Monday, December 7, 2009
Sales/Trade List
I am NO LONGER living in Australia or Singapore. My current address is now in NYC, USA. I reside in Queens, so if you have any pony help, feel free to contact me!
I am afraid I have not much to sell at the moment since I did not bring much with me when I came over from Singapore.
These are what I have for sale at the moment:
-Merry Treats - part of tail cut
-Seabreeze - Tropical pony
-LPS red dragon - Asian exclusive for Chinese New Year?
-lots of Target baggie G4 ponies of mane six minus Twilight Sparkle, plus Lily Blossom, Lyra and Cherrilee
Sunday, November 8, 2009
TAF Babies
Mexican Ponies
Twinkle-Eyed Ponies
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
WHY Nirvanas?
"I think a lot of the foreign ponies look cheap and kind of... crummy.So, apart from being rare, what's the appeal?"
Honestly, Hasbro produces every pony for about 8 cents each, so I doubt any pony is actually considered "good" quality. And some were made from recycled plastics. The good news is though, plastics last for a very long time! Bad news is, some plastics don't retain their qualities (such as colours...etc) for as long. Wherever the ponies are made, they all have their own fair share of problems.
Not expounding nirvana holy scrolls here, because even I don't favour all the nirvanas out there. I only care about those occasional ones I am interested in. Normally "nirvana" interest sets in when either you have most of the common ponies out there, or you come from the country that sold them, and hence directly relates to you in many ways more than one. IMO, nirvanas are more considered an "add-on" aspect of MLP collecting, but you won't die if you miss out on them. And nirvana is such a wide and blanket term used that it's meaning is somewhat inaccurate, because I normally refer to nirvanas as super grails that are extremely hard to come by and cost anything above a pair of limbs, however, some people use it to refer to ponies of exotic origin, and some of which like some Argie ponies or Italians, aren't neccessarily hard or expensive to acquire. I do agree that a lot of the nirvanas are not as durable to play, mainly the hair, which goes frizzy easily. Most of the South American ones fit that description, but definitely not the Greek and Italians. What I find interesting about collecting these ponies is that
1) They're of a different make, and come with a "flavour" or style of their own that you don't normally find in mainstream ponies, and it's not always for the worse. Some I feel are actually made prettier than the US ponies.
2) They come in interesting colours that the US normally wouldn't sell, and hence makes collecting a whole lot more interesting with a larger variety to choose from.
3) They provide a new avenue of extra "new" characters for us veterans to collect, especially for those running out of ponies to collect, eg. owning all US ponies.
4) They sometimes make characters that collectors thought should have been made in the 80s, but weren't done by the US. An example would be Baby Minty. Lots of collectors love Minty, and some wished she has a baby, and the Greeks answered that call. However, she's super htf, so those desperate to own her would pay through their nose just to own her. Maybe that's partially due to sentimental value, but hey whatever it is, it's called a "nirvana/grail" pony - if it is not, then you probably wouldn't care paying for one in the first place.
5) It provides insight on how ponies were adapted to fit a different culture in the past, which from a cultural or marketing point of view are all equally interesting.
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Just in case anyone cares to know more, here's my little summary of each origin:
Italian - Normally easily available and quite cheap to obtain. A few select ones go for decent mid-high prices mostly due to popularity such as Italian Gusty, which has green hair very different to the US counterpart. All Italians have blue eyes, and normally have painted matte or metallic symbols instead of glitter in the US, and their colours tend to be more intense and vibrant. Only downside is their often shoddy paint job, eg eyes not painted within contours.
German - Some don't consider these as nirvanas as they are produced in HK/China. Commonly known as "German exclusives" and only extends to certain sets of ponies like the Nestie Babies, the Play & Care Babies with Baby Buttons, CJ, Hopscotch...etc, alternate hair colour Sundae Best & Princess Ponies and the 3rd set of Rainbow Ponies with Raindrop & Nightlight. Their prices range from $25-80, depending. The baby ponies are sought after mainly because many collector own the adult version of the ponies to later discover they have babies too. I don't know why, but collectors have a strong major inclination to reunite the mums and the babies together, which also explains why Greek Baby Minty is such a must-have!
