailing with another trader this week about how things have changed so dramatically - how you wanted ponies (reverse Gusty, for example) because they were neat and you liked them, not because of what they were worth or whether they had been "verified" or not.  Trading and collecting were great fun and we started doing it less when it became less so.

Enjoy your ponies, enjoy your friends... there are far better "investments" if that is what you seek.

[Stormness_1]

In my happiness, heck yes. In my well-being, definitely. But a monetary asset? No way! I do enjoy a bargain, but I rarely sell anything but excess bought in lots. If I was desperate, I might regretfully sell some ponies, but I probably wouldn't knowing what it would do to my depression.. Meds cost more than ponies are worth!

[Galactica]

The fact that pony vinyl breaks down so regularly and randomly is why I think it is a rather bad idea to pay a lot of money for a particularly rare pony.  What if you save and save and finally splurge on a rare fabulous pony-  have it for a few months and then notice that it is starting to blush with the little brown bruises of vinyl breakdown...   it will happen eventually the only question is when.

[Barnacle_lady]

Investment for my own joy Defenitely not for the money

[Purpleglasses]

Alas no.

Especially since ponies are made out of material that eventually, will break down and will not last forever...

Ponies are made of vinyl, aka plastic, that substance notorious for messing up our planet because it just doesn't biodegrade. (It can break into microscopic pieces that fish living near the garbage patch mistake for food and that's worse.)

But I'm not here to ecoshame. My point is, aside from plasticizer leaching, which seems occassional, what do you mean they're made from a material that will eventually break down? It won't for a long while. Perhaps people who know more about collecting much older toys know more on this subject than I do, though.

To add to the original conversation: I buy ponies because I like them, not as an investment. It does seem possible that the market may drop out if people who played with g1s outgrow feeling nostalgic, but since I feel it and I don't usually pay a lot per individual pony, I'm happy to have them for now as nothing more than an object I like.

[Galactica]

Alas no.

Especially since ponies are made out of material that eventually, will break down and will not last forever...

Ponies are made of vinyl, aka plastic, that substance notorious for messing up our planet because it just doesn't biodegrade. (It can break into microscopic pieces that fish living near the garbage patch mistake for food and that's worse.)

But I'm not here to ecoshame. My point is, aside from plasticizer leaching, which seems occassional, what do you mean they're made from a material that will eventually break down? It won't for a long while. Perhaps people who know more about collecting much older toys know more on this subject than I do, though.

To add to the original conversation: I buy ponies because I like them, not as an investment. It does seem possible that the market may drop out if people who played with g1s outgrow feeling nostalgic, but since I feel it and I don't usually pay a lot per individual pony, I'm happy to have them for now as nothing more than an object I like.

The ponies won't break down like your sandwich, no, but the plasticiser slowly leaches out, and the vinyl does break down leaving brown marks on your beautiful pony.  Some colors will breakdown faster than others, as we've discovered, but no pony is immune.

So yes, you will have a pony shaped pony for many many years- but it's value will degrade as the lovely pink/white/blue skin is blemished by increasingly large and frequent brown spots...

Check out this OLD thread that has pictures of pony breakdown, tail rust, ect...http://www.mlparena.com/archive/Forums/viewtopic/p=1814602.html

[LadyMoondancer]

Excellent points about how ponies degrade over time;  I hadn't even thought of that aspect, but yeah, it's sadly true.  The pristine pony you get today might have cancer spots next year, or plasticizer leaking.

[Purpleglasses]

That's too bad! Although don't some ponies that leach plasticizer eventually just become really hard? And if they don't all get age spots, I wonder why some do and others don't. I know that people who collect, say, vintage Barbies still find ones in nice shape from the 50's. And many of the flaws in that post, like pin dot,  lipstick or rust, have been found to be cleanable or sunfadable.

If the body colors do fade, though, I guess pony restorers of the future will get really good at color mixing, priming and air brushing. Although I hear improperly applied paint can get sticky or perhaps contribute to breakdown, too. Sigh.

[achab1984]

Yes and no. Its just like my Breyer Horses. Some of them gain value while others lose value and your lucky to get back when you paid for it.  Ponies have helped me many times when I needed money though.

[Terra]

Nah! There's much safer ways to invest after all. That take up less space.

I'll sometimes keep ponies MIB expecting that it might be worth more in the future. however - that comes more from the fact that owning something harder to find is personally exciting much like how finding a pony "in the wild" is more satisfying than ebay....  and not so much solid plans to sell anything.