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! :)