Updated 16 Jan 2015
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
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
TAF Babies
Remember my old post of the first Singaporean pony meet 2 years ago in August 2007? Then, I only had Baby Dancing Butterflies and Baby Sweet Tooth, oh and a custom earth Baby Sweet Tooth. Last year, I acquired Baby Love Melody and Baby Milkyway when I visited the USA in 2008 June-August. Finally, after a loooong time of separation, I've finally COMPLETED my TAF Babies today 9th Nov 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top row: Baby Sweet Tooth(custom), Baby Sugarberry, Baby Love Melody
Middle row: Baby Up, up & Away, Baby Sweet Tooth, Baby Milkyway (custom)
Last row: Baby Dancing Butterflies, Baby Milkyway
Mexican Ponies
I normally couldn't care less about variant ponies, but Mexicans are just some of those "other" ponies I need to have. I'm not out to get them all, and I think I am quite focused on what I want. I aim to eventually own the following:
Moondancer - rivals the US regular version because I like her pose better (owned)
Rainbow Medley - why, she looks just lovely with the rainbow hair! (owned)
Alternate Pose Blossom - when I saw her it was OMG, MUST HAVE, I love her 100 times over the regular US version (owned)
Blue Belle with sky blue eyes (Auriken)
Baby Moondancer - I love her darker hair colour than the US one
Rainbow Firefly - this is not a must have, but nice to have to go as a pair with Medley
Starflower & Pinwheel - I just love their hair colours!
MOONDANCER
Notable difference is that Mexi Moonie has a pink streak instead of lavender, and much longer hair that touches the ground. She has metallic symbols like Italian Moondancer does, and has a forelock. Considering how shitty Mexican ponies normally are, this pony is what a lot of people would consider as GREAT condition. She was yellowed when she came, but I think sunning did her some good. She's still off white, but much better than before. She has some stray marks, but still lovely!
BLOSSOM
When I saw Renee's Blossom in NYC, I feel in love with her even though Renee's Blossom is in terrible condition with the poofy hair and discoloured body. Mine's not the best, but she's pretty decent with some faded marks on her. Her cheek blush has discoloured to white, and has a nick on the display side. I tried to recover it with pale pink paint, so now she looks like she has baboon's arse for her cheeks.
MINTY
This pony wasn't an intentional purchase. I was bidding on something else, and since she doesn't look too bad, I decided to buy her to bulk ship to save on shipping. She's not my favourite colour, but still a lovely addition nonetheless.
Twinkle-Eyed Ponies
Ok, I've decided to keep my post count down by grouping ponies up instead making individual posts for every character. I'll update the posts bit by bit as I get new pics of my ponies.
SWEETPOP
If I have a choose a favourite among the Twinkle-Eyed set, it has to be Sweetpop. Even though I was more well acquainted with TV featured characters like Gingerbread, Galaxy and Fizzy, I'd still pick Sweetpop over them any day. It is kind of funny since my friend and I deem Sweetpop, Sky Rocket and Speedy to be rather "Singapore" -ish ponies since unlike the other countries where they had a second set of TEs carrying later characters like Locket and Tic Tac Toe (even if they didn't get Mimic like North America did), all we got in Singapore were the first 6 TEs and these 3 additional mid-set ponies. The oddest part was that we had Sweetpop, Sky Rocket and Speedy in abundance!!! I remembered walking into the shopping centre and finding no other TEs (or maybe a sparse one or two hiding right to the back of the peg), but just these 3 ponies. It made me wonder if they were just unpopular, or was Hasbro just pushing the sales of new characters. Anyway, their impression on me has cemented. I love Speedy and Sky Rocket, but they're less unique because they came out in Europe as well. In fact, I still love Speedy, but somehow Sky Rocket's colour just doesn't stick for me. Sweetpop must exude some mysterious charm of her own that made me fall for her. Normally, I will choose a unicorn as my top favourite since I am almost always partial to unicorns over pegasus ponies. However, Sweetpop's colours smoothly won me over. She had to be in my favourite colour - BLUE and a nice cool looking one at that, and her hair colours just shout "POPSICLE", coupled with a matching name and symbols. She is simply perfect. Mimic may have won the majority vote for mayor, but I'll always choose Sweetpop.
