Do You Care Where They Go?

[Leave a Whisper]

I don't sell often so I've never really thought about it, but I guess I care that any ponies I pass on will be cared for and loved in their new homes.

I did once buy a G2 though that came with a surprise though. The seller sent a little handmade book with a story about the pony's past and blank pages to continue its story on if I ever were to sell it. It was pretty sweet

What a great idea!

Post Merge: November 21, 2016, 11:06:29 PM

Almost wish I hadn't read your post, Einhornbaby. That's really upsetting!

I don't know how many ponies I have sold and traded over the years. I suspect we're in the range of about a thousand or maybe more which is quite terrifying really. I can't possibly remember or care about the destinations of all of them. But there are some that I do.

Ones I've acquired as a lot from someone knowing they're a childhood collection...that is a biggie. Recently this happened, when I bought two or three lots from someone who clearly had loved their ponies a lot, and they said thank you to me for giving them a new home. Well, some of the ponies stayed with me, and those who didn't I worked very hard to find the right homes for because I wanted them to be in a place they would still be loved. I felt I'd been entrusted with them to do that. I think all of those found homes at the Arena. I still have Tug and his accessories here, though, as well as Dancing Butterflies and her backcard, as I don't want to put them on ebay. I want them to go to collectors and be valued.

Going back more years, when a local collector's parents split up, her Dad threw her and her mother out and sold the collection behind their back at the local carboot sale. I do not know if it was with the girl's knowledge or not, but the collection in  many ways had been more her mother's. She wasn't allowed to play with many of them, but the one she was always playing with when we went over there was a really battered up Truly. She had a bunch of ponies from the US and most of them were mint condition, but this Truly was not. She's threadbare. A lot of this collector's ponies now live in our collection, even more were traded across the world in 1998 and 1999 and I'd be fascinated to know now where all those ponies were, since I know at least one collector who had many of them has since had their collection dispersed.

Truly, however, didn't go anywhere. She lives here, with me. She is the guardian of my Flutter and So Soft Cabinet. She lives atop it, making sure everyone inside is safe and sound. Truly was loved by that little girl, even if the other ponies she had weren't able to be. So even though both my sister and I now have nice, minty Trulys, this one isn't going anywhere.

When I get a new pony in, I like to think about the life they might have had before. It's exciting when they come from another country, and you know they were played with by children who maybe spoke a different language, or took them to see things that I've not seen. Toys carry memories with them, so I think that sometimes it's nice to remember that, even if they can't tell us all the experiences they've had and the places they've been to.

Years ago I had a friend who went by the name of Pillow Talk. I don't know if anyone else remembers her, but she was lovely and we did a lot of trading. In one trade she sent along a couple of stowaways - Rattles and Tattles with hair cuts. She sent a note with them to say they had run away to start a new life somewhere that they'd be loved. I have since bought Rattles and Tattles in mint condition, with their box and all accessories. But the ones that live with my loose newborn twins on the baby shelf are the haircut pair. Because they were entrusted to me a long time ago by someone I no longer have contact with. And they stowed away to England for a better life...so that's how I consider them

So I like to find my ponies nice homes. I really like to find them homes here, if I can. But I can't say it's happened for every single one like that. I just know that if I have ponies from a childhood collection to sell, and I know that they were loved before, I like to try and make sure they stay loved.

Oh, one more example. I sold Baby Drummer to someone on here who lives a long way from where I live. This Drummer used to live atop my parents' bookcase. Years ago they accumulated odd ponies they liked and they lived there, for years and years, till last year when my parents decided they wanted to part with some of them. I was entrusted to find them new homes. I was very happy with Drummer's new home. Not only did he get to go to someone who really loved him, he got to go to the other side of the world, too. That deal made me really happy.

Selling ponies for good money is nice, but if that's all you do, you'd be a dealer. I think as a collector you can't help but think about it from the other side as well. I certainly remember where most of my ponies came from, and which ones can't be parted with because they were gifts, even if I upgraded them.

This hurts my heart. What a spiteful thing to do .

[Ponyfan]

I've got to say, I would be put off if a seller ASKED for photos of the pony in my collection, like Ponyfan described some sellers doing.   That just sounds inconvenient and a bit intrusive.  I'm buying a toy, not adopting a puppy.

I guess I was too new to realize it wasn't a common practice for sellers to ask for photos of the pony in their new home. I think both sales were pretty soon after I got back in to collecting ponies. I know one seller mentioned she was making an album of all the ponies she had sold with pictures of them in their new homes.

Ponyfan

[SnorkMaiden]

I don't often sell ponies, and when I do, they're usually duplicates I've got from car boot sales and such. I tend to be less attached to those than to ponies that have been part of my herd, but I still want them to go to good homes. That's why I only sell to other collectors on the Arena.

[Haruna]

I had one dad come and pick up a bunch of G3 playsets and ponies, he told me that his daughter had been so excited all day about coming to get them that she'd worn herself clean out and had fallen asleep in the car, just around the corner from my house! She tried so hard to stay awake, but just didn't make it. She was the cutest thing I'd ever seen! I helped him load up the car, and wished him luck playing ponies with his daughter. He was so excited about her reaction to the big pile of pony stuff when she woke up.

Aww, that's adorable! I love it when I learn that the ponies I sold went to a little girl. I had one large G3 lot that went to a grandmother who said thank you so much for the lot and that it was for her granddaughter. It just warms my heart to know I'm making a little girl happy, hopefully as happy as I was when I played with ponies.

[plushroo]

Not really, but then again I try to get rid of doubles before I get attached since I'm very sentimental. Most of my duplicates come from sellers who found them at flea markets, estate sales, but the few that were part of childhood collections are mostly in my personal collection. I don't remember any specific notes from sellers telling me they were part of their collection or child's collection since I've had hundreds pass through my hands. I do have a non pony story that happened to me a few years ago. Another arena member contacted me to ask if I'd take her childhood kangaroo and baby plush since my username had "plush" in it, lol! I felt honored and told her I"d be happy to and bought it. I don't recall the members user name, but I hope she knows I still have her plush kangaroo sitting on a shelf in my room. I would do the same for anyone else if they had a childhood toy they couldn't keep and wanted to be cherished. I don't think I could ever let go of my small herd of childhood ponies.

[Khayman81]

I quickly get attached to them so if there's any duplicate I want to sell I put her away untill I find someone to buy her (I haven't succeed to sell any yet, so they are waiting).
I had a duplicate Gusty a few weeks ago, I was about to sell her and one day I took her with me to work and from then on she will never leave. This is why the ponies I intend to sell stay out of sight and never travel with me.
I have 2 duplicates that I bought in the beginning and I will give them as a Xmas gift to my mother, so that I know they will be ok. So I care a bit, and if they were loved here they stay here.