Avid Avatar Collecting: 300 in Less Than a Year!

Really, when it comes down to it, avatar collecting is nowhere near as difficult or daunting a task as it used to be. When avatars first came out, the tasks necessary to achieve the avatars were often unknown, but now, Neopians can look at a list that tells them EXACTLY what they need to do to achieve nearly every avatar. Most avatars are easily obtainable with some patience, practice, and a little luck.

Clickables - There are already over 80 avatars you can receive just by visiting a page. There are many petpages that give links to each page you need to visit, so there's already about 88 avatars with minimal effort! If you prefer, you can also search out these avatars yourself through an abundant amount of exploring the site, but it depends on your personal preferences.

Item - There are 59 item avatars, many of which are also extremely simple to obtain. Many of the items needed are cheap so you can just buy those yourself. Others, such as Faerie Queen Doll, Zafara Double Agent Plushie, Meowclops, and Bony Grarrl Club, cost quite a lot of neopoints, so you might want to visit the Avatar Chat in order to borrow such items for the avatar. However, if you are planning on asking to borrow an item, be polite and have collateral. Collateral is necessary to many lenders, since it ensures you will not steal their item.

Although there are several of these that are extremely difficult to obtain, such as ALL of the stamp avatars, MSPP, and Super Attack Pea, those are also possible with perseverance, a lot of dedication, and some luck. I was lent both MSPP and SuAP by a kind stranger after searching for quite a while. Make sure that these are the last avatars you go for, though, since you want to show how much avatar collecting and your account mean to you first.

Pet/Petpet - Owning a certain type of pet or pet with a petpet attached also can earn you several avatars. There are a couple ways to go about this. Either you can paint each pet yourself and age each petpet, or you can ask a kind user to lend you the pet, usually through the transfer system that TNT has graciously set up. I know my pet preferred the latter option, since he doesn't much like being morphed from pet type to pet type. With pet lending, you also should be polite, and while you are not allowed to offer collateral, most users appreciate it if you offer to lend them a pet in return.

Battledome - While there are only 12 available battledome avatars, these are still essential for your collection! So get to Krawk or Mystery Island and get training! Most of these opponents, aside from the Space Faerie and Meerca Henchman, are fairly simple to beat, and there are users who have generously created guides for the general public.

Random - These are the most EVIL of all avatars, in my opinion! I believe this simply because you can't control whether or not you will receive the avatar, and you have to keep trying. For the best chance of receiving these avatars, simply go to their location and try as often as is allowed. After one year, I've gotten all but three of these nasty avatars. Hopefully, luck will be on your side!

Game - To many Neopians, game avatars are their downfalls. However, this does not have to be the case. Many simply give up without trying hard on these avatars. If you need help with a game, the Games Chat is certainly the place to go! The kind and knowledgable Neopians there are always willing to help those in need. With practice, you're sure to get that avatar someday, and you'll feel great about it, since you REALLY earned it!

In addition, though you might doubt your gaming ability, there are such a variety of games that it is possible for everyone to be able to collect some of them. From games varying as far as Sewage Surfer, Faerie Bubbles, and Volcano Run II, you're sure to find at least one that you're good at.

The Kadoatery is also a game you might want to try your hand in. Though it looks like an incredibly daunting task originally, once you read some guides and give it a try, it becomes easier than it looks. After feeding quite a few, you get the avatar, and along the way, you'll earn a spiffy trophy as well! There are also several chat groups on the Avatar Chat and Games Chat dedicated to the Kadoatery, so you're likely to make some new friends while you play, as well.

Seasonal/Event - Throughout the year, there are various avatars you can collect by going to a certain page on a certain day. These include not only the avatars such as "Happy Birthday!" and "Quiguki April Fools Avatar," but also the band concert avatars, which can only be received certain days of the month, when that band is playing. Logging on daily will ensure that you don't miss any of these.

Remember that to be successful in avatar collecting, you need to be successful in a great portion of the site. So don't hold back, give everything a try; you never know whether a new interest will suddenly become your favorite thing to do on Neopets. I know I discovered many new interests in my quest to gain as many avatars as I possibly could.

Well, that's about it! Good luck in your quest, you avatar hunters! And never give up; if I can do it, so can you! :)