Northern Elf

Sunday, 25 January 2015

Army Ponies

Collectors don't generally refer to their collections as armies (although they can number into the hundreds). But many collectors amass different examples of a certain character, and these sub-collections are generally referred to as armies.

My first army is my Peachy/Snuzzle army (currently rather heavy on the Peachys). I chose Snuzzle as my army pony because she was the favourite childhood pony that I never had. I remember being fascinated by pictures of her in pamphlets. I loved her name. I loved her colours. I never saw her in the store, and I never ordered her through the mail order program. I did have a Peachy, who I was very fond of, and I imagined them twins. Later, as I discovered Nirvana ponies, I was excited by the number of varients there were, and how many of them looked extremely different from the North American versions.

North American Snuzzle, North American Peachy, Greek Peachy, Italian Peachy, Dollymix Snuzzle, and Prototype Peachy

This Snuzzle was a gift from Roomy and my other very close friends one birthday, so she has that added specialness about her. My childhood Peachy was a gift from my grandparents, so there are also good memories attached to this character, although I no longer have my childhood version.

My second army began by accident. I don't normally collect different versions of the same character, preferring to choose one example to keep. However, I've found choosing between versions of Princess Twilight Sparkle to be rather difficult. I blame the rainbow-themes of the last few waves of ponies for this, since it allows for quite a bit of interesting variation in the re-releases of the mane six ponies.

I'm going to need more crowns

This second army is a bit odd. I wasn't a huge fan of Twilight becoming a princess in the cartoon (I've never been a huge fan of princess ponies, even as a kid in the 80s). I acquired my first Princess Twilight only because there was enough difference between her and original Twilight for me to consider them as separate characters. Then I got a castle, who came with a Princess who flapped her wings (not pictured above). Then I got another castle, with another Princess. Then I got a double pack in order to get the Breezie pony. Then I had 4 Princesses and I couldn't decide between them. And then, Roomy suggested that I could consider keeping all of them, a whole new world opened up, and I began looking for versions I'd missed. I must be sure not to do this with the other mane six ponies, or shelf space is really going to become a serious problem.

Elf

Friday, 16 January 2015

MGR Original Six

I've been dying to share these customs, but had to wait until after the holidays, since one of them was a gift. Although I've done several customs based on Hasbro ponies, I often make some kind of change or alteration to my customs so that I don't lose interest in the project. I've been a great fan of MGR ponies for years, and also of the earliest G1 ponies, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before I did a mash up of the two.

All six of these are Happy Meal ponies. The manes, elements of the tails, and their MGR blankets are all sculpted with Apoxie Sculpt.

They have all had jewels added as well, that match either their colour scheme or their original ribbon colours. The blanket designs are based on the later Hasbro MGR pony designs, utilizing the original six symbols.

All have been fully hand-painted and sealed, and had blush added.

Snuzzle is staying with me as part of my army, and Minty was a Solstice gift. The others will be going to the Fair in June to hopefully find new homes.

Enjoy!
Cotton Candy:

Blossom:

Blue Belle:

Butterscotch:

Minty:

Snuzzle:

Elf

Friday, 9 January 2015

Arlece - commission for a ponysona

Arlece is a custom that I completed for an Arena member. As this is her ponysona, the design was hers, I just brought her into 3 dimensions.

She was a full-body repaint. Her hair is a blend of dollyhair Lemonade and Sunlight.

My favourite part of this custom is her eyes, which have a full rainbow in the irises. I really like how they turned out.

Elf

Friday, 2 January 2015

2014 - A Look Back

Another year of collecting, customizing, and creativity is past.

Early on, the collecting portion was looking a little weak. NY Toy Fair showcased over 40 Equestria Girl dolls, but only a very few ponies, and many collectors (myself included) wondered if Hasbro had forgotten what the "P" in MLP stood for. However, things began to look up later in the year as more new brushable ponies were found.

On the customizing front I saw success in the Fair competition again this year, with a 2nd place medal. I also did several sculpting projects (some of which I've yet to share) that I'm quite proud of.

I also made real strides in my project to catalogue and photograph my collection. I've been working steadily on my excel sheet to track everyone, and I've started cleaning and photographing ponies. I've also got a plan to keep going, and I think it's sustainable, which means this could actually happen.

2014 saw the start of my Snuzzle/Peachy army, and the addition of probably my favourite piece in my collection: my "factory sample" Peachy from Pony designer Liz Knight. I'm so happy to have this one of a kind in my collection.

I hope you have all enjoyed sharing this journey with me, and I hope you'll keep checking in through 2015.

Elf

Friday, 26 December 2014

Building the Holiday Display

Glad you all enjoyed the displays again this year. I've had a few questions that I'll share with you now.

Q: How long does it take to set up the display?

A: It usually takes me between 8 and 12 hours to fully set up the display, but this is after I've decided on a theme and made some initial plans. Once that's decided I set up the playsets and larger pieces according to the plan. Then I start adding the background items and accessories, starting with the innermost areas of the display. The last step is to add the ponies, and make adjustments to get everything to fit.

Q: How do you decide which ponies will be in the display?

A: Initially, I was using the winter/Christmas ponies that I have in each display, but at a certain point there got to be an awful lot of holiday ponies and there wasn't room for anyone else. Then I decided to start using other ponies, not necessarily only the holiday-specific ones. Now I consider the scenario I have planned and which ponies I think will fit best in there. If the part the pony is playing is fairly generic, then I may chose a pony who I feel is a little under appreciated.

Q: Where do the special (non-pony) accessories come from?

A: Although I try to use as many pony accessories as I can, there aren't that many that are specific to the Christmas season. A few (like the gingerbread house, yule log, Christmas pudding, and cookies above) I have made of Fimo clay, but most of the holiday decorations come from craft and dollar stores. There are many miniature decorations available at these places, although some are a bit pricey. A few odds and ends I've picked up from Value Village as well. I also have many custom made scarves and other outfits for the ponies, most of which were made by friends.