Rainbow Pride

Rainbow Pride was a quick custom - obviously made from a Rainbow Dash.  Her symbols were designed to cover pen marks on both sides and match the colours in her hair.  Since her hair and eyes were in perfect shape, I kept them original.

Elf

It's a Collector's Prerogative...

...to change her mind.

I've changed mine numerous times over the almost twenty (!) years that I've been collecting as an adult.  The first was probably relatively early on when I decided that, if I was going to end up with a couple of hundred ponies, I should decide on a focus.  The focus that I chose was to decide to collect ponies rather than ponies and LPS and Pound Puppies and action figures and etc, etc.

(couple of hundred ponies...teehee)

See-through ponies were not on my original list...

A few years later, as I was updating my want list, I realized that I was coming close to having all the G1s on my list.  I'm not going to lie, I panicked a little bit.  As much as I live the belief that a collector should be able to find enjoyment in their collection without having to constantly add to it, I do enjoy adding to it, as well.  This moment of mild panic caused me to re-evaluate my want list in a way I hadn't previously.  This was the moment when I moved past my original collecting goals (that I wasn't even fully aware of) and consider ponies that I hadn't considered before.

...Neither were molded symbol ponies...

...Or Sea Ponies.

There were still ponies that didn't make the cut, however.  For years I hated the look of the Shady pose, to the point that I wouldn't have any pony in that pose in my collection.  The broad forehead, square stance, and thick legs did nothing for me.  It was only years later, when I had bought a couple of ponies in that pose for a swap partner, that I re-evaluated.  By which I mean, I suddenly realized that I didn't hate that pose.  I'm not sure if it was living with those ponies for several months that did it, but it opened up another avenue of collecting for me (complete with several moments when I chastised myself for not adding some of these lovely ponies to my collection earlier).

Can-Can line of Shady pose ponies

I've gone on record numerous times saying that I disliked certain types of ponies (3-D symbols, sea ponies, princesses, and others).  Several of these have since joined my herd.  I think of this progression as a natural part of a collector's life.  You learn, you grow, you re-evaluate, you enjoy.  Collecting, like all things in life, should be a journey, not a destination.

Just remember: Geek Cave =/= TARDIS.  ;)

Elf

Phoebe

Another free-form custom, Phoebe was created in a similar way to Iris.  She started out as a Pinkie Pie, again with many ink marks on her body.

She was dry-brushed, adding colour to cover the ink stains on her.  She also had shimmering patterns added, as well as sparkle glaze and jewels around her forehead.

This was the first custom that I added tinsel to the hair.  It's a bit unmanageable, and I'm not sure I'll use it again, but it does add some additional sparkle to her.

Elf

Iris

Occasionally, I like to do some free-form customizing.  That is, taking a general idea and running with it, rather than fully planning out a custom.  That's how Iris came to be.

Iris started as a Desert Bloom with a great many pen marks, but very nice hair.  I kept her original hair and began adding sections of paint to cover the pen marks, also leaving much of her original body colour visible.  The paintwork was done completely with brushes - no airbrush was used on her.

On later layers of paint, I added shimmering colours, some of which were done using pattern stencils.  I also added glitter sealant to give her some extra sparkle.  And to finish her off I added several jewels and microbeads around her face.

Elf

Sparkle So-Softs 2

They're sparkly!  They're fuzzy!  What more can I say about these customs?

SS Surprise

SS Twilight

All of these but Magic Star are McDonalds ponies whose manes have been sculpted.  They were all fully repainted and sealed to match existing G1 So-Soft ponies (except in the case below, of course).  I then slowly began to apply the sparkle flocking to each pony, beginning with the symbols and working my way around the body.

SS Elfpony

SS Magic Star

Magic Star was a blind bag Rainbow Dash whose wings were removed for another custom.  It is difficult to apply the flocking evenly.  A few of these are not as fully covered as I would have liked.  The yellow in particular looks patchy, but I'm quite happy with how the others have turned out.

Elf

Sparkle So-Softs 1

They're sparkly!  They're fuzzy!  What more can I say about these customs?

SS Angel

SS Crumpet

All of these are McDonalds ponies whose manes have been sculpted.  They were all fully repainted and sealed to match existing G1 So-Soft ponies.  I then slowly began to apply the sparkle flocking to each pony, beginning with the symbols and working my way around the body.

SS Lickety-Split

SS Ribbon

It is difficult to apply the flocking evenly.  A few of these are not as fully covered as I would have liked.  The yellow in particular looks patchy, but I'm quite happy with how the others have turned out.

More So-Softs coming next blog!

Elf

*Those* Collectors

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