Tuesday Coffee Chat: Showing Off My Ponies

Today is the first Coffee Chat over at Time Out for Mom since summer break.  I am happy to have stumbled upon it as this week we are chatting about COLLECTIONS.   Just the other day I was bragging about my collection to a friend.  I told her that her kids HAD to see my obsession  collection.  As silly as it is, these little guys are my collection and they make me terribly happy.
1st Generation My Little Ponies

Unfortunately, these are not from my childhood.  My ponies were probably thrown into a bag for Goodwill or *gasp* a trashcan when I didn't clean up my room and mom did it for me.  I started acquiring my preciouses when I was 21.  I was randomly farting around on Ebay (through a dial up connection...) when I found a listing for ponies.  Lots of ponies.  HUNDREDS of ponies.  I wanted it.  BAD.  
But I didn't have that kind of money.  
So I started searching and was engrossed for days...maybe weeks.  I found a few I liked and started bidding.  Of course my cheap little heart was being outbid on every damn auction.  I upped my game and was diligent.  A week or so later and this beauty showed up on my door step.  

Her name is Cherries Jubilee.  And she was my first.  I was hooked. It didn't take too long for me to amass over 100 ponies including a full collection of Sparkle Ponies.

And a few ponies from international lines such as Seashell from Italy.

Only two ponies sit and I had both.  Unfortunately, some of my ponies were stolen and Bubbles was included.  I have yet to find him again.  But I won't get into that mess.
I stopped my huge spending spree and over the next decade or so, only had a few of these beauties delivered to my door...but I still checked the Ebay auctions and collector's forums frequently. 
A little over a year ago, five years after moving into the new house, I FINALLY put these ponies on display.  I was thrilled to reunite with old friends and grieved again over those who were lost along the way.  And I had a new fire to look at auctions.  
I found one I couldn't turn away from.  FLUTTER PONIES!!  I found an auction that let me finish my flutter pony collection as well as replace one that came to me with a haircut.  I was more overjoyed than a woman in her 30's should be.

But then I saw the icing on the cake.  CHIEF.

Yes.  He is missing his scarf, but this beautiful Clydesdale Big Brother Pony with his fetching hat eluded me for years!!  I saw the auction and laid low for a while.  At the end of the auction I stormed in, placed a bid for higher than I wanted to pay, yet less than what I had been bidding a decade before, and snatched him up.  It was an awesome day when he arrived.  
I've collected a few more since then and also traded out some of the So Soft Ponies for more "display worthy" versions.  The more played with ponies went to a very loving home with Steven's sister.  
They aren't worth much, but they are worth a fortune to me.  I doubt I will be able to pass them down to my girls, but they will have memories and stories to share about their "mother's ponies."  I am 34 years old and collect toys.  BoYAH!