August 2019 – Page 3 – 🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️

snagglemast hub

Snaggled by this new island? Check out our Snagglemast Island Guide.

Hey, everyone! Poptropica has been giving us new islands to play this summer. We already went over Reality TV: Wild Safari in extensive detail, and now it’s time to take a look at the newest tutorial island: Snagglemast Island!

The strangest thing about Snagglemast Island (aside from the fact that it replaced Monkey Wrench Island) is that it borrows a lot of elements from the first tutorial island, Hub Island. However, Snagglemast Island did make some interesting changes to differentiate itself from the original. Here are some of the most notable changes.

The first major difference can be found in the collectibles. In Hub Island, you had to collect eight medallion shards. In Snagglemast, however, you need to collect eight mega coins (which add up to 250 credits). A few mega coins can be found in the same places some shards were found, such as the diving board.

Shard in Hub Island

Mega Coin in Snagglemast Island

To keep track of how many mega coins you need to find, just look at your trusty coin counter in the top-left corner of your screen.

CoinBar_Full

Aside from shards, a wrench could also be collected on Hub Island. However, it has been replaced by a mega coin (pictured below) on Snagglemast Island.

Wrench (Hub Island)

A minor change I’d like to mention is the fact that there was a small tree branch that was removed from the second scene, leaving an empty hole in the side.

Tree branch containing shard

Burt Diamond was here

The second major difference between the two islands is their casts of characters. Hub Island had only two characters: Amelia and an unnamed male pilot. In Snagglemast Island, the male pilot was removed, so Amelia took his place at the beginning and end of the island.

Snagglemast Island

She isn’t the only character on the island, though. You’ll also get to meet various Poptropicans and animals along your mini adventure. Some characters stand in different places on the island while others occasionally run past you, presumably adventurers also in pursuit of coins. Here are some of the interesting folks you will meet on Snagglemast Island:

The biggest (and saddest) difference is the fact that Snagglemast Island has no medallion! Collecting the shards in Hub Island served the purpose of creating a whole medallion, but collecting the mega coins in Snagglemast Island just gives you credits. Getting more credits is nice, but earning a medallion at the end of an island is a Poptropica thing. Even Jim Probably on Reality TV: Wild Safari pointed this out!

Those were some of the more interesting things we spotted in this new tutorial. What did you think of these differences? In your opinion, is Snagglemast Island better or worse than Hub Island? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin🐬

Blast from the Past

2010 Rewind: Crazy for Crawfish

August 6, 2019February 13, 2024 Slanted Fish

This post is part of our Poptropica Yearbook series. If you missed the intro, check it out on the 2007 Rewind and browse the collection here.

Wish you could’ve been in 2010! But we’ve got you covered with a flashback to what Poptropica was like back in those days, which former Creator Mitch Krpata would later call the peak of Poptropica’s popularity.

It might be hard to imagine these days with all these updates that seem to be geared toward the privileged few, but believe it or not, membership didn’t always plague Poptropica. Even when it was first released in January of 2010, membership status offered some nice perks like early island access and free store costumes — but free players had plenty to enjoy, too.

Membership wasn’t the only thing players had been itching to discover. Reality TV Island, two years in the making and much delayed, finally arrived in early access for members in February. (Nearly a decade later, it would appear that a sequel is on its way!)

Over on the Creators’ Blog, we started hearing more from Captain Crawfish, whereas before there were several Creator aliases taking turns on the blog. (We had plenty of fun trying to guess and track down who was who, too. Dr. Hare, aka Jordan Leary, may have called us “12-year-old stalkers”…)

Anyway, with that came a new PHB inside joke in which we’d write about nomming the Captain in our update posts, and he even seemed to catch on!

We continued enjoying tons of sneak peeks from the Creators — here’s a sketch of what later became Apollo’s temple on Mythology Island. It was released in April and players consider it to be one of the best islands!

The PHB community was growing, too, and we thought it was time for a couple of upgrades. We got our own custom web domain, poptropicahelp.net, to reflect our Poptropica Help network that encompassed the blog, chat, and forum. And we also changed our site theme to something more blue — more Poptropica.

