We decided it would be a good idea to just take a break from Flea Markets for awhile, kind of cut back on getting any more things. Just for awhile. That resolve I am ashamed to admit lasted all of 2 weeks -maybe - at the most. Not only did we go to one Flea Market this weekend, we went to 3. On Saturday we went to the one across the river. I struck out on anything MH or MLP, but to my absolute shock and delight I found a black teddy bear exactly like one I had gotten way back in 2001, if my memory serves me right. How often does one find a black teddy bear? I remember I had cut off that ugly bow it came with, replaced it with another one (whether I went with red or black, I don't remember), and sewed little felt vampire fangs on him. Unfortunately, he got ruined a few years later, and so I got rid of him with a heavy heart. Imagine my shock when I saw one in nearly perfect shape for all of $6? He does have some sticky residue on his legs, but nothing that a run through the washer can't fix. Dracubear is back! :D You bet I plan to resew on some fangs.

And then today we decided to get out of the house. It was a beautiful day in the 60's and it would have been a waste to spend it inside all day. At the first flea market, I did find a MH Jane Boolittle with great hair. She didn't come with any of her original outfit or accessories, but I went ahead and grabbed her since her hair was so good. Once I got out to the car and got to looking at her I noticed that her neck was broken at the very tip top :/ It was repaired with some sort of glue, so she is fine, but drat! Oh well, she was only $3, and since the neck repair was successful, I still got a nice doll. The only pony I could find was a hammered g3 (which I just googled to discover that its the 25th anniversary Toola Roola) paired with a g4. I went ahead and got it, though the poor pony needs some help.

Sorry for the big hand over the ponies - couldn't help it!

After a moment's debate we decided to go ahead and go to the other Flea Market which we seldom go to. We've gotten some good stuff there, but its usually pretty boring, so we pretty much just stick to the Consumer Mall. The first thing I found there was a 13 Wishes Cleo. :D :D :D. She has everything except her hair piece and her wrap. She's in great shape, and I can happily add another Cleo to the hoard! Next I found Twyla's pet Dustin. We were nearly done and I had given up on finding any more ponies (though it had already been a good weekend of flea marketing) when....drum roll....a stash of ponies was discovered! 4 bag fulls, to be exact. A mix of mostly g1s with some fakies and g3s as well. For $5 each! Now, I may or may not have smashed into a family member nearly knocking them to the ground before catching them in my thrill and mania of finding ponies. But, if that did happen, in my defense I WAS dodging a person and her cart who was in the way, and there WAS a bucket in my path that made me stumble just a wee bit before the collision occurred....If it did, that is. In the future, should another opportunity present itself and another treasure trove of ponies be found, I solemnly promise to handle myself with a little more measured calculation so that no innocent person be Teddy Bruschi-ed (as it was later called) again.

Bad pic, but here are my ponies right before their spa!

We ended up with quite a few ponies, though some of them were pretty stained up. The g1 s were: 2 Bluebelles, 2 Cotton Candies, 2 Mintys and a Snuzzle and the ones that I took - Steamer, Fifi, TAF Sundance, Sundance, Firefly, Twisty Tail, and a Dance and Prance pony DJ. The G3s were Wisteria, Daffidaisy, 25th Ann. Toola Roola (in fantastic shape) Princess Peppermint, and the ones that I took - Coconut Cream, Star Catcher II, and Piccolo. We split the fakies as well, and I ended up with a sitting lanard who I am crazy about, an early 2000's (maybe? Will research) Lanard and 2 other ones of unknown origin. I do like some phonies, so I think they are a fun addition.

Okay, this blog is getting pretty long already, but I have to share a little more about my new G1 additions. Steamer, Fifi, TAF Sundance, Twisty Tail and DJ all have numbers on their forheads, chests, rump and sides. It's a shame too because some of them aren't otherwise in too bad of shape. I had gotten a bag of ponies from that same flea market several months back that included 2 BBE babies, a ballerina pony, a flutter and a summer wing. All of those ponies except the summer wing had numbers written on them as well. Same style. I joked that these ponies were rescued from being a Cult sacrifice, and I wanted to find more of them. Imagine my surprise that I actually did just find more of them! I'm really thrilled. The highest number I have is '25' written on my TAF Sundance. I really hope there aren't 25 ponies damaged like this. One of the Minty's that I did not keep had a very thin black small number written on the chest, but none anywhere else. My Firefly also has a light number on the chest, but that was it as well. I would love to find the rest of them, but who knows if there are any more out there, if I missed more bags at the flea market, or if the rest of the ponies were sacrificed in flames decades ago. I'm going to get out my other Cult rescues to see which numbers I have and take a note of it.

