Poppies, Surveys

Poppies 2019: It’s voting time!

Welcome back, Poptropicans, to more Poppies fun! Now we’re getting into the full swing of things as we commence the second round…

The voting round!

Not sure what’s going on? Catch up on what the Poppies are all about!

We’ve read and tallied up all of your nominations and narrowed them down to the most popular for each category.

This round will determine the winners of the 2019 (5th annual) Poppies, so cast your votes before Wednesday, July 24 in our survey!

Weโ€™ll be announcing the winners live at our PHC party later this month on Friday, July 26, the PHBโ€™s 11th birthday! Weโ€™ll let you know the rest of the party details next week, so stay tuned. For nowโ€ฆ

โœ… Keep calm and vote on! โœ…

Reality TV: Wild Safari Island, Sneak Peeks

Hippopotamus on an isthmus

Hey Poptropicans: we’re less than two weeks away from a new island, according to the Pop Creators’ latest Instagram post!

It was only last month that a new island was announced, and even more recently that we saw some sneak peeks, but Poptropica is back with another set of preview images, this time featuring a hippo, campfire, and giraffe!

Based on sneak peeks we’ve seen, this next island will be an adventure filled with safari animals and a film crew โ€” and what’s more, according to a little intel from Poptropica glitcher idk, it’ll be a sequel to Reality TV Island, first launched nearly ten years ago!

Poptropica has already confirmed that the island will be on Poptropica Original. And, if the past is any indicator, it is likely that members will get early access to this island, while non-members may have to wait for a period of time before the island is released to all. Consider treating yourself to a membership to get first dibs on Poptropica’s first island in about 17 months!

July’s a big month here on the PHB as well, with our annual Poppies event. Have you made your award nominations yet? Deadline is Friday! ๐Ÿ†

Advertisements, Pets

Long live the pony

Hello, everyone โ€” it’s Lucky Joker here! We’ve got little ponies and large cats in this update.

Poptropica announced the release of a new pet that I’m sure many of you will love: the pony! You can find it in the Pet Barn right now. Take a look at this adorable artwork by Pop Creator, Blue Tooth, showing the little stallion:

I got one and made it my own by coloring it pink and adding a rainbow unicorn horn on it. I haven’t decided on a name yet, so feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments! ๐Ÿ™‚

Unfortunately, the new pony pet is only available to members, so non-members still only have the puppy and the kitten as options. Maybe we’ll get some new pets in the future that will be available to everyone soon!


Moving on to the advertisement, a new video stand can be found on Home Island for Disney’s upcoming live-action feature, The Lion King โ€” which hits theaters July 18.

To get the prize, all you have to do is, well, watch the video. Tada! A Simba Mane & Roar just for you. Are you gonna see the movie?


Well, that’s it for today, folks. New pet, new island โ€” wow, July’s looking to be a good month for Poptropica.

We actually have our own shenanigans going on here on the PHB too โ€” like our annual Poppies event (we’re currently in the Nomination Round!) and our new Poptropica Yearbook series that debuted today. Check them out!

Stay popping, Poptropicans!

Blast from the Past

2007 Rewind: Early Poptropica Beta

Hey Poptropicans! Have you ever wondered what Poptropica was like in its earliest stages? You’re about to find out.

Over the next few weeks, here on the Poptropica Help Blog, we’ll be bringing you our Rewind series for years past, culminating into a full Poptropica Yearbook. We thought it would be fun to take a nostalgic look at where we’ve come from, and where Poptropica has taken us, so get ready for a blast into the past! Our first stop: the year 2007.

Poptropica was officially launched to the public in September 2007, although the exact date has been forgotten in the sands of time. From what we’ve heard, even the yellow blimp hadn’t arrived yet โ€” with Early Poptropica being the only island around, you simply fell into a hole to begin your adventures.

While no Poptropica blogs had yet sprung up to document these beginnings, an old YouTube video uploaded by Codien, an old friend/former staffer on the PHB, gives us a glimpse into what Poptropica was like back in the day.

Notice the โ€˜BETAโ€™ beside the Poptropica logo at the top (and ignore the recording software watermark). Apparently, the game was still considered to be in a beta testing stage back then โ€” look at those primitive icons for the Items and Map!

Here’s some more fun stuff. The Poptropica Creators shared these images of some prototype designs of what Poptropican characters might’ve looked like, as well as concepts for how Poptropica gameplay might’ve turned out.

And one final tidbit: did you know that Poptropica was almost named Poptropolis? In that same post about concepts, the Creators shared, “If a competitor didn’t come up with a similar-sounding name, we never would’ve had the islands of Poptropica.”

