There are hundreds of G3s, and any pony can have pretty much any flaw, but some issues appear more common in certain ponies.
What is the problem?
The Divine Shine ponies are meant to be translucent and glittery! Unfortunately, many of these ponies will experience a loss of glitter, a colour change, and the pony may become sticky. The glitter is inside the plastic, and therefore cannot fall off. Instead, it seems to dissolve. In some cases, the plastic can become cloudy and will be more opaque.
Who does it affect?
The four Divine Shine ponies - Glitterbelle, Tangerine Twinkle, Secret Wish, and Flower Garland. It can affect the whole pony, or just the head or body. The colour changes are usually:
Sadly, there is nothing you can do to stop or reverse the process. Even MIB (mint in box) ponies have developed these issues. It is believed to be down to ageing of the special plastic used to make them, and the glitter appears to react with it too. It is important to note that not all of these ponies have this problem, and it is hard to say whether they will all one day develop it. If you notice that your pony is sticky, use washing up liquid to alleviate the stickiness. You will have to do this regularly, as you cannot completely stop the problem. When rinsing the soap off, be careful not to allow any water near the tail hole, and do not submerge the pony. Storage conditions don't seem to have any effect on preventing the issue, but avoid direct, strong sunlight and damp locations for any pony.
My Tangerine Twinkle's head is unaffected, but her body has lost almost all of its glitter. To the right are three of Secret Wish. One is still in good shape, the middle has lost glitter, and the right has lost glitter, and been exposed to the sun for a long time, further clouding her plastic and causing her hair to fall off.
What is the problem?
The Divine Shine ponies are meant to be translucent and glittery! Unfortunately, many of these ponies will experience a loss of glitter, a colour change, and the pony may become sticky. The glitter is inside the plastic, and therefore cannot fall off. Instead, it seems to dissolve. In some cases, the plastic can become cloudy and will be more opaque.
Who does it affect?
The four Divine Shine ponies - Glitterbelle, Tangerine Twinkle, Secret Wish, and Flower Garland. It can affect the whole pony, or just the head or body. The colour changes are usually:
- Glitterbelle - Dark purple to lighter pink/purple
- Tangerine Twinkle - Bright to lighter orange
- Flower Garland - Magenta to cloudy red/pink
- Secret Wish - Medium pink to bright pink, then to orange/pink.
Sadly, there is nothing you can do to stop or reverse the process. Even MIB (mint in box) ponies have developed these issues. It is believed to be down to ageing of the special plastic used to make them, and the glitter appears to react with it too. It is important to note that not all of these ponies have this problem, and it is hard to say whether they will all one day develop it. If you notice that your pony is sticky, use washing up liquid to alleviate the stickiness. You will have to do this regularly, as you cannot completely stop the problem. When rinsing the soap off, be careful not to allow any water near the tail hole, and do not submerge the pony. Storage conditions don't seem to have any effect on preventing the issue, but avoid direct, strong sunlight and damp locations for any pony.
My Tangerine Twinkle's head is unaffected, but her body has lost almost all of its glitter. To the right are three of Secret Wish. One is still in good shape, the middle has lost glitter, and the right has lost glitter, and been exposed to the sun for a long time, further clouding her plastic and causing her hair to fall off.
Goodie Goodie and Dainty Daisy changing colour.
Goodie Goodie is a Blue G3 pony released exclusively with the Sweet Reflections Dress Shop playset. She seems to turn green and sometimes begins to get sticky. I have no explanation to why she experiences this issue, but I thought it was worth noting, just in case you think she is severely sun damaged. As with the Divine Shine ponies, the whole pony or just the head of body can be affected. Dainty Daisy came with the spring basket. She also suffers from discolouration, it can affect her head, body or both. Banjo Blue is a shade in between blue and green, and she too can end up looking more green. I believe that it is simply a batch issue as many are absolutely fine, but you see more of these discoloured than of most G3s. The Ponies may also become sticky - blue goodie goodie is fine, but green is incredibly sticky.
Goodie Goodie is a Blue G3 pony released exclusively with the Sweet Reflections Dress Shop playset. She seems to turn green and sometimes begins to get sticky. I have no explanation to why she experiences this issue, but I thought it was worth noting, just in case you think she is severely sun damaged. As with the Divine Shine ponies, the whole pony or just the head of body can be affected. Dainty Daisy came with the spring basket. She also suffers from discolouration, it can affect her head, body or both. Banjo Blue is a shade in between blue and green, and she too can end up looking more green. I believe that it is simply a batch issue as many are absolutely fine, but you see more of these discoloured than of most G3s. The Ponies may also become sticky - blue goodie goodie is fine, but green is incredibly sticky.
Frizzy or easily damaged hair. After many years of brushing, any pony can turn up with dry and damaged hair. however, it may not always be down to the brushing alone. Some G3s were given poor quality hair, which made it become damaged much faster than normal. Some of these ponies include:
- Petal Blossom - Often, you'll notice a difference in colour between the mane and tail, and the more purple shade will feel much less silky. The more purple shade is usually the bad quality hair. She can have both parts bad quality, just the mane, just the tail, or all good quality, more pink hair. I believe this is a batch variant. Cotton candy's blue tail hair can be different from the mane too.
- Rainbow Flash
- Misty Blue
- Some releases of Pinkie Pie in the core 7 pose
- Styling Cheerilee
- Jade Garden
- Peachie Keen
- Star Catcher 2
- Seaside Celebration Skywishes (pink stripes)
- Styling Rarity (orange and pink)
- 2008 Styling Pinkie Pie (reversed symbol)
- Some releases of Starsong
- Peach Surprise
- Baby Tea Lily
- Baby Wave Catcher
- Jazz Matazz
- Autumn Crisp
- Strawberry Sunset
1 - Strawberry Sunset
2 - Petal Blossom's mane (silky part) vs her tail (more purple). The tail is the stuff that’s prone to falling off (mentioned below), the mane should be okay. Cotton candy can have the same issue with the blue hair, but I haven’t had it fall off yet.
