When trying to repair or customize ponies, the worst I have come across so far has been G2 Hip Holly. This lady had the beginning of tail rust that I could see through her bum. The main issue that I ran into was that G2 ponies are HARD. And here with Hip Holly, she looks like she should be jelly, not feel like she was made from resin.
So, for this momentous task, I needed: 🦄 Two pairs of pliers 🦄 A twist tie 🦄 A length of fishing line that was long enough to wrap around my pliers (thread, jewelry wire or anything that you have on had that is only as wide as a hair but isn’t fragile enough to snap under stress) 🦄 Small cable tie 🦄 Hair styling blow drier (not pictured)
I couldn't just pop the head off. I used the blow drier to warm the plastic around the neck seam. You could achieve the same by boiling the pony in just water. But for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT MICROWAVE A PONY. There usually are metal washers in their butts to hold the tail in and your goal isn't to melt the poor dear. If you're trying to repair or customize then she's obviously been through enough :(
Once you warm around the neck seam it will not take as much force to remove the head. However, it comes with another complication. Make sure to keep the air in a contained spot, do not get close enough for the front grill to touch the pony (you can scorch or melt it), and make sure that you let it go for a good 30-60 seconds. If that’s not enough, go 15-20 seconds more at a time, but I found that I moved just enough where the hot air from the blow drier wasn't right on that neck seam (and only shot it with the drier for not nearly enough time), the plastic was soft in the wrong spot, at her legs. That's a big risk- it feels as if the pony would stretch and tear at the chest when I tried to pull her head off.
When I succeeded in getting the head off, I had to pull out the tail. The washer in there was so rusted that it adhered to the inside of her butt. I had to use my longer-nose pliers to pry it out from the inside.
Cleaning took a while. I used hot water, dish soap and pipe cleaners. Have fun if that's your goal. Moving on.
I had to remove the metal crimp that the manufacturer used to cinch the hair that makes the tail. I used the twist tie and wrapped the hair on one side to prevent slippage and hair loss. Two pairs of pliers are necessary at this point to undo the crimp. Have fun.
With the crimp removed BE VARY CAREFUL AND DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE. If there is any amount of rust on your hands and you get it in your eye? Nope. Nope nope nope. But take the tail (still wrapped with the twist tie!) and give it a nice wash with dish soap at the part where there is rust, maybe use an old come to try and loosen the flakes. Once it looks satisfactory then let it fully dry- give it an hour or so.
Now, take that cable tie and cinch it as tight as possible in the middle where the old metal crimp was. Again, this is where two pairs of pliers are necessary, one to hold the tail of the cable tie, and the other to hold the square. The tighter you can make it the better. The best part is that there is not a large metal piece touching the inside of the pony, so the replacement is not as likely to rust like the old parts! Once that cable tie is as tight as tight can be, you can now remove the twist tie. It’s not likely going to be exact, but if that would bug you then (at your own risk) put on the cable tie where it’s snug, undo the twist tie and adjust the length of the hair by gently pulling on the ends. I do not recommend that because it’s an easy place to mess up.
This was the hardest part: The hole for the tail is super hard to work with. Again, I needed the blow drier. Without warming the plastic at the tail hole there is no way you are going to get the tail back in without hurting yourself, hurting the pony's butt, a combo of two or just giving up. The plastic is way too hard to just push the tail into the pony, and you can't pull the other way without doing damage to the hair- there is no give to the vinyl at all and you can strip the lock of hair without meaning to.
Warm that butt. Warm dat pony butt just as you did with the neck to pop the head off. Take the fishing line and create a loop, the loose ends through the tail hole on the outside and the closed loop through the body and out the neck hole, and loop the fishing line around the tail, as close to the tips of the hair as you can. You may need to warm the butt more, but now wrap the fishing line around your pliers and pull the line through the tail hole with the hair. Pull a little harder. If it doesn’t work, warm that butt more. There is no shame in adding extra heat the butt. Pull again.
Ta-da~
I didn't put the head on right away to make sure the inside of my pony and the hair was fully dry after the cleaning and salvage. I let her sit for about 48-ish hours before putting the head back on. And it should come as no surprise that you need to warm the plug at the bottom of the head AND the top of the neck to help the head back on.
I hope this helps if this is something that you are looking for! This works with all ponies that you may be having difficulty working with the vinyl.
Don’t microwave the pony. Thanks.