Even back then, collecting advertisement items was a popular pastime on Poptropica. Here’s a peek at a cool and colorful Magic Paintbrush special ability item from a Ramona and Beezus ad!

The Creators were also busy adding tons of fun new items to the store, like fireworks, robot suits, and various flavors of good old PopGum.

In November, the Creators launched a big feature that got players hopping on Poptropica daily. The Daily Pop featured comics, games, creator clips (stories from Creators), and best of all: a new sneak peek every weekday. In fact, we’ve got a whole Daily Pop Sneak Peek Archive here on the blog.

Here’s what the menu looked like once the Daily Pop was added:

Also, in addition to RTV and Mythology, 2010 saw several more islands added to the map: Skullduggery (known in its early stages as Pirate Trade Island), Steamworks, Great Pumpkin, and for members, Cryptids closed out the year, bringing Poptropica’s total to 16 islands — 6 from 2010 alone!

A succession of sneak peeks of the Hub on Steamworks Island.

That concludes the 2010 page of the Poptropica Yearbook. We hope it brought a nostalgic look to a booming time! Browse the rest of the collection over at the Poptropica Yearbook, accessible from our Pop Plus tab.

While you’re here, sign the yearbook by commenting? ✏️

Pop Places IRL, Red Dragon Island

Pop Places IRL: Red Dragon

August 4, 2019July 31, 2019 Spotted Dragon

Welcome back to “Pop Places IRL!” Miss the series? Today I’ll be taking you to Red Dragon Island and comparing it to its counterparts in real life. And if you like the sound of that, be sure to check out other Pop Places IRL posts.

So… where in the real world is Red Dragon based off of? Well, we already know that the island is based on the Magic Tree House books, so where is that based off of? The answer to that question is right in the novel’s description!

“Jack and Annie are headed to a land of fierce samurai and great beauty, the capital city of Edo (now the city of Tokyo), in ancient Japan in the 1600s. They bring only a research book to guide them and a magic wand with three special rules.”

Japan it is, Poptropicans! Wait, wait, wait, hold on… what about Main Street? What about Jack and Annie’s hometown? Well, “Frog Creek, Pennsylvania” is sadly a fictional city, but Pennsylvania’s neighborhoods match up pretty well anyway!

photo: Shadyside Pittsburgh (wikipedia.org)

Okay, now we can head over to Old Japan. We have many sites to see here, foremost being the imperial garden that our Poptropicans come across during our adventure. Basho’s Garden, which we visit later in the game, offers a similar setting. At both locations, we see beautiful Japanese trees, flowers, and huts over water. Looking at the IRL version of the scene, things seem pretty accurate!

photo: Best of Old and New Japan (kimkim.com)
photo: Exteriors of Japanese Houses (pinterest)

Moving on, we come across the Great Bridge before truly entering Edo! The resemblance of the bridge is uncanny to the Shin-kyo Bridge in Nikko Japan, which demonstrates very similar architecture and color.

photo: Nature & Nikko (tokyocheapo.com)

Next we have East and West Edo, which then lead to the fortress and the secluded lake. Red Dragon shows us a marketplace, paired with a stunning landscape, bonsai shop, and more. Though times have greatly changed since the days of Ancient Japan, its rich history can still be seen in the distinct architecture and environment.

photo: Sawara (japan-guide.com)
photo: Old Edo (muza-chan.net)

Even the Fortress in game mimics the classic Japanese architecture used in palaces and castles. Perhaps some stylistic choices were taken in Poptropica to add some more pops of color?

photo: Himeji Castle (japantoday.com)
photo: Imperial Palace Tokyo (japanvisitor.com)

Before we wrap up our trip through Tokyo, who could forget about the unique apparel and characters that we come across on the island? Geishas, sumo wrestlers, and ninjas alike are memorably encountered.

photo: Culture of the Kimono (tsunagujapan.com)
photo: Geisha in Kyoto (pinterest)
photo: Sumo Legend (asianews.it)
photo: Ninja (jpninfo.com)

Pretty cool, right? Many people in the community agree that Red Dragon Island has some of the most beautiful scenes in Poptropica. Makes me want to go visit Japan! 🙂

That wraps up our post, so what do you guys think of the comparison? Does Poptropica accurately capture Japanese culture?

