Hidden Haunt - a Halloween Pony

With Halloween only a week away, here is my contribution to the Arena's Halloween custom swap for this year.

Hidden Haunt loves Halloween more than anything, except maybe a stroll through the graveyard at midnight.

Her skirt and bow (with a little pony skull attached) are made of Apoxiesculpt.  She's been fully repainted.  Her skirt has a graveyard theme, complete with spooky trees and mist.  The mist, skull, and her eyes all glow in the dark.  Her hair is GITD, Hematite, Raincloud, Black Magick, Daiquari Ice, and Arctic Frost.

Happy Halloween!

Elf

Second hand luck

When we're out and about sometimes we like to look in on thrift stores and flea markets to check for MLP and MOTU.  Occasionally we get lucky and find a piece or two.  I have a pretty strong "no pony left behind" motto.

One day, Roomy and I were particularly lucky and each found a vintage piece at Value Village.  We got excited and hit nearly every other Value Village in the city that day, and many more ponies were recovered.  Then a friend found her childhood collection and gave them to me.  Then another a friend contacted me saying his wife had some childhood ponies she wanted to sell me.  Then we went to Montreal Comic Con and found a whole bin of ponies, cheap.  And that's how this happened.

These ponies represent my second hand finds for the last two months.  Needless to say, I'm not usually this successful in this short a time.

I've got a LOT of cleaning ahead of me.

Elf

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Personal customs: 6
Other artwork pieces: 8

Collection ponies cleaned: 0
Collection ponies photographed: 0

Happy Thanksgiving

It's turkey time in Canada!  (Also, NHL hockey has returned!  My Saturday nights are spoken for from now 'til April!)  To celebrate here's a fun little custom outfit I made several years ago for a swap.  Seems appropriate for the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elf

Curating a collection - what to wish for?

As a collector the natural progression from "what to buy" and "what to keep" is, of course, "what to wish for."  I suspect that most if not all collectors have a wish list on the go at any given time.

A wish list, for the uninitiated, is just what it sounds like: a list of collection pieces that a collector would like to add to her collection.  It could be a general list (everything that the collector desires) or specific (a list for a gift swap with a specific theme or pricepoint).  Some collectors have several lists on the go at any time.

These two were on my wishlist for over 10 years before they joined the herd.

Building a wish list is a very personal thing, and yet another way of curating.  As mentioned previously, deciding what ultimately to add to a collection is the first stage of curating.  A wish list is like building a virtual collection before building the physical ones.  And it's much easier and cheaper to change your mind at this stage.

My own wishlist has gone through numerous changes over the years.  It's a collector's preogative to change her mind and her wishlist will show that.  Ponies have come on and off the list (not necessarily because they've joined the herd).  The structure of the list has changed numerous times too, especially with different generations being added, and different types of ponies (brushables, blind bags, plush, etc).  And what works for one collector (a simple list, an spreadsheet, a photo collection) may not work for someone else.

Sunshower never was on my want list, but when she came home from a thrift store, she stayed.

I also have the bad habit of not keeping my wish list (or catalogue) completely up-to-date.  This is mainly because I have no difficulty remembering who I have and who I want, and what condition they are in.  However, it's not so helpful for anyone else who is looking for gift ideas.  The wish list and catalogue are useful, however, in tracking little details like accessory colours and the like.

A wishlist can also work as a control to remind you what you actually want to add to your collection.  But you needn't be bound by it either.  I've had it happen that I didn't think I wanted a certain pony until I saw one in person.  As in Sunshower's case above, I hadn't been interested in the set she came with when it was in stores, but when I got a good look at her in person years later, I decided that I wanted to hang on to her.  The collection keeps changing.

Elf
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Customs:
Commissions: 1
Personal: 6

Cataloguing:
Rehairs: 2
Photos uploaded: 13