"Mint" and condition.

fantasticfirefly

fantasticfirefly

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
May 29, 2005
Messages
2,294
Mint: (Websters) :cwm15:
: unmarred as if fresh from a mint <in mint condition>

My opinion:
Mint is: Perfect, flawless.
Which, 99.99% of ponies are not mint. even the ones that do look fresh from the package. They were mass made in China so almost every pony will have some subtle factory flaw. crooked neck seam, missing last bolt of hair. a sloppy symbol etc. Which is why i don't mind small factory flaws. :). Considering this, to me a "near mint" pony should look as if she were just opened from the package.


Share your thoughts!
What makes a pony mint, or not mint. Do factory flaws count? Do you have "condition pet peeves?" (mine is a dull colour or fading to the pony, or dry hair. yelch)

Does a seller that overstates condition affect your bidding practices? What about the honest detailed sellers?

Feel free to share stories of disappointments, or the surprisingly clean and new "bait pony" you got once.

I'm really interested what different opinions and thoughts pop up here. :)
 
As you noted, ponies are mass produced and not held to the same standards in quality control as, say, coins, so I could let a factory flaw like a wonky mane job or crooked symbol job go without caring so much, or sometimes finding that even more attractive than a "perfect" specimen. If it looks like it just came out of the packaging, that is "close enough" for me.

Pet peeves...smells. Nasty smells. Sellers somehow never note that, and it can really kill the enjoyment when I have to behead that beautiful-looking pony and clean out internal mold before burying her in cat litter for a month. I also HATE different head/body colors. HATE. Close behind that is "cancer," or VDS, or whatever you'd like to call it. Those brown spots drive me batty!

Frankly, I don't even read description except to get a laugh on ebay. I go by the pictures and set my expectations a few notches lower than that. I had one lot that looked gorgeous in the pictures, and I paid accordingly. When the ponies arrived, I think about half of them, including the otherwise perfect MO pony I wanted, had the forelocks buzzed. Very disappointing to have to rehair them.

In the happy category, I've found lots of ponies that are just out and out grimy, and they get tossed in with baits for a quick sale. After a good scrub, they look like new.
Probably the biggest surprise was a SS Sundance...I wasn't going after her at all, but I was amazed when I opened the package -- she still had factory curl, her original ribbon, and nearly pristine flocking. (I blame her for my So Soft infatuation...if only I hadn't been shown what SS can aspire to be!)
 
To me, a "mint" pony is one with no real flaws. In my opinion, flaws are things that a child might have done to the pony over the years, such as marking it with things like pens, or chewing up parts of the pony. I wouldn't count factory flaws as actual flaws though, because it's not the fault of the person who bought the pony originally. To me, factory flaws such as missing hair plugs or unaligned neck seams make a pony unique. They don't bug me that much.

I did have a bad experience with buying a pony. I bought Patch, the Tales Character off ebay. The seller said that the pony was just a little dirty and had a few "cleanable marks". They only provided a picture of her DS, and her hair was covering most of her body. When Patch came in the mail, she had grime all over her, lipstick smeared all over her mouth, and 9 Pen Marks on her NDS!!! I was able to clean up the grime and lipstick, but the pen marks (obviously) wouldn't come off. I was so upset that my new pony had pen marks on her face... But now I'm over it, and Patch is a proud member of my herd. She is actually one of my favorite ponies now.:)
 
I hear what you both are saying!

Yes, I usually only read the description for a laugh, as most of the time it's pretty darn funny to see a pony who looked as though she came out of a catbox being called mint. hehe.

Factory flaws. Yes, almost every pony has them. Yes while I don't mind them for the most part, and I don't count them it does take the pony down a notch from mint, to near mint. I have no problems proudly saying my collection is almost all "near mint" ponies. They still look bright, shiny, clean and new and they also smell new too - and to me, that's what counts. (there are the rare times however you'll find a beautiful pony with a BIG factory flaw. :( )

Frankly, I don't even read description except to get a laugh on ebay. I go by the pictures and set my expectations a few notches lower than that. I had one lot that looked gorgeous in the pictures, and I paid accordingly. When the ponies arrived, I think about half of them, including the otherwise perfect MO pony I wanted, had the forelocks buzzed. Very disappointing to have to rehair them.
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I do the same thing. I will read the description for the laugh, but I bid according to what I see. But I'll still expect the pony to be at least a little worse off then the pictures show.