ALTERNATE SWEETPOP
I bought this pony off PKW on the MLPArena. She gave Sweetpop alternate hair colours that I thought were quite fitting as well. I purchased her in a wink. PKW also specialised in one thing - de-BBEing & de-TEing ponies. She can remove their flawed eyes, clay them and paint them to look like they never had externally implanted eyes before. I do not Sweetpop even without the jewel eyes but I still feel rather sorry for her. I don't why but I see the jewel eyes as a TE pony's most treasured asset, and to lose them is SHAME! How can I let my pony live in embarrassment for the rest of her life? She's plastic and can live at least a few hundred years down the road without deteriorating, so that's quite a few centuries of shame - BAD. Lucky for her, there's a craft store near my place that sells flat base rhinestones in many size. Seems like the a trend to buy these nowadays for sticking onto an iPhone. I don't own one, but I'm happy that my ponies benefit from its popularity. Sweetpop is now a TE again, and best part is that her eyes are detachable, so that I can choose to let her be TE or normal, according to my mood.
UNICORN SWEETPOP
FIZZY
NEON LOCKET
I'm not sure why my camera wouldn't pick up the right colour, but when I bought this Locket, she was so discoloured that she's evenly neon pink throughout. The photo makes her look normal, but really she's discoloured. Not the regular lavenderish pink you normally have. It's kind of a waste since Locket's hair and eyes are almost perfect, and she comes with her comb pick and original ribbon. I've decided to keep her seeing how interesting she looks ^^ I'm getting a new Locket soon, hopefully, that one won't be discoloured.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
WHY Nirvanas?
This is actually my quick response to a comment on the MLPArena regarding nirvana. I know it's kind of long .... as said it's a quick response, so I used a lot of "quick language". lol
"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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
"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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
My new custom Ponyvilles!
Customising Ponyvilles has always been on my agenda list, BUT the cost is always a factor. Here in Singapore, it costs $19.90 to afford a duo pack Ponyville with accessories. Not like I care too much about accessories. Anyway, FINALLY, the stores have begin to realise that their toys are overpriced and started adjusting them since February. I found some of them for $9.90 at first, and then OG started having a super sale for $5 each. Got tons with Sweetie Belles in the set.
It was so much fun customising Ponyvilles mainly because I don't have to change the hair, which is the most tedious part. I hate hair rerooting. The symbols are hard to paint because of the size so I had to paint using a needle. I am happy how my first 3 turned out.
Moondancer - Love the hair, and I painted her symbol with a violet moon which is how she is always coloured in the cartoon and comics.
Majesty - She is actually given a slight pearly glaze that is only evident up close in person.
Magic Star - She was meant to be Cascade, but her hair paint dried out to be darker than I thought, so Magic Star it was.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Baby Ponies Who Can Finally See
EDIT: Added new pictures of de-BBEed babies. Just realised that I am missing Tiddlywinks to complete the set!
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.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
I Draw When I Am Bored
Stress in life doesn't get me as down as the one single thing called BOREDOM. I can handle stress (perhaps a bit too well), but I can't handle boredom! When I am bored, I get suicidal. Fortunately I have learnt many ways to ferret out of that pit in my emotions. lol Other than shopping, my other forms of therapy include cleaning ponies, keeping my room tidy, write rubbish on the internet, harassing friends and DRAWING. See problem is... on a normal day, I don't draw very well or colour very well. However, when I am bored, my autistic....I mean my artistic..."talents" start to show.
After I draw, I tend to get the compulsion to colour them. It's a hardwired attribute of mine.
And the results:
I wouldn't say these are the best works I have done, but they are definitely some of the more decent ones. lol Very sad...I know...but at least I am NOT NOT bored!
After I draw, I tend to get the compulsion to colour them. It's a hardwired attribute of mine.
And the results:
I wouldn't say these are the best works I have done, but they are definitely some of the more decent ones. lol Very sad...I know...but at least I am NOT NOT bored!
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Friday, September 5, 2008
OMG Core 7 Fakie Already?
OMG Look, Core 7 Fakie already surfacing! This picture was taken off ebay. The body pose is wrong, but the head is very close to the Core 7 ones. This is too interesting to pass up. I hope they will turn up in Singapore!
