By Braelyn Barnes, September 29, 2026
For some college students, childhood interests remain part of their lives as they enter adulthood. For public relations student Sophia Gonzalez, however, her interest in My Little Pony has followed her through every journey in her life.
Now, it has inspired a new hobby as Gonzalez turned her interest into a campus trading-card community at Cal Poly Pomona.
Gonzalez began collecting MLP trading cards after discovering them on social media and eventually finding them at Best Buy. Though initially attracted by the cards’ colorful artwork, Gonzalez has developed them into a hobby that involves collecting, researching and trading with people across the country and internationally.
“Since I was a little, I’ve always loved My Little Pony,” Gonzalez said. “I think it was just a show that I thoroughly enjoyed, from the animation to its serious storyline and its fun storyline.”
Gonzalez said the show’s animation, storylines and messages about friendship have kept her connected to the series over the years.
Her interest in collecting also grew as she discovered the variety of cards available. Some rare cards can sell for hundreds of dollars, depending on the card and seller, Gonzalez said. Gonzalez’s rarest card is a ZR card, which belongs to a highly sought-after rarity tier.
Although some collectors sell their cards, Gonzalez said trading is a bigger part of the hobby for her as it allows her to connect with other collectors.
enjoyed, from the animation to its serious storyline and its fun storyline.” Photo courtesy of Tom Zasadzinski | The Poly Post
Sophia first asked Reddit whether CPP students would be interested in a local trading community. After receiving interest, she created a Discord server, where students could connect, share cards and arrange trades.
Before creating the server, Gonzalez traded with collectors as far away as Canada, which required mailing cards and paying for shipping. She first asked on Reddit whether CPP students would be interested in a local trading community. After receiving responses, she created a Discord server where students could share their collections and arrange trades.
“I realized it would be a lot easier to trade with some people at CPP because then you could just meet up at a public space and you wouldn’t have to worry about shipping and mailing,” Gonzalez said.
For Gonzalez, the community offers more than an opportunity to exchange cards. She said college students should be able to enjoy interests associated with childhood without feeling judged.
“I feel like because of our age and we’re college students, a lot of people tend to sometimes feel shame liking things that might be for a younger audience,” Gonzalez said. “But I don’t necessarily think there’s any shame in that.”
Gonzalez said the show’s message about friendship were meaningful to her growing up and remains part of what keeps her connected to the series.
Business administration student Kevin Su and environmental biology student Dahlia Ortiz are among the others who joined the Discord community to collect and trade MLP cards.
Su became interested in the cards after years of playing trading-card games and reconnecting with MLP from his childhood. He discovered the CPP Discord server while browsing the university’s Reddit page.
For Su, the group also offers an opportunity to connect with students over interest beyond trading.
“I think it can be a good shared space for not only trading cards and My Little Pony, but also whatever other people share,” Su said.
Ortiz, who was already an avid Pokemon card collector, became interested in MLP cards after discovering the series had its own trading card collection.
She said finding the cards in the United States was difficult for a long time, so she eventually purchased cards from China before the MLP trading card game became available in the U.S. Ortiz also discovered the CPP community through a Reddit post and joined because it provided a place to trade with other collectors on campus.
“I feel great, I think this really awesome that we have a community for not only trading, but for such a niche community,” Ortiz said.
Although the community is still new, Gonzalez hopes it will become more active on campus. She envisions students meeting in person with their binders and trading cards, similar to events organized by other card-collecting communities.
Gonzalez also believes the group could help students socialize and build connections through shared interests.
“I think something as simple as trading in person or talking, or even people just talking about their favorite characters, what do they love about the show, things like that?” Gonzalez said. “I think those little moments really do help improve that social awareness and socialization skills.”
