Why Ponies?

My Earliest Memories

My mother claims that I had lots of ponies growing up, yet I have basically no memory of them at all. When I think of the 80s, I think of He-Man, She-Ra, ThunderCats and Jem. I think I remember owning Minty, which is kinda weird since I was born in 1982. I know I had at least one pony, because I remember wondering what I was suppose to do with it. (I was an only daughter. My brothers would mix Barbie up with Ninja Turtles or whatever, but either they were too young when I had ponies or they didn't like the ponies. I have no clue which.

The Dolly Revival

I discovered My Little Pony Arena in 2010 while looking for a place to research Monster High dolls. Barbie had been the most constant toy staple of my childhood, but I had quit collecting those around the time my grandfather died when I was fourteen. I was at that awkward stage where people wanted me to "grow up", "figure out who I was" and at the same time be who they wanted me to be. (I was also at that awkward teenage phase where you want to make your own choices but you do not make an income--that makes being an independent thinker quite difficult!)

It took a lot of effort to get those first few Monster High dolls. The originals were quite a pain to find. But getting ahold of Monster High became easier as they become increasingly popular. The problem for me was that I hadn't anticipated this and was collecting with a "Gotta catch 'em all" mentality. I got all of the original dolls, and all but Lagoona Blue from the Dawn of the Dance set (a shame since she was my favorite. I need to fix that!) but I gave up on Monster High at the tme because I honestly couldn't keep up with it.

Since I wasn't doing anything doll or pony related, I didn't keep up with MLP Arena either. A shame, since there are some very nice people there.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

The first time I heard about the new My Little Pony show I laughed at it. "Who would watch a My Little Pony show? Don't you know how much Hasbro likes to cash in on their show properties with toys? Those shows are usually (said solely to exclude Jem) junk!" A couple years would pass before I was reminded that I had ever said this to anyone. And I only believe Jay about it because (1) he wouldn't lie, and (2) it sounds like something I would have said.

Then Bryan (Jay's brother) mentioned that he liked Pinkie Pie. He had been watching the new MLP series and thought it was good. I was preparing to organize a giftbox for Jay and his siblings, so I decided to check out MLP: FiM since I was going to be buying merchandise from it. I found the first episode on Netflex, set it up, and prepared to be bored and bemused.

... Instead, I ended up obsessed.

I've now watched up 'til half way through season two. I'm only going this slow since Jay is watching as well. We watch at his pace, mixed with games, anime and other stuff. It's fine since I'm not in a hurry to devour all four seasons. It took me a bit to get going on the collection front, but thanks to my birthday and Valentines day I've finally got a nice start. I still need to get my collections started on the other gens, especially one and three that have some ponies I really love the designs of.

I will never have every MLP from every generation. But I'm 100% cool with that--I don't have the finances, the space, or the desire to do that. I'm purely focused on getting the ponies (and dolls--I'm getting a few more Monster High and am interested in either Ever After High or Disney Descendants-- haven't made up my mind which.). It's just nice to be doing something I enjoy so much. It will be even better when I've sorted through the shelf next to my PC so it will just be holding my collectibles and not a bunch of stuff I don't need.

Anyway, that's where my journey is at right now. I'll update this when and if anything major changes. How did your collection begin? Do you just collect ponies or do you collect any other toys? Did you return to toys or keep the ones you had from childhood? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. :)