Thursday, April 21, 2016

What Spiked Collars are REALLY Worth

Hey Jammers! A quite heated topic of debate on AJ is the true rarity of the Spiked Collar or Spiked Wristband, usually referred to as "spikes," "longs," "shorts," "long wrists," etc. 


"Long" Spiked Wristbands

"Short" Spiked Wristbands

"Long" Spiked Collars

"Short" Spiked Collars

Due to their tremendous popularity, a few non-rare spiked/studded collars have been released in the Diamond Shop in the past. Despite being currently out-of-store, they're not considered as rare as their original counterparts above.

Here are the "knockoff" spikes/studs:





With all these different kinds of spiked collars and wristbands running amok, how do we make sense of what they're worth? How rare is each one?

...But, what even is rarity anymore?



A while ago, that would have been an easy question to answer. An equal combination of release date and demand, of course! Ideally, it would have stayed that way, but as the years went by, rarity became less solid. The idea of fairness began to depend more on the person you're trading, rather than a set of guidelines that everyone followed.

Recently while trading I learned just how confusing the whole "fairness system" is nowadays. In Aldan, all of Crystal Sands was convinced that A., any item that isn't in stores is automatically "beta," no exceptions, and B., the time an item was last released doesn't change its rarity. 

This may not be the common belief through all of AJ. But a whole near-full Crystal Sands– in the "trading world" –full of people who believe that any item out of stores is automatically rare? It seems at least like a popular idea, if not a common one.

In a way, however, these assumptions have some truth to them. The entire concept of how rare an item is has always been in the hands of who trades. However, it's certainly a lot more confusing now!

Because it's so confusing and I'm sure that you just want to get to the point, I'm going to try to sort it out as easily as possible:

Ideally, rarity would be an equal combination of DATE and DEMAND. Date would determine how old an item is, and demand would be how much people want it. Both factors would play an equal part in how much an item is worth.

Right now, however, it's mostly DEMAND that seems to matter among people. Spiked Collars, for instance, can be acquired in the Forgotten Desert. They could also be won as a prize in this year's Lucky Clovers. If only date was taken into consideration, Spiked Collars would only be worth a Tan Carpet, another prize in The Forgotten Desert. 

However, despite the Spiked Collar's repeated rereleases, the amount of value it supposedly has is completely unchanged. This is how powerful the demand is. 

Despite how powerfully demand can overcome date, the demand of an item changes. A LOT. This is why you can never say for certain what an item is worth, or what kinds are rarer. 

There also seem to be eras of AJ in which certain items are more sought after than others. Around when I first joined, all kinds of Gloves were high in demand. Nonmember gloves that you don't even acknowledge anymore, Lava Gloves that are now just sold in the Diamond Shop... just all kinds of things that are considered worthless in trading. One of these days, you can expect to see Spiked Collars start to go down in demand as well.

But what are Spiked Collars worth right now, while they're popular?

Because you can get so many varying answers, it's hard to say if Spiked Collars really do have a defining value. Things change, and right now it all relies on demand.

Even if you KNEW for sure what a Spiked Collar was worth, in the end it wouldn't help you at all. There will always be someone that won't agree or who doesn't like your offer. Even if AJHQ themselves descended down upon you and told you exactly what a Spiked Collar was worth, it's pretty likely at least a whole room full of people won't agree. 

If you want to know what Spiked Collars are worth, they're basically worth what you and your trading partner can agree upon in the moment. No predetermined rule of rarity can change that.

Thanks for reading, Jammers! See you in Jamaa! :)

18 comments:

  1. guys how freakin rare is a studded freakin collar?

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    Replies
    1. You can buy it in the diamond shop so it is not to rare

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    2. I always get declined in trying to trade for one and it always is fair I tried to trade my magenta spiked collar for the blue long spiked collar and the person declined! my user is: crazyminecraftgirl12

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    3. well is its a diamond shop spike then it worth a rim :v blue long worth like 20-40 den betas may be so ya is your meg spike is rare it worth like 3 black longs of more

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  2. sorry my brother typed that he has no excuse he is very rude i'm his older sister my username is wolfdiva5432 on animal jam feel free to jamagram me or buddy me gifts and good trades are always accepted!
    - wolfdiva5432 brother= whitetiger1508

    ReplyDelete
  3. i love what your doing great work

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  4. what is a long spiked wristband worth?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It depends on which variety it is. Orange is the least rarest, so it is worth probably near 10 betas. All the way up to black, the rarest color, it is worth a fair amount of betas and worth more than just 10 betas

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  5. what are magenta spiked collars worth? Please tell me my user is littleredpanda39 if its rae or beta then offer at that user i am online right now btw

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  6. Hi guys. Great article

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  7. who is willing to trade my blackout donut spiked collar or a black spike collar

    ReplyDelete
  8. What is a rare green and red long spiked wristband worth?

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  9. I remember my aj friend wanted to get rare since she was new, but I tried to convince her that you have to earn it by trading and just waiting. But since she was my friend, I wanted to boost her up, and I did so by giving her diamond shop spikes because I wasn't as into them as I was into OG rare spikes. But she thought diamond shop spikes were SO rare, (this happened after they were in stores) so she was always happy when I gifted her them. I didn't want to burst her bubble and say that they are somewhat not too rare, but yes some of them as of 2022 are getting rarer, because they are in no way getting back in stores, I mean, that's just a fact. But this happened in maybe 2019, and at least she got some items to make HER happy. We aren't friends anymore, and it's my fault. (I ain't talking about that bc this comment is long enough) but hopefully she gets a light pink hd someday, bc you know that's worth a bunch of solids. If you weren't lazy enough to NOT read this comment, you deserve a free cookie

    ReplyDelete

Heyyo! I love it when you guys comment. I'm always checking for more, so even if you comment on an older post I'll definitely see it and try to respond. :)

Before you comment, of course, here are some basic things to remember:

-Don't be mean on purpose.
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-Rants/long comments totally encouraged! You don't have to apologize for a long comment, I love reading them xD

-*NEW!* Please be safe about the personal information you share here, and on the internet in general. Just like AJ's in-game safety guidelines, don't share your real name, photos of yourself, phone number, address, email, or age. Always turn to a trusted adult if you're unsure about something.

Pretty easy rules. Nothing to stress about. As long as you follow them, you can say whatever you want!

Thanks for reading! C(o.o)D

P.S. That's a bear emoticon up there. ^