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Minty
There are many Mintys but this one in this pose is my favourite. The clothes were taken from the 1st Xmas Minty and given to this one from the butterfly wear series. She is IMO one of the nicest Minty out there next to the one that came out in the special release for the World's Biggest Tea Party Live Show.
In stories and cartoons, Minty always plays the comic relief. Sometimes she is funny, but sometimes, she tries too hard. lol It is well known that she likes SOCKS, which was how the term "rock socks" came from. Indeed, Minty rocks socks like no one's business.
Although Minty is not on my top 10 favourites list, it did sadden me a bit that she didn't make it to the Core 7 during the selection round. If Hasbro didn't sell her with an ugly 3D symbol the last time, she would have probably sold much better. I blame Hasbro for everything because who else can I blame? They make all the horrible decisions that make collectors scream in pain! Little girls probably scream in pain too at what is happening now, but they're easier to manipulate, so maybe it's time to set them up against the pony makers. Collectors need to coalesce into an opposing force that helps to maintain a balance in the pony line before Hasbro goes overboard and kills My Little Pony altogether. They seem to know what they are doing with all the market research and stuff, but they seem not to know exactly what they are doing at the same time. It's like they're drowned in what they are doing due to overexposure from pony radiation. Things tend to go off-tangent a bit...and sometimes, A LOT.
The Core 7 may be doing well, but my Minty isn't very happy that she's been dropped out of the Re-release Pageant. "Not cool", she says, "ain't no rock when you lose your socks."
In stories and cartoons, Minty always plays the comic relief. Sometimes she is funny, but sometimes, she tries too hard. lol It is well known that she likes SOCKS, which was how the term "rock socks" came from. Indeed, Minty rocks socks like no one's business.
Although Minty is not on my top 10 favourites list, it did sadden me a bit that she didn't make it to the Core 7 during the selection round. If Hasbro didn't sell her with an ugly 3D symbol the last time, she would have probably sold much better. I blame Hasbro for everything because who else can I blame? They make all the horrible decisions that make collectors scream in pain! Little girls probably scream in pain too at what is happening now, but they're easier to manipulate, so maybe it's time to set them up against the pony makers. Collectors need to coalesce into an opposing force that helps to maintain a balance in the pony line before Hasbro goes overboard and kills My Little Pony altogether. They seem to know what they are doing with all the market research and stuff, but they seem not to know exactly what they are doing at the same time. It's like they're drowned in what they are doing due to overexposure from pony radiation. Things tend to go off-tangent a bit...and sometimes, A LOT.
The Core 7 may be doing well, but my Minty isn't very happy that she's been dropped out of the Re-release Pageant. "Not cool", she says, "ain't no rock when you lose your socks."
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Meadowbrook & Minty
Meadowbrook
It makes me wonder why of all ponies, Hasbro chose some of the more boring ponies to re-release. It was nice having Royal Bouquet with painted symbols, but I wanted to see Meadowbrook even more. She was one of the first ponies to be released in the G3 line, and has to be one of the prettier yellow ponies around. She's also one of my favourite characters. ^^
I remembered when the G3s were first released in 2003, my friends and I ran out to buy all the new ponies. And right on the shelves with the single packs, the Cotton Candy Cafe and an odd playset with European packaging. Although the playset had a proper name, it was more commonly referred to as "the Flower Shop" by Hasbro in their advertising materials. From there, she ensnared my imagination, and I always had stories for her going on exciting adventures that did not include having tea, even if tea contains a lot of antioxidants.
Sadly, Meadowbrook does not appear much in media materials. She only made a single appearance in a storybook titled "Hide n' Seek". If only Hasbro gave her a little more presence!
All along I've assumed that all Meadowbrooks are the same, re-released or not. Apparently, Hasbro had actually made subtle changes that I didn't bother noticing. Below tells you the differences.
Left=Flower Shop version(v1), right=later version that came as a bonus pony(v2)
Difference? V1 has a more honey yellow, while V2 is more a solid vibrant yellow. The heads are also slightly different if you can tell from the picture. V1 is slight tilted back. V2 is more leveled with the ground.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++C++
Minty
There are many Mintys but this one in this pose is my favourite. The clothes were taken from the 1st Xmas Minty and given to this one from the butterfly wear series. She is IMO one of the nicest Minty out there next to the one that came out in the special release for the World's Biggest Tea Party Live Show.
