Hey Poptropicans! In this post, we’ve got Instagram highlights of fan art and more, plus a guest writer looking into a Poptropica character with history. Let’s pop in!
Also on Instagram, the Creators shared a new graphic to celebrate the 4th of July, aka US Independence Day last weekend. It’s a little ironic that Dr. Hare, Poptropica’s resident carrot slave owner, is out here proclaiming freedom. But hey, villains do love a good fireworks show! 🎆
In other news, the Creators’ Blog recently shared a guest post from a new guest writer, HappyStarfish, who gave a deep dive into an old Poptropica character that’s been making a few comebacks: Ishmael, the boy in blue winter clothes.
You may remember the guy from Fairytale Island when you were carrying Cinderella to the ball, or sometimes spot him in ad spaces promoting the Arcade. But if you’re a real Pop veteran, you may recognize him as the whale lover you saved on the now-gone SOS Island.
On Fairytale Island
Arcade promo on ad streets
On SOS Island
Although the post doesn’t mention the kid’s name, it does have significance: Ishmael is a nod to the first-person narrator in the classic 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, on which the story of SOS Island draws inspiration. Anyway, you can read more about this beloved blue character on the Creators’ Blog!
Call me, Ishmael.
That wraps up this post! Hope you enjoyed the fan art and archival look into the iconic Ishmael, and be sure to catch up below on all things Red Baron. Stay cool, Poptropicans!
Hey Poptropicans, something new is in the air, and it’s painted red! ✨
As previously teased, the Red Baron’s massive airship has arrived on Home Island, bringing a new mini-game, interesting items, a common room and more. You’ll see it first thing when you log in, with the Baron swinging from a dangling rope. Tap on the rope and click “enter”!
Pop-up notifications about online friends — that’s new
Sound the horn on the Baron’s ship just for funsies
When the Baron calls, we answer!
This Baron appears to be quite the gender-bending character. It’s interesting that she takes the male title of “Baron,” as she was formerly known as the Red Baroness (female title) when she first appeared on Monkey Wrench Island. The Creators’ Blog post announcing her arrival also alternates between using she/her and they/their pronouns for the Baron, further suggesting the character’s gender nonconformity.
Anyway, to the left of the ship, you can talk to the Baron, who introduces herself as the “greatest adventurer in Poptropica.” Seems like she’s taken over the title from Xavier in the Home Island starter quest! Perhaps she needs her own statue on Home Island too…
On the right, you’ll find the Baron’s plane, the Red Jenny, operated by her monkey Ack. Hop in and you can play a mini-game called Clear the Skies! This involves taking a joyride on the plane, smashing other airships you see to rack up points as you fly above the islands of Poptropica. Collect salvage (box with balloon) for a wind boost, and avoid the storm clouds — if you take too much damage, you’ll crash.
If you last long enough in the air, you’ll make it back to the Baron’s airship and win 50 credits! You can replay this as often as you like for more credits — after all, there’s shopping to do just around the corner!
Back over to the other side, next to the Baron, you’ll find the Cabin of Curiosities. It’s like Amelia’s Adventure Outfitters on Home Island, but cooler. Or so the Baron claims, anyway.
Inside, you’ll find the winning designs from the monthly costume contest available for free! June’s winners were the Love Potion Demon and Movie Geek. You can even see the original drawings on the shop walls! Remember, July’s contest is open until the 16th.
Love Potion Demon
Movie Geek
The shop floor also offers various other fascinating items, though not free. Among them are costumes: Binary Bard (previously only available from ASG tricks), Cosmic Noble (which can switch between galactic purple and fiery orange and comes at a costly 700 credits), Cyber Hunter (also in two shades), and Dragon (long lost from the stores of yore). You can also buy clubhouse decor from across the islands: a bonsaitree from Red Dragon, portrait of Mordred from Astro-Knights, and Hercules statue from Mythology. All available to non-members!
Cosmic Noble
Cosmic Noble
Binary Bard
Cyber Hunter
Cyber Hunter
Dragon
You’ll also find the Baron lounging on a red throne, being fed grapes by her loyal monkey. Ask about it and she’ll throw shade at Amelia’s Home Island store by calling it “quaint.” (Btw, the answer to “Don’t you have one?” might be yes! The Monkey Follower, which is Ack’s twin minus the goggles, was a member gift back in 2019. Thanks to Silver Horse for that tip.)
Back onboard the airship, you may find some other players roaming around — that’s because the Baron’s base also serves as a common room, like the Arcade! 🚀 You’ll find the usual chat and emoji buttons in the bottom left corner, but they’ve both been upgraded: the chat buttons are bigger and the topics are now in blue, plus there are new emojis to enjoy, including a frozen blue Poptropican and purple devil.
