Who Needs New Avatars? Bring Back the Old!

      Tooth Faerie

      There is a crisis that has been going on since 2014, and you probably don’t even know about it. No one mentions it; everyone carries on with their lives as if nothing is amiss. This denial doesn’t change the fact that nobody has seen the Tooth Faerie in over eight years. It used to be a common occurrence to run into her around Neopia. She would frequently pop by to exchange a young pet’s lost baby tooth for a small amount of Neopoints or, if you were lucky, an avatar of her own image. But when random events were re-hauled in March of 2014, for some reason, the Tooth Faerie didn’t make the switch. This is the biggest problem that nobody seems to be talking about. People would be in a panic if Queen Fyora or Naia the Fountain Faerie just up and vanished one day! There would be riots; Neopia wouldn’t rest until they were found. But the poor Tooth Faerie, whose name isn’t even common knowledge, has been abandoned by her fellow Neopians. A byproduct of this tragedy, then, is that she no longer hands out her fabulous avatar in exchange for a lost tooth. We know that avatars can be awarded just fine via Random Event, since Dr. Sloth still occasionally pops up to deem a player worthy of using his image on the Neoboards. But unlike this extremely rare visit from Sloth, the Tooth Faerie was known to visit players regularly across Neopia. Her avatar is aesthetically one of my favorites thanks to its unique shape and the Tooth Faerie’s sparkling grin. Perhaps this could even be the storyline of a short plot on the site—seeking out this lost faerie and learning where she’s been all these years!

      Site Spotlight

      The Site Spotlight was a weekly contest where users could enter their customised Petpages to be judged. The winners of this long-running contest were chosen based on appearance and originality, giving users free rein to dive into their creativity. The Site Spotlight avatar was released years after the advent of the contest, but was only active for a few months before the Site Spotlight was abandoned in early 2015. Only a few lucky users were awarded this avatar; however, in an Editorial response, TNT has indicated that they intend to retroactively award the avatar to everyone who previously won the contest. It’s been a few years since this update, but hopefully they will be able to deliver! The only way to top that would be to reinstate the Site Spotlight and give users a new chance to win this prestigious contest and accompanying avatar. The site is full of talented, creative users who would no doubt pounce on the chance to flex their artwork, coding and writing skills. Not to mention, the avatar itself is delightful, with its slightly crooked border and the multicoloured lights from the screen flashing across the Aisha in a dark room—I’m sure many of us players can relate to that!

      I Survived The Neopocalypse!

      This avatar features a downpour of Meepits and a glimpse of the Down for Maintenance Pteri, and was originally awarded way back in 2012 and perfectly embodies the chaos that ensued when the Neoboards unexpectedly went down for a day. Its subsequent awarding after a server move in 2014 has led eager avatar collectors who missed the first two times to speculate what occurrence might warrant its re-release. Indeed, any time the site encounters a disturbance resulting in more than a few hours of impeded access, one can usually find a post on the Avatars Neoboard calling for the Neopocalpyse avatar to make an appearance. Most recently, TNT, in an abundance of caution, reset the passwords for all users after a security breach. This led many users to panic after being automatically logged out. Perhaps, once this vulnerability has been patched and all users have regained access to their accounts, a visit to the New Features page might reward us with this avatar for surviving all the craziness!

      Altador Cup Fanatic

      One of the most ubiquitous parts of the Altador Cup is the iconic Techo Fanatic. This Neopet is famous enough to be the star of the Cup game Make Some Noise! In addition to being represented on a variety of AC merch, the Techo Fanatic scored themselves their own avatar. While users are now able to earn their team’s themed avatar during the Cup, many players are not loyal to a specific team, but simply like to express their excitement for the games by using the Fanatic’s avatar. It used to be a prize for simply participating in the Cup, so even casual players could achieve it. Sadly, this avatar has not been awarded in years. During the lead-up to each year’s Altador Cup, there can reliably be found a few boards on the Neoboards petitioning for its re-release. But as Y22’s Cup has recently come to a close with no Techo Fanatic in sight, we are left to hope that next year our pleas will be heard.

      AAA’s Revenge

      Way back in 2016, we had our first introduction to an HTML5 game on the site. In AAA’s Revenge, you play the beloved Blumaroo Aristotle A. Avinroo, whose only goal is to ensure that King Roothless is chronically sleep-deprived. As a bonus, this game offered the chance to earn an avatar! This was the first new game and game-related avatar to be released in years. It required a near-perfect score of 1000 points or more, with the maximum possible points being 1009. The few users who managed to snag this avatar before it was disabled reportedly spent over half an hour on a single game to gather the needed point total! But alas, a few users discovered an exploit in the code that granted the avatar through cheating and, in doing so, spoiled things for the rest of us. Once they caught wind of the exploit, TNT disabled the avatar entirely. But since AAA’s Revenge is one of the few non-flash games around, and therefore still playable, maybe TNT would be willing to take another look at patching the vulnerability in this game and making the avatar achievable again! This is a game that takes practice, time, and dedication; it would be a great game to fill the void in our current post-flash state!

      BONUS! Unreleased Avatar

      While this article has focused on avatars taken from us before their time, I think there is a group of avatars that deserve an honourable mention — unreleased avatars! These avatars popped up as images only and, tragically, have never been made obtainable to users. But since they already exist, why not consider granting them full secret avatar status?

      Island Builders – Lania

      The existence of this cute avatar was made public on fansite Jellyneo not long after it became possible to link the Island Builders app to user accounts on Neopets. While it seemed likely that this avatar would be awarded as a prize within the app, this never came to pass. I might be the only one who remembers that it exists, but I tend to zero in on potential new avatars! I wonder if this avatar was intended to be given to new users who linked their accounts, much like the Lania Plushie that was awarded onsite. It certainly has a welcoming vibe, with a cute little sprite of Lania waving in greeting! While it is disappointing that this avatar never made it to an official release, there’s no reason to give up hope just yet. After all, during the most recent Altador Cup, there was a crossover event with Island Builders that awarded participants with some in-game items, as well as an event-related avatar! We know from experience with Legends and Letters and now Island Builders that it is definitely doable to release avatars tied to mobile apps. And given Dacardia’s team being introduced to the official Altador Cup roster for next year, it seems like Dacardia and Island Builders are here to stay! We haven’t seen a release of new levels in the app for a long time, though. Maybe a dual release of new levels and this sweet Lania avatar is in Neopets’ future….