G3 wish list

The exact ponies pictured are the ones that I want.  I want some ponies in a particular pose/release!  (images are from StrawberryReef.com)

G2 wish list

I don't really collect G2s, though I have a half-dozen or so that I somehow ended up with.  There are a few that I wouldn't mind having in my herd, though.  I don't actively pursue them but will keep an eye out for them.  I am looking for the exact pony pictured, so for example, I don't want an Ivy with the moving legs, but I do want both versions of her pictured here!  (all images from StrawberryReef.com)

Completionists.

completed set of Dazzle Bright ponies (2005)

I'm not really a completionist when it comes to my collection.  While some people collect with the intent to acquire all the ponies in a set, just as many people cherry pick their favorites from here and there with no real rhyme or reason to their selection.  "Why collect an entire set when you don't even love them all?" they ask.  And I mean, it's a fair question.  Why waste money acquiring ponies that you think are ugly, just to get the whole set?

There's a lot of discussion about what makes a collector's mind tick.  Do people with certain traits tend to be collectors of things?  Personalities?  Situations?  Is it a hoarding behavior, is it just the good feeling of getting stuff (not dissimilar to "retail therapy")?  Giving in too much to nostalgia?

As a collector of something, there's often a certain satisfaction in the act of acquiring itself.  Sure, at the end of the day, the ponies on the shelf are your reward, they're what really makes you happy.  But the hunt is a big part of it too.  There's a major satisfaction in saying, "Well, I have them all now."  It's very nearly impossible to collect ALL the ponies!, especially so for most collectors.  So we go by sets.  I have all the first and second set of Rainbow ponies.  I have all the Flutter ponies.  Maybe even better than the feeling of owning those ponies is the anticipation when you just need two more, just one more, and when you get your hands on the last one.

And see, that's okay.  I'm not knocking that.  At all.  There's nothing wrong with that (unless of course you're going broke because you want to collect every So-Soft in mint condition before Christmas).  It's one of the joys of collecting.

When the G3s were coming out, I was collecting them as they hit the shelves.  But I missed a few, especially early on.  I missed about half of the first eight main characters in 2003.  I don't even like Wysteria all that much, but I really had to have her to complete that set.  I still need Sweetberry, I think she's the last one, and I don't like her at all.  But I just can't shake the feeling of needing all eight together.  The feeling that they need to be reunited (let's face it, I personify my ponies way too much).

I made sure to get the entire Dazzle Bright set pictured above.  I had three, I might as well get all six, I reasoned.  It irked me to have the set half-finished.  So I got the last three, and I felt good for a while.  Then I noticed just how many G3s I was amassing.  And I started weeding out a couple to get rid of.  I don't like Ribbon Wishes but I kept her.  I couldn't break up the set!  I got rid of a few more, some that I liked a little more than Ribbon Wishes, even, but I kept her with her sisters.

Bleh.

About a year after I first considered getting rid of her, I finally did.  And... it was hard.  And I don't even like her.  But that stupid collector's brain kept nagging me.  To shut it up, I also got rid of Beachberry and Coconut Cream, both of whom I kinda like.  (actually Beachberry's still in the outbox and I keep considering putting her back on the shelf, I can't decide if I wanna keep her or not!)  And the nagging need to keep the set together slowly subsided.

Then there's sets where I have one pony from it, or two or three, and I don't think twice about it.  I'm not sure why I feel committed to completing some sets and not others.  I don't like Star Hopper but dammit I have to get both variations of her or I'll never die happy, you know? (it's those sparkle ponies, they're addictive)

I still feel good when I look at that group picture up there, though.  Something about having complete sets makes me ~feel like a real collector~ as if that's even a thing.  I feel... competent?  Dedicated?  I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it feels good.  And I still regret getting rid of them at times.  Not a lot, just enough to make me sigh and pout for a few seconds before I get over it.

Sunny Daze - beautiful cosplay!

Today I can't get over this "everyday"-style cosplay of Sunny Daze by the german cosplayer Canary.  I absolutely adore renditions of ponies (or any other non-human characters) that are simple and everyday, yet still honor the character.  It's really cool to see some love for the G3 line, which seems to have been forgotten between the fervor for FiM/G4 and the insistent nostalgia for G1.

And of course, Sunny's my favorite G3.

I wish the wig had more vibrant colors, but I know from experience that it's hard to get a good, strong color when you're dying wigs!  My favorite little detail is her nail polish colors.

My favorite photos under the cut.

Kimono

I've wanted Kimono since I started collecting.  But I missed out on all the first main eight ponies except for Sunny Daze when they first came out.  I wasn't seriously considering collecting yet and by the time I was, these guys weren't on the shelves anymore.  Kimono got released once or twice during the G3 run, but never in her proper pose.

By the time I really looked into getting the first main eight, Kimono was going for well over $10.  It might even have been more, my memory's getting fuzzy in my old age.  And I couldn't justify it.  Well, I just got ahold of her from another collector for $4.  Even the once-popular G3s have gone way down in value :\  But to my benefit, I suppose!  I wish I'd looked into acquiring her sooner.

While the G3s aren't my collecting focus right now ("right now" being the last few years and onward), they're also rather cheap at the moment.  Everyone's either into FiM or nostalgia-bombing on G1, so G3's gotten a bit forgotten in the fandom these days.  They're going for so little since all the collectors got them as they hit the shelves.  I have a lot that I want to unload, thinning the G3 herd and all, but I'm happy to use them as trade bait or just to sell very cheap to friends.

But anyway, Kimono. 

I don't even like purple very much.  But there's something gorgeous about Kimono.  Her pose is one of my favorites in the G3 line.  I do like purple and yellow together.  The particular shade of her mane is a purple that I do rather like.  And her green eyes are such a nice touch, such a great pop of a new color in there, that she's just overall very beautiful and simple.  I dig that in a pony.

Now I believe the only pony from the first main eight that I still need is Sweetberry.

Welcome to Belle Valley.

Welcome to one pony collector's little corner of the internet.

I kept a pony collecting journal in the past, but it's long lost to the sands of the internet.  You can read About this site for more information on what this blog/page/site thing will be all about.  A lot of pages are still pretty under construction as my ponies still need to be unpacked after our recent (ish) move.  In the meantime, I'll be blogging now and then!

Not sure how regularly this will be updated.  Especially since I'm not in a constant state of collecting fervor and go for long periods without being on the forums, touching my ponies, photographing them, buying new ones, whatnot.  So there might be long hiatuses here?  Not sure yet.  Maybe actually having my G1 collection living with me now will keep ponies on my mind more and therefore I'll update more?  Time will tell.