There’s also a new invite button, which takes you to the friends page. From there, you can invite your friends to join your own private party room, aka your clubhouse! It didn’t load for me, but Silver Horse on the PHC kindly shared a pic (and besides, his clubhouse is pretty rad).
If all this is getting to be too much, you can run right and just jump right off the Baron’s airship into oblivion. You’ll hear a scream (is it you or Ack?) as you descend, and soon find yourself teleported back to the ledge where you jumped from. There’s no escape…
…just kidding. When you’ve had your fill of fun, you can leave through the way you came, down the ladder marked “exit.”
Remember, the Baron comes by for a limited time (how brief, we don’t know), so enjoy the airship while it’s here! They’ll be back once a month with new player-designed winning costumes and other cool things from their travels around Poptropica that you can pick up.
What are your thoughts on the Baron and her wares? Are you enjoying the new interactive features with other players? Share your thoughts in the comments, and maybe find a new friend or two to hang out with on the flashy red Poptropica blimp! 🎉 Keep on popping on!
We are halfway through the year, and this series! I probably should get this post finished ASAP because I finished a workout earlier and will probably be sore in the morning.
One thing that helps many people get through the long, hot summer months is doing art! And it just so happens that there’s a Poptropica Island centered around that–along with a mystery that only you can solve. July’s Island is…
Counterfeit!!!
Counterfeit Island is one that a lot of people from the pre-Haxe days loved and remembered. The story revolved around a museum in an idyllic French city, and the thief who planned to ruin it all. (Plus, check out our Pop Places IRL take on the setting!) Of course, I think we can all agree that the Black Widow is the most remembered aspect of this island, like many other villains. 🕷
Sadly, there was little concept art to be found this time. I scoured the Daily Pop archives, but as Counterfeit was released before its creation and they never uploaded past art for it later, I only managed to find this sketch from an old Creators’ Blog post.
Concept art for the design of the secret puzzle to the museum
That doesn’t take away from the impressive design work though! While simplistic, it’s also chic with a lovely bright color palette and great designs of the locations such as the museum and the Black Widow’s lair.
This island should be brought back for those cool spider designs on the bunker walls alone.
Unlike its more fantastical and less educational predecessor Astro-Knights, Counterfeit includes many famous paintings with information on art history, as well as the art forgery that collectors and museums have to deal with.
(Small reminder that using the name “Inspector Veuvre Noire” in a FRENCH TOWN should prove that we would be a lot safer from these villains if only the all the other NPCs didn’t have a single shared brain cell.)
Before I say my closing words, I would also like to showcase this Skullduggery fanart for our previous Island Flash-back made by Dangerous Dragon! Thank you so much for your participation in this, DD! 😁
Now comes your turn, Poptropicans! Let’s remind the Creators why this island became so memorable, and why the efforts that went to create it should not go to waste! Encourage them to preserve their past stories and the potential they held!
Hey Poptropicans, the time has come for the PHB’s event of the year! 🥳 The Poppies are our annual Poptropica fan awards, hosted all throughout July. 🏆 It’s our seventh year celebrating, and we’re once again asking you to tell us where the spotlight deserves to shine…
Poppies artwork by Purple Paw
To kick things off, the nomination round is open from now till Friday, July 16! Voting will begin soon after, and the award winners will be announced in a PHB party on Discord and Poptropica. More details to come!
But first, it’s time to nominate. In the comments of this post, name your choices for the award categories below:
Poptropica Awards
👨🏼🎤 Hottest Male Poptropican: The bachelors are endless. Which guy character in Poptropica do you find the most attractive? (This category is for NPCs, so please don’t nominate your friends.)
👩🎤 Hottest Female Poptropican: You can never have enough bachelorettes. Which lady character across the Poptropica lands do you think is the most stunning? (Again, this category is only for NPCs.)
🤦♀️ Most Overrated Character: Poptropica is chock-full of colorful characters who many of us either love or hate. We’ve had a Poppie award for most underrated character before, but how about the most overrated? Which character gets too much attention?
🏞 MostPicturesque Scene: From forests to fire planets to the bottom of the sea, Poptropica’s provided a treasure trove of beautiful, aesthetic scenery to marvel over. Which breathtaking landscape do you think deserves the top prize?
🥺 Cutest Creature: Of all the adorable critters scattered throughout the game — pets, followers, or otherwise — which do you think are the absolute cutest? To get your memory jogging, there’s a bunch of ’em named in the comments of this post!
🎁 Coolest Member Gift: With islands not coming out as often as they used to, there aren’t many perks of having a membership nowadays. One thing we do get, though, is members’ gifts — and among them are some pretty rad items. Which ones catch your fancy?
