Store stock simplified, with prices amplified

Hey Poptropicans! It’s Slanted Fish, splashing in to report that there’s been several changes to the store on Poptropica Original lately.

Last week, the Creators mentioned they’d be updating the shop every month, and three formerly member-exclusive items made a return: the Berry Scary Monkey follower, the Beachgoer costume, and the Sea Captain costume. And now… there’s more, but at the same time, there’s less. Take a look at the current shop stock:

As you can tell, there are more formerly retired items that have returned to the store, and at the same time, there are less items in the store than there have been before—many gold cards and costumes have been chucked out, and what you see is all that’s left.

On top of all that, prices have risen dramatically, with most items costing several hundred credits (but still free for members). Here’s all of what’s in the store right now:

Gold Cards

• Earth Day shirt (75 credits)
• Smiley Potion (375 credits)
• Binary Rain, Game Show Island (375 credits)
• Lucky Shamrock Flavor PopGum (375 credits)
• Multiverse (0 credits)
• Hammerhead Shark costume (350 credits)
• Outlaw costume (350 credits)
• Robot Dance, Game Show Island (375 credits)
• Sea Captain costume (250 credits)
• Beachgoer costume (250 credits)
• Berry Scary Monkey follower (350 credits)
• Dr. Hare costume (500 credits)
• Spiked Bounce Ball costume, from Shrink Shot (250 credits)
• Zombify! power, from Haunted House (375 credits)
• (now members only) Mini Dr. Hare follower (400 credits)
• (now members only) Fart Gun (375 credits)
• (now members only) Cool Kid power (surrounds you with stars), from Cool Kid plush toy (375 credits)
• (now members only) Shrink Ray (375 credits)
• (now members only) Mini Hamburger follower, from Pocketeer toy (350 credits)

Costumes

• Candy Bar (250 credits)
• (now members only) Fairy Queen (girls only)(350 credits)
• Gamer Dude/Girl (250 credits)
• (now members only) Ice Cream (250 credits)
• (now members only) Large Fry (250 credits)
• Leprechaun (350 credits)
• Mythology Surfer (350 credits)
• Prom King/Queen (350 credits)
• (now members only) Rock Star 2 (350 credits)
• (now members only) Soda Pop (250 credits)

So… this is pretty different. On one hand, it’s cool to see a lot of exclusive items returning to the store, particularly for those who hadn’t had the chance to grab them before. On the other hand, this update has cleaned out a lot of other items from the store, limiting our options. My guess is that the Creators wanted to simplify the selection, considering how long the list of items in both categories were before, but it’s sad to see old favorites go.

Then there’s the fact that a number of items that were formerly available to everyone have been made members only. If you had these items before and are not a member, don’t worry—you can still use them. However, this membership barrier feels a little Poptropica Worlds, which is something I’ve written on before. Anyway, all items are free for members on Pop Original—so it’s odd that these items are given prices in the non-member’s store view.

That brings us to the price hikes. In the past, gold card items have tended to be around 250–350 credits, and now we’re seeing plenty that are 375 or higher. Costumes used to be around 75 credits each, though there have been some cases where they were higher. Now, they’re more in the 250–350 range. This does make some sense with the Daily Spin Wheel that was introduced two years ago, which makes it easier to rack up credits than in years past. Still, it’s quite an adjustment.

What are your thoughts on all the new changes to the Poptropica Original store? What items would you still like to see? Leave a comment for the Creators and for us!

Keep on popping, Poptropicans.

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