I've become one of those collectors.
You know them. Maybe you are one. The collectors who see what the rest don't. The ones who compare eye colour, hair length, and hoof stamps. The ones who have two of each pony - or more!
The Variant Collectors!
Don't get me wrong here - I'm not judging anybody's collection preferences. But for myself, I never really saw the need to have two Glorys because one was marked "China" while the other was marked "Hong Kong" - it just wasn't an aspect of collecting that interested
me. Indeed, for years I was determined to have only one version of each character in my collection (the Geek Cave, sadly, is not like the TARDIS with near-infinite space).
But then I began collecting my army ponies. At first, I planned only to get those ponies who looked significantly different than the 'regular' release - Italian Polly and Macau Jenny, for example. Why did I need an Italian Pesca when she had the same colour scheme as North American Peachy? There's not enough difference between them - they're essentially the same.
Then I actually *saw* an Italian Pesca in person. Yes, she does bear a strong resemblance to her North American cousin, but there are also subtle differences. Her symbol is a little different in colour and shape. The shade of her body and hair is slightly changed. Her eyes (I have the stamped version) and her lack of forelock give her a different expression.
It was at this point that I knew I was in trouble.
So now I'm the proud owner of Italian, Greek, Brazilian, and a Factory Sample Peachy, all somewhat similar looking. But there are subtle differences, and they're none of them the same version. OK, I thought, I'm into Nirvana ponies, but that doesn't mean I need to have multiples of the same version of the same pony. I'm happy with my stamped-eye Pesca, I don't need an airbrushed-eye Pesca too. One of each version for me.
Then I got a second North American Peachy.
She was a second of a pony I already had, so she went into the sales box. But I kept looking at her. Something's different about this one, I thought. Is she foreign? No, regular Hong Kong version. Is she altered in some way? No, looks factory. Hmm.
Finally I drove myself far enough to distraction to actually put her side by side with my collection Peachy (I don't know why I hadn't done this in the first place, it's usually my first move). Then, to my everlasting shock, I discovered that my collection Peachy was
terribly discoloured. I mean
really. She's practically orange! Her hearts are almost white! Her hair is pale! How did I not see this before?!?! Well, time to do a switch, obviously.
Except...what to do with discoloured Peachy? Sell her for a dollar? Hardly seems worth the effort. Customize her? She's discoloured, sure, but otherwise in good shape, not really what I'd consider bait. Well, I already have an army, she can hang out with them. I'll use her when I do presentations on discolouration at cons. Problem solved.
Then I noticed that Snuzzle was also faded. And here was a friend with a nice mint one for sale. Time for another switch. Except...faded Snuzzle was a gift from my best friends. Also one of the early ponies I got when I started collecting as an adult. Well, she can hang out with discoloured Peachy. Problem solved.
Then I found another Peachy in a thrift store. Got her home, cleaned her up, checked her against my collection Peachy. They have different symbol paint (one is pink, one is peach). Checked the feet, one is stamped in 4 feet, one is stamped in only 2. Ah, that explains it, different factories. But which one to keep? They're both cute. They're both in excellent shape. They're both...
It was at this point that I knew I was doomed.
Well, they're army ponies. I'm still standing firm on my One Pony Policy for the rest of the collection. There have to be limits (Geek Cave =/= a TARDIS). But there's an awful lot of Peachys and Snuzzles out there...
...Let's not even go there.
Elf
