What originally led me to the online world of vintage trading was Hasbro's My Little Pony®. Here's a quick look at where I've stashed and stacked the ponies I've traded after more than five years on eBay. The ponies are more or less in release-order. The middle shelf has nearly 50 ponies--all the original six from Year 1 and their mail-order counterparts, then Years 2, 3, and the Twinkle-Eyed Ponies of Year 4. Above them are some international babies and the complete set of playtime baby brothers. Then another row of international adults, Bright Glow from Year 9, and some re-releases from Year 2. I put the Italy versions of Bubbles, Seashell, Applejack, and Cotton candy by their USA counterparts. The shelf below has the So-Softs and the Big Brother Ponies, and some carded G2s. The shelf above has Years 5 to 7, with a custom-made shelf for some Italy Rainbow Ponies and about 30 USA and UK babies. The top shelf finishes off the collection, with Years 7 to 10, some more UK adults, and the summer and windy wings. I also have a few mint-on-card ponies from Years 5 to 7, two ROCK ponies from Argentina, and some half-pony purses. Currently, I'm trying to wind down my want-list. It's been painstakingly pared down to eight remaining ponies, which would bring my collection to a modest 300 distinct G1 ponies. I only have three duplicates and a dozen customized and custom bait ponies. I have no room for playsets, but I do have a weakness for yellow ponies, original ribbons, brushes, and baby sea pony floats.
So what's the story behind my collection? Well, my original childhood collection consisted of 11 ponies from Years 2 and 3. I managed to acquire Bubbles and Seashell (two fond favorites); Glory (my beloved first pony); Moondancer (my all-time favorite ever); Twilight (an essential); Medley (my favorite pegasus); and Firefly (another essential). My babies consisted of mail-order purple Ember, Baby Surf Rider, Baby Surprise, and Baby Moondancer. I remember settling on Baby Surprise because Baby Moondancer was not yet in stock--and the cruel disappointment when Hasbro released her with Cotton Candy pink hair instead of hair like her mother's.
I was 8 years old when I received my mail-order Ember, and she was one of the reasons I stopped collecting My Little Pony as a child--mine came with a defect that appeared like a huge bulge on her rump. It was only after collecting ponies online decades later that I learned that this defect was common to purple versions of Baby Ember. But as an impressionable child, I felt that Hasbro had intentionally sent me a defective pony. It amazes me sometimes that my memories of that period of my childhood are still so sharp. Some of the other reasons I got out of My Little Pony were because I felt I could never afford a Rainbow pony; I got tired of having to choose between the pink, blue, or lavender pony of a set because Hasbro only believed in pastel feminine colors; and because my dad fell asleep in the theatre when he took me to see My Little Pony the Movie. I remember nothing about the movie except my dad falling asleep.
I lost my childhood collection years later, when we had to relocate to a new state. My first pangs for reuniting with my old collection began in college, and were fomented by the release of the G2 line. Although some (usually younger) collectors abhor the "middle child" of the My Little Pony family, it came at the right time for me, and inadvertently led to my online pursuit of the hobby. My closest high school friend bequeathed her old G1 collection of 23 ponies to me, and around the year 1999, a second-hand store at a mall in Syracuse, NY offered loose G1 ponies for $5 each, which allowed me to acquire six more. The rest of my G1 collection came from online auction sites like Yahoo! Auctions, Bidville, and most of all, eBay. |
