Opinions on Unboxing Mint ponies (CONTROVERSIAL I KNOW LOL.)

Sweetling said:
Just thought I would let everyone know she is home at last and after some careful removal I did finally take her out of her box since this is her forever home! (Yes I know she is in need of a serious hair do)
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She looks so lovely!
 
CharmsPonies said:
She looks so lovely!
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She's the absolute sweetest! I'm so lost now on what pony i want to get next since she was my absolute holy grail and i thought she'd take longer for me to find hehe. :lolpony:
 
To me deboxing a G3 is different from removing a G1 from its packaging because the G3 packaging means you can put them back in and they look about the same (aside from the plastic strip in their hair being gone). Whereas removing a pony from a bubble on card is more permanent.

I will say that a lot of people think they will have their beloved MLP collection forever, and usually this isn't the case. I started collecting in the late 90s and now a tiny handful of pony collectors from that era are still around. The people who were actively collecting in 2003, 2010 . . . almost all gone. I mean, they're not dead or anything. ;) (AFAIK.) But they dropped out of collecting. It's natural for your interests to change over time.

Most ponies get recirculated as people sell their collections / get into pony collecting. I understand the individualist perspective that "it's my toy and I'll do what I want" but on the other hand . . . this is also a community and it sucks when something rare and special is removed. Like if a rare MLP prototype was accidentally thrown away I don't think most collectors would be like "Well, I would never have been able to put it on my shelf, so it doesn't matter that it's gone forever. :)" I think everyone would be pretty sad about such a loss.

There are plenty of mint, loose ponies but few MOCs. (Especially with G1s because those were mostly kept MOC "by mistake", like parents buying an intended birthday gift in the 80s and forgetting it in a closet for 20 years, lol.) That said, with G3s, like I said before, I feel like it's much lower stakes because the boxes are so reusable. And also there were pretty many people collecting G3s mint in box so there should be relatively more of them. Rarity is definitely a factor, not just age.
 
I think it is true that it’s important to preserve pieces of collecting history, and g1 is old and over time it’s more and more difficult to find those Mint In Box ponies. Old packaging is easily destroyed and there are plenty of ponies that I’ve wanted to find images of their packaging to no avail. So it is honorable if someone is trying to preserve history by keeping those g1 ponies.

But I also still do truly believe that it isn’t immoral to unbox even old g1 ponies or anything like that. Sure, I understand people being sad at the loss of preservation. “You could just buy a loose pony if you wanna play with it instead of destroying the mint in box pony.” And maybe this is unpopular opinion that people will think is wrong: But I truly do not think anyone should feel shame for unboxing a toy, no mater how rare or old. Even the rarest g1 nirvana haha. Because it is your toy. Sure MLP collectors is a community and it’s great to preserve history, but it also isn’t a horrible crime if someone Doesn’t care all too much about keeping things nice and in pristine unopened condition forever and ever.
 
LadyMoondancer said:
To me deboxing a G3 is different from removing a G1 from its packaging because the G3 packaging means you can put them back in and they look about the same (aside from the plastic strip in their hair being gone). Whereas removing a pony from a bubble on card is more permanent.

I will say that a lot of people think they will have their beloved MLP collection forever, and usually this isn't the case. I started collecting in the late 90s and now a tiny handful of pony collectors from that era are still around. The people who were actively collecting in 2003, 2010 . . . almost all gone. I mean, they're not dead or anything. ;) (AFAIK.) But they dropped out of collecting. It's natural for your interests to change over time.

Most ponies get recirculated as people sell their collections / get into pony collecting. I understand the individualist perspective that "it's my toy and I'll do what I want" but on the other hand . . . this is also a community and it sucks when something rare and special is removed. Like if a rare MLP prototype was accidentally thrown away I don't think most collectors would be like "Well, I would never have been able to put it on my shelf, so it doesn't matter that it's gone forever. :)" I think everyone would be pretty sad about such a loss.

There are plenty of mint, loose ponies but few MOCs. (Especially with G1s because those were mostly kept MOC "by mistake", like parents buying an intended birthday gift in the 80s and forgetting it in a closet for 20 years, lol.) That said, with G3s, like I said before, I feel like it's much lower stakes because the boxes are so reusable. And also there were pretty many people collecting G3s mint in box so there should be relatively more of them. Rarity is definitely a factor, not just age.
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I absolutely agree with this to be honest.

I personally prefer to buy my ponies loose as I like them out of box as that is just how I like my display, but you’re completely right in the sense that g3 ponies can essentially be put back into their box so easily (minus the hair plastic) whereas g1’s can’t as it means basically ruining the packaging.

I think if I did happen to ever come across a g1 pony NIB I probably wouldn’t remove it, not for value or for how much I want it to sit nicely on my display but just because i think there are people out there that would really appreciate it being in the box more than I would (I’m 24 so I grew up in the g3 era) So I constantly think and keep in mind of Collectors that are older and grew up with g1 and want their g1’s in mint so if I ever did happen to get rid of a NIB g1 it would go to someone that would really really appreciate it more than I would.

Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE g1 ponies but this is just why I personally wouldn’t take it out of a box. This is also why I prefer to look for them loose too so it fits into my collection preferences better.

What’s your opinion on the Mail order g1’s being removed since I believe majority came in a plastic bag? :ponylove:
 
Rebeldream said:
When G3 Snowflake was first released I kept her MIB even though I opened all the other winter ponies. I knew she was sought after and valuable and that she’d be worth more in-box which was apparently more important to me at the time.

In 2009 I sold the valuable pieces of my collection to pay for Christmas presents for my kids and Snowflake was one of them. I also sold a Mimic and a Frisco but Snowflake has always been the one I was most sad about. This year my adult daughter bought me a beautifully MIB Snowflake and the first thing I did, with tears streaming down my face, was remove her from her box. I’ve known for a long time that if I ever got her back I was going to enjoy her to my heart’s content and I don’t regret that one bit. I’m keeping her box but she’s sitting happily front-and-center on my shelf and my heart lurches every time I notice her. :blueheart:
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That is such a sweet story. :ponylove:
 
Personally, I prefer to buy my ponies (and other childhood collectibles) secondhand whenever possible, because I like having them displayed as the wonderful toys they are, being able to pick them up, move them just so on my shelves, etc. I don't like having them boxed up never to be played with. So, I say, since you intend to keep them in your forever collection, the resale value of a mint in box collectible is a completely moot point. Chances are (though no collector ever wants to think about this) that the things we have loved in our lives will not be important to those left to deal with them when we are gone, and they will end up in a mass estate auction or donated to charity, neither of which will see them for the value we give them, so, we, the collectors, must love them while we have them, in whatever manner gives us the most joy. After all, only the love of a child, no matter what age, can bring a toy to life.
 
Sweetling said:
Just thought I would let everyone know she is home at last and after some careful removal I did finally take her out of her box since this is her forever home! (Yes I know she is in need of a serious hair do)
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YAYYYY! I’m so glad you opened her, so you can finally hold her in your hands :twohearts: :twohearts: She really is beautiful. I I’ve her halo, so cute! And the blue snowflakes on white are just so satisfying.
 
I definitely like to have both loose and MIB
I don’t plan on reselling any of mine but sometimes that packaging is part of the charm
 
LadyMoondancer said:
To me deboxing a G3 is different from removing a G1 from its packaging because the G3 packaging means you can put them back in and they look about the same (aside from the plastic strip in their hair being gone). Whereas removing a pony from a bubble on card is more permanent.

I will say that a lot of people think they will have their beloved MLP collection forever, and usually this isn't the case. I started collecting in the late 90s and now a tiny handful of pony collectors from that era are still around. The people who were actively collecting in 2003, 2010 . . . almost all gone. I mean, they're not dead or anything. ;) (AFAIK.) But they dropped out of collecting. It's natural for your interests to change over time.

Most ponies get recirculated as people sell their collections / get into pony collecting. I understand the individualist perspective that "it's my toy and I'll do what I want" but on the other hand . . . this is also a community and it sucks when something rare and special is removed. Like if a rare MLP prototype was accidentally thrown away I don't think most collectors would be like "Well, I would never have been able to put it on my shelf, so it doesn't matter that it's gone forever. :)" I think everyone would be pretty sad about such a loss.

There are plenty of mint, loose ponies but few MOCs. (Especially with G1s because those were mostly kept MOC "by mistake", like parents buying an intended birthday gift in the 80s and forgetting it in a closet for 20 years, lol.) That said, with G3s, like I said before, I feel like it's much lower stakes because the boxes are so reusable. And also there were pretty many people collecting G3s mint in box so there should be relatively more of them. Rarity is definitely a factor, not just age.
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Just wanted to say “hi”! I’ve been around since 1998, still collecting. Many of us old school collectors are still collecting, but much less active in the community for a variety of reasons. I know so many long time collectors that I met back in the early 2000s that are still collecting.

But you are right, sometimes you just don’t know who is going to be in it for the long haul. I think it’s good to view new collection acquisitions with the idea that they are not guaranteed to have any value in the future, MOC/MIB or otherwise. Just collect what you enjoy now and spend the amount you are okay with never getting back. That way, if for some reason you need to part with your collection later you can have no regrets and plenty of found memories.

At the end of the day, we collect for ourselves and our children or even future grandchildren, not as a service to a broader collecting community. That said, I do love to be a positive force in the community when I do interact. I love sharing rare items and helping when I can (life has taken me out of the community recently).

Collecting is fickle and there are no guarantees for the future. I’ve seen MOCs sell recently for less than they sold 15 years ago. I feel there could be a shift as the collecting demographic ages out (how many people in their 30s, 40s, 50s collect toys from the 1940s? Not many). The future value of MLPs are directly related to bringing in new collectors and that is largely impacted on the new gens Hasbro releases, how they are received, and general age of the collector.
 
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