Community Creations

Community Creations: December 2022

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the December recap for Community Creations. December’s theme was Grapple-Pap, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!

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

Top 5 Picks

Holly Jolly Jester by Kade (aka mintyspinel9hg)

To kick things off: a perfect fit of a fit for the holiday season! I love the playfulness of the costume design and the unique approach to winter-themed attire. It mixes in just a touch of mischievousness with that holiday cheer. And I seriously want that present shooter in game! Find their Instagram here.

Twas the Night Before Grapple-Pap by Dizzy Feather

Next up, we have a wonderful Poptropica-style twist on a classic holiday tale. It’s really fun to see Grapple-Pap take on a story that pretty much everyone can recognize. Plus, the extra attention to composing the text on this wintery background gives it a special touch. Very clever! Find her in the comments and on the PHC Discord.

Grapple-Pap by Tillymeowjings-arsb

Okay, geez, I should have warned you all this would get emotional! With just a few panels, this work definitely packs a punch with its story. The lore of the Baron, Amelia, and all the Fairy Tale Island royalty continues to grow, and so does my investment with these characters. 🥺 The juxtaposition between the warm, bright setting of the past and the cold, dark composition of the present is quite powerful. The visuals add a lot of significance to the dialogue from the airship. Excellent work! Find their Tumblr here.

Bracelet by HeartOfEnder

It was the morning of Grapple-pap. The morning where kids rushed down the stairs to open gifts with their families. A time where as the old saying goes, “if you don’t spread cheer, Grapple-pap will get you for a year.”

Boys asked for cars and action figures. Girls asked for dolls and ponies. That morning they would giggle and laugh with happiness at their new toys, playing with them all day long.

For the Jones family, living in a town with festive decorations up for their occasion, their gift to their son, Felix, was not a toy, but a tool.

As the young boy opened the small box which was the gift from his parents, he was met with a strange bracelet. Unlike the sparkly bracelet with beads girls wore, it was made with a durable, neon orange rope, tied in a way you could unravel it. the rope was connected by a black side connector buckle, like the ones you see on backpacks. A small compass was embedded in the buckle, and even the buckle’s shape was odd, with strange fork prongs inside.

“Daddy, what is this?” The young boy asked, looking up at his parents. His dad smiled, crouching down and explaining it all to him.

“My Fledgling, this is a survival bracelet.” he said, taking the bracelet from the box. “I know you want to explore the world, but there are dangerous things out there. This will help you avoid those dangers.”

“How?” Felix asked, even more interested in the bracelet.

“Think of all the uses for a rope. This survival bracelet can do it all.” His father explained. “It even comes with a knife, which might be the most useful tool ever.” “It’s still too big to fit on your wrist…” Felix’s mother pointed out as the young boy excitedly put the survival bracelet on. “But one day it’ll fit perfectly. I can’t wait for that day!”

CONTINUE READING HERE

Acting as both a Grapple-Pap tale and a short prequel to Felix’s origin in the author’s Aerie of Eagles series, this story serves up a great sense of nostalgia. It has a traditional holiday setting that many kids can reminisce on, and leaves you wanting to know more about where the characters are now. Very interesting introduction! Find their Tumblr here.

Tally Ho-Ho-Ho! by happyclonetrooper

Lastly, we have a hilarious holiday card that I would be happy to receive myself! The artist has remade this card every few years, each purposefully tacky yet increasingly more polished each time. And, I have to admit, the “tally ho-ho-ho” pun is a killer. 😉 I wonder what sort of gifts MVB would give out? Perhaps I don’t want to know the answer… Find her Instagram here.


Honorable Mentions

Amazing work, everyone! It’s always hard to grapple with how talented you all are. From the whole PHB team, we hope you had an amazing holiday season and a great new year! Here’s to an even better 2023.


January: 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 January’s theme? January’s theme is…

🤔🧩 Puzzling! 🧩🤔

One of my favorite gameplay elements of Poptropica has always been the puzzles. From playing minigames like mancala on Nabooti Island, to solving mysterious codes on Spy Island or changing the dragon sculpture on Counterfeit Island, puzzles seem to be everywhere when you really think about it!

Some are pretty straight-forward and other are, well… puzzling! But that’s why we have PHB Island Guides to help you out. So as we enter 2023 and start solving a whole new year of puzzles and challenges, let’s take a moment to celebrate the fun ones and share our frustrations on the more difficult ones.