Sayonara, Poptropicans!

~SD

Bonus Items, Member Gifts, Membership

August’s wacky, wild member gifts

August 2, 2019January 9, 2021 LJ

What’s up, Poptropicans? It’s the start of a new month and you know what that means — all new member gifts are here — and it looks like Reality TV: Wild Safari Island had an influence on them. The exclusive prizes this time are:

Ostrich Rider
Sparkle Shades
Monkey Follower

Remember, if you’re a member, these items will be added to your inventory automatically when you log on. If you purchase a membership anytime within the month, you will also receive these special items.

I think all three of these member gifts are pretty cool and funny, but what about you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Well, that’s all folks! Thank you for reading as always and I’ll talk to you soon. Pop on!

– Lucky Joker 🍀

Community Creations

Community Creations: July 2019

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 Spotted Dragon

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the July recap for Community Creations! July’s theme was technology & social media and the featured work is not in any particular order. Be sure to check out all the featured artists!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Sing Your Heart Out by Magniventris

What an interesting color scheme! With islands based on many different decades, the world of Poptropica gives us a glimpse of technology’s evolution over the years. Social media isn’t a tool for every Poptropican, wouldn’t ya know it! This drawing of Ringmaster Raven implements our theme of technology in a period accurate way, which is super cool. The bold contrasting colors are captivating (one might even say hypnotic), particularly when paired with the desaturated figure. Perfect for Monster Carnival! Find her DeviantArt here.

Entangled by epiphxny

Oooh, pretty eerie, huh? This Poptropica fan villain, aptly named Static, communicates through electronics and thus fits perfectly into our theme. Feeling trapped in life due to her dark past, Static’s predicament can reflect how “tangled” technology can make us feel at times. Though social media can be fun and useful, we need to recognize our limits! Anyway, the composition in this piece is wonderful. The details in the character are fantastic and the static texture is striking! Find their DeviantArt here.

Shark Boy Balcony Insta Pic by Maroon Raptor

Cute! Ever wonder what a Poptropican’s social media feed would look like? Who knew Shark Boy’s Instagram would be so aesthetic! The beautiful Back Lot Island background makes for a great snapshot opportunity, as all those likes show. Still, no one is without a few haters! I’m looking at you Dr. Hare, c’mon man… Anyway, I totally love the format of this piece! Very interesting to see Shark Boy out of his suit as well. Find their DeviantArt here.

An Intro to Technology by ray-of-flight

What did I say about social media not being available on every island? Well, this comic strip displays the issues of that exact dilemma. How would each villain fare if they had access to modern, or even sci-fy level, technology? Either way, the humor in this submission is fantastic. The various reactions to technology show many different personalities and the facial expressions are priceless. Great results! Now I just want to see how other villains would fare… Find his DeviantArt here.

They About to Wreck This City by WitchyArtistGal

Another cute pic! Who could forget about the importance of selfies on social media? I’d like to thing that our gang of super power villains here would be avid Snapchatters. I love how each character is posed in the photo, showing differing expressions and a good handle on composition. A simple design, but a super fun concept! Makes you start to imagine what each of their feeds would be like, right? Find her DeviantArt here.

Honorable Mentions

Surfing the Web by Criaha

Temper Tantrum by NineTenOnetyOne

Social by xXLilAngel2004Xx

Everyone had such unique takes on our theme this month! Super fun to see everyone’s ideas. Keep it up!

August: How do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is August’s theme? August’s theme is…

Movies & TV

With the release of the Reality TV Island sequel, isn’t this theme appropriate? From Game Show to Back Lot Island, we can see how the world of cinema has influenced the world of Poptropica. Whether we’re filming in sunny California, or, well… the sunny safari, there is a lot to work with here!

Draw your favorite scene from Reality TV! Make Poptropica costumes of your favorite movie stars! Maybe write up a critique of Bucky Lucas’s latest blockbuster? What do you think a Poptropica TV show would look like? Your creations are up to you!

Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: I will feature 5 of the submissions as well as 3 honorable mentions.
Limitations: Nothing NSFW, and make sure you relate to the theme.
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will always be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. Bonus points if you make a compelling description for your piece! While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD