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Stamp Phantasia: Mystery Island


by kuroge

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The Mystery Island Stamp album has a variety of stamps. Some stamps in this album are among the cheapest stamps out there; however, other stamps in this album are so rare that their price tags are in the hundreds of millions. Because this album contains a few stamps that are very common, you probably have a handful of Mystery Island stamps in your album already—that is, if you’ve ever bothered to add any stamps to your album.

While the prices of the stamps in this album were not always so enormous, the demand for the avatar associated with the respective stamp album and the dwindling supply of certain stamps that are no longer being released have skyrocketed the prices.

In this guide, I’ll be explaining the origins of the Mystery Island stamp album, and reviewing the availability of the stamps in the album. The Mystery Island stamp album was the first stamp album to be released all the way back in 2002. That was nearly ten years ago!

Please note that any price tags that I associate with certain stamps are subject to change with time, and are simply estimates.

The Mystery Island Kougra Stamp has the lowest rarity of all album items ever released at a rarity level of 20. It can almost always been found lying around in the Neopian Post Office, simply because of its abundance. At most, this stamp is worth a few hundred neopoints, and can be easily obtained. This stamp was also amongst the first to be ever released.

The Triangular Flotsam Stamp, Zeenana Stamp, Assorted Fruits Stamp, and the Mystery Island Hut Stamp all have rarity values in the 60s. Therefore, all four of these stamps restock frequently and in high numbers in the Neopian Post Office. Consequently, their prices are very low, and any beginner stamp collector should be able to easily obtain these stamps.

The Island Mystic Stamp, Ryshu Stamp, and the Jhuidah Stamp all contain rarity values in the 70s. These stamps will restock with less frequency than the previous stamps and in fewer quantities, but these stamps should also be fairly easily obtained through the Neopian Post Office or the Shop Wizard. For any stamp collector, these stamps should not be hard to acquire.

Although the Mystery Island Heads Stamp, Island Native Stamp, and Haiku Stamp also have rarity values in the 70s, I placed them in a different section, because these stamps have been widely distributed as prizes for Key Quest. Consequently, these stamps are extremely cheap. It is much cheaper to purchase them off of the Shop Wizard than from the Neopian Post Office, as they are worth about only a couple of neopoints each.

The Coco Stamp is one of the more rare stamps in the album at a rarity level of 80. Other than the five rarity 99 stamps in this album, the Coco stamp is the most expensive stamp that can be bought in the Neopian Post Office. That is not saying much, however, as this stamp can be obtained at around a price of 25,000 neopoints.

The Mystery Island Aishas Stamp was once rarity 30, but has since been retired, and therefore has been assigned a rarity level of 180. This particular stamp was among 15 items that were randomly retired on January 28th, 2010. These items were retired because they showed a tendency to clog up shops, sometimes preventing other items from restocking. Although it is now retired, since its rarity was so low previously, there is still an abundance of these stamps in circulation. However, because many people are investing in these stamps, hoping for the price to rise, the current price of one of these stamps is still fairly high.

The Need a Better Printer Stamp, Upside Down Island Acara Stamp, One Hundred Million Neopoint Stamp, Misaligned Printer Stamp, and Nibbled Cooking Pot Stamp occupy the last row of stamps in the Mystery Island Album. These elusive stamps are all placed at a rarity level of 99. Therefore, these stamps will restock in the Neopian Post Office very infrequently. Because of their rarity, they are valued at millions of neopoints. Any collector who wishes to obtain these stamps will mostly likely have to tread to the trading post to trade for these stamps. Even then, very few, if any, of these stamps can be found.

The Island Acara Stamp was previously a stamp that restocked in the Neopian Post Office, but was retired on October 28th, 2003, giving its rarity level of 180. Because this stamp has been retired for so long, its price has grown significantly. There are a number of these stamps in the circulation, but collectors should be prepared to pay a hefty sum for one of these stamps.

The Bottle of Sand Stamp, Island Uni Stamp, Tombola Stamp, Mystery Island Chef Stamp, and Mystery Island Kiko Stamp are no longer being released, as they were a part of the Great Stamp Giveaway event back in 2002. Their rarity values are all 101, so they will not restock in the Neopian Post Office. Although these stamps may have been in abundance when they were first released, they are almost non-existent today. If you want to find one of these stamps, you’ll have to search very hard, or hope that Dr. Sloth will auction one of these off as a part of his Grundo reeducation plan. Some of these stamps, such as the Mystery Island Kiko Stamp, are priced at several hundreds of millions.

The Mystery Island Grarrl Stamp is another rarity 101 stamp in this collection. Unlike the previous stamps, this one was a prize for winning a particular Better Than You competition. Because a limited amount was released, this stamp has a price tag around the stamps released during the Great Stamp Giveaway event.

And that’s the 25 stamps needed to complete the Mystery Island stamp album. Although some of these stamps are very common, others are almost nonexistent, because of their very limited availability. This stamp album is perhaps the hardest and most costly to complete. Perhaps you may even figure out how to get the avatar associated with this album. Good luck!

 
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