Ask The Trailmaster

Do you have a question for us? Please use this form to ask.

We try to answer questions daily. Questions are not posted until they are answered.

Here are answers to the commonly asked questions about where to resell Painted Ponies, and what their current value is:

When collectors choose to resell their Painted Ponies, we recommend doing so on eBay. There is also a Facebook group, which was set up by Painted Ponies collectors and is not monitored by The Trail of Painted Corporate Office, where you can offer your Painted Ponies for sale. Here is a link to that Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PaintedPoniessellbuyswapauction

To find the current perceived value of your Painted Ponies, we suggest searching on eBay for the same figurine with a similar edition number. If you have an eBay account, you can look up what that particular figurine has sold for recently, and that will give you an even more accurate perceived value.

linda bagby from phx, az wrote on June 28, 2013:

i have a 7" figurine 2e11006 how do I look up its value?

Response From Trailmaster:

Here's hoping this response is read by others who have written to ask about the value of their Ponies. Please read the FAQ section of our website, where you will find our advice that you should check on eBay to see if there is a Pony for sale like yours with comparable qualities: rarity, demand, edition number, retired, artist signed. At this time, this is the most reliable indicator.

Barbara from Alabama wrote on June 25, 2013:

Will the third place winner, "Spot", be available for collectors?

Response From Trailmaster:

This is a design from the competition that we think could translate very well into a figurine.

Dean Jubas from L.A. Ca wrote on June 21, 2013:

Do you have any banks for sale?

Response From Trailmaster:

There has been some internal discussion about Painted Pony banks, and we are working with some clever designs that might work. But we are not far enough along to say for sure what will happen, or when.

Grace from Tacoma, WA wrote on June 18, 2013:

On your website you have a section where you can download, print and design your own Painted Pony and send it in throughout the year. In that section you say that you might turn the design into a Painted Pony if it catches the attention of The Trail of Painted Ponies. I was wondering if there was something specific that you look for when you look at those designs?

Response From Trailmaster:

Fair question to ask, but one that is hard to answer. Originality. Excellence of execution. Emotional content. Difference from designs already created. Will it translate well into a 6" figurine? Will it appeal to collectors. There is a lot of subjectivity at work with each of these considerations, especially the last: Is it magical.

Marshall from Southern California wrote on June 16, 2013:

After reading the contest rules put forth for this last competition I am curious over one of the winners. Below were the rules and designs specified to use in the contest. I did not see the design of the native theme "Blood Brothers"anywhere in the choices. Perhaps I missed the part where you can desgn your own pose. I can see perhaps it making some honorable mention but to disregard your own rule and slap everyone else that DID follow the designs? I can see submitting the design during the year as a simple submission but it had no place in the competition. It is fine work to be sure but you set the conditions and everyone else followed it. It also reminds me of an earlier contest that a horses head and shoulders emerged from an ocean wave. While an interesting concept, that also disregarded the rules of using the whole design. Again honorable mention or a simple during the year submission would have been appropriate. Guess I am traditional.

Response From Trailmaster:

You make a thoughtful point, and we will pay closer attention to our language in our next art competition. Our thinking with this one was that artists were entitled to modify existing forms, they just couldn't create completely new and different forms, or use some other company's forms. It's our understanding that this was what the artist did: modify the walking horse form.

Ann from GA wrote on June 10, 2013:

Will the ornament winners be posted soon?

Response From Trailmaster:

Yes, we will be announcing the top five vote-getters in the ornament contest on our July website update.

Lauri Seidl from Cedar Rapids, IA wrote on June 07, 2013:

Will the Native Heritage winner (Blood Brothers) of the recent National Art Competition be made into a figurine? I would love to have it!

Response From Trailmaster:

As would a lot of other collectors we have heard from. While I cannot promise, if I were a betting man....

Leonie from Vermont wrote on June 06, 2013:

Will there ever be any figurines of the winners for Native Heritage and Beauty of the Breed?

Response From Trailmaster:

Yes, but at this time I cannot say which ones, and when they will be released.

Jaclyn from Kentucky wrote on June 02, 2013:

Is a updated edition of the book going to be published?

Response From Trailmaster:

There has been quite a lot of internal discussion about publishing an updated Trail of Painted Ponies book. But to date no decision has been made. Part of the challenge is that by the time a book is put together and printed, it is already obsolete because in the meantime we will have come out with more new Ponies. We will continue to discuss because in the past the books have been very popular.

Arlene Porter from Innisfail, AB Canada wrote on May 29, 2013:

Am I still able to purchase the Dolly Pardon pony.

Response From Trailmaster:

We have not yet crafted Dolly's "Colt of Many Colors" into a figurine, but we have received a lot of requests. We are waiting for a green light from Ms. Parton.