Those pesky hot pink dots

[Dava]

I've been selling a lot of ponies on eBay lately, which means I've been cleaning a lot of ponies. I've been wrangling with smooze and cancer spots, ink stains and frizz. And one of the things that struck me is how many ponies have bright pink dots on them. I'd always assumed these were ink spots, but then I noticed that they were on a lot of my ponies. Why was it always the exact same shade of pink? What were the odds that girls all over the country were using the same pink pens to mark their ponies? I poked around on message boards and saw that some people think they're regrind, but that didn't seem right, either. They show up a lot on white ponies, and they don't have the same blotchy look that regrind does.

Well! My friend, Lady Minty, also is selling a lot of ponies, so we've been chatting and comparing notes. I brought up the puzzle of the hot pink dots, and she shared an interesting story with me. I asked if I could share it here, and she said I could. I think we may have an answer!

Lady Minty said that when she was little, she noticed that some of her ponies suddenly developed hot pink spots on them. She panicked like any pony mommy would and told her mother about them. Her mother contacted Hasbro. Hasbro wrote back that this was caused by the vinyl reacting with something in the plastic used to make the hairbrushes, and that they were working to correct the problem. They had Lady Minty's mom mail in the ponies, which they then replaced.

Lady Minty said she doesn't know if this is what actually caused the problem or if it was just what Hasbro told people who complained about the spots. But this sounds plausible to me. Chemical reactions can cause all sorts of weird colors in plastic.

Mystery solved?

 

[CJ Thimble Bright]

That's very interesting! I am currently going through my collection for the first time in about ten years and in the process of cleaning them I noticed pink spots on ponies that I could swear were pink-spotless before. I was never one to mark my ponies up when I was a kid, so I couldn't figure out how they were getting them. What an interesting theory... Thanks for sharing!

 

[LLBPonyGirl]

but of course they all have pink highlighters! don't you know no self respecting little girl would ever dare think to color their ponys with green or blue highlighters...noooooo...it alwyas has to be pink or yellow :lol:;;; I'm sorry but that is just something I always go off on when I get baits-they're always pink or yellow highlightered.

but as to the pink dots, some *could* be highlighter, but i've always thougt it was regrind. i supose the chemical thing could be logical too, but wouldn't that imply that it's due to a added thing to the plastic that shouldn't be there but was put there as a filler-regrind is extra stuff in the plastic added asa filler that goes bad. so it'd just be a different version of regrind then, wouldn't it?

either way, interesting take. if it is what ahsbro said, then wy do G3s get it too since they "fixed it" in the 80s?

:reaper: Kat :reaper:

 

[Dava]

I always doubted the regrind theory because I see it so much on white ponies. You can't recycle pink plastic on a white pony. It would show up immediately! And it's always in little, pinpoint spots. It's not like the larger spots that show up on Cloud Puff.

Then again, part of me wonders if it might also be a mold. I know boaters complain about pink spots that show up on their vinyl seats, which is apparently caused by some sort of mold.

But yeah, whatever the cause, I doubt Hasbro did anything to actually correct the problem. XD

 

[Dava]

Adding some photos to illustrate the pink dots.

 

[ShortyBoo]

The only pony I have now with the hot pink spots is Desert Rose. When I was a kid, my Pony Bride had pink spots on her leg, nose and her ear. Now my G3 Desert Rose has the same bright pink color on her. There's just one small pink spot that's right on her nose near one nostril. Since she's a G3, I'm guessing that whatever causes it hasn't been solved.

 

[Dava]

Since she's a G3, I'm guessing that whatever causes it hasn't been solved.

Agreed! There are probably things that can be added to vinyl to prevent this sort of thing, but that costs money. They only spend eight cents on average to make a pony: Plastic Woes: My Little Pony Fair 2008 - Summary Gel Post

 

[Ianthe99]

I was thinking something like that. I figure some of the marks on vintage ponies are from them being stored with other toys and things too. A lot of my childhood ponies have marks on them because they got put in a box with teddy bear shaped confetti!

 

[Dava]

I always blamed "pink highlighter marks" on certain accessories that were either 1) worn by G1s or 2) may have laid up against G1s in the toy box. I have no basis for my theory, other than that they are heinously pink...

