Are You An "In-The-Closet" Pony Lover?

Does anyone else on here keep their pony addiction a secret, or are you open about it?
I've wanted to ask this question for a while because, to be honest, I'm terrified of telling people that I love ponies.

The fact that I'm in high school doesn't exactly help, considering it's a time when you're supposed to "grow up." I've been bullied a lot before and I still am sometimes, so I feel like it would put fuel on the fire if people knew of my hobby. As much as I absolutely love collecting ponies, watching the shows and connecting with other fans, it's still a little embarrassing to me. Because of all this, I'm extremely hesitant to tell people that I'm a fan. Only my family and my closest friends know that I am, and I warned them not to tell anybody. They have no problem with it for the most part, although my mom sometimes says that she doesn't get the point.

With that all said, I want to know what you think!
Are you open about your pony love, or do you hide it from people like I do?

Dear,there is nothing to be embarrassed about it. You should be proud of your hobby, even if it provokes (?) bullies (Sorry, Im sick and forgetting my english; English is not my first language) You should stand up and live your life,not letting other people ruin it for you.*hugs*



As for the question,I dont collect much; I do it mainly for my daughter (AKA Baby Quackers) so I should let her write her response when she comes back from her sleep (She is also sick)but heck no, I dont tell anyone about the collection!

I am an adult and I don't let everyone know about my collecting! If it does happen to come up, I'm perfectly fine talking about it, but I don't tend to tell people I'm not very close with a whole lot of anything really, haha! I'm at the point in my life where if someone doesn't like what I like, I don't really care. It took a long time for that to happen.

I'm sorry you are being bullied for whatever reason. I know that I felt a lot of relief once high school was over and I didn't have to see certain people every day any more. I can say that for me, life got a lot better and a lot easier once I was finished with high school. As I've matured (collecting ponies and maturity are not mutually exclusive!), I've had an easier time not caring even if someone is being rude or judgemental.

I hope you can surround yourself with those who enjoy your hobby with you (either in real life or on the forums) and try to let the views of the rest of the world mean less to you. All the best and keep enjoying your ponies!

ooizza said:

I am an adult and I don't let everyone know about my collecting! If it does happen to come up, I'm perfectly fine talking about it, but I don't tend to tell people I'm not very close with a whole lot of anything really, haha! I'm at the point in my life where if someone doesn't like what I like, I don't really care. It took a long time for that to happen.

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^ This! I'm a wannabe adult, but the mindset is similar and very few people outside of my immediate family know of my collection. It just... isn't something I need to tell the world about, you know?

Personally, I don't think you should worry so much about it. Your collections are really nobody's business, and how would they know unless you told them? Nearly everyone has a hobby that others would consider weird, be it anime, stamp-collecting, or raising mealworms.* Heck, peers automatically label me as weird once they learn I'm homeschooled. (Thank you, stereotypes.)

I hope your situation improves and will continue to do so. Keep smiling. ♥

*Disclaimer: Outside of the occasional henwife/chicken keeper and mealworm supplier, I don't actually know of anyone who raises mealworms for a hobby.

Yep yep. I'm same with Hobomom and Mimic and ooizza. I do not tell people but if it comes up then I will talk about it. I won't go "shouting" everybody hey I collect ponies but it is no secret if somebody asks.

Just collect and enjoy about it . You don't have to tell everybody only when someone asks. Be proud of what you do (be it colelecting ponies or something else) .
I'm sorry to hear you have been bullied I really doesn't have any other advice than just be independent, strong and don't give up! High school is the worst. When you are older you find how petty and ugly (from inside atleast) those people were...

I'm an adult and fairly open about it and I'm sorry you are bullied *hugz* My opinion, you don't have to tell everyone, but you don't need to keep it a secret. If it comes up and your comfortable with the people around you, go for it, if not that's ok.

I am an adult with a young son, and for a while I hid the fact that I even liked ponies at all. I've never been the most forward or outgoing person, and I just didn't want to be further judged as 'that shy, pony-lover'. Or so I thought I would be called.

However lately I own it--I talk openly about it with my co-workers, wear my pony gear in public, and even attended my first convention as a vendor over the weekend. My main reason is that I don't ever want my son to feel ashamed of things that make him happy, and the best way I can think of to do it is leading by example. I've become so much more open and talkative since owning up to my hobby, and a few co-workers have even brought me ponies they have found in yard sales because they made them think of me.

To be honest this group of people here has helped me own my love of ponies--it's so inspiring to see everyone else with such a deep love of them that it sort of empowered me to be more bold about it. I know, if nothing else, I have you guys who understand me.

I know high school can be such a rough time, and I'm so sorry to hear that you've been bullied. It's a completely different situation from mine but I fully agree with Leave A Whisper--if it comes up and you are comfortable talking, then talk about it! And if you're not then just let it roll off your shoulders.

