I Got the Neopets Advent Calendar!
Dec 20, 2020 15:13:27 GMT -5
Gelquie, Killix, and 12 more like this
Post by Twillie on Dec 20, 2020 15:13:27 GMT -5
I wanna share something special with you for the holidays!
You may have noticed before that Neopets added an advent calendar to their Geekify merch collection. When I saw this, inspiration immediately struck. It's been years since I've done an actual advent calendar, so the idea of getting one combined with Neopets, another childhood staple? That's the perfect piece of nostalgia I could purchase. My birthday was also coming up, and it's right before December's start, so this would be the perfect gift to ask for!
Unfortunately, I kinda asked a bit too late, as instead of being in the group that shipped before December, mine shipped partway through the month. In the meantime, I saw mostly disappointed buzz surrounding the advent calendar while waiting on my own. It didn't dampen my excitement, but it did give me some morbid curiosity of what would soon show up in my mail. Well, it finally arrived a few days ago, and I wanted to share my experience with it!
Getting it mid-December at least means that I could get a better idea of the quality all at once, rather than over the course of a month. I'm not sure anyone else's experience in-depth, but I've got a guess that one of the biggest complaints would be the quality of the chocolate designs. Each chocolate is a basic square with a holiday-themed Neopets item superimposed on top, but unfortunately the finer details of the items did not translate well.
Some turned out alright!
And then there are some where, did they not include the item image on the door flap, I'd have no idea what it was supposed to be x3
Most chocolates, though, fall in the category of: "I can tell what you're going for, but it didn't quite work out."
And then there's my personal favorite:
I look forward to the day where I get my Mystery Island ornament in the Christmas Meowclops door.
(and hopefully the ornament chocolate looks better because that Meowclops is honestly triggering my tropophobia, gonna eat it soon as I can once I get this posted lol)
Speaking of door flaps, another detail I think could use some improvement is the quality of the door's images. It looks like they used the original site images, which means a mix of old and new art. When you're browsing the site and come across and old item, the context helps excuse any potential lacking in art. When the image is displayed all on its lonesome on a physical object, though, it looks a lot less professional:
Even with the newer art, since a lot of the images are rather small, you can see the compression and janky line work on some of them:
I think this can be a simple fix at least, by tracing over and making vector versions of these images so they print better. The art on the outside of the calendar turned out good, though, with clean lines and crisp coloring. The make of the box as well holds up, it doesn't feel cheap or like it'd fall apart easily. It looks just like how it's advertised on the website.
The doors were a bit tricky to open for me, but I figured out a technique of pushing down on them until they crumple a little and make a grip. I also don't have good fingernails due to biting, though, so I'm used to not being able to open things xD
I've also seen some complaints on the chocolate's taste. For me, it tastes just like the advent chocolate I remember from years ago. Not the best chocolate I've had, but it's what I expect and with a nostalgic flair to it. At least, they'll still all get eaten xD
Overall, I can understand the quality complaints I've seen regarding this calendar, and the issues I mentioned make it so the product doesn't quite come together. It definitely feels their first attempt at this. I can't say I'm disappointed like others, though, and I don't regret getting it (probably also helps that I didn't pay for it haha). I really like the idea of Neopets advent calendar, and I hope they continue to pursue this in the future with improvements in mind! I'm always charmed when I see the calendar sitting on my bedside table haha.
The item code I have nothing to report on yet, unfortunately. Since it was my sister who purchased it, she's the one that got the code, but she managed to lose the email that had it xD She's working with support on it, so we'll see when I may be able to activate my code lol x3
You may have noticed before that Neopets added an advent calendar to their Geekify merch collection. When I saw this, inspiration immediately struck. It's been years since I've done an actual advent calendar, so the idea of getting one combined with Neopets, another childhood staple? That's the perfect piece of nostalgia I could purchase. My birthday was also coming up, and it's right before December's start, so this would be the perfect gift to ask for!
Unfortunately, I kinda asked a bit too late, as instead of being in the group that shipped before December, mine shipped partway through the month. In the meantime, I saw mostly disappointed buzz surrounding the advent calendar while waiting on my own. It didn't dampen my excitement, but it did give me some morbid curiosity of what would soon show up in my mail. Well, it finally arrived a few days ago, and I wanted to share my experience with it!
Getting it mid-December at least means that I could get a better idea of the quality all at once, rather than over the course of a month. I'm not sure anyone else's experience in-depth, but I've got a guess that one of the biggest complaints would be the quality of the chocolate designs. Each chocolate is a basic square with a holiday-themed Neopets item superimposed on top, but unfortunately the finer details of the items did not translate well.
Some turned out alright!
And then there are some where, did they not include the item image on the door flap, I'd have no idea what it was supposed to be x3
Most chocolates, though, fall in the category of: "I can tell what you're going for, but it didn't quite work out."
I can at least tell this is a paintbrush, but a snow one? Not so much:
You can mostly see the Ona, but its tiny limbs look like they melted away:
Same with the brucicle:
This snowbunny is alright I suppose, but those hollow eyes...
This poor raindorf's face:
You can mostly see the Ona, but its tiny limbs look like they melted away:
Same with the brucicle:
This snowbunny is alright I suppose, but those hollow eyes...
This poor raindorf's face:
And then there's my personal favorite:
I look forward to the day where I get my Mystery Island ornament in the Christmas Meowclops door.
(and hopefully the ornament chocolate looks better because that Meowclops is honestly triggering my tropophobia, gonna eat it soon as I can once I get this posted lol)
Speaking of door flaps, another detail I think could use some improvement is the quality of the door's images. It looks like they used the original site images, which means a mix of old and new art. When you're browsing the site and come across and old item, the context helps excuse any potential lacking in art. When the image is displayed all on its lonesome on a physical object, though, it looks a lot less professional:
Even with the newer art, since a lot of the images are rather small, you can see the compression and janky line work on some of them:
I think this can be a simple fix at least, by tracing over and making vector versions of these images so they print better. The art on the outside of the calendar turned out good, though, with clean lines and crisp coloring. The make of the box as well holds up, it doesn't feel cheap or like it'd fall apart easily. It looks just like how it's advertised on the website.
The doors were a bit tricky to open for me, but I figured out a technique of pushing down on them until they crumple a little and make a grip. I also don't have good fingernails due to biting, though, so I'm used to not being able to open things xD
I've also seen some complaints on the chocolate's taste. For me, it tastes just like the advent chocolate I remember from years ago. Not the best chocolate I've had, but it's what I expect and with a nostalgic flair to it. At least, they'll still all get eaten xD
Overall, I can understand the quality complaints I've seen regarding this calendar, and the issues I mentioned make it so the product doesn't quite come together. It definitely feels their first attempt at this. I can't say I'm disappointed like others, though, and I don't regret getting it (probably also helps that I didn't pay for it haha). I really like the idea of Neopets advent calendar, and I hope they continue to pursue this in the future with improvements in mind! I'm always charmed when I see the calendar sitting on my bedside table haha.
The item code I have nothing to report on yet, unfortunately. Since it was my sister who purchased it, she's the one that got the code, but she managed to lose the email that had it xD She's working with support on it, so we'll see when I may be able to activate my code lol x3