Spanish/No Country (NC) - Why Hasbro didn't use their factories in China remains a puzzle, because random select sets/characters are produced from this origin. There is a difference between a Spanish pony and a NC pony, mainly the Spanish ones have the word "SPAIN" clumsily etched onto their hooves. The NC ones do not have any country on the foot at all. However, they all might have been from the same factory because the make of the ponies feel like they are all the same. This is why Spanish or NC ponies, they are generally lumped together as a single category of ponies.They are most notable for the pretty 2nd set Rainbow Ponies they made, namely Starflower, Pinwheel, Confetti, Flutterbye, Tickle and Trickle. The ponies have slightly longer hair, the colours not as intense at the US versions, and the symbols are all painted with either matte or metallic paint, kind of similar to the Italians. They make nice replacements for the US versions because they are very pretty, and they also do not have the symbol rust problems, cancer and age spots that so plague the US release of the 2nd set Rainbow Ponies, especially Confetti, who's infamous for brown cancer age spots, Tickle for rusty symbols that eat into the plastic, and Pinwheel for rusty symbols plus plastic discolouration of neon pink spots. Other ponies with Spanish/NC alternatives are Sundance(most common of all), Tootsie, Cherries Jubilee, Snowflake (funny it's only her, haven't heard of Hopscotch, Honeycomb or Gypsy), and various members from the family pony sets. The mommies are commonly found as NC ponies.
French - These ponies are easy to recognise because they have "FRANCE" imprinted under their foot. These ponies received mixed responses because they can look VERY SIMILAR to their US counterparts, and yet some consider them exotic, and charge higher for them. They are indeed a lot harder to come by. They look like they are nicer with better quality, but really personally, I feel their plastics can be kind of thin in places. They generally have painted symbols, mixed with metallic ones, but the paint work is a lot more durable than the Italian or Spanish ponies. The hair is also a different texture from the US ones, like they are thinner and hold their shape better when it comes to curls, but I am assuming harder to defrizz as well. Medley, Twilight and Glory can be expensive despite looking almost like the US versions. However, it does seem like white French ponies do not turn cream easily like the US ponies do. They stay nice and white all the time, so white Frenchies are worth holding onto!!! Some ponies do end up as variants. The notable ones are Moondancer (different hair & symbolcolour), Bowtie & Cotton Candy have a different type of pink hair - the fading pink opposed to powder pink, and have a tendency to turn white over the years, making them a nice different. Then, there are the sitting ponies Bubbles and Seashell who have freckles instead of cheek blushes. There are also a few rainbow ponies that have been found with solid hair colours, so they do generate some variant interests.
Scandinavia - these only apply to very specific ponies. Even then, the ponies are not true Scandinavian ponies. The ponies are made in Hong Kong and are applicable to the coloured Birthflower Ponies, yellow Moondancer, white Tootsie, leaf green eyed Gusty with glittery symbols, NSS Cupcake and NSS Truly. Some of these ponies have been known to be released in other countries too, just not the USA or UK. Yellow Moondancer and white Tootsie are often found from Dutch countries too. Australia sold the alt colour Birthflowers, yellow Moonie and white Tootsie too, so sometimes, these ponies are termed "Australian" ponies. New Zealand and some other Asian countries received them, but Australia is the biggest country/market in the Asia Pacific region when these were sold there, so to make life simple for everyone, most people are happy to term them as Scandinavian or Australian. You can call them Singaporean, Malaysian, NZ, whatever (as long as the ponies were sold in those countries), but most collectors are not well versed with these places, so just use Australian, because most people know and recognise Australia.
Greeks - Only refers to early releases from Greece that were made by a factory called El Greco, and NOT Hasbro. Plastics are normally soft and squishy, and smell "sweet" - personally I do not find the smell sweet, but that's how a lot of collectors describe it. Eyes are thickly painted on with small pupils - some would describe them as "Egyptian eyes". Symbols are matte or metallic. Ponies have extremely intense and vibrant colours, which makes them very different from their US counterparts, some even come in different poses & colours. The Greek releases are a bit like G3 core 7s now. They will make let's say Firefly, but you can find the pony in many different colour combinations. It also seems they have a thing for releasing all the characters at least once in the colour orange, persoanlly, the only orange variant I like is Twilight. Very sought after Greeks are normally Baby Medley (baby never made in the US), "Ladybird", an easter Greek pony not sold anywhere else in the world, Baby Bluebelle and Baby Minty.