I used to be very embarassed about it and hid it from my boyfriend and family as much as I could, but of course they eventually found out and my boyfriend teases me incessantly, but not in a mean way so I have opened up about it. Now I'm proud of my interests. The people that matter are supportive of it, and anyone who is not, I ignore.

Please don't feel embarassed! There is nothing wrong with ponies and collecting toys. You are obviously not alone.

Yeah what Marble says! There are plenty of toy collectors in the world and a good chunk of em are teens and grown ups

I guess I was pretty open about my collection. My family knows about it. I had a period when I was teenager not caring about ponies thats how I lost them. I grew up as a child in the 80s so I guess it didn't matter that I had a collection of ponies or not. I was bullied when I was a kid too but not for liking ponies. I am sorry anyone has to bullied for anything. :/

Well, I don't go around and say "HEY THERE I LIEK PONIES" and run. I don't tell anyone unless they ask. Then I am in the closet. But since I draw ponies in my free time, yeah, people can see it just by watching me XP


I also got bullied by liking ponies, but I kept strong and enjoyed them, not caring about what they said. Stay strong, my friend. Don't let anyone ruin it for ya.

~Baby Quackers

Well my family knows my pony obsession and they tolerate it. But to be honest I don't tell anyone at school not even some of my friends know. Cause rumors fly around my school and if anyone knew I would be most likely be bullied cause I have lots of mean kids in my school and that would suck . But everybody says MLP is for babies. I hate when people say that it makes me mad cause it's for all ages. But I hope to get over it one day and tell them. But for now I have my family, close friends, and the awesome pony people on the TP.

I avoid bringing it up usually, to be honest negativity makes me feel bad at times

Spouse tells lots of people, sometimes I can feel when I'm being judged

But other times people are surprisingly accepting of my pony customizing. I just heave a sigh of relief at those times

Some other times, people just seem confused like they don't understand what I do

Nope! It's not something I talk about a lot because I don't think any of my co-workers are interested, but they all know. People are more interested in the plushies I make!

When ponies come to McD's occasionally some of the girls bring me a few, and I've gotten a few loads of ponies cleaned out from attics (including a lavender Dream Castle, holy crap!) from my office buddies. I was never embarrassed about it in school either. It's just something I do. ::shrug::

Skeen said:

Nope! It's not something I talk about a lot because I don't think any of my co-workers are interested, but they all know. People are more interested in the plushies I make!

When ponies come to McD's occasionally some of the girls bring me a few, and I've gotten a few loads of ponies cleaned out from attics (including a lavender Dream Castle, holy crap!) from my office buddies. I was never embarrassed about it in school either. It's just something I do. ::shrug::

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LAVENDER DREAM CASTLE?!?! wat?!?!




May I go and steal your customs, plushies, and Lavender Castle? If you don't mind me asking?!

You'd have to get past the army of cat minions. Some are just for show, of course, but their numbers are impressive.

Well...for me.....my story is different...........I am an adult collector of many toys (I don't tell anyone).......even though my interest for collecting, actually, started back in highschool.......(the beginning of my senior year, I was in a life changing car accident.........and so my thoughts on my life changed, because they had to)
So part of my way to cope with loosing some abilities and friends ....... led me to "wishing for my long lost memories.....fun childhood memories........like..."toys".......just didnt know how or why......until I started dating someone that year, who is now my husband.
AND he wanted to collect just as much as I did....so we started THEN......and we still collect NOW! (we have 3 kids.....who don't think it's weird- but they don't mention it to their friends)

I've collected since Ponies came out and my grubby teeny booper hands clutched the first of many, many Ponies. Bowtie! i never had the common sense or decency to hide my nerdy ways (I was a known sci fi/comic loon at school from elementary school on). My friends just knowingly nodded at each other over my odd ways and we all trundled forward into adulthood. I don't go bragging about my toys and such to just anyone, but I don't hide it either. I let my freak flag fly!

I can't blame you for being discreet in high school though. Kids are notoriously cruel. Like I said, I didn't have the good sense be more discerning about who knew what when I was younger. It would've saved me some pretty savage bullying had I kept my trap shut. Didn't help I took Minty to school with me I guess. And Spock before her! SMH. Younger foofoo was a silly, silly child.

I got back into ponies in middle school. I wasn't embarrassed to collect them since it was so much fun but I definitely didn't tell most people. School is a socially tough place and I wasn't about to advertise a hobby that I would get made fun of for having. My friends knew and were cool with it but a lot of my school buddies didn't come over to my house regularly so they really didn't see the scope of my collection either. To be honest, I wouldn't tell many people at your school. That age group just isn't usually very accepting especially if you are already a bit different (I was!). Once you get to be an adult and are able to manage your own life/finances and still have the ability to collect a plastic toy, then you can be more open about it!

Even as an adult though, just like a lot of other people here, my collection doesn't come up in conversation. I keep all my ponies in a spare bedroom and even when friends come over, they have no reason to go into that room so most of them have no clue what I do in my spare time!