G1 MLP G1 “toxicity” in toys?

[aespony]

Hi all! I am new to the forum. Happy new year!
So, here's the deal. I have been collecting g4 since 2013, but during 2020 I started finding interest in g1 as well. I recently came across a forum post on here from about 2013 talking about the safety of g1 pony figures. Even though they were talking about the safety with kids playing with them (due to the fact that these toys are vintage and therefore have a different chemical makeup due to older regulations on toy making), it worried me a little about simply displaying and collecting them. However, as a new g1 collector and not knowing much about vintage toys and their chemical makeup, I have heard that they contain things that are obviously dangerous to ingest. Don't worry, I don't plan on taking a lick or chew at any pony. However, are they safe to touch? To display out in the open without putting them in glass cases? These may all sound like stupid questions, but my paranoia has gotten the best of me in the last 12 hours.
*I own about 18 g1 ponies as of right now, and I still hope to expand. Every time I receive a new pony, no matter if it has been pre-cleaned or not, is cleaned with Dawn dish soap with a toothbrush and their hair is shampooed and conditioned. I also steer clear of cleaning near their tail holes and I want to avoid tail rust in the future. I have not had to open a pony because I have never seen signs of pindot dirt or discoloration due to dirt or mold. The only time I have used a chemical to clean a pony was to sunfade, and those are just tiny age ("cancer") spots on ponies.*

ANY help would be appreciated in giving me some sort of "peace of mind" because I love collecting the g1's so much and I don't want my stupid anxiety to ruin it. Any advice? Help? Thank you.

 

[Mythian]

Well, I'll just start by telling a little story.

My friend Dave told me this story a few years back. I'll never forget it as long as I live. It was 1988 and Dave was a teenager (about 17 of age). He thought it would be the funniest thing to eat one of his sister's ponies. She had been bothering him over something, typical sibling fusses. He took his revenge. Cut Minty pony's head off and took out the tail leave those parts behind. Cut up Minty into small bite sizes pieces. It took him a few hours to down the pieces of Minty pony. Far to say, his sister was upset, but not as much as Dave's stomach. He said, "I thought Minty would taste like mint. I passed Minty pony fine thought my system, but the stomach ache was the worst."

Now, that out of the way. Generation 1 My Little Ponies are mostly for age groups, at that time, between ages 3 and up. They are meant to be toys for toddlers and little kids. Most parents who have children that have toys with nylon hair, which MLP does, should and do keep an eye on their little ones when they play with them. Sometimes loose hairs come out, but can cause a slight choking issue if not supervised. Children put these toys in their mouths back in the day with no harms. I never did such things cause I loved my ponies far too much to harm them or make them dirty. My first pony was given to me on my 4th birthday back in 1984.

Fast forward to the late 90s and by then 'cancer' spot, mold, mildew, 'pony smooze', cancer pin dot (which can be passed on from pony to pony if not kept separated in a plastic container), etc are the real toxic issues with decomposition; dirty old toys. All collectable toys no matter the age of 18th century to present day, all toys should be cleaned before display or play use. Unlike 18th century toys that were full of lead and other toxins, MLPs only 'chemicals' issue I'd say would be BPA. BPA has been banned from use in recent decades. The newest MLP toys by Hasbro and Basic Fun retro remakes, have no BPA in the plastics. *Edit* To add - BPA is only massively toxic to the human body is consuming or being in full powder contact in many pounds of it deliberately consuming or bathing in the stuff. The small amounts on the G1 ponies won't do any harm to you. BPA was used to soften plastics for protection from sharp edges and hardness (think Legos when stepped on) MLP G1 ponies are soft for a safety reason. But remember, BPA is banned from all products now days, like baby bottles and baby bottle nipples and toddler toys like MLP retro remakes and the current ones for the last ten years by Hasbro.

Here's another bit. I haven't found the article yet, but I've heard of it around over the years. But the main bits of the article about MLP toy 'consumption' is that, a child would have to consume 3 ponies a day to make the child sick. Revert back to my story about Dave and eating Minty pony.

You tell me if old collectable toys are safe to display and play with? If the toys are cleaned, air dried, placed in a dry cool room and the playtime with said toys with children is supervised, you, your children and the ponies themselves will be safe.

~Tara

 

[aespony]

thank you for such an insightful response. i appreciate you taking the time to write it all out. it helped me think more rationally about my worries. thank you

 

[Tak]

Great information @Mythian ! I was only going to say that I've handled g1 ponies since '83 and may possibly have even licked a few to clean them as a kid. They didn't cause any trouble.

