Collectors Guide - Know Your My Little Ponies 1980s to the Present

If you're looking to start a collection or replace your old lost toys, We love My Little Pony. Here's a rough guide to the toy line so far:

Generation 1 (G1) 1982 - 1995
This is by far the most popular line with collectors. For pure nostalgia and style they are great. There is literally something for everyone with the original Earth Pony line, the Big Brother clydesdale ponies to the clear glitter ponies. Prices start at around £6 for one in good condition, but you can expect to pay over £100 for international exclusives and variations.

Generation 2 (G2) 1997 - 2003
How can a toy line get it so wrong? This version was a disaster with hardly any commercial success in the USA and discontinued there in less than a year after launch. Their strange skinny bodies and hippo like faces had none of the charm or cuteness of the original line. You can pick up G2 mint in pack ponies for less than £10. However due to their unpopularity some of the later play sets and ponies are still quite valuable due to their rarity!

Generation 3 (G3) 2003 - 2009
After a pony hiatus, they were back. They'd learnt their lesson and came back with a chunkier pony with lots more in common with G1. This generation was targeted to a younger age group, so everything was more solid and less fiddly with no small pieces and less accessories.

This was the first line that the artists really got into - there are some great customised ponies in this generation. The value in this generation is in the charity exclusive and convention exclusive ponies.

For new or younger collectors this is a really great place to start. They can be picked up extremely cheaply with prices starting at as low as 50p a pony online if you buy job lots.

Generation 4 Friendship Is Magic (G4 FiM) 2010 - Present
Lauren Faust took the reigns for the cartoon series for this generation. With a pedigree in Powerpuff Girls, it's easy to see the parallels. This series has pulled My Little Ponies back in front of a brand new audience and for the first time has really encouraged the new wave of male collectors, even coining the Bronie title for the once neglected male fans. The toys are super cute and already a big hit with collectors. Keen eyes will already see play sets and ponies in store exclusive deals in Argos and ToysRUs. The mold for these guys is smaller than it's been before with a more Japanese / Kawaii cutesy style. With values already creeping up I can see this as a good bet for a future collectible.

My Collections - Vintage Fisher Price Little People

I used to collect (read: hoard!) a lot of vintage toys. The saddest thing about this though was that there were too many to even display properly, so they were all sat in boxes. This was part of the reason I founded Pica Pica Vintage as a way to thin out my collection.

My biggest collection was vintage Fisher Price - the mid century style paper decals really speak to me and I have such a fondness for those Little People that fit just so perfectly into little hands in a way that they've never managed with subsequent attempts at replicating that original toy line.

This year I've been more about really drilling down and thinking properly about how I want my home to look. I will say that the Marie Kondo book has definitely been an inspiration, but my friend really made me laugh in saying that by buying the book we'd just be cluttering up the house even more! Haha. All that being said, it has made me think and as a result I completely down sized my collection - only keeping one of each of the figures and listing everything else in the shop.

I find this little group of guys much more pleasing to look at now and I honestly prefer the money in the bank rather than sat sadly in boxes in the loft.

If you're looking to add to your Fisher Price collection, some of mine can still be found here in the shop

Show And Tell - My Madballs Collection

Here's a brand new feature where we're going to be showcasing the amazing toy collections of our lovely customers.

Madballs were launched by AmToy in the mid 1980s, part of the American Greetings group. Their gross out humour was on a par with Garbage Pail Kids, so of course children loved them and parents hated them. There was also a cartoon series and computer games based on the toys. During their lifetime people complained of injuries as a result of the hard materials used to manufacture the balls. They later changed to a softer foam. The distinction between these materials is important to most collectors. 

Madballs are back again with versions of the original characters available to gross out a whole new generation. Lets get the ball rolling and meet Johnny and his collection (Haha. Sorry!)

Name 

Johnny James Walker

Age
 36

Location
Sydney, Australia 

When and why did you start collecting?
Madballs were my favourite toy as a kid in the eighties I revamped my obsession about 10 years ago and here we are, I used to have a lot of movie props/collectibles but now its just the toys.

Favourite item in your collection and why?
My favourite is Fist Face the purple foam 1985 Madball pictured.

Latest addition and where you got it?My last toy was a while ago I think it was Snake bait loose also pictured. I find these treasures on ebay, esty  or Parry's Game Preserve.

Something interesting or a fact about your collectionThere are foam balls and rubber ones most collectors try to get one or the other. I'm different I like both. I also love similar handmade items like my crab and my snail.

Your holy grail item you dream of findingI would love to find another Splitting Headache Madball or another Screamin Meemie baseball bat these 2 items are super rare. I own 1 of each but id buy another if I saw one.

Thanks Johnny. I especially love the display case that means they're all able to be on show. Such a great idea. 

Do you have a toy collection you'd like to share with us? Send us an email - we'd love to hear from you :-)

Our Shopkins Collection

We were out shopping and Emmett found these at the counter. The little shopping basket series 3 came in were so cute. This was a while ago, before Shopkins became the biggest selling new toy line in the USA. A quick look on Instagram will show you queues round blocks for the release of series 4.

I'm a big fan of anthropomorphic toys (basically anything inanimate with a face) Shopkins tick all the boxes for cute and the collectable factor is very addictive. I feel they are definitely going to be a collectable for the future. Already some of the rare figures command huge prices on ebay. Also, anything that promotes community with children is a good thing - there are various Shopkin swapping parties advertised online and I also really like the nod to the collectibles of the 1980's like bubblegum cards and Lil' Babies figures that you could trade with your friends.

Series 4 is definitely the best series so far with the addition of super cute Petkins with animal faces. Also a first for this series are the Shoppies dolls. They're really cute too and have already been a big crossover hit with doll collectors. I think the prices are reasonable. The smallest set for this series has two random figures in blind bags in a stackable crate (the crate is available in white, pink and fuschia) This retails for around £2.49 in most shops. I think this was our favourite set as the stackable crates add a lot of play value. We bought the bigger pack so that we knew we'd get some of the Petkins. The paint job on the cabbage sold us too!

I painted up this thimble shelf to display them in my office when we're not playing. Cute, huh?

Merry Kitschmas - my vintage Christmas decorations collection

I've been collecting vintage decorations for years now while on my buying trips for work. So much so that now the majority of our decorations date from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. An obvious but good point to mention is that almost all of them have been bought during the summer month for less than £1 as people are just keen to get rid of them. I put everything in a box throughout the year and enjoy the surprise of looking them over when we decorate.

As tonight is the Twelfth Night and everything gets taken down I thought I'd document some of my favourites before they're all put away

Yes, I am the overly sentimental Mum that saves all the handmade Christmas cards and crafts Emmett makes. I'm already looking forward to getting everything out again this year - 10 months to go!