The Background For The Neopian Times

     Have you ever looked at the background of the Neopian Times, and wondered why there is a Red Lenny wearing a cookie costume? Perhaps you`re curious to know the names of the various petpets and items scattered across the image that make up the backdrop of our beloved newspaper? If not, I hope this introduction has piqued your curiosity, because in this article I will be looking at the very background of the NT and revealing the names and origins of everything featured.

     Plushies:

     Blue Chia Plushie

     This miniature Chia plushie is finished to a high quality of detail. It is also ideal for both Chia-lovers and owners who wish to train their pet to hunt Chias.

     (That would be Lupes...)

     Starry Uni Plushie

     This plushie is r98 (so it`s not only Rare, but Ultra Rare!) and will set you back about 100k if you wish to add it to your gallery.

     Ferocious Snowager Plushie

     This plushie is not a prize from visiting the Snowagers cave, nor is it on sale at the Plushie Palace, it is a rare item code prize from 2001. The Ferocious Snowager Plushie is fairly easy to get your hands on, at the time of writing they are being sold in users shop for just under 200k.

     Fire Lupe Plushie

     This cute plushie would look great in your collection! I like the detail of the floppy ear, really cute. Something interesting to notice is that there is an identical item called Magical Fire Lupe Plushie. The artwork for the two items are the exact same, but the names, rarity and item descriptions differ. If a Neopet plays with a magical plushie, it will turn into the species and colour of the toy in question.

     Yellow Meerca Plushie

     The picture you see in the NT background is an old version, the artwork of this image has since been updated. The changes has made it look more similar to the Meerca post-conversion. Before Neopets were converted to the new artwork that allowed them to wear clothes, Meercas would stand/bounce on their long tail in the circle and happy poses.

     Mutant Cybunny Plushie

     Wouldn`t you love to cuddle with this adorable mutant plushie?

     Neopian Times White Weewoo Plushie

     This adorable little Weewoo has a quill tucked under its wing!

     And here I thought the quill was one of its tail feathers... This cute plushie was the prize given out to users published in issues 250 and 350 of the Neopian Times. Hopefully it will be time to give it out once more, perhaps for the next special issue?

     Petpets:

     Faellie

     These cute little guys live in Faerieland, and can be purchased from the Faerie Petpet shop in Faerie City.

     Babaa

     These fluffy petpets with the cute name can be bought from the petpet shop in Neopia Central.

     Cobrall

     Although the Cobrall is very common in the Lost Desert, they`re actually sold in the petpet shop in Neopia Central.

     Slorg

     These slimy creatures are native to the Haunted Woods, but can be found in most Neopian lands. In Meridell especially they`re known to attack the crops of the farmers.

     Pirate Weewoo

     This bird petpet is native to Krawk Island, and when painted Pirate, it gets an eyepatch, a nice head scarf and a gold medallion – just like the one the Pirate Eyrie wears.

     White Weewoo

     Of course the cute mascot of the Neopian Times must be included in the background of the newspaper! Did you know that the original, unpainted colour of the Weewoo is brown?

     Other items:

     Green Lucky Boots

     This is a prize available from waking up The Great Turmaculus in Meridell. (A petpet attached to your Neopet is required to try and wake him up and certain times of the day).

     Carrotblade

     Cybunnies believe that this blade once belonged to the mighty Warrior Cylex, and was used in the battle of the Third Moon.

     This weapon was previously sold in the Hidden Tower, but has since been retired, and is as such, very expensive and difficult to get ahold of.

     Icy Snowflake

     This one-use weapon is sold in the Ice Crystal shop in the Ice Caves.

     NT-related items:

     Neopian Times Coin

     This hard to get hold of coin was minted to commemorate Neopian Times Day.

     This item was given out to Neopians that were published in Issue 170, 650, 700, 750, 800 and 850 of the Neopian Times. (There is no official Neopian Times Day in the Neopian calendar).

     Neopian Times Quill

     I Love The Neopian Times T-shirt

     Neopian Times Mug

     This was originally sold in the Gift Shop, but has been retired and can now only be found in users shops.

     Neopian Times Pencil Case

     Neopian Times Poster

     Neopian Times issue 3

     This is given out as a price from the Tombola on Mystery Island, and can be read to your pet, similar to a book.

     Neopian Times Paper Rack

     Neopian Times Notebook

          Other writing supplies:

     Basic Pencil

     Blue Pencil with Eraser

     Mechanical Pencil

     Yellow Lined Notebook

     All items listed above are available for purchase at the School Supplies shop.

     Neopets and characters:

     Grey Wocky

     This is the old pre-customization version of the Grey Wocky, and the basis for how the UC version looks today. The features of this sad fellow can also be seen on the Grey Wocky *sigh* avatar.

     Baby Cybunny

     This is the old pre-customization version of the Baby Cybunny, specifically the Happy pose. The circle pose is the basis for how the Baby Cybunny looks today.

     Illusen

     This image is the same used to greet Neopians who enter Illusens Glade in Meridell to complete one of her quests. Unlike other faeries, Illusen does not grant quests at random.

      Article/story header images used in the NT:

     Red Lenny wearing a cookie costume

     This is from a short story in issue 142 of the Neopian Times. The story is called Fun(less)draisers by buddy33774.

     Amongst other things that happen in this story, the image in question is inspired by a Red Lenny dressing up in an old Halloween costume in order to boost cookie sales at a fundraiser.

     In the past, it was common that TNT made custom article headers for short stories and series, but as far as I`m aware, this is no longer the case, and old images are instead re-used.

     Blue Lupe walking and Yellow Jubjub holding a fuzzle

     This is from a series called An Orange Fuzzle, by joey200010. It was published in the NT issue 133. In the story, the fuzzle the Jubjub is holding, was a gift from the Soup Faerie.

     The Grey Faerie hugging a Red Lupe

     This is from a series called Grey Despair, Golden Hope by ridergirl333. This particular article header was first used in issue 131, but in issues 109 and 117 there are two more entries to the story/series. The series is told from the perspective of Tessalea Bordorian (Tessa) the Red Lupe.

          Desert Aisha

     This was used for a story called Moonlit Dreams, by immortalmina published in issue 129, and a different version of the image, featuring the Desert Aisha in a room with a colourful stained glass window was used in issue 140, for a story called Destiny or Duty, by the same user. In the stories, the main character is a Desert Aisha called Lady Artemisluv.

     Shadow Shoyru

     This is another article/story header image, first used in issue 135 with the Shoyru flying through flames (a series called Rage Alone by nomad2) and another version was used in issue 143 (a story called Losing Him by kacheek67890) where the Shoyru was flying near the ground with the shadowed silhouette of Darigan Citadel in the background.

          And there you have it! The items and characters that make up the background image for our lovely Neopian newspaper. I hope you learned something new and that you enjoyed reading through the list, I certainly enjoyed doing the research!

     Thank you for reading.