 

[OctoberMoon]

Agreed! I too have sniffed many a pony and possibly licked a few scuff marks off in my days. Nothing wrong here that I can pass blame on my sweet little ponies...

 

[maycrestmom]

thank you mythian I can so echo that really the main harm of old toys is from all the dirt, grime, mold, rust, etc left on them so long. Just clean and disinfect like all toys they are fine

this needs to be made into a banner IMO:

If the toys are cleaned, air dried, placed in a dry cool room and the playtime with said toys with children is supervised, you, your children and the ponies themselves will be safe.

 

[LoopiLerp]

i'd like to add to beware of plasticiser leakage. apparently some people (like me) are allergic to that stuff, and it does cause some mild worries when touching your own ponies suddenly dries and wrinkles your skin. Wash your hands with dish-soap, and then do the usual leaky-pony procedure of leaving it somewhere for some months until it all leaks out and the pony is rock hard. (and I've been told taking your pony's head off is helpful in the leakage process).
I don't know if the plasticiser while it's leaking can do bad stuff, so even if you're not allergic to it, unless you find more info about the plasticiser, it's probably best to leave the leaky ponies alone and not touch the plasticiser.

 

[aespony]

i'd like to add to beware of plasticiser leakage. apparently some people (like me) are allergic to that stuff, and it does cause some mild worries when touching your own ponies suddenly dries and wrinkles your skin. Wash your hands with dish-soap, and then do the usual leaky-pony procedure of leaving it somewhere for some months until it all leaks out and the pony is rock hard. (and I've been told taking your pony's head off is helpful in the leakage process).
I don't know if the plasticiser while it's leaking can do bad stuff, so even if you're not allergic to it, unless you find more info about the plasticiser, it's probably best to leave the leaky ponies alone and not touch the plasticiser.

how do you know if they’re leaking? will they be sticky?
and for ponies that haven’t started the “process” of leaking, will they be softer than ones that have?

 

[Mythian]

how do you know if they’re leaking? will they be sticky?
and for ponies that haven’t started the “process” of leaking, will they be softer than ones that have?

I'm wondering the same thing. I've never seen images or video footage of a pony that leaks icky plastic ooze of some kind. I've known of water sludge mold and mildew and that would mean the head comes off for easier cleaning and drying process. But leaky plastic oozey stuff? So, what lopilerp is saying is she's allergic to the liquid like plastic. I'm not so sure. Mold becomes liquidy over time as it breeds spores and that most certainly can cause many different reactions allergic wise. Have you seen an allergist that pin pointed exactly the chemical of this liquid plastic stuff to be the cause, cause I'd like to know the name of it exactly to look into for my curious; learning brain.

 

[aespony]

I'm wondering the same thing. I've never seen images or video footage of a pony that leaks icky plastic ooze of some kind. I've known of water sludge mold and mildew and that would mean the head comes off for easier cleaning and drying process. But leaky plastic oozey stuff? So, what lopilerp is saying is she's allergic to the liquid like plastic. I'm not so sure. Mold becomes liquidy over time as it breeds spores and that most certainly can cause many different reactions allergic wise. Have you seen an allergist that pin pointed exactly the chemical of this liquid plastic stuff to be the cause, cause I'd like to know the name of it exactly to look into for my curious; learning brain.

i found a section on it on mlppreservationproject.com . it is labeled “plasticizer leakage” i believe

 

[LoopiLerp]

i found a section on it on mlppreservationproject.com . it is labeled “plasticizer leakage” i believe

yeah, that's the thing. Some ponies slightly change colours, but my ones didn't look different at all, other than they felt slightly oily, and no matter how many times I tried to wash it off, (both hot and cold water, with and without dishsoap), the mildly oily feeling never went away.
The ponies that haven't leaked will be squishable.

I'm wondering the same thing. I've never seen images or video footage of a pony that leaks icky plastic ooze of some kind. I've known of water sludge mold and mildew and that would mean the head comes off for easier cleaning and drying process. But leaky plastic oozey stuff? So, what lopilerp is saying is she's allergic to the liquid like plastic. I'm not so sure. Mold becomes liquidy over time as it breeds spores and that most certainly can cause many different reactions allergic wise. Have you seen an allergist that pin pointed exactly the chemical of this liquid plastic stuff to be the cause, cause I'd like to know the name of it exactly to look into for my curious; learning brain.

