Lord Iron Skull

The third custom for the same commissioner was an original persona, Lord Iron Skull.  His wings are mainly taken from a blind bag Rainbow Dash, sculpted onto a blind bag Shining Armor, with extra feathers added to hold them in place.  He has, of course, been fully repainted.

Elf

Sauron, the Dark Lord

Another xmas commission, for the same person, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to portray the Lord of the Rings in pony form.  I'm actually quite pleased with how he turned out.

His armor was sculpted with Apoxie Clay, and he's been fully repainted.  I've already had a request for a similar custom.

Elf

The Doctor Is In

Here's the first of the customs I was commissioned to make for an xmas gift this year, the Eleventh Doctor.

11 was made from an Apple Split blind bag pony, with fez and bowtie sculpted on.  His hair, eyes, and symbol were repainted.  I'm so happy with how he turned out, and his new owner is too.

Elf

My Customs Album

I'm still slowly working on updating my new(ish) flickr account with pony pictures, including adding pictures of my older custom works.  To that end, I've added a page with a link to my customs album, so if you'd like to visit some of my older works please have a visit.

http://www.northernelfpony.blogspot.ca/p/elfponys-customs.html

Elf

2015, A Collector's Year in Review

2015 was a big year in the Geek Cave.

I made huge strides toward actually finishing the project of cleaning and cataloguing my whole collection.  I'm well over halfway through the cleaning, photographing, and noting down conditions, and it seems like the project will actually, finally, be completed.

Photogenic Ponies

I added quite a few ponies to my collection, as well as several playsets, including the long-sought-after G2 Castle.  This year's Fair was, shall we say, productive.

And that's only Day 1!

This was also the year that I really added to my Snuzzle/Peachy and Twilight Sparkle armies.  If you'd asked me only a couple of years ago if I would ever have a pony army (let alone two), I'd probably have said no.  This is one of the things that fascinates me about collecting - how your collection tastes and preferences can change over the years, if you let them, and your collection grows and changes along with you.

Argie Snuzzle

I've also created several customs this year, which I'm very proud of.  There are many more that I'll be sharing on the blog in the upcoming months, and I hope you'll enjoy them as well.  Many were Christmas gifts and I'm looking forward to hearing how their new owners like them.

Moonrise

MGR Unicorns and Pegasi

In 2016, I hope to finally finish the cataloguing project. It's been a great way to enjoy my collection, piece by piece.

More Photogenic Ponies (and Dragons)

I don't generally go in making plans about which ponies I will try to get at a certain time.  However, I would very much like to add some more Nirvana Snuzzles/Peachys to the collection in the next year.  We'll see what else will comes of 2016.

Happy New Year!
Elf

Happy Hearth's Warming Eve

The four princesses of Equestria are hosting a Hearth's Warming Eve party in Canterlot tonight!

All the ponies of Equestria are invited, and they're beginning to arrive at the castle. The princesses have been busy preparing everything, and of course the friends of the Princess of Friendship have been lending a hoof.

"Oooooh, cookies!  Cakes!  PIE!" Pinkie Pie might be a bit excited about tonight's party.  "Uh, Pinkie, try not to eat everything before the party gets started."

"Howdy, Muffins.  Thanks for helping out.  Now, uh, just don't touch anything else, ok?"

Princess Twilight Sparkle is currently entertaining the fillies who've already arrived, reading them the story of Hearth's Warming Eve while they wait for the party to officially get under way.

Spike is helping out by directing all the newcomers up the stairs into the main hall.  That's where all the gifts that everypony has brought are being displayed.  Later on, they will all open a gift that was brought by one of their friends.

Up in the main hall Princess Cadence and Shining Armour are greeting all the ponies arriving at the party.

Down in the courtyard, Lyra is tuning up the piano and getting ready to lead the carol signing.  She's already got a few eager listeners.

Fluttershy has had only one job all day: keep Discord out of trouble.  Looks like she's succeeded, although Discord has an interesting take on dressing up for the holidays.

"I believe that now we are ready to receive, all the Little Ponies for Hearth's Warming Eve!"

It seems like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna agree with Zecora.  They're just about ready to officially open the festivities.

Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, everypony!

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So this year's display ended up being a G4 celebration.  I was originally intending to focus on the G2s this year, since I finally got the G2 castle this summer, but Yule came early and how could I resist playing with my new, giant Canterlot castle?  (Also, it's about an inch too tall for the space I had planned for it, so it looks like it will be living on the display table for awhile).

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends, and ponies.  I will be back in the new year with new custom ponies to show off.

Elf

Pony Census!

Last week I was struck with a sudden urge to count my ponies.  It's been sometime over a year (maybe two) since I last did a headcount, and I was curious to see how many ponies I was up to.

The herd in 2013 - 544 ponies

The count below includes only brushable ponies.  Not included are other figurines (Funko POP, Blind Bags, etc.), differently-sized ponies (My Pretty Pony, fashion sized, etc.) or other pony-shaped merchandise (plushies, customs, etc.)  So how does the herd shape up?

Generation One
Total count: 304
Of those, 113 are babies. 41 are Nirvana / European ponies.
The G1s have been, and always will be, my favourites.  They are the ponies I grew up with, and I have a lot of good memories of family and friends associated with them.  I will always be sad that I don't have my childhood ponies, but I enjoy collecting them now, as well as G1s I never knew existed before the internet.  I'm looking forward to finishing cleaning them all and having them displayed in family groups again.

Generation Two
Total count: 32
Of those, 8 are babies.
The G2s are by far the smallest group, not because they are the least favourite but because they are rather difficult to come by on this side of the pond.  Also, the sheer number of re-released characters in this gen means that I'll never have a large G2 herd.  I've been lucky enough to pick up several that were complete with their accessories, so I've gotten somewhat spoiled by that, and now am trying to hold off on some purchases in order to do the same again.

Generation Three
Total count: 268
Of those, 24 are babies.
I remember a time when G3 was the largest portion of my collection.  Being a gainfully-employed adult when these were in stores made collecting nearly all of them relatively easy.  There are only a few left on my want list, so this number isn't likely to change much.  Actually, I've been trying to figure out if I can move these into the closet portion of the Geek Cave, seeing as I know exactly how much space I need for them.  I'm not sure if it's practical, but I keep considering it.  Maybe someday when I have a week of free time and nothing better to do with it.

Generation Four
Total count: 63 (not counting several that are waiting to be un-boxed)
Of those, 7 are fillies.
I'm really enjoying the G4 line currently, in spite of the numerous Mane 6 re-releases.  Actually, I'm somewhat glad of them, as it usually means there are only one or two new characters per wave that I need to hunt down (and spend money on...and find room for).  However, this also lead to the beginning of my Pony Army habit, as it proved to be impossible to chose between Princess Twilight Sparkle figures and keep only one.

Grand Total
667 Ponies!
Goodness, that escalated significantly in the last couple of years.  I had sort of thought I was close to 600, not well past it.  Well, I've always said I could keep track of which ponies I had, not necessarily how many I had!

Elf