The Summer Den Item Contest Winners

Hey Jammers! An update came to Animal Jam Classic today with some new-ish stuff. I'd like to keep this post quick, so I'm just going to focus on the den item contest winners being announced! 

Oh, and don't worry– details about the contest I will be hosting are coming soon, likely in the next few days. ^.^

The amount of new Jamaa Journal pages this update is quite a lot, and some of the stuff towards the back feels too early for it to come out... I am wondering if it was released too early, which would be a blunder on AJHQ's part. National Honeybee Day is on the 21st, and there's already a page talking about it?

But announced on-time or not, let's look at the winning den item entries:

Congrats to all of the winners! It's awesome to see Jammers' creativity becoming more of a part of the game, and these look like they have the potential to become something interesting. I feel like the Tree of Dreams, the Succulent Garden Sphere, and the poster item could end up being pretty popular! I'm also wondering if the Plaque Display will come with plaques already on it, or if it will just be a backboard to hang plaques you already have.

Though I will admit it...

I'm a bit disappointed neither of my entries got in xD

I spent around 10 hours trying to recreate the old-school AJ item style with this one, but I guess maybe it was too much...?

Look, I made it so if you just take the purple background out and stick it in a den, it already kinda looks like an AJ item:

Thinking about it now, though, it's possible that they wouldn't be able to do that because of plagiarism issues. Choosing item ideas that give them more room to change them might be safer for AJHQ.

I also designed a second item:

I would have liked to see one of my ideas get in, but what I honestly care about most of all is that people enjoy the den items that come out of this contest. 

Wildworks not devoting as much effort to creating new content feels pretty sad, so I hope the creative and interesting items that won can help uplift some people who need it.

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In that vein, something I learned recently is that while Wildworks has definitely skimped on content updates for Animal Jam Classic, they do continue to do technical updates– meaning, bug fixes and improvements to AJC's playability. 

A recent example is them taking feedback from people who noticed this week's RIM being invisible, and then correcting it (albeit on Tuesday morning):

Screenshot credit to Rainbow000Pegasus' Ultimate Animal Jam Blog

Wildworks also completely stopped the bot raids in June by making it so that all forms of spamming in AJ/AJPW can get your account permanently banned:

(Try not to send tons of fast messages in chat, Jammer Walls, and just try not to press the same button a ton of times really fast because too much of that could get your account banned. I don't think the same thing happens if clicking is a part of a mini game, though.)

So... Wildworks has not abandoned Animal Jam, because they still care about the game working properly.

These are just the things I remind myself of whenever I'm anxious about Animal Jam Classic >.<

Well, that's all I got for now. I hope you have as good a day as you can, and I'll see you in Jamaa!

Short Post– Happy August!

Hey Jammers! Today is one of the rare times where I've posted twice in one day, so if you haven't seen my earlier post, you can scroll down to read it.

Just a few things to talk about in this one:

First: after far too long a time of being too picky to settle on a look for my panda, I think I've finally done it ^.^

Actually, I lied. I'm still conflicted because I love green:

Which of these three do you like best? :0

While I was asking his feedback, all my brother told me was that my panda's pattern makes it look like she has a beard. I'd legit never seen that before until he told me, but eh... I don't have a problem with that and it's still my favorite pattern X)

Second: According to Rainbow000Pegasus, there have been no new items in AJC for a few days! Aside from today's R.I.M., of course. The same goes for AJPW, but I think that game already doesn't get the same daily-item updates that we've been used to on AJC. 

If AJHQ has decided to release new items less frequently, I'm okay with that! I'd hope that would mean they'd prioritize quality over quantity with more time to make stuff. 

A related side-note– August should be the month when the 10 Den Item Contest winners get picked, so keep your eyes out for some creative new items.

Third: One of my goals for this summer was to come up with a more interesting kind of contest for you all, and I think I've finally settled on a concept! I'm temporarily keeping it a secret, but you'll likely be seeing the full contest details in the post after this one.

