Neopian Times: the History of 350 Issues

The Neopian Times has been out since almost the beginning of the Neopets journey. Neopets was released on the 15th of November of 1999; just 71 days after its release, a bare two months; the Neopian Times was released on January 25th, 2000. It came out before the release of many memorable events in Neopian history, including trading cards, Lupes, Elephantes, Peophins, the Soup Kitchen, the Neopian Hospital, and even the Caption Competition. In fact, by the time Mr. Insane released NeoQuest, the Neopian Times had been up and running for almost a whole year! This means it has been documenting and giving stories including all of the greatest Neopets events, modules, pets, and activities from almost the very beginning. The greatest part is that it is still up and running, and on its 350th anniversary, it will still be documenting, telling long and short stories, showing comics, answering editorial questions, and giving you brilliant articles. So what, you ask? What does this all mean and why is this all important? Take a short trip on this article and learn about the milestones of the Neopian Times and what it is doing today that makes it so wonderful!

Important Events of the Neopian Times

Who really knows all of the hours of work that has gone into publishing so many issues of the Neopian Times? No one knows how much effort goes through it total including the editor and all of the wonderful participants in the Neopian Times that submit some of our favourite pieces. Therefore, no one REALLY knows all of the greatest events and accomplishments, but just in case you were wondering what some (just a particular handful) of the interesting and major events that have happened on Neopets that involved the Neopian times in the past 350 issues, here is a list of the ones deemed to be some of the most important.

01. The very first issue of the Neopian Times was released on the 25th day of the Month of Sleeping, Y2.

02. The famous third issue of the Neopian Times was released on the 20th day of Awakening, Y2.

03. Though the first Weewoo was released on 10th day of Collecting, Y3, the first official drawing of a white Weewoo was for the thumbnail of the Neopian Times article, the Weewoo of White by oily106 in the 113th issue of the Neopian Times.

04. The official release of the white Weewoo as an item was on 27th day of Collecting, Y5, just after its second year being released.

05. On 26th day of Hunting, Y6, the random theme of the day was deemed the Neopian Times! Just on that day, some of the greatest Neopian Times themed items including the Neopian Times Quill, the Battle Quill, the Neopian Times Coin, and the Neopian Times White Weewoo Plushie were given out.

06. On 23rd day of Swimming, Y6, the Neopian Times was revamped for the release of its 150th issue. Along with it, the Neopian Times Star avatar was released for those who participated regularly in the Neopian Times. It featured the famous Battle Quill and was decorated with a golden colour.

07. On the 26th day of Swimming, Y7, the Neopian Times Writer avatar was released on the 200th issue of the Neopian Times.

08. The Neopian Times White Weewoo Plushie has been given out on the 200th and 250th issues of the Neopian Times, and on the 300th issue, the Postal Weewoo Action Figure was given out.

09. The longest editorial response was around 560 words in issue 336.

Editorial Moments

The editorial has been around since the very first edition of the Neopian Times. Every week the Neopian Times is released, an editorial section is published along with it (they have not missed a week, I checked). In case you were wondering what are some of the most interesting (and comical) responses, here are a few that are worthy of being known.

01. In the first edition it explained that contests are not allowed on Neopets, and that the editor does like ice cream including the flavours Dulce de Leche and Pralines and Cream.

02. In the 33rd issue, Adam wrote in the editorial that he liked chocolate milkshakes, but that he preferred banana and strawberry ones, whereas the editor wrote that they enjoy vanilla milkshakes more than chocolate ones.

03. In the 18th issue, the editor admitted to liking cheese, and on the 71st issue, the editor said the best cheese is a welsh cheese called Y Fenni.

04. On the 105th issue, the editor explained that the MongMong petpet had its name changed to Flishy because MongMong was a silly name.

05. In the 124th issue, the editor admitted to liking chicken.

06. In the 260th issue, the editor admitted to liking and using foam soap.

07. In the 307th issue, the editor explained that the Neopets Team loves tacos.

What makes the Neopian Times so wonderful?

In case you were wondering, the Neopian Times has been up and running for over eight years! This means that it has memories and documentation through stories, comics, articles, and editorial questions of some of the greatest historical moments of Neopets history. It provides comics for funny moments, teaches ideas through good morals in short stories and long series stories, and informs of great and important ideas in articles. On top of that it answers important, useful, comical, interesting, and even slightly personal questions that Neopets users want answers to, all brought to you by the wonderful editorial. There’s nothing that clears up a Neopets mystery or rule like a good answer to a question in the Neopian Times editorial.

It has also brought us the greatest Neopian Times traditions, such as mentioning evil petpets like Meepits, or adorable petpets such as Weewoos. It brings us great obsessions and lets us read some of the most wonderful works of Neopets. It lets us collaborate with others on whatever we hope to publish, and gives us an excuse to babble on and on about nothingness or important events and ideas. It also gives us an excuse to make the artists draw up beautiful art clips for thumbnails (we really do love viewing Neopets art images). Best of all, it has a shiny quill trophy, and lets us play with pointy objects such as quills (in a safe manner, of course).

So whether you’d like to read another article, story, series, editorial question, or comic, remember that it is all brought to you by the wonderful Neopian Times. Happy 350th anniversary and here is to the wonderful joys, laughs, and tears the Neopian Times have brought Neopia. Hopefully there will be many, many more issues to enjoy.

Happy 350th Issue!!