I was doing something very dumb with the ponies, (trying to see if extreme heat from a heated teaspoon over a stovetop could mildly melt the plastic to flatten out or join some pieces. It can, but toxic fumes and leaking ponies aren't worth it. Just sandpaper or superglue that stuff...), and extreme heat is one of the things that can cause leakage. Before that day, one of my ponies was fine to touch, and the other one was cleaned on the inside by the previous owner and had the head superglued on, (but seemed oily on arrival.).

While i'm not sure of the exact plasticiser, someone (random person on the internet) I asked suspected it was phthalates, which is a rather common plasticiser that can be found in PVC toys to make things softer, and does ooze out sometimes. Other than that, I don't know. (Hasbro may use a different one??)

Some people have described experiencing the same sort of reactions with more adult-toys, as they can be made out of PVC and contain similar or more chemicals, and the leakage from those is much more visible that the leakage from ponies (but I don't think I'm allowed to link that here).

 

[Mythian]

yeah, that's the thing. Some ponies slightly change colours, but my ones didn't look different at all, other than they felt slightly oily, and no matter how many times I tried to wash it off, (both hot and cold water, with and without dishsoap), the mildly oily feeling never went away.
The ponies that haven't leaked will be squishable.




I was doing something very dumb with the ponies, (trying to see if extreme heat from a heated teaspoon over a stovetop could mildly melt the plastic to flatten out or join some pieces. It can, but toxic fumes and leaking ponies aren't worth it. Just sandpaper or superglue that stuff...), and extreme heat is one of the things that can cause leakage. Before that day, one of my ponies was fine to touch, and the other one was cleaned on the inside by the previous owner and had the head superglued on, (but seemed oily on arrival.).

While i'm not sure of the exact plasticiser, someone (random person on the internet) I asked suspected it was phthalates, which is a rather common plasticiser that can be found in PVC toys to make things softer, and does ooze out sometimes. Other than that, I don't know. (Hasbro may use a different one??)

Some people have described experiencing the same sort of reactions with more adult-toys, as they can be made out of PVC and contain similar or more chemicals, and the leakage from those is much more visible that the leakage from ponies (but I don't think I'm allowed to link that here).

Seems to me there could have been a batch of plastic soften mix that was bad before putting into the molds. The quality control didn't catch them or didn't care since most MLPs back then and still today are manufactured in China. There could have been a mix up of plastic mix components that weren't mixed correctly. I think I've heard once of the Cubbie Dolls back in the 50s, collectors were saying of a leakage to those toys. Bad batch mix of plastics more like it.

Read the Plasticizer bit on that site. So, are some or is it all MLPs are made with PVC plastics? I had no idea. Using PVC for fake flowers is trying to be banned now days cause of the cancer causing properties when the plastic flowers and leaves are put in direct sunlight to heat up over time. I know PVC is banned in the making of children's toys now days for the last ten years. PVC is also hard to recycle. Okay, my mind is blown now.

 

[aespony]

yeah, that's the thing. Some ponies slightly change colours, but my ones didn't look different at all, other than they felt slightly oily, and no matter how many times I tried to wash it off, (both hot and cold water, with and without dishsoap), the mildly oily feeling never went away.
The ponies that haven't leaked will be squishable.




I was doing something very dumb with the ponies, (trying to see if extreme heat from a heated teaspoon over a stovetop could mildly melt the plastic to flatten out or join some pieces. It can, but toxic fumes and leaking ponies aren't worth it. Just sandpaper or superglue that stuff...), and extreme heat is one of the things that can cause leakage. Before that day, one of my ponies was fine to touch, and the other one was cleaned on the inside by the previous owner and had the head superglued on, (but seemed oily on arrival.).

While i'm not sure of the exact plasticiser, someone (random person on the internet) I asked suspected it was phthalates, which is a rather common plasticiser that can be found in PVC toys to make things softer, and does ooze out sometimes. Other than that, I don't know. (Hasbro may use a different one??)

Some people have described experiencing the same sort of reactions with more adult-toys, as they can be made out of PVC and contain similar or more chemicals, and the leakage from those is much more visible that the leakage from ponies (but I don't think I'm allowed to link that here).

i’ve used hot water on my ponies to take the head of to do an internal clean, and that makes the plastic bendy but i wouldn’t really want to burn them together