It's been almost a year...

... but here's a teensy update.

I knew I'd be bad at keeping up this blog but I didn't know how bad!  it's currently early January 2016 and I last updated April 2015. :(  As a small apology to any hypothetical readers, here is my lovely lady that came in the mail today, plus the one pony I got for Xmas!

Lemon Drop has been pretty high on my wishlist for a long time <3  I've had trouble finding an auction for her (bc I'm lazy I tend to just go to eBay instead of directly with other collectors) that is a decent price and also has a matched head/body.  This girl tends to have discoloration mis-matching.  I have seen so many auctions for her on eBay and Etsy where she's a fair price but with a differently-colored head from her body!  She just arrived today and tbh I had totally forgotten that I bought her, so she was such a blessing for me today.  I'm feeling pretty crappy today and I admittedly cried when I opened her.

so much plaid in my life...

I don't know if you've ever bought from spoosh* on eBay but I've always been very very happy with the ponies I've bought from him!  And I've gotten a fair bit in the last decade.  The prices are possibly arguably a bit high but not for my tastes -- I'm always willing to pay more for nice ponies!  And his auctions are always so reliable!  I know for a fact I've bought my G1 Parasol and G3 Sunny Daze I from him (I'm sure there's more that I forget) and they were exactly as described, so I recommend his auctions!  

Anyway, Lemon Drop is from spoosh* and I am so, so happy with her. <3

Mirror Mirror is another beauty that I've always admired.  Something about her soft coloration has always appealed to me.  I think (??) she's the only magic message pony that I've really desired.  Her symbol is in a state that is mostly the default but does show a bit of the princess in the mirror.  It doesn't show well in this picture and I haven't tested it with my thumb, but if I apply a fair bit of auto-contrast you can see the princess!

can you see the princess hidden in the mirror...?

Okay, admittedly it works nicer on Instagram.  

I haven't checked her non-display side, which I've only just learned has a witch instead of princess!  I will have to get properly edited shots of both her symbols.

I really want to work on growing my G1 collection in 2016.  I've been collecting since at least 2004 and am still lacking in a lot of basic wishlist ponies.  So hopefully I'll grow my collection a good amount this coming year :)

Pony mail!

I was really jonesing to buy some ponies this past weekend and I'd just gotten paid for some art commissions, so I made a couple purchases on eBay.  (I know, but I still do a lot of my pony shopping on the 'Bay just because it's easy)  My G1s came yesterday and G3s today.  Super fast, I'm so thrilled.  I forgot what it's like to get lots of pony mail; I don't usually buy so many at once these days!

I've had the lavender star-symbol Baby Ember for many years now, but never got around to the rest of her doppelgangers.  After cruising eBay for a while and not really deciding on any G1s to buy, I eventually found these three in a lot together!  Not super-high on my list of desired ponies but definitely a collecting goal that I can scratch off, nonetheless!  

I'm officially out of room in my G1 nursery though, so maybe I shouldn't buy any babies til I get my new shelves this summer...

The G3s were all from the same seller.  I wasn't gonna get this many G3s during this shopping binge, but the combined shipping sweetened the deal so I grabbed these three girls!  

Sweetberry is another pony that I don't specifically love, but she's the only one of the original G3 cast of eight that I was still lacking.  So, again, I was able to mark off a collecting goal.  And tbh that feels as good as getting a beloved pony.  

Starswirl is to replace mine which has gone missing.  I haven't been able to find her anywhere and I have no idea where she could be.  I don't think I would've sold her or given her away, always loved her. D:  So I just got a new one.  

And omg I've wanted Darling Dahlia since she was released but she was too expensive second-hand back ten years ago.  She's been high on my want list since that time, so it's amazing to have her in my hands, finally!

They all need a bit of TLC on their hair.  I don't buy dirty ponies anymore because I've become too lazy in my old age to do full washings and tackle restoring.  Their hair is all in great condition, it's just a bit messy and tangled.  Quick shampoo/condition and comb-through and they'll be gorgeous.  Pink Ember does have some gray smudges on her nose that didn't show up in the photos and weren't mentioned, but hopefully they'll come off.  If not, I just won't take macro shots of her face *shrug*  not that I take many photos anymore...

I NEED TO USE THIS BLOG MORE I KNOW but I do go through phases where I'm in a collecting mindset more than others.  I see my ponies every day, think about my collection, but only update this blog and buy ponies in rushes a few times a year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Collection!

