The first My Little Pony I ever got was, of course, Minty. Hasbro released the first six MLPs just before my third birthday; even though I was so young, I still remember seeing the commercial -- I believe it was several little girls playing with MLPs, and one of the girls was holding Minty right up near her face for some reason. Because of that, I thought the ponies were scented, until I actually got Minty and found out all they smell like is vinyl (to this day, however, pony vinyl is one of my favorite smells -- some of my ponies have retained that wonderful, just-out-of-the-package scent, and I admit, every so often I pick one up and take a whiff!). But why did I choose Minty, instead of Blossom, or Blue Belle, or one of the others? Mostly to be a brat, I think! My favorite color at the time was green, partially because my mom hated that color! *WEG* So when Mom asked me which pony I wanted for my upcoming birthday, who else would I have chosen but Minty?

Another pony I got early in my collection was Firefly, although for some reason I named her something else when I got her. I can't remember what that other name was, though. Anyway, my parents bought her for me during a trip into town. I believe I was still three at the time. Afterwards, we had to stop at this huge hardware store-warehouse to pick up some things. I brought Firefly in with me, and while my parents were paying for whatever it was they needed, I started swinging the poor pegasus around by the tail! Don't ask me why; it just seemed the appropriate thing to do at the time. Suddenly, however, I realized that Firefly and her tail weren't exactly attached anymore! The tail was still in my hand, but Firefly herself was soaring across the warehouse! Luckily, she didn't hit anyone, and finally came to a crash-landing near the gardening supplies. But the image of that little pink pegasus sailing across the store still makes me giggle.

My friend had a Halloween party one year; I was either three or four at the time. One of the games at the party was a treasure hunt, and the prize was a MLP I desperately wanted -- Bubbles. Mom refused to buy Bubbles or Seashell because she said they were boring. Anyway, the girl whose party it was had helped her mother hide the items in the treasure hunt, and she won the contest. *sigh* So I didn't get my Bubbles that day. In fact, I only finally got one in October of 1998!!

On the morning of my preschool graduation, my mom had a special present for me -- my first baby pony. It was mail-order blue Baby Ember, but mom never told me her real name, so I just called her Baby Blue. I adored her so much that my mom also ended up ordering the pink one, the purple one, and another blue one soon after. They were all named after their colors.

During the early years of my life, whenever my father closed a large business deal, my family would celebrate by going to Toys-R-Us (the closest Toys-R-Us to us at the time was an hour away, so it was always a special occasion to go there!) and then out to a steak house for dinner. I'd always get a few MLPs at Toys-R-Us, and I remember sitting in a booth at the restaurant playing with whatever ponies I'd picked out. I especially remember getting Baby Lickety Split during one of these celebrations.

I think the biggest pony-related event ever (at least in my opinion) was the release of My Little Pony: The Movie. Wow, what a clever bit of marketing that was! Not only was it a nifty story; it was also a film-length commercial for the Flutter Ponies and, most importantly, Paradise Estate!!! The Estate instantly went to the very top of my Christmas list that year. I remember going to Toys'R'Us around that time; they didn't have any Estates in stock, but they had this huge poster of it. I think Paradise Estate cost about $75, which at the time sounded like a tremendous fortune. And yes, I got it for Christmas that year. *G*

Speaking of that wonderful Christmas, I finally found the video my dad made of my mom and me trying to put the Paradise Estate together on Christmas morning! We were surrounded by bits and pieces of Estate-related stuff when my dad came into my playroom (yes, I had a playroom at the time!! I was the luckiest kid alive; then my little brother was born and my playroom turned into a nursery -- argh!) with the video camera and asked what we were doing. I explained we were putting together "My Pony Estate" and I held up one of the little sea pony statues (from the Estate's pool) right in front of the camera lens. My dad was being silly, and he said something like "Oh, a plumpiest(?) home for precious ponies!" I was so engrossed in the Estate that I guess I didn't realize he was being goofy, because I added, in this reverant voice, "... with fans!..." (I was quite impressed with the fans that really spun around) "... And a yellow chair!" I held up the bright yellow couch that came with the Estate. While I'm on the subject of video memories: on the same tape was the Christmas before this. Although I'm sure I got MLPs then, too, the only reference I could find was when at one point I was holding up a package of MLP Lite-Brite refills. "They're refills!" I explained to my mom. "They're My Little Pony!"