All I'll say for now is that is involves creativity, and the prizes include a bunch of decently rare nonmember items, such as a Basic Healing Staff and a Green Gecko Plushie!

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So... that's all for now! 

I had meant for this to be a Clearance Corner post– and I'd also meant to make another Clearance Corner post sooner as promised –but I think I'll just hold off on making promises about posts until I'm un-stressed and un-distracted enough to keep them ^^;

See you in Jamaa!

And Today's Rare Item Monday is...

I N V I S I B L E

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After months of re-colors, it's the first time Animal Jam (Classic) gets a totally original R.I.M.– and it's glitched. 

AJHQ is apparently working on this, so I'm hoping it'll be visible by the end of the day today >.<

The Start of Clearance Corner

 Hey Jammers! I've finally finished up the graphic I've been working on for way too long, which means it's time for the first clearance corner post! 

I'm actually really happy with how this came out:

Though maybe I did go a bit overboard with trying to make it look cute ^^;

But anyway! Here are all the items on clearance as of today, July 17th 2021 :D

Jam Mart Clothing

On page 6 of the Jam Mart Clothing catalog, you can find some springtime items about to shuffle out for the season: the Spring Firefighter Helmet, the Spring Gardening Hat, and the Egg Shoes.

Jam Mart Furniture

On page 14 of this shop's catalog, you can see that both the Egg Table and the Spring Egg Planter are both just about to leave! If you're interested in these items, better head over to Jam Mart Furniture and grab 'em quick.

Turning the page, the Potato Sofa is also on clearance, but you'll have a little over a week before it heads out. 

You'll find the Giant Moai Head and the Pile Of Robot Parts on page 16. The Moai Head might be a little too heavy to carry back to your den alone, but that Pile Of Robot Parts looks like its just waiting for someone to pick it up and put it back together again! Aw... now I've made myself sad...

Diamond Shop – Furniture

If you like the warm glow of this Seashell Lamp, better bask in it today! You can find it on the 9th page of the Diamond Shop's furniture catalog. 

Also on the 9th page, you can find the Pool Rules Sign, the Llama Floaty, and the Inflatable Pool Volleyball Net. 

Turning the page, you can find even more pool-related items just about to leave shops: Miscellaneous Pool Toys and the Deluxe Waterfall Pool. However, you can bet they're probably going to come back next summer.

Diamond Shop – Clothing

On the first and second pages of this catalog, you can find a collection of Wild Weekend Spiked Collar additions: the Enigma Spiked Collar, the Future Spiked Collar, the Ice Spiked Collar, the Forgotten Spiked Collar (which is nonmember!), the Dangerous Spiked Collar, the Cute Spiked Collar, and the Wild Spiked Collar.

I can confirm that the Dangerous Spiked Collar is as dangerous as it sounds:

...It stabs right through >.<

The Lucky Feline Hat, Lucky Mystical Spike, Lucky Mystical Armor, Lucky Cat Paws, Lucky Zipper Tail, Whimsical Helmet, Whimsical Collar, Whimsical Gauntlets, Whimsical Wings, and Whimsical Tail Feather all live on pages 8-11 of the Diamond Shop's clothing catalog, and are all about to return to the recesses of Animal Jam's files in just a few days! 

Summer Carnival – Plushie Ticket Exchange

Today's last clearance items can be located in the Summer Carnival, where all of the freedom-themed (or USA-flag-themed, really) plushies are just about done for the season: 

The Freedom Sugar Glider, Freedom Piglet, Freedom Snake, Freedom Puppy, Freedom Kitty, Freedom Hamster, Freedom Frog, Freedom Ducky, Freedom Butterfly, Freedom Bunny, and all of their large counterparts aside from the Large Freedom Sugar Glider and Large Freedom Piglet Plushie (which seem to have already left)

The red/white/blue color scheme is not my favorite, but I like imagining that these plushies are made out of scrapped flags from the Flag Shop :3

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Well, we've reached the end of the first Clearance Corner! That was something new. I'll likely be making a Clearance Corner post once a week

If you saw any clearance items you liked, you might wanna go into Jamaa for a lil shopping trip before they leave! C:

Also! Before I go, one last thing: 

It took me a while to realize this, but while all Summer Carnival plushies have been consistently released every year, it seems that the Kitty Plushie didn't come back alongside everything else this year! 

