Moar Fair Prep!

It's bath time, Ladies!

Probably a third of my Fair prep time is used in cleaning ponies.  :/

Some of these are "new recruits" that I've picked up second hand in the last year and haven't cleaned yet.  Some are from my own dusty collection, who have been replaced by upgrades (I'm not even going to get into the guilt associated with that process).  Some have lived in my trade box for a year (or more).  So there are varying degrees of cleaning going on here.

At last year's Fair, I discovered that many of my trade ponies had developed black marks in the luggage on the way down.  This had never happened before (using the same luggage for years) and I was not impressed.  Luckily, these marks came off easily.  I still have no idea what caused them, but the luggage will be lined with a sheet this year to hopefully prevent further mishaps.

At the very least, the girls need some salon time to fix up the horrible box hair they've developed over the year.  Some needed a more thorough clean, with Magic Eraser and dish soap, shampoo and conditioner.  A few had rust (the bane of my collector existence) and had to have their heads removed and insides cleaned out (not as traumatic as it sounds - despite Roomy's accounts).  I'm also mildly concerned that Lickety-Split seems to have developed some pretty effective cloning techniques.  There better not be four of her when next I go into the Geek Cave.

Dealing with this group (the G1s I'm bringing this year) took about three hours.  And I haven't even touched the G3s yet.  41 days to go.

...ACK!

Elf

MLP Fair preparation - 2014 version

As of May 24, it will be only 48 days until the start of the 2014 MLP Fair.  For those of us preparing to go, panic begins in 3...2...1...

*ACK!*

As usual, my preparations will come down to pretty much the last minute before we hop in the car to head out.  This year, I feel particularly unorganized (do I say that every year?)

I have to stop going to Value Village, I keep finding more ponies to clean.

This weekend I'm focusing on Fair preparation, hoping to finish cleaning all the ponies I have for sale.  I may even get them packed (if they dry in time) and then I'll have some more space to move in the Geek Cave.

Just a few of the ponies I may be selling this year.

My preparation also involves going through my own collection and picking out any ponies I no longer want so they can be prepared for sale too.  I've lately managed to pick up several ponies that were doubles of ones I already had, but who might be upgrades for me.  I've had to compare the two ponies and decide which one I'll be keeping and which will be sold on (not always an easy choice, but I don't keep doubles).

White body with marks and faded symbols or yellowed body with no marks and dark glitter?

There is still much work to do on the booth display, and the custom ponies for sale and contest entries.  Accessories to organize and everything needs to be priced.  48 days to go...

*ACK!*

Elf

The Last Unicorn

I have a fondness for unicorns.  You may not have noticed.  ;)

This is probably due largely to the fact that, when I was five years old, my grandpa took me to a video store to rent a movie.  The movie I chose was The Last Unicorn, and this began several years of renting the same VHS every week (literally, the conversation every week was "Are you sure you don't want to see something else?" "No. Last Unicorn.")

If you've never read the book or seen the movie, I strongly suggest you go do both right now.  I'll wait.  This is one of the rare cases where the movie based on the book is almost as good as the book (probably because Mr. Beagle wrote the screenplay as well).

This past Saturday, I was able to attend a special screening of the film in theatres, as Peter S. Beagle, the author of the book, is taking it on a tour.  It was a genuine pleasure to meet him and his team, to hear him speak about the book and the unicorn, and to hear him answer the questions of children and adults with an equal eloquence and care.  I also can't thank the tour enough for coming to Canada.

It sounds cliché, but watching the movie as an adult was as magical as watching it as a five year old.  It was a different experience, of course.  I picked up on different themes and was emotionally moved by different parts of the film, but a part of me yesterday was still five years old, with the unshakable belief that somewhere still, "the unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone."

Elf

Alternate Flutter Ponies

I was able to get these two girls rehaired over the Easter long weekend.  I also chose to do an alternate rehair on both.

For Honeysuckle I chose Pussycat and Lemonade.  I believe her original colour would have been a match for Tea Rose.  Cloud Puff's new hair is Mermaid (a match for her original) and Daiquari Ice.

Why an alternate rehair?  I think part of it is the customizer in me, prefering to do something new rather than copy the original.  I find it a little more interesting this way.  And it's also a visual clue that they are not in their original condition, without having to see the bottom of their feet where I've marked them as restorations.  This is important in the case that they are ever rehomed.  Since they are staying with me for quite some time, it might be even more important, since it's entirely possible that, if I'd used original colours and tried to match original length, I would have forgotten rehairing them by the time they did leave my hands.

Wish I'd had some nice spring flowers to photograph them with, though.

Elf

Little Giggles

Little Giggles is bald no longer!

Yes, I started with her because she was already bald, and because she's so tiny it was practically no effort to rehair her at all.

Although her original hair was most probably a match for Forget-Me-Not, I chose to use Bobby Blue to rehair her instead.  Don't ask me why - probably because I've been using F-M-N quite a bit on customs lately, and I wanted a change.  I also wanted her hair colour to be nice and bright, like her symbols.  I considered rehairing her in a magenta colour to match her symbols, but I prefer the look of the dark blue hair when the whole set of babies is together.

The rehair was the only form of restoration she needed, and she has been marked indicating that.  But for the time being, she'll be remaining in my herd.

Elf