Happy Halloween from Ponyville

I`ve been wanting to set up a Halloween display for ages now, but time always seems to get away from me.  Not this year!

Every year the Apple Family throws a Halloween party to celebrate the end of the harvest.  Everypony is invited, and everypony looks forward to dressing up for the occasion.

The Apples have hired Fluttershy to make sure all the best moments of the party are captured on film.  And the party is already hopping.

The dance floor is full.

The (not very mysterious) caterers have outdone themselves this year, with all manner of pies, treats, and anything else you could want for a Halloween party.  Of course, there`s plenty of candy for the baby ponies (and several of the older ponies with a sweet tooth).

Midnight Dream is telling fortunes, reading hooves, and entertaining everypony.

The Princess Costume contest is well underway (Some years it seems like everyone is a princess!)  Sunrise, dressed as Prince Charming, will choose the winner.  It might be his girlfriend, Green Apple.

Applejack is running the bobbing for apples contest, while talking like a pirate.  Pumpkin Tart is up first, but lots of other ponies are waiting for their chance.

The party will be going for quite awhile yet.  Later, after the babies have gone to bed, the bravest ponies will stay up for a classic horror movie marathon.  First on the line-up is The Horse on Haunted Hill.  Good luck getting to sleep tonight, ponies!

Happy Halloween!

Elf

Let's talk Customs!

I'll be joining the cast of MLP Talks this coming Wednesday for an interview on customizing!  We'll be discussing everything from the basics of customizing to some deep questions about how the customizer fits into the wider MLP Collector community.  Please listen in if you can!  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/my-little-pony-talk

 I've also decided to slow down updates on my blog.  This is partially due to my own busy schedule lately, and partially because (as is often the case) I've been working mainly on commissions and gifts lately, which I'm unable to share on the blog until they're delivered.  I will aim to have updates posted approximately every two weeks (with some variation).

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Commissions: all 8 finished!
Rehair in progress: 1
Rehair in the queue: 3
Other customs: 2 in progress
Collection pictures uploaded: 0
Collection ponies cleaned: 0
Preparations on new display...pending

Restoration - BBE Sleepy Pie

I've had this BBE Sleepy Pie in my collection for several years now.  She's in near perfect condition with one exception: her symbols were nearly gone.  I've tried twice to upgrade her, but in both instances the new pony's condition was less than perfect.  Finally, I decided to repaint the symbols on my original Sleepy Pie instead.

There was enough of her original symbol left to use as an outline for the new symbols (in this case, the symbol was not so much faded as it had bled away into the plastic, leaving a pale pink aura around the original paint).  I aimed for a close colour match to the original, although mine is a bit darker.

Both symbols were repainted and sealed.  She seems a much happier pony now.

Elf

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Commissions: 7 done, 1 to go
Rehair in progress: 1
Rehair in the queue: 3
Other customs: 1 in progress
Collection pictures uploaded: 31
Collection ponies cleaned: 9

The New and Improved Geek Cave Part 2

Here's an updated look at the Cave now.  Not pictures is Roomy's section, where all the MOTU people have fallen over (I'm told they've had a little too much to drink).

 On the (mostly) vintage side of the room, the ponies have some more room to breathe now.  This is good both because I have less worry of colour transfer between ponies, but also because now I can see everyone better. 

 I've stared arranging the G1s into family units rather than store sets.   I like displaying them this way.  It makes the whole thing more interactive in my mind because it's like having little stories laid out on the shelf. 

 On the modern side of the room, the G3s are slowly getting more spaced out as well.  I'm also matching up the families here.

I gained some extra display space above, for a few things that don't really fit elsewhere.

 The G3s and G4s are sharing space in a slightly more organized way now.

And finally, the main G4 space, in the closet.  The G1 Plushies are hanging out near Twilight's castle until the next giant castle arrives.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Elf

The New and Improved Geek Cave Part 1

I call my Labour Day, pony-related staycation a great success!

Cute little German baby

First off, I send a thank you note through the blogosphere to my Roomy, for building all the new shelves.  We're very happy to have all the shelves white now, it both brightens up the room and shows off the ponies.

New CD rack shelving and 2 new shelves for the closet

I spent the better part of two days on the weekend re-arranging ponies and and pony-related things.  It was great.  Just the kind of break I needed after a busy summer.

Summer Berry

Partway through re-arranging things I decided I'd better do some cleaning as well.  The first part of the weekend wasn't too humid, so it was an excellent time for some pony bathing.

One of my favourite sets

I cleaned about 20 G1s and 20 G3s this weekend, and then photographed and cataloged them (and spent the better part of Monday waiting for pictures to upload to my Flickr account - damn our paltry upload speed!)

Playing with hairstyles

It was nice to get back into the swing of cataloging.  It's been one of my favourite collection-based activities in the past year, and it's fun to spend some time with each piece.

New wings

More next week!

Elf

Addicted to Collecting?

I'm putting off the 'big reveal' of the newly improved Geek Cave for a week due to another excellent article that appeared in IO9 last week, "Help, My Partner is Addicted to Collecting Toys and it's Freaking Me Out."

I do agree wholeheartedly with Rob Bricken's take on toy collecting, although I would also have liked to see more of a differentiation between collecting and hoarding (if, as I do, you consider there to be a wide difference between collecting and addiction).  But the general idea behind the article is more than sound.

I would also point out that the letter writer (naturally) gives us only one side of the story.  Much is implied: that the toy collection in question is cause for financial difficulties (is it really, or is it that the girlfriend doesn't like spending money on toys?), that there isn't space for the collection (how much space is it taking up and what percentage of the living space?), and that the collector can't stop buying (has he been asked to curtail his purchasing, and has he realized that this is an issue in the relationship?)

I won't go on again about my thoughts on collecting vs hoarding, living with a non-collector, and so forth (you're more than welcome to visit some older posts on the blog if you're interested) but I do encourage other collectors to check out Rob's post, and to share your own thoughts and ideas on the matter.

Elf

Playing in the Pony Room

I'm taking a little mini vacation over the long weekend to play in the Geek Cave.  By "play" I naturally mean move stuff around, install more shelves, and generally make a mess while having a great time.

First stop on Thursday is the Giant Ikea (home of the perfect pony shelving) for additional shelving.  I know, I know, I'm sure I've said before that we've added the last shelving piece to the Cave.  I lied.  There's totally more room in there for the using.  :P

Thursday night, Roomy will build the shelves for me (because she's better at it, and actually enjoys doing it) and we'll fit them into their proper places.  On Friday the real fun begins as I'll be re-arranging ponies all day.

I really have no plans for the long weekend other than to play in the Cave, although I'll probably also take time to work on some of my commissions and art for Roomy's books too.  Probably also clean some ponies for my collection, as the super humid days of summer are passing us by.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the habit of collection cleaning and photographing.  I've been a bit remiss on updating my catalogue with the last few waves of ponies added, so I'll have some catching up to do.  I find this kind of playing with my collection to be some of the most fun.

Updated pictures from the Pony Vacation coming next week!

Elf