Maybe draw your Poptropican trying to solve a particularly puzzling puzzle, or write a story about your favorite puzzling Poptropica minigame. Perhaps design a costume for what you think the ultimate puzzle-solving master would look like, or even design a Poptropica puzzle yourself! Your work doesn’t even necessarily have to involve a physical puzzle, just something confusing or a brain teaser of sorts will do. The options are up to you! Good luck!

  • Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArtTwitterTumblrDiscord, OR the PHB’s Instagram.
  • Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
  • Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
  • Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. 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

PHB Parties

This Sat: PHB’s 2021 Grapple-Pap Party! 🥳❄️

Happy Grapple-Pap, Poptropicans! To celebrate the holiday season (both on Poptropica and in general), the PHB is hosting a Grapple-Pap Holiday Party! 🎄🥳

Legend has it that Poptropicans are obligated to spread holiday cheer, or the great Grapple-Pap will get you for one whole year. Well, we love an excuse to party, so you’re all invited join us on the Discord sleigh for a merry time of Poptropica play! 🎊🎅

Save the date for Saturday, December 18 @ 8 pm Eastern / 7 pm Central / 6 pm Mountain / 5 pm Pacific (for all other time zones, check a time zone converter). In some parts of the world, it may be Sunday morning, Dec 19. 📅

We’ll be hanging out in Poptropica’s common rooms like the Arcade (via the in-game menu), playing head-to-head games, and talking on our Discord chat server, the PHC — a space where PHB staff and other Poptropicans regularly hang out. It’s open anytime, so come on in. 💬👋

Bring your wondrous winter wear and get ready to have a beautiful blizzard blast. See you this weekend! ❄️

~Poptropica’s little help bloggers 🎄

Advertisements, Baron's Airship, Clubhouse, Home Island, Member Gifts, Monthly Costume Contests, Store

Grapple Gifts and Gear Galore 🎁🎁

Happy Grapple-Pap, everyone! It’s time to celebrate Poptropica’s latest holiday tradition! Home Island is now a winter wonderland decked with colorful lights and crates, and the Baron is here with Grapple gear to spread some holiday cheer! ☃️❄️

The Baron’s Cabin of Curiosities is stocked with holiday décor and costumes galore! On your right, you’ll find some Grapple-Pap goodies such as a Grapple totem (150 credits), a stained glass chandelier (150 credits), a mistletoe garland (50 credits), a Grapple bust statue (150 credits), and a traditional Grapple-Garb outfit (50 credits).

Among these Grapple goods, you’ll find the three winning costumes from last month’s poll: Love Potion Demon, Ice Cream Cat, and Movie Geek. If you missed these costumes the first time around, now is your chance to get them for free! 💗🍨🍿

On your left, you’ll find Maroon Moon’s Dr. Hare outfit, the winning design of November’s costume contest. All players can sport this casual look inspired by Poptropica’s most iconic villain for free! 🐰🥕 The Baron can’t help highlighting her generosity if you talk to her.

Now that this hare-raising look is available in-game, the Pop Creators finally posted a video showcase of November’s costume contest entries.

Among last month’s submissions are awe-inspiring animals, Christmas costumes, and… Rick Astley. Now that’s one that’ll never let us down. Anyway, here are my favorite entries from this reel:

By the way, ask the Baron where her Grapple-wares are from, and she’ll mention a place we’ve never heard of: Kraghorn Island. The Baron says it’s not on our map, but might there be a future adventure there like the Baron’s Crusade? Maybe she’ll take us sometime; we’ll see!


In contrast to the Baron’s festive findings, Amelia added two spooky costumes to the Adventure Outfitters gallery: the bewitching Wicked Wizard outfit and the members-only Dark Wizard outfit. While these villainous vestments appear new to newer players, they actually debuted back in November 2019 during Home Island’s wizard makeover. New or not, both of these bewitching looks cost 350 credits.


Along with celebrating Grapple-Pap, members can celebrate the 12 Days of Member Gifts. On the first day, they received winter garlandsnow globe, and deer decorations to deck their clubhouse halls. Then, on the second day, they received violet, gray, and blue beanies to keep their detachable heads warm.

Day 3’s gifts aren’t here at the time of writing this post, but a strange development occurred. While I was on Poptropica today, I discovered that Day 1’s member gifts disappeared from my inventory. It turns out that these initially free decorations can now be purchased from the clubhouse store for 100 credits each. What’s the reason for this happening?


