This week I've interviewed the lovely Shaiyeh! Thanks so much for participating!
Personal Interview-Where did you get your user name?I've had this name online since maybe 2009-2010. It started as my first character's name in WoW, and then people started calling me Shai, and it's stuck. I'm Shaiyeh mostly everywhere online
How old are you?I'm 30 years old.
Do you go to school or work?I am actually off work since a few years due to health issues, mental & physical. I am however working towards making my knitting, YouTube and art my part-time job right now.
What are your hobbies?Art, knitting, spinning yarn, sewing, other collections, gaming, journaling, horseback riding/horses... I have way too many hobbies!
Do you have any pets?Yes, I have two cats - Cheddar and Elsa.
Do you collect anything other than ponies?Yes! I collect a few other toy lines, but at a much slower speed. Like Sylvanian Families, Cloudees, Fluffy Surprise and occasionally LPS.
I also collect manga, stickers and stationery/Washi tape, although this is a collection I also use for journaling and art.
Ponies-How long have you been collecting ponies?I have been collecting MLP since 2006
Why did you start collecting ponies?A friend I had at the time stayed over, and we started talking about favourite childhood toys. Naturally, we had to look through the attic for my old ponies. After she left, I wanted to search for them online, to see if I could find their names.
Which I did, on Dream Valley. And I probably spent hours on there just looking at all the beautiful ponies I never even saw before, and the rest is history, haha.
Who is your favorite pony and why?Lemon Drop (G1) and Minty (G3) are two of my all-time favourites. Both have a lot to do with the colour combinations, but I also absolutely adore g3 Minty's personality, especially in A Very Minty Christmas.
Who is your least favorite pony and why?Oh, tough question. But that would probably be g4 Rainbow Dash. Sorry, RD! I find her really obnoxious in the series, and I liked g3 RD's colours better.
Who is your favorite pony from another country?Ohhhh, I love the Piggy pony Fresita. She's gorgeous. I'm not that super into Nirvanas otherwise, I tend to mostly go for versions of Lemon Drop, since I have an army of her.
Who is your favorite fakie?Concerned Fakie! That one cracks me up!
Who was your first pony?Tuneful was my first pony. I still have him
He has no tail anymore, and a funky V-kei haircut courtesy of me as a young child, but I love him so much.
(I am aware Tuneful canonically is a girl, but mine has just always been a boy to me.)
What pony did you get recently?I think my most recent pony purchase was a ballerina baby, baby Tippytoes, to complete the set.
What is your favorite generation?G1
With G2 as a close second.
What is your favorite part about collecting?When they're all beautifully spa'd, and then in their glass cabinets, and you get to look at them, and they all look beautiful and *neat*, and then you can crack the cabinet door open for some of that gorgeous pony smell.... haha. I think that's my favourite. My collection is a mess right now, as we recently moved, and I got more cabinets, but can't make up my mind on how I want them organised.
It'll be great when it's done tho!
My second favourite part is the actual spa time. it's so relaxing and cozy, but I have to do it in short bursts, because it aggravates my pain, sadly.
How big is your collection?I counted them, except my box of ponies-waiting-for-spa, before moving and it was 300+. I have since gotten a bunch more, so I have no idea where I am at right now. I'd guess around 350!
What do your friends and family think about your collection?They're fine with it. I don't know if anyone has a strong opinion, really.
Do you still play with your ponies?No, I don't, but I do re-spa ponies occasionally even when they don't need it.
If you had to have a pony symbol tattooed on your butt, which would you pick and why?Awhhhh, see that's hard because there are so many cute symbols to choose from.
I would probably choose an ornate one, like the ballerina ponies have, or the SHS ponies. I like floral motifs, and I feel like I could tie that into the rest of my tattoo aesthetic (black/white dot work/linework etc) if I got to do it in black and white.
If you could have any pony remade in a different generation, who would you choose and why?I think I would really like to see Mimic as a SLH G3 pony. I feel like she would look amazing with a shimmery early g3 body, and super-long hair.
What has been the worst part about collecting?The prices of everything going up, and/or the fact that non-pony people assume Peachy (or even fakies) are worth a fortune. I've passed up 2nd hand shop ponies priced around 9-10€, where it was like a Tootsie with a haircut and ink stains. As a collector with a very tight budget, it's hard to actually *collect* ponies now.
Also, Facebook group sales. It doesn't feel safe seller/buying protection wise, and I regularly see people bid crazy amounts on a ton of ponies only to sell them again weeks later, for that same high price. It's again a case of it being very hard to collect now, at least for me ^^'
What is your ultimate collecting goal?Completing the entire g2 line is something I would REALLY like to accomplish at some point.
What is your biggest collecting accomplishment?This is going to sound like bragging, but the fact that I have managed to get quite a bunch of big money ponies either for free, or for very little money in 2nd hand shops. I own a Mimic that I won in a giveaway, I once traded a bunch of slightly beat up ponies for a Moviestars/NSS Cupcake (at a daycare I worked at, the kids were happy they got more ponies lol)... So yeah, I think I'd have to say my luck with these things has been pretty good.
What is your biggest collecting regret?Selling aforementioned Cupcake. But I really needed that money at the time.
Who is your grail pony and why?Mountain Boy Ice Crystal. He is beautiful. I love the big brother type ponies, heavy horses are my favourite IRL horses as well, and he's just my favourite out of all the brothers/daddies/boys.
Do you have it?Sadly, no.
Do you prefer loose or MIP ponies?Loose, but I also love collecting MIP.
Quick! Close your eyes and grab a pony! Who did you get?I only have one close to me, so it has to be her. it's a custom g3 TAF Lemon Drop ^^
Are you a customizer? Yes, but I haven't made a custom in years!
Would you ever be? I plan on picking it back up again, it just needs to actually happen.
What do you think of custom ponies?I love them! I love the creativity and different artistic approaches different customisers have.
My one small gripe is the discussion of 'when is a pony a bait'. especially with out of production ponies. But that's a discussion for another day I think.
What are acceptable and unacceptable pony flaws, in your opinion?Personally, in my collection, I really don't want bite marks and haircuts. I also like to keep age spots and regrind to a minimum, but I know that's going to be impossible to avoid.
Frizz is fine, I can easily fix that, and I do have a couple partial rehairs in my shelves. A small colour difference between body and head is also ok, as is names under the hooves etc.
Would you rather have a bait pony or a fakie?A bait pony.
Do you watch pony shows/movies? Sometimes
Which ones? I watch Minty Xmas every year, and I've watched all of MLP & Friends (movies and series) and Tales. Most of the g3 movies, I think? I've watched a few seasons of FiM, but I fell off of watching series, so I actually haven't seen either the g4.5 one or g5 series. I did watch the g5 movie and loved it though.
Do you read pony comics? I don't. While I love manga, I'm not massively into comic books/magazines. I know there's a g4 manga which I should give a try, but I'm not awfully interested in g4.
What is the worst thing you've ever done to a pony?If we're talking customs, it's probably cutting off limbs to reattach them in a different position
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