Here's everyone!  Sorry about the Instagram shot, I really will have to unpack the fancy camera soon here. :p

My collection.. actually.. seems very small to me displayed this way.  

I have the G1s two rows deep with risers, since they won't all comfortably fit in a single row.  And I'm going to need to do my G3s two rows deep as well!  I don't like how they look on top of the shelf like this (I'd rather put my few small plushes and large accessories/playsets up there - things I don't mind gathering more dust!)  I don't want to display them much lower on the bookshelf though, because the cat will play with them.

So.  Eventually we'll get another bookshelf like this.  I'm not actually liking the glass-front hutch for ponies these days, it's not as bright as I'd like.  Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy having all of my collection together again* but I'm really dissatisfied with the display at present.

I'm liking this setup though:

Not crazy about the G2s in the castle windows, though.  I like my collection displayed in rows, lined up, shelves looking full.  Like a "proper collection".  I'm not a fan of the more organic/natural look for pony displays, where they're all like in little scenes and such.  It's cute for photos but I like whne collections look like collections.

Once I move some things around I think the G2s (and two G4s) will have a nicer, cleaner display.

** I DONT KNOW WHERE MY SEAPONIES ARE.  I only have two, but one is Celebrate with all of her accessories and she wasn't with my pony bins at my mom's house.  I'm really mad about it - she was minty and with all her accessories and I got her for a good price!  I have no clue where she is.

G1 wish list.

This took forever wow.  And I still have to go back and do a few more, specifically a few German ponies, but this is 99% done so I'm going to go ahead and publish XD

(images are from StrawberryReef.com)

WIP - new collection setup

My poor G3s have been packed up since the middle of May and we didn't get our furniture until three days ago, so I finally got them out of the dreaded plastic tote.  I've been concerned about mold and pony!cancer lately so I really wanted them out and in the open air.

Today I finally cleaned up the boxes and whatnot in the study enough to make room to unpack them!

G2 Sky Skimmer

Some photos of G2 Sky Skimmer that I took probably in 2005 or 2006.  I still love these!  One of these days, she deserves a more recent photoshoot with the fancy camera I have now.

Appreciation post - Surprise

Today I'm going to spam you with photos of my Surprise (and Baby Surprise).  This pony's gained a lot of infamy in recent years due to the story of her being one of Pinkie Pie's original inspirations.

I BINed the two of them together, along with most of Baby Surprise's accessories, for $25 back in '05 or '06, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase.  Baby Surprise is flawless, like she was just taken off her card.  And mommy Surprise doesn't have her factory curl for some reason, but other than that, she's pure mint.  Most of my collection is not in this great shape (though I do prefer my ponies to be near-mint or at least look nm on display!) and sometimes I wonder if I should put them in a clear plastic case to protect them. (I always wonder if such things are a bit excessive; it's not like Surprise is rare at all.)

New home for my G1s.

 

Apologies for the sad phone picture, but I finally have most of my G1s in their new home!  

There's quite a few missing.  Namely my Year Ones (Cotton Candy, Minty, and the other collector ponies) as well as most of my Year Twos (Applejack, Firefly, Majesty, etc).  When I grabbed my G1s from my parents' place last August, I noticed that the first half of the top row was developing some mold (this kind).  I think it started from FF Butterscotch but it went down to Majesty! (they were lined up more-or-less in order of release)  So they're still in baggies, probably a dozen ponies.  I need to research how to take care of it; I've used bleachwater in the past but half of them have glitter symbols. T___T

I'm also missing about a half-dozen or so that were on display at our old place (these guys were all at my parents') and are still in a box somewhere... I forget where I packed them. ;__;  When I do get them unpacked I'll probably have to find a new spot for the Sunny Daze shrine (and put the two other G3s I have here with it)

I have a fair bit more Sunny Daze merch, but in August I finally got the fifth release of her, so I have each of her brushable releases!  It's taken me enough years.

It's nice to have almost all of them all out, finally, though.  Now I can hopefully get around to grooming them; they looked good before but they've been in storage for six months or so and their hair's all flat and sad LOFTY'S FACTORY CURLS  /mourns softly  Seriously though, I think I'll feel better when I get everyone together.  I can really feel the incompleteness. :P