I've seen a few people looking to trade for it, so I guess unexpectedly pulling a simple and cute item from shelves is one way to get people interested in it again.

See ya'll around Jamaa!

Theory about the Council Day Banner

Hey Jammers, sorry about being gone without notice for over two weeks! 

My motivation kind of comes in bursts. Some days I feel motivated enough to do one thing but not another, some days I feel motivated to do yet another thing but not anything else, but most days I feel too unmotivated to do anything but what I absolutely need to do. ^^;

So aside from all of the being-too-exhausted, I've just been following those random bursts of motivation and getting other things done! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Still, my goal for this summer (as it has been for years.. :P) is to get into more of a regular posting rhythm– like at least a few times a week. The way I run this blog now, it seems like a lofty goal, but I swear it can happen! 

Now, you might have noticed that I pretty much never talk about new items unless I really like them, so that makes regular posting a bit difficult. 

That's why I'm introducing a new series/format of post that makes sense to write a few times a week: Clearance Corner! In Clearance Corner posts, I'll go over all the items on clearance on that day. 

The first Clearance Corner post will be... the post after this one! Only because I still have to add a few finishing touches to the graphic that will go along with each post. 

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For this post, I thought it might instead be a good time to talk about this thing you either have no idea about, or just completely forgot about: the Council Day Banner. 

This is a screenshot you can find in an Animal Jam Stream post from July 1st, 2012. This item is what is now known and sold as the Freedom Day Banner, but for a couple years it was called the Council Day Banner for reasons unknown... until now, because I think I finally have a pretty good theory behind the name!

Perhaps you might find this interesting, because my theory about the Council Day Banner involves a potential piece of scrapped game lore...

You know how in Animal Jam, real-world Western holidays are given imaginary, game-specific names? Like Jamaalidays, Friendship Day, and Freedom Day?

Well, from my research, it seems that Council Day is also not a real holiday. Even though the banner's release coincided with the first mention of 'Freedom Day' on Animal Jam, I believe that Council Day was the original name proposed for Freedom Day.

Freedom Day has always been Animal Jam's most vague holiday– what does 'freedom' mean, anyway? On the other hand, the name 'Council Day' implies something more specific than just 'Freedom Day', which is why I have reason to believe that it referred to a piece of scrapped lore. 

But first, here's some background:

The 4th of July (known as Freedom Day on AJ) marks another year past since the signing of the United States' Declaration of Independence, which was done by a committee of people who agreed on the terms of the United States' independence from Britain. 

Committee means pretty much the same thing as council. 

If the history of the 4th of July was translated into Animal Jam lore... perhaps Council Day could have referred to a gathering of animals in Jamaa, coming together to negotiate with (or stand against) the phantoms?

I think this is the case. Both the old lore and the new lore involve all species of Jamaa coming together to resist the phantoms taking over Jamaa, so a piece of scrapped lore about a council of animals that came together to fight back would make sense.

HOWEVER... if this was a piece of scrapped AJ 4th of July lore, I also understand why it was scrapped. Having a story about animals coming together to fight an evil dark force on the 4th of July would be overly USA-centric and a big misrepresentation of history!

Still, I think Council Day would have been a fun and original lore-based celebration for Animal Jam– as long as it was something completely separate from the 4th of July, if course. C:

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Let me know what you think about this theory in the comments! I got some cookies to go bake...

See you in Jamaa! ^.^

New signature coming soon cuz I've been a nonmember for years and don't wear those items anymore :3c