PPT Gallery Spotlight

Written by: Meowth1982

Morningstar, often considered the forum mother (at least to this reporter), has one of the best galleries this side of Neopia. Plushie Haven is huge, a work in constant process and more than worth PPT's Gallery Spotlight! I got a chance to sit down and interview Morningstar recently about her wonderful gallery...

1. What is your gallery theme exactly about?

I have a “soft toy” gallery, though most people just refer to it as a plushie gallery. It is on the account kitty_gallery. It contains plushies, dolls, and soft toys, and some non-toy items that are plushie related, like books and furniture. I collect soft toys and dolls in addition to pure “plushies”, because my guild counts those toward our total in determining our rank within the guild. I do not collect the magical plushies (too expensive) nor the usuki dolls (no offense to the usuki lovers out there. They just remind me too much of Barbie dolls). I currently have 820 plushies/soft toys/dolls and about 20 plushie-related items in my gallery.

2. What exactly inspired you to start a gallery?

When I started playing almost 3 years ago, I immediately fell in love with the plushies. I never had a lot of stuffed animals as a kid, so I guess I sort of fell into a second childhood. I remember being a newbie and saving up for a purple poogle toy for my pets. It cost more than the other poogle toys, but the color was so awesome that I had to splurge and spend the 100 neopoints on it. And, that was the first plushie I put in my gallery and is still my favorite, by far.

My current gallery was not my original plushie gallery. When I started playing, I started a plushie gallery. Which then inspired my daughter to start a plushie gallery. My daughter is Natalie, who is a “lapsed” member of PPT. You might remember her. Her screen name was Baby Poogle Eater. And, we pretty much were in competition with each other. So, I suggested that, rather than the two of us trying to buy two of each plushie, we combine our galleries. And, so I moved my plushies to her account. And, eventually, she tired of collecting plushies, while I got more and more addicted to collecting them. So, she graciously allowed me to take it over.

My idol at the time I started was plushiesrus. Who, for reasons still unknown, is no longer with us. She had almost every plushie out there. When I started collecting, I had no idea that someday, my gallery would become as big as hers. But, here I am.

3. How long have you had your gallery?

It will be three years in January, 2006.

4. Are you close to completion? If not, how many more things do you have to go?

Ha! I got a chuckle out of that one. I have had people tell me that my gallery is the biggest one in Neopia. I don’t know that for a fact, but if I am not the largest, I am within the top 5. And, I still need over 130 “soft toys” to “complete” my gallery. Some of which I will never be able to afford unless I decide to rob the Neopian National. Many of the ones I still need cost multi-millions.

5. What is the one item for your gallery that you wish you had?

Well, the one plushie that keeps escaping me is the baby bruce plushie. When I see it for a realistic price, I don’t have the points. And, when I have the points, that plushie is nowhere to be found. Or the person selling wants bajillions for it. Which I will not pay.

But, probably the one I really wished I had is The Bringer Plushie. It was given out as a prize for the Maraquan War to a very small select group of people and, at one time, was going for 40 million.

6. Anything additional you'd like to add?

I belong to The Plushie Guild, which is the oldest plushie guild in Neopia. It was started in June, 2001. It is a bit low key, but a nice place to hang out and commiserate with fellow plushie addicts. The original council members still run the guild, which, I think, says something about how great the guild is. And, new members are always welcome.

When I started collecting, you needed about 500 plushies/soft toys to complete a gallery. Today, you need about 1030 or so. So, quite a lot of plushies have been added in the three years that I have been playing. I almost quit about 18 months ago, when I realized that I would never, ever be able to complete my gallery. And, many plushie collectors did quit. Because, so many plushies had been released, that it was hard to keep up. Some of them felt like they were taking 5 steps backward for every 1 step forward. And, I did quit for about two weeks. But, I missed the fun I had collecting the plushies. There is no greater excitement than finding that one plushie you have always wanted for a great price.

So, once I realized that I wouldn’t ever be able to complete my gallery, I relaxed and really started having fun collecting plushies. To me, it really isn’t about the numbers. Nor is it competitive. I admire and respect all plushie collectors, whether they have 5 plushies or 820. Because it is a thankless job. And, new plushies just keep on coming.

Next to my purple poogle toy, my most favorite plushie has to be my Shop Wizard plushie. When I play Neopets, I pretty much live on the shop wiz. And, that plushie represents me. After years of trying to snag one for less than 10 million, I got one a few months ago for about a ninth of that.

Oh, and one more thing. People ask me how I got so many plushies. I honestly look around sometimes and wonder that myself. I guess it is a bit of business savvy and perservance. I play Neopets sort of the way I would run a business in real life. I have figured out a way to make a lot of neopoints—without cheating or scamming. And, learned how to buy plushies. That rarity is important. That you never pay full price. That supply and demand is very important. That, sometimes, you need to be patient and not rush out to buy plushies, just because you have neopoints burning a hole in your pocket. But, instead wait for bargains to come along. And, you need to keep an updated list of all of those you are missing, so you can keep an eye out for bargains when you are plushie hunting. That list is so important and sits next to my computer, every time I play Neopets.

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So that's it for this week! If you'd like to apply for PPT Gallery Spotlight or any of our spotlights (Gallery, Site, Pet, Lookup or Petpet) please PM meowth1982 on the forums.