And that concludes a week of some good solid Flea Marketing. Now, back to no more buying for awhile!

OMG, Pony SCORE!!!

This weekend's Flea Marketing was good to me. Very, very good to me. We've been blessed with an exceptionally beautiful streak of weather, this afternoon being the peak at 73 degrees. Perfect weather to be out of a dark dank dungeon of a house to enjoy.

We left a little later then we needed to, and since I needed to get back in time to battle with coals that are temperamental to grill the salmon, we made quick work of the Country Market, and proceeded to head to the Consumer's Mall. I was really, really hoping to find a pony. It has been too long since I got a new addition to the herd. I just had to find one. It felt like the sort of day that would bring me a pony! As all hope was beginning to fade, that's when I saw it. A yellow head in the shy pose that could only be SAND DIGGER! I half hobbled, half ran in my walking boot (not a good idea, but atleast nothing was harmed in those few seconds of pure mad joy.) Not only was there Sand Digger, there was also Shoreline. Both seemed in good condition, dry manes, some marks here and there. And the most stunning part was that they each cost $1. I've never found a pony for that cheap. (Can;t complain though - I have been lucky enough to find several ponies in the wild.)

I haven't cleaned them up yet. I think most of the grime will come off. There is one spot on the back of Sand Digger's neck that is this sticky thick mass, and pretty much unidentifiable. I think it is a decomposing sticker, though the suggestion that it is some kind of thick paint is a likely candidate too. I am confident it will come off without much grief. Bad pic, but you get the idea.

 I was really excited to discover that Sand Digger's hair still changes color in the sun. Shoreline's does to some extent. Mostly at the roots, but you can see a slight darkening in the rest of the pink. I am still pinching myself, and it has been over 24 hours. These are super rushed, pre bath pics, so definitely not impressive. But here they are nonetheless.

Today, while the weather was lovely, the tone of the day didn't match. We had planned to go up to the Flea Market in Newburgh, but that didn't work out. Instead, we went to the Peddlar's Market which we had skipped. I was hoping to find even more ponies! No ponies, but I did come out of there with these adorable rascals - Care Bear Cousins Swift Heart Rabbit and Bright Heart Raccoon! Swift Heart is in really, really good shape. I didn't notice until after I got back out into the car, but Bright Heart is missing one eyebrow. He isn't in perfect shape. His nose is discolored. His tail is sort of bent. And his face is a little smashed. But, I couldn't leave him. I will try my hand at replacing that eyebrow. We'll see if I make a worse mess out of it, or if it makes him feel better about himself.

This ups my Care Bear collection to a count of 5. (Champ Bear, Love-A-Lot Bear, and Bedtime Bear.) And I saw more bears to hopefully get next time I go Flea Marketing. Okay, group shot of the first weekend in November's spoils!

The MLP G3 Spa is open!

That sounds official! It's not really open open, like people who actually have a Fix Up Pony business. I got really lucky at a Flea Market a couple of weeks back, and adopted these guys for $2 each. In the package they seemed like in near perfect shape. Upon opening them, I noticed their hair was definitely in need of some help. It was a beautiful day , so I went outside on the deck for the Pony Spa time.

The worst one in the pony in the bottom right hand corner - Rainbow Flash. I had bought that pony brand new back in the day, but it's been a very long time and not only could I not remember her name, I also didn't remember that she had the super long hair. It was a rat's nest. The other's hair was pretty darn tangled too, but mostly stiff and dried in the "I've been stored away in heat" sort of way. Rainbow Flash also has some slight dinginess to the color and a couple of stains that were hidden under her mane. All of the others aside from the hair issues are in really great shape. Wisteria has a slight head/body difference, but it is very minor.

Here is a close up of Rainbow Flash's hair. I really meant it  when I said it was a rat's nest.

I loaded all their hair up with conditioner, let it sit and then carefully combed out the tangles. The other's went pretty quickly, but Rainbow Flash's took about 20 minutes of careful detangling. I left the conditioner in her hair overnight, but went ahead and rinsed the other one's out. Once they were dried, this is the result!

This is a bad indoor rushed pic of them. I am super pleased! Especially with Sweet Summertime (dark pink pony) and Royal Bouquet (yellow pony.) They turned out absolutely perfect. I had Sweet Summertime before (actually all of these except for Royal Bouquet) and I recall that my original one had the same super thick hair this guy does, only it came out of the package dried and a little frazzled. I didn't this one's to end up so silky! Rainbow Flash's hair still has some frazzles to it, and could use a re-curling. I'm happy though with it for now.

I just bought a lot of ponies off of someone on facebook, so I will be having another spa time soon!