Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 3

I'm doing a multi-week virtual tour of the Geek Cave.  I'm going to post pictures and discuss one shelving unit a week for the foreseeable future.  I'm also going to switch up generations, areas of the Cave, and even types of collection as I feel like it.

This week we're back in the 1980s with the G1 half-shelf.

This shelf is situated halfway along the vintage side of the Cave.  The top shelf is home to the Princess Ponies, as well as some HQG1C custom dragons and custom resin dragons and bushwoolie by Soulcookies (the Gusty charm and keychain are also by her).  The Princess Ponies are strategically displayed so that I don't have to look at their symbols, which I dislike.  I held out on getting any of these girls for years, and only started when a vendor at a toy sale sold me her box of ponies, cheap.  Pristina and Royal Blue were in the box.  I like the colours of the Princess Ponies.  I could wish that they didn't have the tinsel (at least not that forelock), and I really dislike their symbols.  They look like they've had something riveted to their flank.  I don't know how I'm going to fit Taffeta onto this shelf whenever I find her. (PS, I had started collecting dragons and bushwoolies long before Princesses).

Next we have more of the Snuzzle/Peachy army (Mexican, Brazilian, Argentinian, Greek, and two Italians), the Macau Ponies, and the World's Smallest mini ponies. I aspire to getting some of the nirvana Peachys and Snuzzles who have more varied colour combinations, but I do love these girls.  And I've fallen hard for the Macau Ponies.  They are so similar to the original versions of these ponies, but also so different.  I just love how they look and their adorable names, and I'm hoping to get Belly and Folly in the not too distant future.

The third shelf has a bit of a theme: Christmas and Birthday.  It took me an age to get Stockings, and she was probably my most wanted on this shelf.  I also didn't have either Birthday Pony or Party Time because, for a long time, I had a strong dislike of that pose.  It was probably 15 years of collecting and having none of the ponies in that pose, before I bought a couple for a swap.  As they sat in my house for awhile and I kept looking at them, I found that the pose no longer bothered me like it had.  This was a good thing, because there were several ponies in that pose that I quite liked otherwise, and I'm glad to have them in my collection.  I also like displaying small accessories rather than having them bagged and boxed up, and you can see a few examples of that here.

There's no rhyme nor reason to this shelf.  It's just a bunch of ponies.  No theme.  Lovely ponies though.  Two of the Seven Tales ponies live here.  It's taking me an age to collect this set.  That's what happens when you buy one pony from a set, every couple of years (I bought two last year!).  Nightglider is definitely one of my favourites.  I love TAF ponies, they were some of the first ones I targeted when I started collecting, but I didn't have them all very quickly for all that.  I don't mind taking my time collecting.

While I do have many complete sets, I don't consider myself a set completer.  If I don't like the look of a pony, I don't see the point of having her in my collection.  For a long time the only Birthflower Pony in my collection was October.  And then, somehow or other, this happened.  I should display these girls so that you can actually see their symbols, since that's the biggest difference between them.  I would like to get some of the Alternate Birthflower girls as well at some point.

At the bottom of the shelf we find some Sea Ponies.  I wasn't overly fond of the Sea Ponies when I was a child.  Sure, they were fun to play with in the bath (adult collector me cringing), but it was difficult to play with them with your other Ponies.  They just kind of lay there on the carpet looking sad.  Because of this, as an adult I resisted getting them for a long time.  Eventually it dawned on me that I wasn't really playing with my ponies anymore, they were sitting on a shelf.  They can display well on a shelf.  I also had some luck getting a few shells and Sea Ponies for a good price, so that made the transition into collecting them easier.

That's the end of our third tour.  See you in two weeks for the next shelf.

Elf

Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 2

I'm doing a multi-week virtual tour of the Geek Cave.  I'm going to post pictures and discuss one shelving unit a week for the foreseeable future.  I'm also going to switch up generations, areas of the Cave, and even types of collection as I feel like it.

This week I'm moving from the 1980s into the 2010s, with a G4 shelf.

Displaying the G4s is a pain, pure and simple.  It would be easy if I only collected the Ponies, but if you've been reading the blog for awhile you know I have a weakness for playsets, castles in particular, which G4 had in spades.  So rather than have the Ponies all lined up like in Dream Valley, Ponyville has Ponies living in the playsets (this also makes it easier to display multiple versions of the Mane 6).

On the top shelf of this unit is Twilight's Castle.  It's actually two of Twilight's Castles displayed together, and with the rainbow slide removed from the Rainbow Friendship Castle (I think it looks much better this way).  Here we have the Mane 6, hanging out with the Reformed Villains Appreciation Society.  Pinkie Pie brought snacks.

 On the shelf below, we find the Crystal Empire (the geography here may be a bit sketchy).  Naturally, the pearlized ponies are living on this shelf, along with the Royal Family.  A pearlized Twilight Sparkle and Spike are also visiting.  The Breezies are also on this shelf, with some Ponies who've developed Breezie-like wings (I don't really know what to do with these three, other than have them hang out with the Breezies).  Eventually I will get some small shelves to fill in the empty spot beside the castle here, and better display the winged ponies.

