Something of an update

I haven't been updating this blog as much as I should, but then, what would it update with? I have been cleaning, of course, don't get me wrong. I've mainly been organizing, though. And what am I supposed to make an entry for that for? "Today, I sorted out another box. There is now a new box, with sorted stuff in it." ? Still, progress is progress, and I imagine leaving everyone in the dark sin't a good idea. But really, all I've been doing, organization wise, is sorting ponies. Yes, My Little Ponies. The toys from the 80s, more specifically. I collect the 80's style of My Little Ponies - MLP, for short. I still have all the ones from my childhood, as a matter of fact. And since I bought many, many of the ones I still needed, I have quite a few duplicates of the more common ponies; not really a shock, since I know I'm not the only on who operates this way. Due to space contraints, I've been working on getting the MLPs sorted out so I know what the condition is, whether I have said pony, and can get the rest of the ones that I won't be keeping ready to sell either on ebay or at the yearly MLP Fair. This is a process that is unfortunately very boring. On the other hand, it enables me to go right to XYZ box and get the pony in question without too much hassel. Not that I've needed to do this yet, but it's an option that I have. Sorting ponies is a process, and I've been doing my best to stick to it, but I have wound up changing a few things up. First, I'm using the Home Depot's moving boxes to sort the ponies into. The small ones, actually; I didn't want to try using the medium or big ones; I do need to move the boxes around every now and then, after all. I take a pony, and examine it; mark down whether it needs a bath and it's hair done (which more often then not is the case), the condition of it's eyes, blush and cutie marks, condition of cutie marks that aren't on it's flanks, and whether it has any stray pen, high lighter, or other dirst marks on it, the presence of smooze/pin dot mold/age spots or regrind, tail rust (from the washer holding the tail in place getting wet) and whether the pony rattles, whether there's mold coming out of the holes in the mane (which tells me the pony has massive internal issues from being in someone's bathtub), etc., etc., etc. Once all that has been cataloged, I also put down what it's stamped on it's feet. Because there are two main countries that Hasbro used for the US, and a lot of other countries that the pony could have come from. I have about 4 Argentinan ponies, 2-3 German ponies, and a good number that were made exclusively for the UK. There are also other countries that ponies were made in, but as far as I know, I don't have any from said countries. Regardless of this, jotting down the markings under the hooves is beneficial, as it means I don't have to pull a pony out if someone asks about the hoof markings. Once the pony is cataloged, it gets a piece of colored yarn ties around it's neck, so it's obvious which box it was in/came out of (mainly due to all the duplicates), then goes into either the bottom of the box, or the second layer of the box, whichever I'm working. I try to get as many ponies into a box as I can, but ideally I don't want them touching each other. This is because a lot of them have glitter for their cuties, or are covered in a soft fuzz that can rub off if you're not careful, and after doing all that work, I don't weant to have to go back and re-examine a pony because I ddi something stupid. ;) Now, when I started doing this, I waited until I was totally done with a box before photographing the ponies. This reculted in my knees getting very sore, as I have to kneel in front of the table my light box is on to get decent pictures. Then I wised up and am wearing knee pads while doing the photography, but this still isn't fun to do. Especially when there is usually a minimum of 8 photos for each pony. So now I finish the one layer, and immidiately photograph the individual ponies in that layer, and take a group shot of them all in the box. Then I either get a piece of 1/2"-1" thick styrofoam (which I cut to fit inside the box), put it in the box, and start the second layer, or I tape the box shut and label it for what color of yarn the ponies have around their necks. Granted, this, like cleaning, is mainly something I'm doing in my spare time. Thus far, I have a white list, a purple list, and am currectly working a gray list. After that I'll move to green, orange, and other colors as yarn permits. I have yet to start the G3s, but 99% of those are going to be sold anyway. See, this is progress without really making a lot of progress. ^__^;