Small Pieces - Storage and Display

Lately I've been considering what to do with my smalls.  Currently, I have them all sorted, bagged, and stored in various boxes (many of them MLP lunch boxes, tins, or carry cases - justification for keeping some of this merch).  This is handy when I am setting up displays, but it also means that I don't see these pieces that often.

I also have two different systems of storage going on.  For the G1s and G2s, I have the accessories stored by set (much as they are shown in my Flicker photo catalogue), but for the G3s and G4s, I have them stored by type (food, clothing, etc.).  I've done this for a couple of reasons.  For the G1s, because I've lived with these for 30+ years, I can easily identify which accessory goes with which pony.  When I started collecting G2s, it made sense to store the accessories in the same way.  But with the G3s and G4s, there were so many accessories that were reused and recoloured, that I decided it made more sense to organize them by type.  I was never going to remember whether the pink tiara went with Petal Blossom or Rainbow Flash, and with my Flicker photo catalogue, I didn't need to.  Far easier to keep a bag with all the tiaras together and pull out the one I wanted when I wanted it.

In addition to this, I have the G4s displayed almost exclusively within their playsets, and of course I've added accessories to enhance the display.  This way, the small ponies are filling in the large playsets, I don't have to worry about additional storage, and I can enjoy the accessories all the time.

G4s in a Li'l Woodzies bakery set

This got me thinking about the earlier generations.  Again, all the ponies are photographed with their accessories, so is there really a need to keep those accessories grouped together in storage?  And if I don't keep them grouped by pony, what do I do with them?

I've already started keeping specific hair accessories with the ponies who own them, so I can enjoy looking at the barrettes.  Why not do that with some of the other smalls?  I particularly love the baby accessories, and many of these are easy to sneak onto a shelf near the ponies.  A few are too small or too prone to be lost to feel comfortable doing that (tiny teething rings or xylophone mallets seem made to be lost), so these will likely stay safe in zip bags for the time being.  Also, the larger accessories, like rockers and playpens, will probably be staying in boxes because they'll take up too much shelf space.

I suppose this plan will make dusting in the Geek Cave even more difficult than it already is, but in the meantime I'm enjoying this look.

Elf