In stories and cartoons, Minty always plays the comic relief. Sometimes she is funny, but sometimes, she tries too hard. lol It is well known that she likes SOCKS, which was how the term "rock socks" came from. Indeed, Minty rocks socks like no one's business.
Although Minty is not on my top 10 favourites list, it did sadden me a bit that she didn't make it to the Core 7 during the selection round. If Hasbro didn't sell her with an ugly 3D symbol the last time, she would have probably sold much better. I blame Hasbro for everything because who else can I blame? They make all the horrible decisions that make collectors scream in pain! Little girls probably scream in pain too at what is happening now, but they're easier to manipulate, so maybe it's time to set them up against the pony makers. Collectors need to coalesce into an opposing force that helps to maintain a balance in the pony line before Hasbro goes overboard and kills My Little Pony altogether. They seem to know what they are doing with all the market research and stuff, but they seem not to know exactly what they are doing at the same time. It's like they're drowned in what they are doing due to overexposure from pony radiation. Things tend to go off-tangent a bit...and sometimes, A LOT.
The Core 7 may be doing well, but my Minty isn't very happy that she's been dropped out of the Re-release Pageant. "Not cool", she says, "ain't no rock when you lose your socks."
It makes me wonder why of all ponies, Hasbro chose some of the more boring ponies to re-release. It was nice having Royal Bouquet with painted symbols, but I wanted to see Meadowbrook even more. She was one of the first ponies to be released in the G3 line, and has to be one of the prettier yellow ponies around. She's also one of my favourite characters. ^^
I remembered when the G3s were first released in 2003, my friends and I ran out to buy all the new ponies. And right on the shelves with the single packs, the Cotton Candy Cafe and an odd playset with European packaging. Although the playset had a proper name, it was more commonly referred to as "the Flower Shop" by Hasbro in their advertising materials. From there, she ensnared my imagination, and I always had stories for her going on exciting adventures that did not include having tea, even if tea contains a lot of antioxidants.
Sadly, Meadowbrook does not appear much in media materials. She only made a single appearance in a storybook titled "Hide n' Seek". If only Hasbro gave her a little more presence!
All along I've assumed that all Meadowbrooks are the same, re-released or not. Apparently, Hasbro had actually made subtle changes that I didn't bother noticing. Below tells you the differences.
Left=Flower Shop version(v1), right=later version that came as a bonus pony(v2)
Difference? V1 has a more honey yellow, while V2 is more a solid vibrant yellow. The heads are also slightly different if you can tell from the picture. V1 is slight tilted back. V2 is more leveled with the ground.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++C++
Minty
There are many Mintys but this one in this pose is my favourite. The clothes were taken from the 1st Xmas Minty and given to this one from the butterfly wear series. She is IMO one of the nicest Minty out there next to the one that came out in the special release for the World's Biggest Tea Party Live Show.
In stories and cartoons, Minty always plays the comic relief. Sometimes she is funny, but sometimes, she tries too hard. lol It is well known that she likes SOCKS, which was how the term "rock socks" came from. Indeed, Minty rocks socks like no one's business.
Although Minty is not on my top 10 favourites list, it did sadden me a bit that she didn't make it to the Core 7 during the selection round. If Hasbro didn't sell her with an ugly 3D symbol the last time, she would have probably sold much better. I blame Hasbro for everything because who else can I blame? They make all the horrible decisions that make collectors scream in pain! Little girls probably scream in pain too at what is happening now, but they're easier to manipulate, so maybe it's time to set them up against the pony makers. Collectors need to coalesce into an opposing force that helps to maintain a balance in the pony line before Hasbro goes overboard and kills My Little Pony altogether. They seem to know what they are doing with all the market research and stuff, but they seem not to know exactly what they are doing at the same time. It's like they're drowned in what they are doing due to overexposure from pony radiation. Things tend to go off-tangent a bit...and sometimes, A LOT.
The Core 7 may be doing well, but my Minty isn't very happy that she's been dropped out of the Re-release Pageant. "Not cool", she says, "ain't no rock when you lose your socks."
Blogged with the Flock Browser
My G3 Harem of Concubines
Well to start off this section, I'll show off some of my G3s. These ponies reside in my "favourite" cupboard. I was getting bored for the Core 7 stuff, and took time to revisit some of my older G3s, appreciating them more this time, instead of just buying them, open, wash and then chuck them into storage. lol They will feel very neglected, okay...maybe they already did.
