Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 6

Continuing on with the 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 time we're adding some POP to the mix!

Roomy's vintage POP, that is.  The Princess of Power vintage line only lasted three years, so Roomy has most of the figures, including a rare complete Spinerella at the bottom right of this picture. The POP line didn't follow the She-Ra cartoon that much in terms of how the characters appeared, but the toy line had some fantastic designs.  It's a very shiny line, it's a wonder there wasn't tinsel in their hair as well as all the metallic and holographic material on their clothes and accessories.

There are also some variations within the main POP line, as well as 'nirvana' variants from various countries (often made by the same toy countries that made MLP nirvanas) and fashions, so Roomy still has things to collect. The majority of the main line variations involve colour variations in hair, jewels, or paint, with Castaspella's varying boot paint patterns being among the most obvious. The artwork on the POP packaging is some of my favourite 80's toy art. It's just stunning, they don't make toy packaging like they used to.

The lower shelves of Roomy's POP display is the stables, with various horses (and one cat) ready to spring into action.  The central Spirit and Swift Wind on the lower shelf were my childhood toys.  I love the pose that was created for these horses.  It's dynamic, but they also stand solidly, a combination that is often lacking in toy design.

The bottom two shelves are part of my G2 display.  The G2s are displayed along the same lines as the G4s.  That is to say, they're displayed on and around their playsets.  I quite like the G2 designs (even the body shape has grown on me), but there aren't that many more that I want to add to my collection.  This is why they have only a few shelves of display space in the Cave (there are more that we'll see later).  I really like the playsets that were made for this line.  There are a lot of details and fun accessories that make them really interesting.  It's a shame there was no narrative in a cartoon to support this line, I think Friendship Gardens could have been a magical addition to Ponyland.

That's all for now.  PS: did you spot Look-ee on the She-Ra shelves?

Elf

Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 5

In which we continue 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.

We've made it to tour number five and we're not even halfway through the Cave!  I can do this all night!  This week, it's G3's turn to shine!

The G3s are the most condensed collection for their size. They're the second largest generation in my collection, but they've only been afforded two shelving units.  Now that G4 is done I may look at ways to condense the G4 shelves to spread out the G3s a bit more

 I like the G3s partly because they're the closest reboot we've had to G1.  I love that there were a number of throwbacks to G1, as well, reusing many G1 names, and yet there were original designs and fun little things like bunny slippers, ghetto blasters, and needlessly elaborate desserts.

The G3s are organized by theme.  The top shelf above is all food-related ponies, along with the too-few unicorns (why, Hasbro?).  The second shelf is a few more food-themed ponies, celestial-themed ponies, Halloween ponies and Valentine ponies.  I really liked the seasonal/holiday themed ponies in G3. I wish more of them had been available to buy in Canada.

A little lower down we continue on the holiday theme, with Christmas/Winter and Easter/Spring Ponies.  The Spring Ponies also have a collection of pet chicks (because why not).  Below that we see a little bit of Ponyville.  The Cotton Candy Cafe is open for business beside the Bloomin' Blossoms Shop.  Just beyond the Wishing Well there's the Nursery.  Several Ponies are out and about too (mostly food-themed ones - they were many of my favourites).

Travelling south we find Butterfly Island, home to the Pegasus ponies (with Skywishes visiting in her hot air balloon).  The Pegasi are enjoying the tropical atmosphere, surfing, playing on the beach, and enjoying the odd mocktail.

That's a wrap on tour number 5.  Tour number 6 is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Elf

Geek Cave Tour 2020 Part 4

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 looking at something completely different - Roomy's Masters of the Universe Classics collection!

The Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC) collection were made specifically for adult collectors.  They are highly poseable, highly detailed re-imaginings of the original MOTU and POP toy lines.  These were produced by Matty Collector (later Super 7 made several equally excellent figures) and sold largely online to adult collectors, often through subscriptions.

Roomy and I share space in the Geek Cave, and her MOTUC collection is displayed largely on three Ikea Kallax shelves.  Castle Greyskull sits proudly atop the display space, with the Windraider ready for action nearby.  Roomy also has problems with getting around to opening her toys in a timely fashion.

Under the display space is figure space.  One one side we have Roomy's He-Man army, Skeletor army, 200X figures, and various weird bonhommes and large vehicles and creatures.

On the other side we have the mighty steeds Arrow and Swift Wind, a collection of heroes, and the Evil Horde (no doubt plotting evil - it's right there in their name).

Luckily, the Great Rebellion is nearby, and ready to deal with the Horde's evil plotting, with some help from SDCC Exclusive She-Ra and PowerCon Exclusive Starburst She-Ra! More of the Rebellion below.

These figures are fantastically detailed and wonderfully poseable.  They also included many characters who appeared in the cartoon but didn't have vintage figures, which is great fun.

Also under the display space is Roomy's collection of the most recent She-Ra toys.  These are really fun dolls, and it's a shame that we likely won't see more characters made.  These are based on the recent reboot on Netflix and, if you've not watched that show, you're missing out on some amazing storytelling, character development, and diversity.

That's it for tour number four.  Come back for more ponies next time.

Elf

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