Basically what I love about Greek is them making all the ponies that I already love, but they make ponies like Sunbeam and Windy so much prettier in Greek style! Normally Greeks are found in rather decent condition, but the big killer for them is their symbols, which are paint that are known to "bleed" into the plastic through the years.
Argentinian - TCommonly referred to as "Argie" ponies. These ponies have normal looking pony poses, but their colours are all haywire, and the element of green seems like a favourite in their midst. Green body, green hair, green streak....it's green heaven for collectors. Green is a rare treat in US ponydom. These Argies use it like there's no tomorrow. These ponies were quite common at one point of time, and aren't as common now. A year or two ago, it was like a factory blowout on ebay, and I think that was pretty much all the MOC & MIB supply there is lol cos they're not as common anymore that prolly explains the slightly jack in their prices. Some US ponies are made in rather interesting colours in Argie. My fav has to be cream coloured Love Melody and first tooth Baby Moondancer, whom I'll own someday and call it Baby Nightlight instead.
Mexican - I used to think these ponies look horrible, not them really, just the condition they're often found in. I heard the Mexican sellers really dig them out from the ghettos LOL don't know how true! However, we are starting to find rather decent condition Mexicans on ebay as of late, so that's a good sign! Quite a few ponies are made true to their US design, but they show characteristics of much longer hair, painted symbols, or even spotting a different pose!!! One of the favourite grails will be Moondancer who is made in Glory's pose. For those who find that the US version looks a bit deformed, the Mexican one is for you. Mind you, she won't be cheap, because there's more than 100 ebayers who want her just as bad as you! The Mexicans do have some very nice looking ponies, but they can do better with the hair. It is also note worthy that the Mexicans have some very odd looking baby poses, like what looks like a Baby Firefly's head on a Baby Cotton Candy's body for the earth baby pose, and what looks like a Baby Ember's head on a Baby Firefly's body for the baby pegasus' pose. Baby Cotton Candys are normally quite easy to come by on ebay, and range roughly from $9-15 for pretty good condition ones. The baby pegs tho....hmmm, you might get a chance at Baby Surprise, but if you are aiming for pegasus Baby Blossom, please raise your credit card limit!
Peruvian & Columbians - I can't say much on these, we need other nirvana collectors to shed light on these ponies since I don't own or keep check on them. They do seem pretty similar to Mexicans IMO, and I think if you are to go for them, you might as well go for the Mexicans which are the cheaper alternative, except the few really nice ones like pegasus Peruvian Baby Blossom and Baby Medley. Or the Columbian "daddies"!
Brazilians - Not made by Hasbro, but a factory called Estrela. Also notorious for frizzy hair - it seems like a common fare for many South American ponies. They are also very recognised for their "shiny" plastic, and extremely well loved for making some of the very popular characters such as Magic Star & Paradise as normal ponies instead of So Soft ponies with flocking in the US. Also, some characters end up as a different breed. Example would be Truly as a peg. Most notable is the lack of unicorns in Brazilian releases, all of them are converted to earth ponies, such as Ribbon, Twist & GUsty. Gusty seems like the most popular of all, and her baby receives no lesser attention - always expensive to afford. They also make unknown characters that collectors assume are hybrids of US ponies fused together like the rainbow pony in a sitting pose, which has the colours of Sunlight, but more aqua-ish, but has Bowtie's symbol. The Brazilians babies are rather popular as they are the non-BBE answer to some of the US ponies like Baby Cuddles, Baby Tiddly Winks and BabY Lofty. Baby lofty is the most sought after because she is the only one not to have a NBBE counterpart at all in the US or Europe, and set completers are all out to get her. I was one of them, and I finally own my own. *is so proud!!!!*
Africans - last but not least, Africans. I can't remember what the last verdict was on them, but I know someone on the board is the expert on these. I'm not sure if they are real MLPs OR very well done fakies, because they come in all these hybrid poses and have tails sewn on in plugs rather than stuffed in as a bunch. All I remember was seeing an African Bubbles (colours are all correct, but she's in Moodancer's body with some other's pony's head) on Aussie ebay. I wanted it so bad, but it ended at $75, which is a no-no for me. The seller was in Sydney.