To end off this extensive holiday post, we have a new ad for the Disney Channel original movie “Christmas… Again?!” Watching the short ad gifts you two prizes with special spacebar actions. You can ride around and rev your engine in Ro’s Race Car, then summon a snowstorm, err, flurry with the Mall Santa Suit. 🏎️🎅

This was a lot to cover, and there’s always more news popping into our feeds. Stay tuned to the Poptropica Help Blog for all the latest Poptropica news and more!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Uncategorized

This year, give the gift of Grapple-Pap 🎁

Heyo, Poptropicans! Big news: as promised, the festive Grapple-Pap side quest has appeared on Pop! After playing through it, I found it to be a very intriguing adventure. To begin, head across the wondrously snowy Home Island and speak to the man with a pile of presents.

He’ll ask you to deliver a gift to his sister. But before you accept the challenge, there’s one thing that needs to be set straight; what exactly is Grapple-Pap? According to the man, it’s ‘the time of year Poptropicans give gifts and merriment’. So it’s essentially the Poptropica version of Christmas! (I wonder what other holidays Poptropicans celebrate…)

If you’re feeling ready to go Grapple-Papping, respond with a ‘sure’ and you’ll be whisked off to start the adventure! Keep reading for a full guide with pictures below.

You’ll be in a very festive-looking town. Everybody’s dressed up in traditional Grapple-Pap apparel. Walk on up the road. You’ll pass by several townspeople getting ready for the holiday, including three jump-ropers and an ice-skater!

When asked where Clareta is, they all come up with generally the same answers. Nobody’s seen her for years, and they think that the Grapple-Pap got her. After all, if you don’t spread cheer, the great Grapple-Pap will get you for one whole year…very mysterious indeed. One will also tell you that the holiday is named after somebody called the Grapple-Pap! Finally, you’ll find a Poptropican who will give you a clue about Clareta. The baker up at the Salty Nugget tells you that Clareta lives in Cold Cliff Pass. An NPC wandering near the Salty Nugget will also warn you that Clareta has become ‘mean’ over the years…that can’t mean anything good.

Following the baker’s advice, go right to Cold Cliff Pass. There’s quite a bit of pretty winter scenery in this area.

It’s cold outside…

Keep walking down the hill until you reach a tunnel of ice with several floating platforms. There’s a stone block with an engraving on it; push it all the way against the far wall of the ice cave, and jump on it to reach the last platform. From there, climb onto the top slope and exit the ice tunnel.

Walk up a second hill and you’ll find yourself in front of a ledge with another stone block on top of it. Hop onto the ledge, and push the block off of it. Keep pushing it until you reach a very tall snowdrift. Using the block as a boost, climb up onto the snowdrift.

Go down another ice tunnel, and jump up onto a second tunnel above it, this one filled with snow and holly. There’s another stone block wedged in this tunnel, so you’ll have to push it out before you can proceed. From there, you’ll see a rope. Climb up it, and you’ll be in a blizzard; dangerous, yet beautiful. Walk against the blizzard down a hill–and, hey, there’s footprints in the snow here! Clareta must live nearby!

It sure is winter here.

Sure enough, at the bottom of the slope there’s a (rather rundown) house. Enter it.

Whoa, this house sure is creepy…just look at that huge, uh, whatever it is, hanging from the ceiling! But there’s a fire in the grate, so somebody must still live here. Walk through the house as far as you can go, past a huge bed with a bearskin on it, and you’ll see a piece of paper perched on a windowsill. Click on it, and you’ll see…

Aw, it’s Clareta and her brother (the man who sent you on the quest) at a Grapple-Pap years ago! Just look how young and happy they were…and it looks like Clareta is holding a Grapple-Pap gift not much different from the one you were sent to deliver to her. The two of them must have lived here together, at least when they were younger.

Once you’ve finished admiring that cute image, close it, and something quite frightening will happen. The bed behind you begins to shake…there’s a lump moving under the covers…and a very angry and bedraggled Clareta will burst out!! (Apologies for the horrible screenshot. I definitely wasn’t expecting something like that to happen!)

“I have a Grapple-Pap gift from your–“

Wow, somebody’s feeling nasty today. Clareta will scream at you to leave her house, which you, quite willingly, do. That Grapple-Pap’ll always get you if you’re not careful, as Clareta clearly demonstrated. But you can’t let it end like this…there must be something you can do to remind Clareta of the holiday spirit!

