Where's the cat?! 
How long have you been collecting MLPs?
I've been a pony-enthusiast since they first came
out in Italy (approximately in 1984), and since then I've been frantically collecting
adverts and information about them. However my actual herd was quite
modest at the time and I didn't begin to collect them actively since
March 2000 (when I dug up my old ponies and decided to surf the Net in
search for more).
How long has OuaR been online?
Once upon a Rainbow has been online since August 2001, and has been rebuilt and moved several times over the years. Because of the endless work gathering information on variants, I've never promoted older versions much, as in spite of all my efforts I still considered my work lacunous. This current version is version #5 and was first available online in September 2006. It is meant to be a dynamic resource, and will frequently be updated as new variants cross my path.
Do you collect ANY pony you don't have yet?
No, I am a picky chooser! I'm partial to ponies from
the early sets (approximately 1982-1985) because they are the true
classics. I don't really like the excesses of the late 80s line. The classics are beautiful and
sober, and that's what appeals most to me, not to mention they are so
fascinating as they are the ones of which most variants exist all
around the world. However anything that I really like joins my herd - in fact there are several later ponies that I collected... not to mention that I love most ponies of the current line, and collect their variants too!
Why do you mostly collect variants?
Collecting MLPs is collecting variants for me. I began to collect
variants as soon as I began
to collect ponies again, and the reason is simple. My first and main
goal was to gather all the early ponies, which were the ones I was
most fond of. However it didn't take really long for me to get them all, so I began almost immediately to collect any variants to them I could
find.
At first, what really motivated me was the desire to find again some of the ponies I used to have, which were Italian variants, obviously. To my big disappointment, I found out that they were not part of the US/standard line, the only one of which a complete list was available at the time, and this lack on information about them puzzled me. My search lead me to a hunt for "foreign" ponies, and the further I went the more I was fascintated with them. At the time there wasn't much information about variants, and the few, big collectors of old, such as the Delaneys or Ice Feather were about to leave the scene. It would bring such enthusiasm on me everytime I could identify and get a variant whose existence nobody, not even them, were aware of yet... At the time I was told I was the first known collector from Italy, and as a matter of fact the first to bring to the International pony community first-hand info on Italian variants. Collecting variants has been a fantastic experience through all these years, and I suspect it will still be full of surprises for the years to come!
At first, what really motivated me was the desire to find again some of the ponies I used to have, which were Italian variants, obviously. To my big disappointment, I found out that they were not part of the US/standard line, the only one of which a complete list was available at the time, and this lack on information about them puzzled me. My search lead me to a hunt for "foreign" ponies, and the further I went the more I was fascintated with them. At the time there wasn't much information about variants, and the few, big collectors of old, such as the Delaneys or Ice Feather were about to leave the scene. It would bring such enthusiasm on me everytime I could identify and get a variant whose existence nobody, not even them, were aware of yet... At the time I was told I was the first known collector from Italy, and as a matter of fact the first to bring to the International pony community first-hand info on Italian variants. Collecting variants has been a fantastic experience through all these years, and I suspect it will still be full of surprises for the years to come!
Are you planning on keeping an archive of all the known variants?
Yes and no. The main focus of this website is to provide detailed and accurate first-hand information. Thus, I focus on variants I own myself, unless otherwise stated. However, for many years I have dreamed of a twin project, a more complete archive that would gather variants provided by all collectors around the world, and this project is the Nirvana Gallery. The Nirvana Gallery is a photo database hosted at the MLParena to which any collector can contribute providing pics of variants that are still missing, and is thus the most complete variant archive online. Althought it was at first my brain child, it was a huge work I had no time for, so it was Kcat and jlm who worked hard to set it up and manage it superbly. Kcat is also the current gallery manager.