This shelving unit is the Pony shelf with the most work needed.  Below the Crystal Empire we have a shelf of Princesses (unorganized, but mainly purple), as well as some recently-opened G4s who have yet to be integrated into the display.  I don't actually mind the extra designs on the Friendship Blossom Ponies, but I wish they hadn't used such a thick black outline on them.

The Princess Army was a bit of an accident.  Up until Twilight Sparkle became a princess, I had one of each G4 character, but I was not collecting multiples.  I intended to keep one original Twilight, and one Princess Twilight.  But Hasbro came out with multiple Princess Twilight designs in quick succession and I couldn't decide which one I liked best.  Roomy pointed out that I could, in fact, keep many of them (they're small), and...here we are, also with multiple Celestias, Lunas, a few Cadences, and one Nightmare Moon.

Finally, at the bottom of the shelf we have the Magical School of Friendship.  Poor Twilight, her school is all ready, but she has no students (looks pointedly at Hasbro).  I need to move some other G4s down to populate this shelf.  I do love the look of this set, but it doesn't have a lot of display space.  Still, it will look better surrounded by Ponies.

So that's the end of the tour for shelf week.  Join me next time for another shelf!

Elf

Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 1

None of us are going anywhere in the near future, so how about a virtual tour of the Geek Cave?

I'm going to post pictures and discuss one shelving unit a week for the foreseeable future.  I'm also going to switch up generations, areas of the Cave, and even types of collection as I feel like it.

But let's start out right by the door, on the first G1 shelf.

The top shelf is where the Flutters and Wingers live.  I have all the Flutter ponies (but several are still in need of wings), and I'm missing only three Windy Wing ponies.  I have a love-hate relationship with Flutter Ponies.  I love that they're so delicate and graceful looking, and I hate how easily their wings break.  I also love many of the alternate custom wings that people make for them, but I want my herd to have all original-looking wings.  All the girls who have wings here have original wings, except one who is wearing repro wings, and all the originals have been repaired except one pair that is miraculously still in one piece.  I imagine the Summer and Windy Wing ponies also live in Flutter Valley, possibly higher up in the mountains.

The original 6 Rainbow Ponies were some of my favourites as a child, and I'm still a sucker for any rainbow-styled MLP. I don't recall really noticing the second wave of Rainbow Ponies (possibly I didn't like them as much because of their changed hair colour), and I wasn't aware of the Raincurl Ponies or Rainbow Babies as a child, but I love them all now.  I finally "completed" my Rainbow set last summer when I finally bought Tickle.  I say "completed" because I definitely want to add some more nirvana ponies to this shelf, mainly Brazil Bow-Tie (so beautiful!), and I've had the itch to start a nirvana Windy army for some time.  But at least the Rainbow Ponies who were available in Canada are complete.  There's also one HQG1C custom pony on this shelf - Winter.  Oddly, as she's completely white I thought she fit well with the Rainbow Ponies.

Shelves three and four are a bit of a mish-mash.  On shelf three we have the UK Flower Ponies, various lovey/romantic themed ponies, and some musically-themed ponies.  There are quite a few UK ponies on this shelf.  I only became aware of the UK ponies existence as an adult collector and I'm either all in or all out on those sets.  I love the ones that have what I consider the classic MLP look about them: simple but lovely designs and simple colour schemes (often pastels).  I'm not at all keen on the ones with large noticeable gimmicks (that goes generally for any MLP), like the Rollerskate Ponies or the Hair-Do Ponies.

Shelf four has the Brush 'n Grows, Perfume Puffs, and other hairstyle/dress-up/beauty-themed ponies.  Also Locket, Painting Time, and their adopted babies.  I initially didn't like the Perfume Puff hair, or the fact that four of the six ponies in the set had perfume bottles as their symbols (originality, Hasbro?), but the set has grown on me.  I originally thought that I'd find ones with cut hair and rehair them with nylon, but the hair has grown on me too.  It's a collector's prerogative to change her mind.

Moving down the shelf, we have another mish-mash.  The Happy Tails Ponies and a few HQG1C customs who match well with them, as well as a few puppy and kitty pets.  I suppose that's why Snuzzle, Peachy, and Lemon Drop and their babies and pets are also here.  Rosette and Baby Blue Ribbon are hanging out with Lemon Drop, naturally.  Tex and his daughters are also here with their Fisher Price pet dog.  And Masquerade, Chief, and Wig-Wam are...just hanging out?

The Sweetheart Sisters have recently moved to this shelf.  I had real trouble with these girls for a long time.  I loved the look of most of them (their colours and symbols align well with my idea of Classic MLP), but I was not fond of the general look of them.  Eventually, I decided that they were simply a different "type" of Pony, like Flutter Ponies or Sea Ponies, and then I went to town collecting them.  I'm quite happy to have them now.

Finally, at the bottom we find two Pretty Parlours (the pink one is an Argentinian Parlour), various Snuzzles and Peachys who are different from the two in my "collection" (either by design or through aging), all my G1 minis, the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe, Kitchen, Bathtub, and my Takara fakie with two custom mini Takaras.  I'd like more Takara fakies (and eventually, Milky and Pinky!)  The playsets work well on the bottom shelves, where multiple levels of Pony would be difficult to see (especially here, where the shelf faces the display table, so it's hard to back up and take a look.

