New Pony Room

It's Christmas in the Pony Room!  Well, at least there's a lot of boxes to open.  :P

First off, I just want to say that Anime North was a blast this year!  I had a great time, had some fantastic co-panalists, and enjoyed all my panels this year.  And I managed not to blow all my budget in the dealer's room.  ;P The cosplay was, as usual amazing.  My hat goes off to all the dedicated cosplayers, especially those who were clearly freezing in the lower than normal temperatures.  My hat also goes off to the organizers - they did an amazing job, not only with the behind the scenes work, but with the panel staging and assistance too.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Ponies would be unpacked as soon as they were moved, and so they were.  Of course, this isn't their proper place, nor is there any order to their arrangement, they're just out on the shelves.  Luckily there were built in shelves in the closet that were just big enough to house most of my collection.  They'll stay there until their proper shelving home is set up.  Heaven knows when that will happen.

The closet shelving is also handy since there are of course no curtains up on the windows yet.  The Ponies don't need to be fading in the sun, and this way I can close the closet door and keep them safe.  The playsets are all boxed up in the closet for the moment as well.

Incidentally, this is what 16 years of Pony collecting looks like when it's all laid out together: my entire brushable MLP collection (544 ponies) arranged by colour.

Elf

Anime North

This weekend I'm on my way to my second time attending Anime North and I'll be participating in four MLP related panels:

Brony vs Collector Saturday at 10am in  room Toronto A (Doubletree): teaming up again with DJ Midli, we'll be looking at the MLP fandom from both sides.  I've been told that CBC may be joining us.  :O

History of MLP - From Firefly to FIM Saturday at 8pm in room Ottawa (Doubletree): a brief history of the MLP line - that's been around for 30 YEARS!

MLP Customizing Saturday at 10 pm in room Ottawa (Doubletree): fairly self-evident, I'll be talking about the basics of customizing and showing off a few of my finished customs.

Collecting 101 Sunday at noon in room Hamilton (Doubletree): teaming up with Marie Bilodeau (otherwise known as "Roomy") we'll be talking about some of the basics of collecting like pros and cons of online communities, knowing your prices and spotting a varient.

Anime North Momiji custom ponies

Should be a great time.

Elf

Moving Ponies

Moving house means moving Ponies.  In my case, the Ponies moved before Roomy and I did.

Moving  500ish Ponies, plus accessories, plus playsets, plus books, plus merchandise, plus shelving, plus packaging, plus...well you get the idea...is a lot of work.  Heck, just packing all that is a lot of work.  But many hands make light work, and luckily I had the help of Roomy, fellow Pony Collector Stormrave, and Stormy's husband, The Doctor.

Me and Stormrave, in the living room with piles and piles of Ponies.

So we packed, and packed, and packed.  And then we loaded the cars.  And then we unloaded the cars.  And the Ponies, etc were all in their new home.  Doesn't sound like much when you write it out, but it was a solid two days of work just to get everything from the old house to the new.

All in all it was a pretty entertaining weekend.  At one point The Doctor slipped on some ice while carrying a giant box of G3 playsets (this was back in March, remember.)  Luckily he wasn't hurt, but when he fell one of the playsets activated and began playing the MLP theme.  We're still having an occasional laugh over that.  Too bad for us that I didn't have a camera at the ready, but I suppose that's for the best for The Doctor's pride.

One small corner of the new Pony Room

 And so begins the process of organizing the new Pony Room.  *sigh*

Elf

Guest Blogger - Sean Zio

During the time I was offline I was interviewed by Sean Zio for a post on Gumshoe about reusing and recycling old toys by means of customizing and restoring.  Please take a look at his post:

http://gumshoeblog.org/gumshoe-home/2013/3/20/no-my-little-pony-left-behindthe-basics-of-customizing-my-little-ponies

The one thing I forgot to mention and would like to add is that, whenever you're planning to customize an old toy, do your research first.  You never know when you might be holding a rare piece that is better left alone than restored or customized - and you'd hate to find out when it's too late!

Elf

Aaaaaaand...we're back!

Well, that was a bit of a longer hiatus than anticipated.  However, after moving house, having pneumonia, and surviving working another fiscal year end in a finance department - Elfpony returns to the blogosphere!

I'll be updating the blog over the next few weeks with details of the move, as well as some new custom projects and photos of the new Pony Room in progress.  In the meantime, here's what I've got upcoming in the next few weeks and months:

Last weekend in May: Anime North in Toronto.  I'm happy to be returning to AN this year for several panels (and a trip around the dealer's room!)

First weekend in July: MLP Fair in Indianapolis.  Roomy and I are off to the Fair again this year, this time with fellow Pony collector Stormrave in tow.

October and November: more events coming up!

Thanks for sticking around!

Elf