So it’s becoming apparent that Evie is something of a girly girl. I wouldn’t have expected for it to manifest so soon, but there you go. She tends to want to surround herself with pink, purple, ruffles and fluff. She has very girly reactions to things and a decided love for all things “pwitty”. “Fowers” and “futterfwies” and “buuds”. (Flowers, butterflies and birds, natch.)
Starting last year, I got her some My Little Ponies as I saw a display for them at Walmart. They were not the ponies I remember from my younger years and therefore somewhat lacking. But I wanted to see if she had any interest in such things.
And she did.
So I started looking around on eBay for old “vintage” My Little Ponies. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were many to be had and the prices, considering, weren’t that bad. Especially if you weren’t afraid to do a little cleaning up. I put it off and I put it off. But this has been a good summer for the ol’ knitting biz and I had some jingle in my pocket. So I went back to eBay and started bidding. And buying. And before long, the ponies started rolling in.
Her first and my first pony
We started, aptly enough, with Blue Belle. The very same pony that started off my collection back in 1982. Now, my poor Blue Belle didn’t look half as nice as this one by the time I was done with her. She was my “off road” pony. Often lacking her tail (and possibly her head too), I played with her in the pool, in the dirt… she was the pony that got to go where no pony went before.
I have higher hopes for this Blue Belle.
Then more Ponies arrived. Liam got interested and would actually (*gasp*) play with Evie!
And, I have to admit, I was getting into it too. A lot of these were ponies I either had or wished I had had back when I was little. Evie would bring me the new ponies and I would brush their hair for her. And she? LOVES THEM. I thought she was somewhat fond of the “new school” ponies but these “vintage” ones? It’s love, y’all. She throws a holy fit if I don’t let her take them to dinner/lunch/whatever. She takes them to bed. At least one pony goes with her at all times. This last weekend, the favored pony was “Parasol”, a favorite of mine as well. What can I say, the girl has taste!
Yesterday, another shipment of ponies showed up and I was officially ready to admit that maybe this was getting out of hand (of course, have I closed the eBay tab yet? Newp!). But, to my credit, I’m planning to give some of these ponies to my BFF’s daughter. They’re coming to visit us this weekend and I’m hoping she enjoys playing ponies just as much as my chuckleheads do. But, as of today, this was the “vintage” pony stash, minus the ponies being gifted to my dear friend’s daughter:
Yeah. I think I should feel embarrassed or something.
Still, you can hardly blame me when you look at what passes for a My Little Pony these days.
Now tell me these don’t look some sort of bizaarro world-Bratz’ified-frankenstein crazy messed up version of a My Little Pony. Look how big their HEADS are! Especially when compared to their butts. Now, the “vintage” ponies were hardly the model of accurate equine proportions, but at least the rear of the pony was one of the largest parts of the pony. Just like a real horse. This one? Teeny butt. HUUUUGE head. And tons of mane hair, where the focus used to be on the tails. Now they have these puny little tails. And the ponies themselves are just smaller. UGH. I’m disgusted just looking at them. These creatures are known as “G3 ponies”. As in Generation 3. Wanna see a Generation 2? It’s better, a little, BUT NOT MUCH.
Seriously. I had to look that up because I thought it was a fake. I didn’t know it was an actual My Little Pony. But, unlike the G3′s, Evie doesn’t mind this pony and has actually been carting this one around everywhere, lunch and nap included hence it’s rough appearance in the photo above.
Now for comparison’s sake, here’s one of the “G1″ or vintage ponies. This is Applejack and I think she’s purty.
Now THAT is what a pony is supposed to look like.
The important thing, of course, is that Evie enjoys them. And she does. She squeals with delight whenever she sees a new one. She fawns over them and has favorites and loves to act out scenarios with them. Which honestly, is what I was hoping for in the first place. And as Kile mentioned, this is the ultimate in recycling. Taking ponies that are 25-30 years old, have been played with sometimes by two generations of children already and they still have use left.
I say down with G3! Vintage, all the way.
I only wish I were joking. But I’m not. We earned our margaritas that night, fo sho.
