From “Bait” to Great
I have bought a great many ponies marked as “bait” on eBay, and I’ve been surprised about how they can come back from the dead so brilliantly. So here’s a few examples of ponies that are no longer at death’s door.
Of course, on the other side, there are some that photographed well, but turned out to be unsavable. I may mention them too!
Click on the thumbnails for clearer pictures.
Baby Blossom
Baby Blossom (2) was a car wreck when I received her. And I honestly thought she was doomed for a life as a custom. She had a kind of ground-in ooze on her, and she felt sticky, as if she had been around smokers all her life. That said, she didn’t smell smokey – though as an ex-smoker, I don’t entirely trust my senses. (Though I should. I’ve become one of those ex-smokers that hates the smell of cigarettes.)
It took awhile, but I managed to pop off her head, and then I let her swim in an oxy bath. And colour me shocked, she was actually purple under all that grime. I thought she would have turned grey.
I gave her a wash and rinse with shampoo, and put conditioner in her hair.
Then I replaced her tail.
And what do you know? No longer bait. In fact, she’s now in better condition than my “pristine” copy of Baby Blossom, because she’s retained her purple under all that grime.
Baby Blossom (2) before her spa day
Baby Blossom (2) after her spa day
Baby Blossom (2) after her spa day
Curly Locks (1) and (2)
Curly Locks was another one that came up amazingly well after a bit of TLC. Initially her hair was a tangled snarl, and she had ground in dirt.
I couldn’t give her an Oxy bath because of her brush and grow workings, so I just had to give her a thorough wash with shampoo and a toothbrush.
Then I slathered her in conditioner and spent about half an hour gently combing out all the tangles.
A boil perm later and look how pretty she came up.
Curly Locks (1) and Curly Locks (2)
Sometime later, I did the exact same thing with Curly Locks (2).
Curly Locks (1) before her spa day
Curly Locks (1) after her spa day
Curly Locks (1) after her spa day
Curly Locks (2) before her spa day
Curly Locks (2) before her spa day
Curly Locks (2) after her spa day
More to come…
Restoration Fails
Bait Blossom
Blossom
And here is my fail. Bait Blossom.
I got her in a bundle. She was lacking a tail, covered in Smooze, was missing her forelock and had faded to grey. I wasn’t sure what to do with her.
I gave her an oxy bath and then scraped ineffectually at her Smooze. I got absolutely nowhere. I think at one point she even went through the washing machine (in a pillow case on a very gentle cycle, surrounded by pillows to stop her from bumping against things).
Genius plan, I decided to dye her back to purple, thinking that would at least give her a bit of a refresh.
Blossom
First thing I should note: I am rubbish at guessing how much dye to use. I always think I’m using very little and every single time my ponies come out a DEEP DEEP colour.
Second of all, learn from my fail: dye will highlight Smooze.
So, her body is dotted with purple Smooze, her mane is a really dark colour and she looks even worse than when I started.
So, new plan. I decided to flock her. Unfortunately, when I came up with this idea, the shop I buy from was closed for a few weeks, then when they re-opened I was broke, so I let it slide for awhile. Then I bought a huge bundle of ponies, that was rather costly (overall, a bargain, but it was a serious chunk of change at the time). And now we’re so close to PonyCon, I just plan to buy the flocking in person.
Stay tuned to see if I manage to save Blossom or make her even worse.
Rehaired in yarn
Edit: January 2019
So, I did actually flock Blossom, and it was going really well until someone knocked on the door, and in my haste to set her down, I left a big old thumb print right on her rump.
She stayed in a half-flocked state for awhile (in my defence, I did move house during this time), until I finally got around to soaking her in hot water and getting the flock off.
I then lost my white flock, so I had to order more. In the meantime, just to test it out, I re-haired her with white yarn, and straightened it with a flat-iron. I’d heard good things about it, but this was a great look for her.
So now I’m not sure she should be flocked, because the white puff hair looks great against the purple.
I’m just not sure what to do about her purple-dyed Smooze.
Decision as of July 2019: I’m going to use a pearl medium on her. It will give her a princess glow and cover the smooze, while boosting her colour. At this point, she couldn’t get much worse. I will never dye a smoozed pony ever again.
In other news. I have bought and lost three more packs of white flock. At this point, I have given up on the idea of flocking. I even commissioned Isabella to flock a Strawberry Fair for me, because I knew I’d just lose the flock. The most recent one got up and walked. I was mid-flock. I needed to use the bathroom. When I came back, the flock was gone. I was alone in my house. I can only assume that my ponies have unilaterally decided that they do not want to be flocked.
About
Welcome to MLPCollection.com, where I have 1,276 ponies, and my collection is growing by the day!
My most recent purchase was Little Ray (Gen HQG1C).
Last updated: 30 Sep 2023
Note: I am still collecting/restoring, but I’m trying to be sensible with my finances in the current situation, so I’m not making any pony purchases. I’m updating my pictures as I spa day my collection, but that happens in the background of the site.
Owner: Dove, she/her, ancient, maths-driven, loves stats and ponies