Hey jammers, welcome to the first history and rarity examination on Animal Jam Spirit! I thought that this being the first post, we should examine the popular yellow item of old...
The Founder's Hat!
Check below the page break for more info on this fun head item – one that is older than many jammers realize...
The "beta ages" of Jamaa were a testing period for the game. Beta Animal Jam was fairly small, and advertised mainly to the National Geographic Kids audience (magazine and website). The beta testing took place in the summer of 2010, and lasted until September 9.
Items sold before September were deemed beta. So...
betas – items sold from July 2010 to early September 2010
rares – items not currently in stores/easily won in games
Hope that clears a few things up.
Now, contrary to popular belief, Founder's Hat's aren't actually beta! They were based on a similar item, the Top Hat, which was sold during the beta testing. Founder's were in fact sold soon after beta ended, during the next update on September 23, 2010.
As you may have noticed, the Founder's Hat is a member item, and always has been. Jammers who had played during beta, the "beta testers," were given one month of membership by AJHQ, as a thank-you for their help. This meant many beta testers purchased the new item, which disappeared from stores later that year.
Since it's an old item, it used to have a more flat icon, before AJHQ revamped a lot of the 3D visuals around Animal Jam. There has been hope (and fear) of AJHQ bringing back the Founder's Hat, especially during the Hatapalooza of January 2013.
Though the Top Hat's did return, the Founder's Hat sadly (or happily?) enough did not. Some speculate that it will never return, as it was sort of a gift to the jammers who helped test Jamaa, making it the game it is today. Tis why it's called a Founder's Hat, right? A shiny gold top hat for the founders of Animal Jam.
A reference to the Founder's Hat exists in Tunnel Town as the golden Founder Bunny, extra special and free for a limited time!
These were given only during the first week of Tunnel Town, and now can only be bred by breeding them with each other – very exclusive! So as of now, it appears these items, the Founder's Hat and the Founder Bunny, will remain out of stores, and sadly out of reach for many jammers (and towners?). But don't lose hope!
Founder's Hats are highly desired, but not especially rare. There are plenty of chances for you to trade for your own Founder's Hat. The trick is working with small rares and gradually getting bigger and bigger ones. Who knows, maybe you'll find someone who'd like to trade a Founder's Hat for the items you have. Good luck in your search, and happy jamming! What rare should I feature next?
Click here to see more rares of Jamaa!
Click here to go back in time in Jamaa's history!
Click here to see more rares of Jamaa!
Click here to go back in time in Jamaa's history!