Another wonderful thing that emerged from MLP: The Movie was the introduction of, as I mentioned above, the Flutter Ponies. And Hasbro capitalized on this by offering what it called "the first Flutter Pony" as an exclusive mail-in to coincide with the movie. Yup, I'm talking about Hollywood, the beautiful, deep-pink Flutter with white hair and glittery silver stars. I distinctly recall going to the post office with my mother one morning and finding a little key in our post-office box. Those keys have always made me smile, because the sight of one meant that around the corner, in one of the BIG post office boxes, a package was waiting. Usually it ended up being something boring. But not that day. I opened the PO box to find a small box from Hasbro (or whatever premium company Hasbro was using at the time). Inside, I knew, was Hollywood, the First Flutter. I felt so special. And her wings arrived intact! Amazing. I must commend the often-clumsy postal service for that kindness. Of course, I probably broke them myself within the hour, because all collectors know how *sturdy* Flutter wings are... ;)

After I saw MLP: The Movie, I also had to have Rosedust. After all, she wasn't just a Flutter; she was Queen of the Flutter Ponies! I got her at the toy store one afternoon; that evening, my parents and I had plans to go out to dinner with some relatives. Of course, I brought dear Rosedust along. And of course, her wings soon snapped off. *sigh* My parents and I were waiting waiting for our relatives to arrive at the restaurant; at the time of Rosedust's injury, we were sitting at the bar (I loved sitting at bars when I was little; it made me feel so grown up!). The bartender felt horrible when he saw that my brand-new toy had broken. I remember him trying to fix it; he found some scotch tape and tried to stick Rosedust's wing back on. It didn't hold for long, of course, but it's the thought that counts.

When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher organized one of those little grab-bag gift exchanges for our Christmas party. Everyone had to bring in an inexpensive, wrapped gift, and then they were handed out randomly. I don't remember what I got, but when the girl next to me opened her present and just sat there staring, disappointed, at it, I had to peek at what she'd gotten. Argh, it was Pony Friend Kingsley the Lion!!! I guess she wasn't a big MLP fan; she wasn't too impressed by it. And of course, the teacher had included a "no trading" rule -- what you got is what you got. But the teacher was over on the other side of the room at the moment... *evil giggle* Whatever it was that I had gotten, I convinced the girl that it was the best grab-bag gift ever, and within 30 seconds, the trade was complete and Kingsley was mine, all mine!! Of course, I renamed her "Queenie" (in my mind, it couldn't be a male lion because it was pink -- never mind that it had a mane) and eventually cut her hair a bit shorter than it should be. Queenie was one of my favorites for a long time.

I also remember the last couple of the original MLPs I bought in stores. I was falling into one of those horrible "I'm too old for this" stages when I went to Walmart and saw the Rainbow Curl ponies and the Baby Sparkle ponies. I bought Streaky and Baby Gusty. Those were the last two MLPs I bought until just before Hasbro stopped producing them. I was in Walgreens one evening, and I saw a single set of Teeny Tiny Twins, Rattles and Tattles. They were too cute. I had to buy them. And, except for a grungy Sweetheart Sister found at a garage sale, there ended a ten year span of pony collecting...

...until early 1998, when my little brother came knocking on my bedroom door yelling something about My Little Ponies. He had seen a commercial, he said, for new ponies. New MLPs. Just what I'd been wishing for, even dreaming about, for years. And he was right. Of course, now Hasbro has gone and discontinued the line again, but at least I had about a year to rediscover the joy of going into a toy store and finds My Little Ponies for sale again. Perhaps, if Hasbro ever smartens up, the ponies will gallop back over the rainbow and into Toys'R'Us once more... Hey, I can hope, can't I? And now that I'm a part of this pony collecting internet community, I have a new way of finding ponies. I think I'll be collecting for years and years to come.

I'm continuing to create new MLP memories, too, mostly ones about local successful pony hunts! Like the time I went into a Goodwill and saw Applause Plushie Firefly sitting on top of the stuffed animal bin like she was waiting for me. *G* I'm really lucky, because my parents love pony hunting, too. We sometimes go on hunts as a family, and hit every thrift store/consignment shop in town! My mom says she gets a kick out of how I act when one of us finds a pony -- I snatch it away instantly and I probably get a wild gleam in my eyes, too! Then I start jabbering about what kind of pony it is, and what its name is, etc, all while holding the poor pony in a sort of death grip as if I'm afraid that some evil thrift store phantom will appear at any moment to spirit my new find away. Yes, I'm strange. :)