Also by frozencloud
NEOPETS IN LONDON- The voice activated Neopets has been widely sort after all
over the world, but in the UK there seemed to be a suspicious lack of them. Come
to mention it, there had been a lack of Neopet related visits from the team either,
despite the fact Neopets originated there! But on the 16th of May, the UK's luck
seemed to change, for an interesting piece of news (At least for the UK anyway)
sprung up:
Adam and Donna are going to be at Hamleys in London next Saturday for the
launch of our Voice Activated Toys!!! Neopets Artists Keith and Ants
will also be there to draw pictures of your favourite Neopet! Yar!
Naturally, we wanted to go. Well, wanted would suggest our parent's had the
opportunity to say no. It seemed a good idea - go to London, meet the infamous
Donna and Adam, plus the long suffering artists, and even meet two friends from
Neopets. What could go wrong?
After almost getting on the wrong train (It's amazing how you can get lost
in your home town,) we finally reached London, hopped onto the underground train
network, and hopped off after realising yet again we had the wrong train, we
finally reached Hamleys. It was then the magic started.
In the week of planning we had to prepare for our Hamleys trip, we had made
Neopet ears to wear around the store, and although we were slightly regretting
this decision, against our better judgement we put our ears on our heads and
marched confidently into the store.
The first thing that hit us was the amount of people. The queue to get to
the artists went right to the back of the store, and we later found out that
it would have taken us three or four hours to get a sketch of our pets. Although
the sketches were amazing better than sliced bread, we were too impatient
to stand around waiting. Instead, after being filmed and interviewed for some
of the footage, we made our way over to Adam and Donna to start stalking
talking to them.
Both of them seemed pretty much amazed at the people who had turned up just
to come and see them - there were people from all over the UK, and even some
people who had flown over from Europe. One fanatic fan had even flown from America
to meet them! After getting their autographs and our fair share of Rare Item
Codes, we stood around for a while talking to them and couldn't believe how
nice they were. In our strange conversation about anything and everything Neopets,
we managed to learn the wonderful and inspiring story of how the name "oifetchmecorona"
came around, and where the Aisha got its name - which is a story you really
don't want to know…
One of Adam's favourite questions to ask anyone (and everyone, it seems) was
if anyone remembers the Mellish - the pet that evolved into a Mynci. Sadly,
no one did (Much to his disappointment!) But for anyone who does - it was based
on one of Adam's friends, who was also there to talk to the Neopet players.
He said this about the Hamleys launch:
"It's just great to be here. So many people, all here just to see us. I just
hope everyone is enjoying themselves as much as we are."
We also met Lucy, Adam's sister, who talked to us about our Neopet accounts
for a while and gave us this comment:
"I hope everyone had a good time. It's fantastic that everyone came and you
all better keep playing!"
By this time, Adam and Donna seemed to be getting writer's cramp from the
many autographs they had to sign and Donna's voice was fighting a losing battle.
But still, they gave up a few minutes to add a comment for everyone when we
told them we were planning to write this article.
Donna said the following:
"I'm amazed that so many people are here. Many people travelled a long way
to be here and it's been a lot of fun talking to all the players."
Judging by the amount of requests and suggestions they'd got from many eager
players, it also looked like a lot of hard work was in store for them when they
arrived back in America - with people asking them to take another look at frozen
accounts and the suggestions of lowering certain item prices and adding new
features, they'll probably be kept busy for a while.
Adam was equally happy about how everything turned out.
"Today is great, very happy that so many people turned up. I feel sorry for
our artists!"
After asking hundreds of questions about new and upcoming pets, worlds and
features of Neopia, we found out that a new pet was coming soon, and Adam was
considering a bear or a mouse pet, or maybe even a cross between them. Twisted,
sick and disturbed? Maybe; but it's definitely original.
In the meantime, our ears seemed to have drawn a lot of attention to us, and
after being asked to be in plenty of photos, including ones with Adam and Donna
and the Lupe we decided to have a rest and take a look at the London Eye. That
plan didn't last long though, and soon we were back in Hamleys talking to Adam
and Donna again - and picking up yet more Rare Item Codes, which were being
given away by various people wandering around the store.
Donna, Adam, and all the Neopians who turned up all had a great time at Hamleys,
and the day ended with many happy Neopets players thanking Adam and Donna for
creating Neopets and grabbing as many free Rare Item Codes as possible. Avoiding
the strange man selling 'jelly balloons' we made our way out and gave the giant
Lupe one final wave. All we can say is that we hope Neopets make a return to
good old England soon!
Before we left Hamley's, we decided to ask the question that has plagued Neopians
ever since the first immortal words were uttered.
"Adam, is there really a Jelly world?" we asked.
"Jelly world?" Adam chuckled, eyes darting nervously towards Donna. "Never
heard of it," he winced. "Ever! There is no such thing." The eyes returned to
Donna in the vain hope he'd convinced us about the whereabouts (Or would that
be the lack of whereabouts) of Jelly world.
We believe you, Adam. *cough*
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