Well, it's interesting. I wouldn't say I know single "not good collection", each is different and is saying very own stories. There are different ways of collecting, and different reasons, some collect all by one brand, some collect most realistic animals and others most funny or only vintage. Some collect all figures of one species or one family. Some will build impressive dioramas. And some collections are just very eclectic. Some have thousands of items some have hundreds and some only few but I wouldn't say the person who have more has better collection

( or even this way of collecting is better than another (?!).

)
Why do you choose My Little Pony or Puppy in my Pocket as a "old school" they aren't reallly vintage (well 1980ties and 1990ties is not yet that long ago

) Are these brands most interesting for you because they are very "toyish"? I think it would be great if you explore more, there are hundreds of companies that produce or produced animal figures. I collect from 8 years and thanks to forums I learn something new about animal figures (or animals, or collectors) every day. Some collectors on these forums started collecting in 1930 ties or 40ties and still continue today. Now they have knowledge, fantasy and amazing stuff indeed.
In community of animal figures collectors you will find people from all continents, people with many ways of collecting, some will customize their animals, some will keep tags etc. There is so much to learn and see, just explore.
To learn a little bit more about toy animal brands I recommend this mini wikipedia:
http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Main_Page to read about some of the most vintage brands (if they are interesting for you) search: Lineol, Starlux, Tipple Topple.