At right, Juecong Chai, of Singapore, shows Julie Alexander, of Fremont, Calif., some of the rare British-made My Little Pony collectibles that he bought at yesterday’s convention. This one is Lightening, one of the Mountain Boys.

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The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

PROVIDENCE

here were thousands of toys. But where were the children?

Yesterday in the Rhode Island Convention Center, Linda Leejohnson looked at her plastic watch. On its face, a yellow anthropomorphic pony named Royal Bouquet told the 48-year-old from Redding, Calif., it was nearly 10 a.m.

Soon the crowds would come, about 300 people, from around the country and the world. They would gawk and talk, trade and sell, buy and bond.

The fifth annual My Little Pony Fair had begun, with mature and reined interest.

This is the 25th anniversary of the toy made by Pawtucket-based Hasbro. What started with a half a dozen figurine horses — Butterscotch, Blossom, Blue Belle, Snuzzle, Cotton Candy and Minty — has grown into a herd of thousands, which Hasbro has ridden to profitability with movies, TV shows, a stage production and more merchandise than you can imagine.

Back to the watch.

“It’s my daughter’s. This is the first time I’ve worn it. I thought other Pony people would notice it.”

Leejohnson’s 6-year-old daughter, Patricia, is home, thousands of miles away. So Leejohnson comes clean. She’s a collector.

“It’s a surprise to me. I was never interested in dolls.”

Leejohnson’s collection is at 1,000; her daughter’s is at 300. The Ponies, Leejohnson said, evoke innocence, charm and magic. They also bring out her soft side.

“I was never a girly girl. I fought fires for the forest service. I’m a farmer that butchers goats.”

Go figure.

Even the My Little Pony creator can’t completely understand the craze for equine-shaped pastel plastic.

“It has taken on a life of its own,” said Bonnie Zacherle, the toy designer of the original My Little Pony line. “What you see here are girls who grew up with My Little Pony and taken it beyond the initial play.”

For a time, it looked like there wasn’t going to be horseplay.

“My Little Pony was on the verge of not making it to market. It didn’t do anything. That’s the beauty of My Little Pony. You put yourself in it. You comb it. You dress it.”

You buy it. So far, Hasbro has sold more than 100 million My Little Pony figurines.

The toy’s target audience is girls, ages 3 to 6. But the fair’s target audience is adults, up to about 60.

Actually, Lynn Hudson of Westchester, Pa., is 59. She’s been collecting about two years. But don’t’ tell anyone; she doesn’t.

“They’d laugh.”

Hudson’s hobby is gift-giving gone awry.

“When I started getting them for my niece, I started getting them for myself. It sort of blossomed.”

Hudson has 450 “vintage” My Little Ponies from the ‘80s in a well organized display case at home. Her 26-year-old daughter used to collect with her, but quit.

“She thought I was too particular, labeling everything. She said I took the fun out of it.”

My Little Pony trivia games, My Little Pony art contests and My Little Pony customizing workshops — that’s the fun you find at the fair, which Jen Oakes, 27 of Sacramento, Calif., founded.

“You don’t get funny looks here. It’s nice to be in this world for a couple of days.”

Outside the My Little Pony community, according to Oakes, the best a collector can hope to encounter is “a blank expression. They say, ‘You do what?’”

Oakes’ boyfriend essentially said that when he saw a My Little Pony hanging from her car’s rearview mirror.

“Oh, he loves that,” Oakes said sarcastically. “Try picking up friends in a car with that.”

At this point in her collecting life, Oakes said My Little Pony is all about art, about customizing and modifying the figurines. Other collectors like the Ponies as they are, and travel great distances to be where they are.

Jemma Audritt, 26, has come from England, wearing a pink My Little Pony T-shirt. The ponies are colorful and cute, she said, and remind her of her childhood, a nostalgia that compels so many collectors here.

“It’s no coincidence that adult collectors now were the child collectors in the ‘80s.”

Collecting is collecting, according to Audritt, who criticizes those who criticize My Little Pony.

“It’s a collectible just like antique china and Chippendale furniture.”

Rarity, condition and supply and demand drive My Little Pony collectors, at least those who admit it.

“It saddens me there are girls who feel collecting My Little Pony is some dirty secret,” Audritt said.

The collectors are overwhelmingly females, but there are a few males at the show, and one notable one: Juecong Chai of Singapore. He’s 25. He quit his job as a marketing researcher and spent $7,000 to travel to this show.

“It’s pretty much my life. It’s the deciding factor in what I do.”

Chai has decided he wants to live in America because “Ponies are more accessible here than anywhere else.” Chai has decided he will apply for a job at Hasbro because “it would be true happiness.”

Chai’s introduction to happiness was at age 3. He received his first My Little Pony. At 7, his mother gave away his collection.

“Like most mothers in Singapore, my Mom wanted me to concentrate on my studies and stop playing.”

Little did Chai realize, his mother gave his Ponies to his cousin, whom he saw four years later in a joyful reunion with his toys.

“My parents thought I was just going to get a few back. But it escalated into something bigger that no one expected.”

Chai now has 1,300 Ponies, which he keeps in his room at his parents’ home.

“They’ve completely taken over my room. There’s barely walking space.”

Until two years ago, Chai played with his Ponies.

“I used to talk to them and storylines would come out. I would be squealing and making voices for them.”

Knowing what others might think, Chai did this in private.

“I wouldn’t do it in front of my parents. They’d think I’d need psychiatric help.”

People are puzzled by adult My Little Pony collectors, especially male collectors.

“In Asia, people think it may be a little deviant, but it’s okay. In Western countries, they think I’m gay.”

For the record, Chai is not gay. And he is particular about the kind of woman he wants.

“If my wife doesn’t like My Little Pony, she gets out of the house.”

The My Little Pony Fair continues today, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Admission is $20, $10 for children, 3-14.

brourke@projo.com