Pony Packing

Last week I mentioned that the Ponies would be moving, but they wouldn't be staying in boxes indefinitely while the rest of the house was organized.  The Ponies get to be out and about almost immediately after they reach thein new home.

This will be your new home, Ponies.

 Last move, we were going from one rental to another, and as is usually the case we lost possession of the old place at the same time as we gained access to the new one.  Needless to say, everything needed to be packed up and ready to go all at the same time and there were things (dishes, clothes) that were a higher priority than unpacking Ponies.  Knowing that the Ponies would be packed for an extended period of time, precautions were taken to limit the chances of damage incurred in the move.  The Ponies were packed standing up, with layers of white acid-free tissue paper between them.  Those who had hair/body colours that tend to bleed or bodies that were sticky (with the plasticizer beginning to leak out) were individually wrapped in the tissue to make sure they didn't stain anyone else.  And each box had silica gel packs inside to absorb moisture.

This time, we get possession of the new place a month before we need to be out of the old one, so we have the luxury of moving things before the actual move date.  And that's why the Ponies get to move into the new place before I do.  As a result, the Ponies are literally going to get dumped unceremoniously into boxes, carted over to the new place, and immediately stood out on shelves.  No ordering, just emptying of boxes and no worrying about damage during prolonged confinement.  The playsets, accessories, and merchandise can stay in boxes for awhile and organization can be a later project.

Elf

Pony Room Packup

Right, that's it, after this I'm never moving house again.

I have 500+ ponies, of all generations, not to mention most of the playsets created, accessories, merchandise, and customs.  And they've all got to be packed up because they're moving in two weeks!  Ack!

If you've seen any of my Pony Room Reorg posts you know the Pony Room's been a mess for...ever.  There's nothing like moving house to force some semblance of organization onto you.  Today I was down in the Pony Room trying to pack up some odds and ends preparatory to the big move.  Lots of ziplock bags were acquired for this, as it's a cheap and easy way of packing up the little bits and ensuring they won't be lost.

Now, unlike previous moves, the Ponies will not be living in boxes for months while the rest of the house is set up.  This isn't a hope, this is something I've taken steps to ensure.  The Ponies will actually be moving before the rest of the house, and a day has been set aside for this purpose.  Lucky for me I have an understanding Roomy, and also a local Pony collector friend who's willing to help. (I'll be returning the favour for her next year.)  But because the Ponies won't be in storage for a prolonged period, I'm not taking quite as many precautions in my packing (except for the customs, of course.)  More on that next week.

The question remains however...will the new Pony Room ever be properly set up?

Elf

Another Restoration

When one is a customizer, it's easy to focus on the total recreation of a pony.  But there's a place for restoration too, especially with vintage collectibles.  When something is hard to find, even in bad condition, it's sometimes better to leave well enough alone than risk damage.  At the very least, one should try restoration or rehoming a rare vintage piece rather than customizing it.  (I'm not saying don't customize an HK Peachy - possibly the most common of G1 ponies - I'm saying don't customize a Greek Peachy no matter her condition she's worth more in her original state.)

Here's another of the G1s I actually got around to restoring.  I'd been trying to get my hands on a decent Fizzy for awhile, but I was always disappointed in the condition of the ones that came through my hands.  Finally I decided that I'd just restore one rather than keep hunting.

This particular Fizzy had a decent body, but her hair was a dry, brittle mess and her symbols were faded and scratched.  Her eyes also lost their original sheen, which is common in TE ponies, and not something that bothered me overmuch.

 By this time the same nylon hair that Hasbro uses was available for customizers to purchase, so I went the route of rehairing this pony.  I decided to switch thing up a bit, though, and reversed the colours in her mane.  This actually makes the toy Fizzy match her appearance in the MLP cartoon.  I also repainted her symbols, carefully going over the original scratched versions.  Her whole appearance is brighter and cleaner.  She just looks like a happier pony!

Elf

Zombie Elf

No, I haven't been working on a new custom.  In fact, I haven't been doing much of anything for the past week as I've got the evil cold that's going around town.  So I've been the walking dead, instead.  Not even feeling like customizing.

So here is an old restoration to check out in the meantime.  I haven't posted much on restorations yet, but I do do them occassionally.  Actually I have several ponies in my collection that need only minor work to get them looking fantastic again.  Here is one that I actually did something with.

Poor Trickles here was bought from a garage sale held by a daycare.  This was in about the year 2003, so she'd been through a few generations of little kids and she sure looks the part.  Anyone could be forgiven for considering this pony bait.  But the first step to baiting a pony is cleaning (not to mention that I didn't much want to handle her until she'd had a good cleanup!)