3 - Rainbow Flash
4 - Starsong with bad quality hair
5 - Summer Shores with damaged hair (the small, curled hairs in the middle, likely from brushing).
2 - Petal Blossom's mane (silky part) vs her tail (more purple). The tail is the stuff that’s prone to falling off (mentioned below), the mane should be okay. Cotton candy can have the same issue with the blue hair, but I haven’t had it fall off yet.
3 - Rainbow Flash
4 - Starsong with bad quality hair
5 - Summer Shores with damaged hair (the small, curled hairs in the middle, likely from brushing).
Breaking hair. This is where the hair falls off or breaks with a very gentle pull. Pink and orange colours tend to have the most problems. it is caused by the bad quality hair (most often Polypropylene) ageing, and sometimes from extreme sun exposure (this can affect the usually strong and sturdy nylon). You will often see thin, white strands surrounding the damaged hair. Ponies prone to this include:
These ponies’ hair might be currently breaking off. It may also stay intact for years to come, but they have Polypropylene hair, so caution is advised:
Ponies who have both good (nylon) and bad (Polypropylene) batch variants:
I have also seen the following ponies have their hair break off :
I believe these are all down to batches, if the hair ends look like the ones shown above, and the hair is a shade of pink, orange or purple, go careful when handling/brushing it. Sadly, there seem to be batches of almost all these ponies with both good and bad quality hair.
- Baby Tea Lily
- Baby Wave Catcher
- Peach Surprise
- Jazz Matazz
- Green Apple
- Sunrise
- Peachie Keen
- Baby Tripsy Daisy (dark pink hair)
These ponies’ hair might be currently breaking off. It may also stay intact for years to come, but they have Polypropylene hair, so caution is advised:
- All McDonald’s ponies (g2 and g3)
- All Dolly Mix Ponies
- Misty Blue
- Chocolate Delight
- Autumn Crisp
- Rhythm N Rhyme
- Peachie Keen
- Baby Hokey Pokey
- Styling Pinkie Pie (08) (possible)
- Blossomforth 3
- Baby Soakey Doakey
Ponies who have both good (nylon) and bad (Polypropylene) batch variants:
I have also seen the following ponies have their hair break off :
- Comet Tail
- Petal Blossom
- Rainbow Flash
- Glitterbelle
- Sparkleworks 2
- Sparkleworks 3 (some batches have bad hair, some good)
- Pretty Parasol (pink)
- Tulip Twinkle (I have one with a much worse quality dark pink colour in her tail).
- Sunny Daze 3
- Blossomforth (wing wishes bonus) seems to be a possible batch variant, good hair, bad tail, vice versa or both bad
- Midnight Dream
- Twirlerina
- Baby Romperooni
- Twinkle Bloom
- Frilly Frocks (light pink front streak)
- Tangerine Twinkle (red)
I believe these are all down to batches, if the hair ends look like the ones shown above, and the hair is a shade of pink, orange or purple, go careful when handling/brushing it. Sadly, there seem to be batches of almost all these ponies with both good and bad quality hair.
Stickiness
Plasticisers are added to the plastic to make it soft. Over the years it is possible for these to leach out of the plastic and onto the surface, causing the pony to become sticky. It is commonly seen in G1s and some g2s, but as g3s age we are starting to see more and more popping up sticky, Those with shiny plastic are more likely to have plasticiser leakage than matte ones. The divine shine ponies, as mentioned above, are particularly prone to this. I have also consistently had piccolo and cinnamon breeze (2 of each) feel sticky. I believe this is down to batch, as most g3s are unaffected. If your pony does get sticky, wash her with washing up liquid (don't submerge her, however). The plasticiser will leak out again until there is none left, so wash them whenever they need it. I don't believe there is any way to prevent this from happening unfortunately. I have since had this happen to Fair Weather. I will add a de - stickying tutorial in the tutorials section as she needed a little more than soap. |
Yellowing on later ponies
On some of the later g3s, particularly the white ones, large yellow patches may appear around the neck of the pony. I have no idea what causes this but it seems to be down to batch, once again. In my collection, I have come across several ponies with this problem, including: Strawberry Swirl 2, Fun Fairy, and Strawberry Surprise. I believed that the scent was the cause of the yellowing, but since only strawberry surprise is scented, this did not cause the other two's discolouration. or some reason, Pinkie Pie 6 almost always has pale brown - grey patches on her. I cannot seem to find one without this! Luckily they are quite faint, though. It doesn't look blue, so I don't think it is from her cape, although this would make sense. |
Green Spots (see left)
These spots are green in colour, with a dark green centre and a pale green ring around them. I have no explanation for these spots, except that they resemble and may well be similar to the age spots seen on g1s. I have found these on three different ponies, Bowtie, Daffidazey and Spring Breeze. All three came from different homes, and all arrived with the spots present. There has been no worsening and the spots have not spread. Spring Breeze is covered in the spots but only on her body. Her neck also has a green tinge. I don't believe there is anything inside these ponies. There is no smell to indicate mould, so I believe this to be either a coincidence with a marker pen, Something stuck in the plastic when they were manufactured, or age spots. I have owned Spring breeze since 2012, so if they're not pen, these spots have been there since she was made, or they developed early on. She is pictured below. Her whole body is like this. Notice how her hooves are also more green. She came in a lot of near mint g3s, with one loose but hair still tied. She is otherwise near mint. |