Pinkie Pie (pink), Starbeam (blue), Apple Spice (yellow), Daisy Jo (purple)
Rainbow Dash (blue), Fluttershy (pink), Sweet Sparkle (white), Crystal Crown (green - yellow hair is dyed), Twinkle Twirl (purple)
Poinsettia (green), Velvet Bow (aka Russian Pony, pale purple), Dazzle Surprise (aka Razzle Dazzle, pinkish purple)
Wysteria (purple), Moondancer (aka Moondreamer, blue), Fluttershy (1st version, pink)
January Carnation (white), Meadowbrook (yellow), Tea Leaf (pink)
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Henna Ponies (Core 7)
There's no one way to call these ponies, because I call them Face Design Ponies, while some others refer to them as Eyeshadow Ponies or "Henna", whatever that means. lol Having been staring at the same Core 7 ponies on the shelves had finally taken a toll on me. Don't get me wrong, I did love the Core 7 ponies for a time, but it's getting painful seeing them and nothing else. Kids don't care, I don't care, only Hasbro cares...I think they care.
Anyway, when I heard these gals out were out, I couldn't be bother because I thought I was over and done with the My Little Pony line. A day finally came when I really decided I wanted to quit collecting ponies... . Visiting friends is always a bad idea, especially pony friends. I was at Yuanie's, and to my horror, I actually thought her Henna Scootaloo cute with the new head. Next moment I knew, I was running out to buy her. Then I spotted Cheerilee at Carrefour, and decided her new face was pretty too. I ...... bought her too. Naturally I had to get Toola Roola because she shared the new face I like with Cheerilee. The unicorn and pegasus were ponies I'd definitely get because well....they're unicorn and pegasus ponies! After owning 5 of the 7 ponies, it seemed natural to get Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to complete the set. OMG....I collected Core 7 stuff again.
I'm not big on the ponies that still look the same old, pose wise. However, the new heads injected a new lease of life on the Core 7. I fell most easily in love with Cheerilee. Not only does she have the most beautiful hair, the green spray and the leafy extensions on her symbols and face are what I felt were comple- and complimenting touches that enhanced her beauty overall.
All in all, the Hennas were good buys, and definitely recommended to all. As for the normal Core 7s, they're better off bought as custom baits.
Meet Cherry Blossom. I can't seem to bring myself to call her Cheerilee.
Toola Flash - I thought she's kind of cute with the new head and green eye shadows
TAF Scootaloo - so I guess most of us are sick of her, but she's cute in this pose.
Scootaloo meeting her friend Guava Lava. Look, they have the same mouth!!!
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I is so smart. I made NEW PONY!
So...I was VERY bored. And this is what I did. I just made a core 8th and 9th pony....
Meet Pinkity
The End
LOL so what do you think do my Frankenstein head switching? They make pretty interesting poses.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Retros G1.5 Aren't Up to the Originals?
"Some of you can be a little to picky.You have to appreciate them for what they are. A remake of a classic. And how many remakes can ever live up to the original? They are definatly not the same but they are cute in their own way!" - these are the golden words from Skylar on the MlpArena. Unfortunately, MountainCai doesn't think so! If a mountain doesn't think so, then nothing matters as they all seem small and trivial.
I don't think it is so much a problem living up to standards, but rather, Hasbro is in fact cheating on the materials/quality of the repros compared to the real G1s. Get it? CHEAT, like a husband cheats on a wife kind of cheat. For G1s, they get ribbons with a "thick" feel that you only find being used on Godiva gift chocolate boxes today mostly. The new ribbons are shorter, and they're really thin. The symbols are cheaply slapped on with a layer of gloss smeared across to ensure they stick on like a sticker.
Next, for the mold, it could have been better. Problem is not because it is a repro off an old pony, but rather, the Hasbro sculptors themselves don't really see much difference in the details! At the pony fair, the guy Kirk said he was quite impressed that their technology allowed them to so-call "scan" an existing pony into a computer and they produce a new mold from there. Pretty much like a photocopy I guess. He claims that the new mold is just like a replica. I did voice out that I thought the new molds did lose out some details, but he didn't seem to think the same way. :P I think Hasbro could have tweaked and improved the molds if they wanted to, but it just didn't seem important to them. I mean if you are really interested in catering to the collectors' community, surely you will at least make the effort to execute aesthetics with a little more precision? And I can really see why MLPs are losing out to LPS, new or retro release.