😵 Ickiest Poptropica Name: Poptropican names come in all sorts of kooky combinations and sometimes that combo isn’t so lovely. Can you come up with a pairing that’s utterly gut-wrenching? Our Poptropica Names page is an excellent source for finding the perfect (or in this case, imperfect) candidate for this category.
😎 Bougiest Poptropica Name: On the flip side, some lucky players are graced with the best possible name. Can you impress us with a name that sounds like it belongs to a superstar? You can also browse our names page for this category too.
😭 Most Missed Feature: Numerous beloved features have come and gone. Fact Monster, Costumizer, Realms, the photo booth, the old friends page… the list goes on. I suppose it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. What are the facets you desperately wish would come back?
😍 Finest Piece of Merch: Poptropica dropped a ton of awesome merch on Zazzle back in October including everything from shirts, hats, and even stationery. Which ones are you rushing to add to your cart?
Community Awards
🏝 Best Dream Island: The community is thriving with creativity, and it was definitely apparent during the Create Your Dream Island Contest late last year. You can check out various submissions under the My Dream Island category to read up on some of these imaginative ideas. Which idea would you like to become a reality?
🃏 Silliest PHB April Fools’ Prank: Like the Poppies, April Fools’ Day is undoubtedly one of our favorite times here on the PHB. It’s been an annual tradition for a long while now and we’ve done tons of pranks over the years. Which one had you fooled, or simply chuckling at your screen?
🎨 Best Fan Art of the Year: Poptropican artists from all over have created many eye-catching pieces in the past year, but which one was your favorite? Our We-Love-Poptropica DeviantArt group and Community Creations posts are great places to start looking! (Anything published after July 26, 2020 is eligible for the award.)
🏡 Coolest Clubhouse: Just like dream islands, the PHB has highlighted a plethora of spectacular clubhouse tours over the last few months. It’s incredible what lengths some Poptropicans go to to make a space their very own. See all the awesome cribs in our archives »
🎥 Fan Favorite Video: We know our fellow Poptropica content creators work diligently to produce their stuff. Whether it’s a speedpaint, a top 10 list, a Poptropica tag video, or something else, there’s so much good stuff out there! To start with, you can browse last year’s Poptropica Month playlist created by Dimension Bros, or you can do some of your own searching on YouTube or TikTok. Be sure to include links! (Anything published after July 26, 2020 is eligible for the award.)
Remember, the nomination round begins now, so share in the comments who/what you think is worthy of the awards! Please limit your nominations to a max of three per award. You don’t have to nominate for every category, but the more the merrier! ✨
The voting round starts the followingSaturday on July 17, and the poll options will be made up of the most popular nominations. Be sure to check back then to cast your votes, but in the meantime…
✏️ Nominate your faves in the comments! ✏️
p.s. Keep up with Poppies events throughout this month by popping in on the PHB! Your participation makes things more fun! 🥳
Ask Poptropica Siri is a Q&A segment here on the PHB where you, dear readers, are invited to send in your Poptropica questions to have them answered with all the wisdom you can expect from a Smart Icicle.
Hello fellow Poptropicans! Ever since I started Poptropica Siri, my dream of being part of the PHB came true. I’m excited that this series has been a hit so far. I had a lot of questions last time, so keep them up! Let’s start.
What do you miss most from when Poptropica was on Flash?~Dangerous Dragon
I miss playing all the old islands. Back then, when I was only a starter, I played all the islands a lot and became an expert at a few. Now since Flash is gone, more islands are gone, and there have been huge changes to the game. The only thing that has really kept going was the PHB. Good thing the PHB held an honorary end of Flash party!
What is your favorite sport from the Poptropolis Games?~Friendly Shell
My favorite sport had to be weight lifting. I just like to watch our Poptropican struggle to lift weights. My second favorite would be volleyball because who doesn’t want to play with a giant squid! 😂 Can’t wait to participate in the next PHB Tribal Tournament!
Power lifting, Poptropolis GamesVolleyball, Poptropolis Games
What are some of the best and worst Poptropica names? ~Slanted Fish 🐠
Some of the best would be Spotted Dragon, Friendly Fish, Lucky Joker, etc. In my opinion, the worst would be Muddy Puddle, Dirty Socks, Chilly Bones, and Super Heart.
How can you send in your questions to Ask Poptropica Siri?
That’s a great question! You can use the following methods:
📧 Send an email to askpoptropicasiri (at) gmail (dot) com. This way, you’ll get to keep your questions a surprise when they get answered on the blog.
💬 Comment on the latest Ask Poptropica Siri post. Your questions will be publicly visible before they appear in a Q&A post, but this allows others to interact with your question if they so choose. If you don’t have an email address, you can enter a fake one in the email field when you post your comment.
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