Is this lot worth it? A conundrum!

[Haruna]

Advice, please? I'm in touch with a lady who's selling her daughter's childhood pony collection (with her daughter's permission! would feel bad if not) for $400 with a little wiggle room on the price.

Here's my problem: I haven't seen the collection yet or even photos, because it's all boxed up in their garage and they're remodeling the kitchen and it's difficult to get the boxes out because of space constraints (and, I gather, general busyness). I would just drop by, but she lives two hours away, and in the worst case I don't want to drive two hours there, find out that the lot is not worth $400, and then drive back two hours . . . (She said she wants to sell it all together.) Obviously, on the flip side, it could be a really good deal, with ponies that are totally worth the price and drive, etc. 

All I really have to go on is her verbal description (the following are her words from our conversations): it's three large cardboard boxes, with the castle [not sure which version], ice cream shop, perfume parlor [she might have meant the Perm Shoppe], booklet identifying the ponies [probably a collector's guide; she said they identified some of what they had using it], the ponies' paperwork [not sure if she means pamphlets or backcards or something else], and 40 ponies, including teeny tiny ballerina ponies [not sure what this means . . . teeny tiny babies? ballerinas? petites?] and some pegasi. She says they're in good condition, which means different things to non-collectors sometimes . . . I think after our first conversation she asked her daughter more, because in our second she said her daughter said her first pony was Morning Glory. She said her daughter collected pretty much all the ponies, but it probably would seem like that to a non-collector, and after all she only said there were 40

Anyway! Since it's such a time commitment and I'm short on time, I just can't decide if it's worth it, without pictures! What do you guys think??

[nhal039]

Personally i would not. Its a lot of money and time and there would have to be at least 5 rare htf ponies in nice condition to make it worth it. I just think your more likely to find a bunch of early released ponies. If they have the collectors book i am prerty sure they would tell you if there was a rare

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

I'm not honestly sure what I would do, did they specify on a certain generation, or is it general. Seems a little pricy, and they don't seem to be extremely eager to sell it if they didn't send a picture, or at least give the specific characters :/

[Purpleglasses]

Well, is there anything else you like to do in or near the area where the seller lives? Is she on the way to a place you like going for a day trip? If you make her place a pit stop on the way to somewhere you enjoy visiting, then you haven't lost any time going to have a look. I buy lots of ponies in person and I'm way more likely to drive to ones that pass that test.

I would ask for photos first though! Two hours is a long drive, especially if it's for stuff you don't really want or already have. The seller will have to get the stuff out if you come but it anyway, it's not too much to ask.

[Haruna]

I'm not honestly sure what I would do, did they specify on a certain generation, or is it general. Seems a little pricy, and they don't seem to be extremely eager to sell it if they didn't send a picture, or at least give the specific characters :/

She says they're from the 1980s, and it sounds like all the items are G1. It sounds like she's not eager-eager to sell, but willing to sell; I wonder if I tried to point out that pictures would make sure we're both not wasting time, and even if I don't buy, another buyer will probably be more likely if she gets some pictures to send . . .

[Einhornbaby]

If they can ask for 400$ then you can ask for pics Id let her send pics first before driving such a long way only to find out that its not worth it. Mayb there is a hidden gem but... hm. Id ask for pics definitely. I had that once years ago... a girl said they had dozens of vintage G1 ponies that I could have, all "100% genuine G1 ponies in great condition!"... yeah, I got 1 nice G1, the rest were fakies and G2 but she was still telling me it was G1 that she had for sale because "they were old and from childhood". A german saying : "People can tell a lot if the day is long enough"

[ghouldilocks]

I agree...if they're wanting a price like $400, the least they can do is send you some photos of what exactly they're including. I would definitely not spend that much sight unseen. Besides, as a collector, you'd have a much better idea than they will as far as whether what they have is actually worth $400 or not, and it puts you in a better position to make a reasonable counter-offer if you end up feeling $400 is too much even after you've seen it all. The most I've paid for a lot was $100, and that's the most I'd be willing to spend without a good idea of what I'm ending up with.

[gabumon]

I agree...if they're wanting a price like $400, the least they can do is send you some photos of what exactly they're including. I would definitely not spend that much sight unseen. Besides, as a collector, you'd have a much better idea than they will as far as whether what they have is actually worth $400 or not, and it puts you in a better position to make a reasonable counter-offer if you end up feeling $400 is too much even after you've seen it all. The most I've paid for a lot was $100, and that's the most I'd be willing to spend without a good idea of what I'm ending up with.

Exactly.  This ^

[Cutekitten]

$400 is a lot if you don't know what you are getting. $400 is a lot even if you did know what was in it. It could be all common ponies and playsets that you could buy for less than $200. As others have said, you definitely need a picture or something... The best possibility would be that all the ponies in the collection are rare mail order things... they have the book, so I wish they would just give you the names of the ponies! One more thing: maybe the paperwork is like completed ebay auctions or something, to give an idea of the price... that's what I was thinking at first, but then it doesn't make sense because it sounds like they don't know they names of the ponies, so I doubt they have ebay auctions....

One more thing: even if they can't get the ponies out to take pictures, they should be able to at least take a picture of the ponies in bins with the top open or something...

[Tak]

I would for closer to $200 maybe $250. $400 is a lot for so few ponies... did she mention lots of little accessories?

[Shy Violet]

Personally I wouldn't. I think it's too expensive and especially not knowing what you're getting. I'd see if they can at least open the boxes and take a photo of the top of the box, they don't have to take them all out and get individual pics. but at least that way you have an idea of what you're getting.

[gabumon]

It's funny I was going to ask you if you were in Utah, because the same thing happened to me here.
Seller said they wanted $400 for a lot. would not give photos. would not split the lot.  lived 2 hours away.

I drove over to their place and met them.  They did have several complete G1 playlets and lots of G1 ponies in good condition, but they wanted cash and wanted it right now.  I don't think I can take $400 out of the ATM on a saturday afternoon without by bank FREAKing out.  Not to mention I didnt want to spent that much and really wanted to just buy parts of the lot.  So we said they looked nice and walked away.

[Epona]

I wouldn't drive that far without at least a group pic.  There are tons of local adds that claim "vintage G1 pony`s" but its some fakies and mcdonalds ponies.

[Leave a Whisper]

Ask for photos.

[LadyMoondancer]

I also think you should ask for photos.  The lady is going to have to pull them out of the garage anyway if she wants to sell them.

For all you know half of them could be fakies.  "Teeny tiny ballerina ponies" could mean those 80s PVC fakies with molded clothes, for example.

Also:  do you need all those playsets, or do you have a lot of them already?  Because a lot of playsets do not have much value if they are not complete.   So they might not recoup a lot of value if you resell ones you already have.