I hope this explains why some collectors collects nirvanas. Not everyone collects them for the value or is nuts over them to get heightened attention, but there really is something VERY INTERESTING about these ponies that nirvana collectors (or rather...pony archeologists) are crazy to unearth and discover. Call us extreme pony fanatics, we're not only crazy about ponies, we want to know all and more about them.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wish List
Last Updated 31 Jan 2023
My G1 Wish List is mainly divided into 3 sections:
Imperative Wants - ponies I really want or need to feed my addicition
Optional Wants - ponies I won't die without, but don't mind having
Convenient Wants - ponies I eventually would love to add to my herd, but don't want to make the extra effort to obtain
Generation 1
*Imeperative Wants:
-Deflocked Scrumptious
-Deflocked SS Heart Throb
-SS Heart Throb (MINT)
-Heart Throb (Italian) upgrade
-NSS Buttons upgrade
-Baby Buttons upgrade
-So Soft Heart Throb with winged symbols
-So Soft Buttons with stars in symbols
-Baby Meadowsweet
-Dutch Baby Dolphin
*Optional Wants:
-Faded to WHITE Windy
-Greek Moonstone
-Greek Sunbeam (offering around $120)
-Greek Baby Minty
-Mexican Blue Belle with sky blue eyes
*Convenient Wants:
-Quackers (upgrade)
Custom Ponies
I love collecting well made custom ponies. I prefer natural/dyed colours over airbrushing because paint does crack over time. Also, I have certain criteria for paint jobs. I generally do not take artists who seal their work with Modge Podge. That's glue, not waterproof sealant. Ponies have to be sealed with POLYURETHANE MATTE sealants. It is like coating your pony with a layer of plastic, and it does look and feel like plastic even though it is painted.
(for commission - please send me link to pictures of your works and prices). Seeking for the following projects to be done:
- Greek yellow Twilight - yellow body in Glory's pose with aqua hair and a yellow streak
- Newborn Heart Throb - made from Newborn Baby Nibbles(pink twin)
- Newborn Lofty - made from Newborn Bunkie (yellow twin)
-Pale Hippity Hop - made from North Star body with Dollyhair Atomic Kitten or Pink Sugar
Custom Baits:
-Newborn Nibbles (pink pegasus twin), body needs to be nice (for a Newborn Heart Throb)
- any newborn unicorn or pegasus or earthling with 1 leg up pose
-any first tooth
-baity baby Noddins
-Mummy Bright Bouquet with nice body & hair but poor symbols (making alt pose Blossom)
-Rainbow Curl Ringlet X 02 with nice body (make alt pose Skydancer)
-North Star with nice body, poor hair (to make a paler version of Hippity Hop)
- any unicorn in Milkyway's pose
- any unicorn in Fizzy/Beachball's pose
-Sweet Tooth X 01 with hair (inserting horn and repainting as Moondancer)
-Any pony in Sweet Tooth/Love Melody pose (inserting horn and repainting as Majesty)
Generation 2
-any babies for cheap!
Generation 3
- Carribean Delight
- Beach Belle
- TRU Pack Cotton Candy
- TRU Pack Gardenia Glow
- TRU Pack Rainbow Delight (is that her name?)
- Cherry Blossom (very first version)
-Sweet Sparkle
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ponyville Customs
Friday, February 20, 2009
Baby Ponies Who Can Finally See
Many moons ago, I finally had the money and rusty BBE baits at hand, so I decided to get a complete set of non-BBEs in BBE poses. These baits were personally hand-picked for wicked rust in their eyes, some could beat Chuckie (from Child's Play movies) in the horror contest. I was kind of sad sending off a few ponies from my personal collection, which includes Baby Shady, Lickety Split, Baby Sundance, Baby Half Note, Baby Tiddly Wink and Baby Cuddles. They were in good condition when I first got them a decade ago, but when I took them out from storage, their eyes already showed signs of paint wear and spots of rust spreading all over the eyes. Rust is the worst thing that can happen to a BBE baby pony. A BBE is special mainly because of its eyes, but if they start rusting, not only will the pony stop being special, she'll stop having eyes too.
Aren't they adorable? I still think the pegasus and earth babies can have their molds modified a bit. The pegs look a bit old while the earths are simply awkward looking in general. They look so stiff. :/ No quarrels with the unicorns.