I would say if Hasbro cared a little more, the retro releases would have lived up to the originals in terms of quality standards and expectations. Sadly, Hasbro's idea of meeting standards is very different from us collectors, so there is nothing much we can do, but take it or leave it. I don't think sales is too bad, but neither is it so good that Hasbro is encouraged to rush out more. Anyway, even though I think I may sound quite negative about the retro, they're not exactly lost causes. I do realise that the Rainbows look better OUT of package than in the package. I took mine out because I had to ship them home to Singapore, and they look much prettier, even with the smaller eyes! I guess you can call it making the best of what you have ^^ They're not thaaaaaaat bad, yet, they could have been better. I think it's probably the "could have been" part that turns a lot of people off, and it's within Hasbro's ability to achieve that is not being done. AHHHHHH, the horror on how Hasbro stinges on us and still expects us to fork out the money; just makes us feel like we're only worthy of borderline importance sometimes.
I don't think it is so much a problem living up to standards, but rather, Hasbro is in fact cheating on the materials/quality of the repros compared to the real G1s. Get it? CHEAT, like a husband cheats on a wife kind of cheat. For G1s, they get ribbons with a "thick" feel that you only find being used on Godiva gift chocolate boxes today mostly. The new ribbons are shorter, and they're really thin. The symbols are cheaply slapped on with a layer of gloss smeared across to ensure they stick on like a sticker.
Next, for the mold, it could have been better. Problem is not because it is a repro off an old pony, but rather, the Hasbro sculptors themselves don't really see much difference in the details! At the pony fair, the guy Kirk said he was quite impressed that their technology allowed them to so-call "scan" an existing pony into a computer and they produce a new mold from there. Pretty much like a photocopy I guess. He claims that the new mold is just like a replica. I did voice out that I thought the new molds did lose out some details, but he didn't seem to think the same way. :P I think Hasbro could have tweaked and improved the molds if they wanted to, but it just didn't seem important to them. I mean if you are really interested in catering to the collectors' community, surely you will at least make the effort to execute aesthetics with a little more precision? And I can really see why MLPs are losing out to LPS, new or retro release.
I would say if Hasbro cared a little more, the retro releases would have lived up to the originals in terms of quality standards and expectations. Sadly, Hasbro's idea of meeting standards is very different from us collectors, so there is nothing much we can do, but take it or leave it. I don't think sales is too bad, but neither is it so good that Hasbro is encouraged to rush out more. Anyway, even though I think I may sound quite negative about the retro, they're not exactly lost causes. I do realise that the Rainbows look better OUT of package than in the package. I took mine out because I had to ship them home to Singapore, and they look much prettier, even with the smaller eyes! I guess you can call it making the best of what you have ^^ They're not thaaaaaaat bad, yet, they could have been better. I think it's probably the "could have been" part that turns a lot of people off, and it's within Hasbro's ability to achieve that is not being done. AHHHHHH, the horror on how Hasbro stinges on us and still expects us to fork out the money; just makes us feel like we're only worthy of borderline importance sometimes.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Leeching in Monterey
Ok after 1.5 months of living on the east coast with my friend princessluna11706, I'm dead broke, because everyone knows how expensive things in New York can get. And not to mention how unfathomably one can spend over one short weekend in Rhode Island at the MLP Fair. I became broke as naturally as breathing air. God knew that way in advance, but he didn't bother telling me, not even in my dreams... . Of course I was upset, but SO HAPPY that I had all the ponies I wanted at the same time. I've been planning to visit my cousin in Monterey, but have been dragging my plans because princessluna11706 said we had to go to Boston on 4th of July, which was not a regretable trip by the way! It was AMEN haven there. I had such a wonderful time admiring the Museum of Fine Arts and dancing in the aquarium, taking videos of every fish or fishlet I came across. Anyway, I've finally DONE it! After my trip to San Jose and Fremont to Bridgetsmum & Chief's, I took an expensive 1.5 hour airbus for eeek $35! It only costs me $15 to travel from NYC to Boston - URGGGH so cheap!