I'll also ask for extra pictures as well, but still there are times like you, even when I'm EXPECTING a few notches down from what I see to be disappointed still when I receive my parcel. :( (mine was a batch of ponies. all of the colours were off, faded and dull)

I'll also add that the scent and "internal contents" are also included into what makes a pony mint. if she smells moldy or stinky/smokey/whatever she's NOT mint! not close!
Internal mold knocks them way down to "good/fair" condition in my books..... I've had people not mention an internal cleaning to me, and yes. I could tell as soon as I saw the pony that she was once completely moldy inside. (you can smell it, and upon looking inside, you can see where a toothbrush cleaning missed spots. Ugh) Those I cannot keep. It ruins it for me thinking I blew good money on something that stinks of mold. :(

I may sound completely snobby in my rant above, I don't mind fair condition ponies. I DO mind them when I'm PAYING for a near mint pony, or I'm PAYING for an upgrade. It's the people who are dishonest when it comes to disclosing things that upsets me. I'm not talking about newer collectors who don't have a basis of seeing what real "near mint" pony is. I'm talking about people who should by all means know better.

My original collection was mostly ponies from thrifts and yard sales. I cleaned and groomed them and made them LOOK new again. They would never BE mint again however. Andwhen I sold them I made sure my buyers knew exactly what they were getting. If I took a head off and cleaned inside a pony, I said so. :squid:
 
I'm personally not super picky about condition, but that's just me. I know other people are, so I try to be as honest as possible with what flaws the pony has. I list every mark, haircut, etc., just so people can buy from me and know what they're getting. I often get the "wow, these are much nicer than I expected" comment from people. :D

I know most people hate the term, but I use the term "minty" sometimes. XD Generally it's reserved for ponies that, while I see nothing wrong with them, they still aren't perfect. I'm personally pickier about the shape the body is in, as opposed to the hair.

Mint condition should only be reserved for ponies that truly do look like they just came out of the package: factory curl, no marks, no fading, etc. Very, very few ponies are actually "mint."

And Ebay... arg. I recently bought my first ponies off of Ebay in two different lots. One of the lots was from a collector, and while I did get some baits in the lot, at least she was upfront about them being baity. On the other hand, I bought a lot from another person, and they came to me in horrible condition. The pictures they took were good, or at least I thought. After I got my ponies, I realized that they had very carefully positioned the ponies so that you couldn't see a lot of their flaws. ><;;
 
For me, 'mint' means 'right out of the package'. Factory flaws are fine, but I prefer that sellers point out any major flaws. I hate when a seller puts MINT, or even worse, MINTY in all of the auction titles. I've been disappointed so many times by so-called MINT ponies with flaws not mentioned in the description. :-(

On the other hand, I've also bought many ponies described as 'fair' that cleaned up very nicely. I don't think surface dirt really detracts from a pony's value.
 
I think Mint condition should mean any pony free of flaws caused by humans and aging of the plastic. I wouldn't have a problem calling a ponywith a factory flaw "Mint", but at the same time, I would mention the factory error, because that does bug some people.

It annoys me when people say "Mint except for this marker". That's like saying "I got all As in school except for the Cs I got." what?!
 
good point Metro. :)

surface dirt is much different from a pony you need to remove the head from to re-hair or clean out the INSIDES of goop, crust or mold. (if you are altering the pony, Vs. just a light cleaning of the surface)

Have you ever gotten a pony "fresh from package"? they often have a thin layer of surface dirt already on them. :) A decarded moondancer I bought with the original wrapping and everything had light surface dirt. all it took was a careful wipe with a slightly damp cloth to remove.
 
A mint pony to me is one fresh off the card or box. I think one should use caution when purchasing a "mint" pony since many people seem to have different standards. I think "near mint" is a safer way to describe nice looking ponies. Especially since they were mass produced as noted before and factory flaws are sure to be anywhere.

I personally am not picky about the condition of my ponies. I like ponies in fair shape. A few small haircuts aren't bad and even a few marks. Things that drive me crazy though are those little brown spots - especially when they show up on the face. Ugh. Other than that though I can deal with ink marks and stuff.

Several years back my friend picked up a box of ponies for me at a flea market. I used to give him 20 bucks when he would go there on the weekend to pick me up ponies if he saw any. He managed to get a box of ponies that he said were in "pretty nasty shape." I was expecting a lot worse. Hidden in the bottom of the box was what appeared to be a manky so soft Taffy. But after some good cleaning, she was almost new! It was wonderful!
 
Hidden in the bottom of the box was what appeared to be a manky so soft Taffy. But after some good cleaning, she was almost new! It was wonderful!
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Nice! That's a really awsome find! She's been a toughy for me to find, I still don't have her! Did you get a lot of ponies for $20? Dirty or not, that's an amazing price. :eek:

It annoys me when people say "Mint except for this marker". That's like saying "I got all As in school except for the Cs I got." what?!
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Haha, yeah they make an equally amount of sense.
Ok, you owe me a new keybord. and a new coffee. :p
 
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