I started collecting the Mommy Charms and McD Happy Meal charms several years ago.  I'm not sure yet if I'll get all of them, but I like them.  I hadn't intended to start on the Petites, but a fortuitous trip to Value Village changed those plans.  I doubt I will get all of these, right now I'm just picking up the ones that catch my eye.  I also prefer the ones with molded tails, although the super curly tails are quite cute when they're in good shape.

So that's the beginning of our tour.  I hope you've enjoyed the first shelf of the Geek |Cave tour.  Join me in two weeks for the next shelf!

Elf

Pony Tea Party

The ponies have been socializing.

This weekend I decided to work on my pony catalogue.  I have an excel sheet, but in the last year I have largely been depending on my Flickr account as a resource for checking accessories and merchandise. I've not finished my photo catalogue, so I thought I'd do a bit of catch up on picture taking.

And then, since I'd gone to the trouble of lifting down the giant Crystal Rainbow Castle from the top of the bookcase, flipping it on its side, putting in batteries, and opening the darn thing, I figured I'd also have some fun with it.  The Unicorns are having a little open day at the castle.

This set is enormous! It's three feet tall and slightly wider, although it collapses down by quite a bit.  Actually, it's probably the last truly collapsing playset in the MLP line.  And there is a tonne of detail on the building itself in the form of sculpted design and sticker backgrounds.

The set didn't come with a lot of accessories (of course there was a tea cart - G3 ponies love their tea parties) but there were three large accessory sets you could buy separately.  I have two of them.  If memory serves me right, the third one (the bath set) was not available in stores in Canada, and I didn't like it enough to go hunting for it.

For this display I didn't develop a story line, I just set out the accessories and chose a few favourite ponies to go on the display.  Naturally the unicorns are all there, because it's their castle.

Elf

Sticker hoarder

I'm a sticker hoarder.

I love MLP merchandise, but I try to focus my collection only on certain types of merchandise, mainly smaller, flatter items like stationary, colouring books, birthday party supplies, and stickers.

The stickers, however, have gotten out of hand,  When you're considering recent merchandise, stickers are easy to come by and inexpensive.  They also don't generally take up a lot of space, so they're easy to store.  They're also often a popular inclusion in trade and swap packages among collectors, which probably explains why I have doubles and triples of some of my sticker sheets.

I've recently gone through all my stickers, photographing every individual sheet and separating out the doubles to be passed on to other collectors.  Here's a few images:

Vintage scented G1 sticker sheets

Vintage G1 stickers from an Argentinian sticker book

G2 stickerss

Puffy and fuzzy G3 sticker set - one of my favourites

G3 sticker set with highly detailed background

G4 sticker set from Target

A rare Luna sticker is included  in this set.

Elf

We're all in this together

Most likely you're reading this from inside your house, as that's where most of us have been spending the last several days, and probably more.  Maybe you've never been happier, maybe you can't wait to get out, or maybe you're somewhere between the two.

I have some plans for myself, including hopefully a few moments of entertainment for you...

Me, I'm doing some baking (and eating).

Catching up on some tv.

Read a book.  And another.  And another.

Don't forget to get outside a bit.

Keep in touch with your friends (from a safe distance).

Spend time in the Geek Cave.

Maybe try on a new look.

And of course, some art.

I hope that you all stay healthy and happy over the next little while.

Elf

Geek Cave Weekend 2020 Wrap Up

I consider this year's Geek Cave weekend to be a resounding success.  The room feels much lighter and cleaner now.

The shelving under the big table has been a bit of a catch all and holding area for quite some time.  Much of what was in this space two weeks ago was 25th and 35th anniversary ponies, bits and pieces from playsets, accessory storage, and items that had just piled up over time and through other reorganizations.  It felt great to finally address this area.

The Strawberry Shortcake playsets have been relocated to this area, and are now under the Berry Happy Home.  The other half of this storage area is continuing to hold accessories and playset pieces that aren't on display, but in a much more organized fashion.

The area where the SSC playsets were living has been converted to G2 space, partly to make more room for more G2 playsets, partly to free up another shelf for G1s.

I've moved the Sea Ponies over to two new shelves so they have more display space and there's room for more additions.  The Birthflower Ponies have moved up a level as well.

The Sweetheart Sisters have moved over to the old Seapony shelf, where there's plenty of room for new additions, as well.

On the other side of the shelves under the big table, a lot of the miniatures, EQG, and some merchandise have been packed up and moved to the basement.  The space that's been freed up can now hold the unopened G4s until I get around to opening the packages.

This has also freed up the path to the closet, and the access to the whole G4 display space.  It's not perfect, but it's an improvement.

I also spent a lot of the weekend taking photos of various merchandise pieces before packing them down to the basement.  I always look forward to these moments of organizing my collection.  It's a great way to enjoy my collection without adding to it and I love spending some time focused on specific items or areas of the Cave.  I hope you've enjoyed this little mini tour as well.

Elf