Monterey in summer has the temperature of winter in Brisbane, Australia - LOL! A weak summer I'd say, but the view was breathtaking. The harsh sea coast with all the eroded rocks and sparse patches of remaining plateu reminded me of a time long gone. An epic tale of a tragic hero started playing in my mind of a charming adonis with curly dark hair, with clear cobalt blue eyes. Then suddenly, somehow his face was replaced by my own, and then I realised what an ugly dream it was. I don't like to diss myself, but even I can scare myself sometimes. It's a fact, not fiction.
Monterey in summer has the temperature of winter in Brisbane, Australia - LOL! A weak summer I'd say, but the view was breathtaking. The harsh sea coast with all the eroded rocks and sparse patches of remaining plateu reminded me of a time long gone. An epic tale of a tragic hero started playing in my mind of a charming adonis with curly dark hair, with clear cobalt blue eyes. Then suddenly, somehow his face was replaced by my own, and then I realised what an ugly dream it was. I don't like to diss myself, but even I can scare myself sometimes. It's a fact, not fiction.
General Design of a Typical My Little Pony
There are many ways to design a pony, and that's probably why there can be so many pony fakies out there. Cute ponies are no longer a niche in a toyline. If you look at every popular toylines out there like Barbie or Strawberry Shortcake or something as sad as Bratz, every toy manufacturer wants a bite of the pony/horse pie. Everyone saw the need to diversify, ALL EXCEPT Hasbro. Hasbro created My Little Ponies and started a trend that's true, but they don't have the guts to challenge their competitors in saturated areas such as human dolls that they tried to perpetrate back in the 80s with the Megan doll, and eventually the Moondreamer doll line that didn't do too well, but was an obvious extension from the seeming success of the past 3 different releases of the Megan doll. I would say there is too much market research but too little actual experimentation from Hasbro. They may have focus groups and so on, but these are only small representative samples that are daringly used to reflect the world as a whole. That is simply biased qualitative research I feel. Ok, so this may sound too much like vindictive personal attacks on Hasbro's marketing moves, and in truth, I admit 90% is true!!! I can be very honest and hurtful most of the time.
Anyway, my point is - after a long sidetrack ranting - Hasbro has lost sight of making MLPs an age 3-6 toy. They claim they are trying to make toys for a younger age group, but yet they're not willing to shake off the "I'm so hip and cool" impression that their ponies now have that clearly belong to toys from the older age groups. Not that it is always a bad thing, but Hasbro is seriously putting in a luke-warm effort, making the ponies standing neither here nor there. They're not cool enough for the older children and too cool for the younger kiddos to relate to. Therefore, in my grading system of design success, they get a capital F (for FAILURE!).
The initial design moto from Hasbro was that they intent to make ponies an innocent toyline, free from fashion and bohemian strive from existing toylines on the market. Barbie is the typical OMG dropdead grogeous exemplar of fashion and the "it" girls club. As for Bratz with their unconventional attractive ugliness, it's definitely part of the bohemian sect. I mean which boy in the world wants to marry a girl with a head bigger than his football when he's 18? And little girls see Bratz as their "role model"? I can't help but LOL, ROFL and LMAO at the same time. If words can be animated, you'll see my action abbreviations fly. Instead of what they set out to do, Hasbro actually made a simplified version of the above said things. It was pure horror when I discovered my beloved ponies were all suffering from full time work that involved tea parties and costume balls 24/7. Even at slumber parties, they can be having crumpet magic.
I can't say I am a talented designer or anything, and my only credential is that I babysit my baby niece and little cousins, and by watching how they interact with other children, I roughly understand what makes them tick and want to react, and therefore, what kind of looks and play endears easily to them most.
In my opinion, small children don't understand what being cool and fashionable means. Age 3-6 is the time when they like to "monkey see monkey do"; they tend to either copy older kids or they find someone who looks their age and they copy each other. Therefore, the quickest way to create a pony that hits off directly with a child would be to make a pony look like a child. A pony is not gimmicky like some other toys on the market, nor do they have a strong storyline or successful cartoon to back them up, so their appearance is extremely important. In the illustration above, I've noted what I think are defining traits that are attractive to a child of age 3-6.
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