What's Sought, What's Not!

The NC Mall board is constantly buzzing with gifting and trading of all sorts. This is probably the most active this board has ever been!

Since users are now able to send NC Mall items to other accounts/users with Gift Boxes, many people have been seeking to get their dream items, retired collector items, or just NC items in general!

What am I here for? To tell you what the highest sought items are, what’s a timeless classic, what items will probably never return, what’s currently popular, and what no one would dream of buying!

The NC Mall opened in July of 2007. Since the NC Mall was still very new then, not many people actively purchased NC items. It was only when the NC Mall grew in popularity that more and more people purchased NC Mall items. This is why the older, retired NC items are very rare and hard to find. If there weren’t many people buying, there aren’t many of those items around!

NC Gift Boxes were not always available to NC Mallers. They were only recently introduced in late November of 2008. Before that time, it was not possible in any way to transfer NC items to another account.

Most all NC Mallers know about Mystery Capsules and how addicting they can be! It’s so hard to resist opening those! This is why unopened Mystery Capsules (especially ones before the introduction to Gift Boxes) are extremely rare and hard to come by. If you have one of these rare, unopened Mystery Capsules, count yourself a lucky NC Maller! As past trends have shown, Mystery Capsules that have retired from the NC Mall have yet to return, though there was one Mystery Capsule which had the rare chance of awarding retired Mystery Capsules and that was the Golden Mystery Capsule which was available during the first anniversary (or birthday) of the NC Mall.

When the Shenkuu River Rush game was released, an NC Mall item was also released with it! The 400NC Shenkuu River Rush Winged Talisman has been said to have only been available in the NC Mall for a few days before it was taken out. This item, you see, is extremely rare! It is currently inactive and is not a wearable, but is still a sought after collector’s item.

During the first Halloween season of the NC Mall (only a few months after its opening), there was an incredible item released called the Eliv Thade Make-Up Kit. When wore, it would give the face painted look of the infamous Eliv Thade.

The following Halloween, in 2008, a Spooky Halloween Mystery Capsule was released. The capsule had a rare chance of awarding a 2007 retired Halloween item as well as any current NC Mall item. As lovely as this may have sounded, the elusive Eliv Thade Make-Up Kit was not re-released in the capsule! It was either “forgotten” when the capsule was made or purposefully inactivated. I’d place my bet on the latter. ;)

According to extreme popular demand, the Eliv Thade Make-Up Kit is the rarest and most sought after NC item! People are nearly willing to trade an arm and a leg to get their hands (if they have any!) on one of these. I believe this item will forever be a timeless classic!

Of course, retired capsule-exclusive limited editions will always be sought after as they most likely will never return (unless, of course, the ever-creative NC Mall Team decides otherwise).

These retired limited editions (to date) include:

Appetising Caramel Apple (Halloween Mystery Capsule - 2007)

Gingerbread Wings (Holiday Mystery Capsule - 2007)

Flower Wings (Spring Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Flickering Flame String Lights (Fiery Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Ice Cream Cone String Lights (Summer Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Gulp... Underwater Reef Background (Sparkling Water Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Autumn Leaf Necklace (Autumn Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Evil Winged Glasses (Spooky Halloween Mystery Capsule - 2008)

Shiny Icicle String Lights (Holiday Snowglobe Mystery Capsule - 2008)

New Years Hat of Love, New Years Hat of Happiness, New Years Hat of Prosperity, New Years Hat with Surprise (New Year Mystery Capsule - 2009)

Paper Lantern Staff (Shenkuu Lantern Capsule - 2009)

Sparkling Heart Wand (Enchanted Valentines Mystery Capsule - 2009)

Lucky Clover Shower (Sparkling Green Mystery Capsule - 2009)

And the soon-to-be-retired,

Striped Painted Negg Wings, Colourful Negg Wings (Easter Negg Mystery Capsule - 2009)

Of course the rarest of those retired limited editions are most likely the ones released closet to the opening of the NC Mall. Why? Again, because at the time, not many people were purchasing NC as actively as they do now.

Out of those, I’d say the hardest two to come by would be the Appetising Caramel Apple and the Gingerbread Wings. Out of the two, however, the Gingerbread Wings are more in demand even though there are seemingly fewer Appetising Caramel Apples to go around!

At times, rarity is based on popular demand and not so much on actual quantities floating about Neopia. This is why it’s best to read up on the NC Mall Boards to see exactly what is rare... and what is rare AND hard to find due to quantity. The Eliv-Thade Make-Up Kit would be a perfect example of the latter.

If you’ve only read this far just to see what’s currently popular and being sought, well, you can breathe a sigh of relief because I’m about to tell you!

As far as I’ve noticed the past couple weeks on the NC Mall Board, many people are seeking last year’s autumn and Halloween items from both 2007 and 2008. It seems those Halloween items were a huge hit! I couldn’t agree more.

Those very rare, or highly-sought after items from Halloween and Autumn include (but are not limited to) such items as these:

Here Lies Fluffy, Spooky Spyder Top Hat, Mr. Chuckles Make-Up Kit, Neoquest Wizard Wand, Spyder Web Staff, Spyder Web Mask, Autumn Umbrella, Autumn Tiara, Autumn Leaf Wings, Fall Planter, Harvest Feast Background, and Gobbler Music Track.

If you’ve found yourself owning any of the above, you should, again, count yourself a lucky NC Maller! It always feels good to own something that other people admire to acquire.

Here Lies Fluffy (commonly known around the boards as “Fluffy”) is an adorable left-side tombstone trinket with a floating ghost Angelpuss. For whatever reason, the NC Mallers go crazy over this item! It was retired from Halloween 2007, but had the rare chance of being awarded in the Spooky Halloween Mystery Capsule from Halloween 2008.

The Neoquest Wizard Wand and Spyder Web Staff were Superpack-exclusive items retired from Halloween 2008. Even though that wasn’t too long ago, the fact that they are Superpack exclusive on top of being retired, makes them both highly valuable! They are also two of the very few hand-held exclusive/limited edition items there are.

What’s NOT sought after? Well, some of these should be obvious, but for the laughs, I shall name some delightfully unpleasant NC items!

No one wants to be super fashionable and walking down the runway with a Flatulence in A Minor Music Track! Talk about embarrassing! Could you imagine the looks, the gawks? Just be sure you avoid this item (as well as beans) on your next NC Mall trip.

If you’re sporting the greatest and latest fashions, you won’t want to be distracting everyone from your stunning outfit by that giant, Gross Pulsating Pimple on your face! Eek! Make sure you continue using face wash daily.

You’re feeling ill? Don’t let it show! The Toxic Green Face Paint could really give away how you’re feeling while you’re the center of attention on your runway walk.

Lastly, if you’ve been laying out in the sun, hoping for a tan, don’t get a Sun Burn! That could definitely ruin the look you were trying for.

In closing, well... I say stop trick-or-treating the NC Mall Boards since autumn is out, and spring is in! So head over to the NC Mall and keep up with this season’s latest fashions! ;)