I can confirm this! When I was a kid, I left some shoes and a saddle on my Butterscotch. When I took them off a few months later, there was a nice, neat outline where the accessories were. It's slowly faded over the years, so it's barely noticeable now. But it left clear outlines, not dots.

 

[Tikibirds]

I dont recall ever seeing pin dots that were hot pink colored on my ponies..
pony cancer and pin dot mold, yes but not hot pink dots

 

[Lil Alley Cat]

I dont recall ever seeing pin dots that were hot pink colored on my ponies..
pony cancer and pin dot mold, yes but not hot pink dots

The hot pink dots is new to me too. Never saw a pony with it, well at least not in the last 13 years of collecting. Pink highlighter marks however are so common it's funny (and they are not dot shaped).

Very interesting though. Hope to hear more from others!

 

[Peppermint Truly]

Are these spots the same we thought of as regrind or is it a new kind of pony plastic disease?

 

[MidnightChyld]

Got a couple baits with pink smudges on their lips...thought it was high lighter but its just a swipe and if you were going to give your pony a make over wouldnt you draw it on the entire lip? Or are kids really that bad of artists? lol Either way Ive never seen pink pin dots either!

 

[Dava]

Are these spots the same we thought of as regrind or is it a new kind of pony plastic disease?

I've seen some debate on this at the Arena. Some think it's regrind; some think it's pen marks. I'm thinking it's neither. I mean, look at my Moondancer! It's really bizarre.

 

[bluerose9978]

My theory was always that it was the dye from the hair leaking into the ponies. Notice in all the photos from above, the ponies have either red or pink hair. My thought was some kind of chemical interacted with the dye from the hair causing it to dye the plastic.

 

[ShortyBoo]

My theory was always that it was the dye from the hair leaking into the ponies. Notice in all the photos from above, the ponies have either red or pink hair. My thought was some kind of chemical interacted with the dye from the hair causing it to dye the plastic.

But the Pony Bride has white hair and my childhood Pony Bride had the same type of pink marks on her as my Desert Rose does now. And while Desert Rose has pink hair, it's pale pink and a completely different shade than the mark on her.

 

[lev_21n01]

I dont recall ever seeing pin dots that were hot pink colored on my ponies..
pony cancer and pin dot mold, yes but not hot pink dots

Me neither (or is it me too!) hehe I can't recall seeing pink pin dots on my ponies (I bought a lot of bait lots off ebay back when I started collecting) I've gotten a few with larger pink "highlighter" marks. Infact I'm sunfading a Lemondrop now with an obvious saddle stain! Ugh!@!

This is an interesting thread! I wish we could get a straight answer from Hasbro (like that would ever happen) as to why some of this stuff happens.

 

[Chrissytree]

I've never seen the pink dots either although I've had pink splodges or definite pen marks. I'm currently cleaning my whole collection now so I'll have to watch out for it.

 

[Gingerbread]

Well, I still have most all of my childhood ponies and almost all of them have the "highlighter" dots. I know for a fact I never wrote on any of my ponies and was an only child at the time so no one else could've marked on my ponies. I did keep them all thrown in a box, just tossed in there on top of each other up in our attic which got really hot in the summer and cold in the winter for several years until I actively started collecting. I always attributed these spots to extreme temps and perhaps the ponies hair touching itself or another pony. I have ponies with these marks, that do not have pink hair or any pink on them whatsoever. So I assume it comes from another pony touching it?? I'm not sure and not totally confident in my theory but that's my 2-cents.

 

[slandgrave]

Pony pink dots

Well, I still have most all of my childhood ponies and almost all of them have the "highlighter" dots. I know for a fact I never wrote on any of my ponies and was an only child at the time so no one else could've marked on my ponies. I did keep them all thrown in a box, just tossed in there on top of each other up in our attic which got really hot in the summer and cold in the winter for several years until I actively started collecting. I always attributed these spots to extreme temps and perhaps the ponies hair touching itself or another pony. I have ponies with these marks, that do not have pink hair or any pink on them whatsoever. So I assume it comes from another pony touching it?? I'm not sure and not totally confident in my theory but that's my 2-cents.

I think you have a good point Gingerbread. I have a Gingerbread pony I got in a swap back in October that was flawless and then just recently I was moving my collection around and saw that she has a bright pink mark across her nose. She's been sitting on the shelf the whole time, no one messed with her so I'm thinking it has to do with a temperature issue and/or a chemical reaction.