And, indeed, an opportunity presents itself! A very large pile of snow outside the house falls away to reveal a huge stone block with what must be the Grapple-Pap himself engraved upon it. Click on the block, and it’ll slide down the hill and crash straight into Clareta’s house! Oops…

Another scream will issue from the now-broken house, and Clareta will come outside and sprint away, promising that she’ll spread cheer. Run along after her.

Follow her back into the town, where she’ll be dancing (sudden change in mood, huh?) while holding a Grapple-Pop. She’ll thank you for reminding her what Grapple-Pap is all about, and gives you a Grapple-Pop as your reward. Congratulations, you’ve completed the Grapple-Pap quest!

Equip the Grapple-Pop and press space bar to turn everybody’s heads green.

Welp, that sure was a wild ride! Even though it’s not a full island, this side quest has really given us some insight on Poptropican lore and traditions. Overall, I think it’s pretty cool (pun may or may not be intended). But what do you think? Let us know in the comments down below! Merry Grapple-Pap!

~Purple Paw

Store, Web Development

My head is on fire!

Lighten up, lad!
”Arghh! Yeowwwww! Help me! Save me head… oh!” The little boy’s cries of agony echoed through the underground temple of Shark Tooth Island. He knew his parents had warned him not to play with fire, but he just couldn’t resist! Unfortunately, a ”small accident” had caused his whole body to go up in flames, and he was burning fast now. His head was the first part to catch on fire, and in a few seconds had melted his hair away, leaving him bald. He now wore a nice crown of fire on top of his head, and the rest of his body was glowing orange from head to toe. Oh, will he ever be saved, or will this poor kid be left to —

Oof! A purple dungeon bat knocked him down into the water below the ledge he was standing on. It was terribly salty and dirty water, and the little boy also remembered being warned by his parents not to go swimming down there (whoops, too late!). But amazingly, the horror of the flames were gone! He was saved! The boy vowed never to mess with fire again. As should all of you Poptropicans! 😀

Blog Post Title: Lighten up.
Description: Is it just me, or is it hot in here?
Image URL: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AkTCxo8C1Ys/SmclnLkbppI/AAAAAAAAAGg/PpwfMT1AnJc/s1600-h/lightenup.jpg
Image Name: lightenup.jpg
Posted by: Dr. Hare

Thanks for this update, Incredible Fish. We don’t know much about this fire-body power, but it’s most likely going to be a new Poptropica Store item coming soon in the Cool Stuff section. Don’t forget, there will also be an astronaut suit coming to the store next week! (See the post below for more information.)

Apparently, a day or so ago, prices in the Poptropica Store had gone down just after they had gone up. Thanks for the update, Green Seal. When the store first opened, costumes were 75 credits each and Cool Stuff items were 250 credits each. However, on July 15 they had gone up: costumes had become 150 each and Cool Stuff things were 325 credits. A day later they were back at original price. But apparently, they were lowered by a lot recently: Cool Stuff was 175 and Special Costumes were 25 each!

Golden Eagle suggests that they were probably testing out prices to see if they got a surge in sale, but maybe normal was getting the most profit for them. They have now returned to the original price, Cool Stuff being 250 each and Special Costumes are 75 each.

We have moved the ”Commenting Rules” from the About page to a seperate page, which you can find here. Recently, we have also added a ”Contact” page, where you are able to learn new methods of keeping in touch with updates at the PHB. You can find the Contact page here.

By the way, due to going through too much work, our Poptropica Links site will not be used anymore. Repeat: The PHB’s Poptropica Links WordPress blog will not be updated any longer. However, we will continue to update the Poptropica Directory on the PHB – but we won’t be adding new directory listings into our blogroll sidebar, sorry. As a matter of fact, we have now reached over 40 listings in our directory, so click here to check out all the cool webpages!

Blog Notice
Scary Tomato will not be active on the PHB from July 24 to July 28, 2009. I’ll be on vacation and won’t have Internet access for those five days. Hopefully, the rest of our staff will still be posting news updates and stuff! :mrgreen:

Unfortunately, I will not be available for the one-year anniversary of Poptropica Help Blog, sorry! But while I’m gone, please don’t wreak havoc and spam the whole site! Smockers and Codien will still be around to catch y’all and send you to prison with Crusher, Ratman, Betty Jetty and the rest of their evil gang. Just kidding… but be safe, readers! 😛