25 Nights of Nineties Nostalgia: Spain’s Piggy Pose

Most people are aware that collector’s items can go for huge amounts of money years after they’re released – and most people who have bought them knowing that have also found out that many collector’s items end up being worthless. Beanie Babies, My Little Ponies, Transformers – while some of them can be extremely valuable, most are worth far less than their original retail price.

When it comes to My Little Ponies, the easiest way to know whether or not you’ve found a winner is to know its country of origin. When you find a pony that was sold outside of the US, you know you’ve found a winner! Prices of non-US ponies can range from $20-$40 for the very common European horses to in the thousands for ponies produced in South Africa or Greece. Some of these horses have where they were made on the hoof, but some can only be identified by slight differences in plastic, hair colour, or paint material used. Some are completely unique to their country of origin!

"Spain's Piggy Pose" sounds like an exotic way to murder someone.
“Spain’s Piggy Pose” sounds like an exotic way to murder someone.

Perhaps the most unique and somewhat inexplicably on many collectors wishlists is Spain’s Piggy Pose. And yes, that is in fact what collector’s call it. The pose is weird, generally agreed to be ugly, but, it’s rare, completely unique and an official toy. Piggies rarely if ever go for under a hundred dollars apiece and often go for far more for particularly rare characters or particularly good condition toys. Their eyes have a mechanism in them that allows them to close when tilted, however, which included a metal part that (along with the metal washer in their tails) makes them prone to rust. Their hair and bodies can yellow as the decades pass, so finding one without these problems will increase their value to collectors looking for something as close to mint condition as possible.

So remember, next time you see a particularly ugly horse at a flea market when you’re travelling: it could be worth more than your car – oooor it could be worth less than your lunch.

About Nate Schoonover 19 Articles
Everyone's favourite art loving, toy collecting nonbinary idiot.