Well, I did clean her up, and it turned out she actually wasn't in that bad a shape after all.  None of the dirt and marks on her body actually stained, her symbols and eyes weren't bad, and even her mane was in good shape after it was washed.  Her worst flaw as a terribly frizzy tail.  Now this was before the days when replacement hair was cheap and plentiful, so I braded her hair to hide the frizz (and her mane to match.)  Nowadays I'd have made her a replacement tail and popped that into place - problem solved.  Someday, I might get around to doing that now.

To clean her I started with bleaching.  I don't normally take this step, but in this case it seemed warrented.  I then gave her a good scrub with a toothbrush and dish soap.  That pretty much took care of the dirt (a lot of it was crayon, so the wax just needed to be scrubbed away.  Her hair was washed and conditioned, and although her mane was in great shape her tail was too frizzy to be saved (perhaps a straightening iron could've helped but we weren't trying that back in the day.)  And that was all she needed.  Overall it wasn't a very stressful restoration.

Elf

Elfpony goes back to G-Anime

Me giving a customizing panel at an earlier con.

Yes, this weekend in Gatineau it's G-Anime and the Ponies and I will be there again this year.  My panels for this year look like this:

Friday, January 25th:

Collecting 101 - 6pm - Three longtime toy collectors will discuss the basics of collecting such as pros and cons of joining an online community, knowing your prices, and knowing your varients.
Customizing - 8pm - I'll have a bunch of custom ponies with me and I'll be discussing the processes of restoring and customizing vinyl  toys.  Bring your questions.
Brony vs Collector - 10pm - DJ Midli and I will reprise our N2U panel discussing the differences between the old school Pony Collectors and the new wave Fans of FIM.

Saturday, January 26th:

Living the Creative Life - 12pm - I'll be joining two other creative types (Roomy among them) to discuss the work/creative life balance and what you have to do to get your vision realized.
Collecting 102 - 4pm - Three longtime toy collectors will discuss the more serious sides of collecting including watching your budget, dealing with negative feedback from non-collectors, and negotiating living space for your collection.
Villans of MLP - 5pm - A panel focussed only on the bad guys.

Hope to see you there!

Elf

Hockey's Back!

Yes, this has to do with Ponies.  Eventually.

Leafs Fan Elfpony says "Go Leafs Go!"

Winter in Ottawa is difficult enough for someone who hates winter.  But winter in Ottawa with minimal hockey is just painful.  With no NHL, Saturday nights since October were not the same.  Roomy and I were doing things, playing board games, watching movies, going out with friends.  And that was great.  But it wasn't Hockey Night in Canada and something was missing from my winter weekends.

Now the NHL has returned, and I can't tell you how happy I am.  Not only am I a die-hard Leafs fan, but I'm a die-hard hockey fan in general.  Roomy will attest that I'll watch any hockey, any time, anywhere.  But my favourite is the NHL and the Leafs.  And Hockey Night in Canada has been part of my life for about as long as I can remember.

What does this have to do with Ponies?  You might remember a while back I did a post about how I spend the majority of my Saturday nights.  Well, with the return of the NHL and the shortened season starting with a triple header (that's about 9 hours of hockey, for the uninitiated) guess what my hockey watching activity is for the evening?

Hockey and Pony customizing.  A natural combination in this house.

 Oh yes, a lot more customizing work is going to get done in the next few months.  Welcome back, NHL.

Elf

The Great Pony Room Debate

At a certain point last year Roomy and I decided that we would buy a house instead of continuing to rent.  Which means that we'll be moving later this year.  Which means we have to pack everything.  Which means I have to pack all the Ponies and take them off to a new Pony Room.  Which means I swore a lot at the thought.

I've never been totally happy with the Pony Room here, either incarnation of it.  One room was too small and crowded.  The 2nd room was plenty big, but had some big pieces of furniture that came with it and in some ways limited what I could do.  It also had no closet, and was in the mouse and spider infested basement.

So what can the Ponies look forward to in their new home?  Well the more we think about it, the more likely it seems that Roomy and I will be sharing a collection room.  Roomy is a MOTU/POP collector and has recently thrown herself wholeheartedly into her collection (read: she's buying a lot of stuff.)  A larger room will suit us both nicely.  We've even considered using the master bedroom as our collection room.  If it has an ensuite, even better (such ease of Pony cleaning!)

I'm also planning better ways of displaying the Ponies.  I'm thinking lots of wall shelves are the answer to have everything displayed in the best way possible.  The playsets will also be displayed, but closed on bookshelves this time.  That way everything's off the floor and kept clean.  I will have a dedicated display space, probably a small table, where I can showcase certain ponies and sets (you haven't seen the last of the Holiday Displays.)  There will also be space for the photo shoots needed to finish cataloguing the collection.

So many Pony plans...so little time.  Now to find a house.

Elf