That competitor, by the way, was Nicktropolis, a virtual world by Nickelodeon that, unlike Pop, didn’t last. As former Creator Mitch Krpata confirms in an interview years later, it’s because of the โ€œtropicโ€ part of the name that they came up with the idea of separate island adventures.

Anyway, that concludes the 2007 page of the Poptropica Yearbook! Stay tuned for the next pages… we’ll be traveling from 2008 to 2013. (From 2014 onwards, we started our end-of-year Rewind series, which pretty much covers the same thing!) In fact, you’ll be able to view the complete series on a new page in our Pop Plus collection, titled The Poptropica Yearbook.

While you’re here, sign the yearbook by commenting? โœ๏ธ

Poppies

The Poppies 2019: Om Nom Nominations

Hey Poptropicans, the pop-arazzi are here… and that means the Poppies!

๐Ÿ† What are the Poppies? ๐Ÿ†

The Poppies are an annual Poptropica community awards event, hosted by Poptropica fans for Poptropica fans. This will be our fifth year celebrating, and as always, we welcome you to participate in the festivities and tell us where you think the spotlight deserves to shine in all things Poptropica.

First, we begin with the nomination round where you get to nominate your favorite picks for certain award categories. This round starts today (Saturday, July 6) and will end next Friday, July 12. It’ll be followed by a voting round, then culminate into a PARTY on the PHB’s birthday (July 26) โ€” more details to come! But first, the om nom nominations…


Part 1: The Nomination Round

Today marks the start of the nomination round. Each award category will be announced below and followed by a brief description.

To keep the nominations a surprise, youโ€™ll be putting your choices in our survey anonymously. However, you’re welcome to leave a comment in support of your choices. Maybe you’ll convince people to pick your faves, too!

This year’s 11 categories (to celebrate 11 years of the PHB!) are…

Poptropica Gameplay Awards

Funniest Character: Whether it’s a random NPC, a villain, or a hero, there have been many instances where a character cracks a joke that makes you chuckle just a bit. Who made you laugh out loud?

Worst Character: Poptropica is full of iconic characters, but not every character was great. Whether they brutally betrayed you or their personality just fell flat, which, in your opinion, was the worst of them all?

Most Underrated Island: We hear about our beloved Astro-Knights, Mythology, and Mystery Train Islands a lot, but is there an island with a great story and adventure that you feel just doesn’t get the attention it deserves? Nominate it!

Most Overrated Island: On the flip side of the above, what are the islands you think get too much praise that weren’t really all that great? Throw in your nominations!

Best Store Costume: Of all the amazing costumes Poptropica has released over the years, which one do you think was the best? There are hundreds to choose from, so make this count!

Cutest Pet: At the beginning of the year, the Pet Barn had its grand opening and we were introduced to five of the cutest critters in Poptropica: the puppy, kitten, bunny, lizard, and goat. And now just recently the pony has made it’s debut! (Note: Because of the limited options, all of them will automatically be nominated.)

Best Sidekick: Throughout our Poptropica adventures, we’ve had our fair share of sidekicks to help us along the way on our quests, Poptropican or not. Who was the most helpful and loyal by your Poptropican’s side?

Community Awards

Popular Poptropican: Many awesome Poptropicans make up our community, whether theyโ€™re frequent commenters, fan artists, fan bloggers, or just someone well known in the online Poptropica world. But who should we recognize as this year’s Popular Poptropican?

Best Fan Art of 2019: Many astounding masterpieces have been made throughout the year so far, but which one do you think deserves the title of โ€œbestโ€? We suggest searching for your favorite pieces of fan art in our DeviantArt group and Community Creations posts! (Please only nominate works created/published in 2019.)

Best Fan Video of 2019: Whether they’re personality-fueled playthroughs, helpful walkthroughs, or nostalgic discoveries, the internet has its share of Poptropica videos made by creative people. Which videos stand out to you? (Please only nominate videos published in 2019.)

Best Guest Post of 2019: The PHB staff encourages fans and readers to share their ideas on the blog by guest posting. In 2019, there have been a collection of great guest posts on the PHB from Poptropicans like you! Which ones did you most enjoy?


Once again, the nomination round starts now, so be sure to fill out our survey and let us know who/what you think is deserving of the awards! Please limit your nominations to a max of three per award. Also, youโ€™re not required to nominate for every category, though it is encouraged! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Remember, the voting round starts next Saturday on July 13, and next weekโ€™s poll options will be made up of this weekโ€™s most popular nominations. So, be sure to check back in a week to cast your votes, but for nowโ€ฆ

๐Ÿ“ Make your nominations on our survey! ๐Ÿ“

Keep popping in to keep up with Poppies events throughout this month! ๐Ÿ˜€