JubJubs are one of those Neopets that are just certified Creatures™. These guys have a very specific aesthetic to them which I can best describe as an 80s retro toy look ala a Troll doll or Furby. However, they’re much cuter than most 80s toys, sporting big eyes and soft fur. I’ve never been super into them myself, but I appreciate how unique they are compared to the rest of the Neopet species out there.

What’s also interesting about JubJubs is that they’re the only Neopet species without any upper limbs, which means that they use their prehensile feet kind of like hands. (This also causes them to not be super popular on the NPC front, as it’s hard to anthropomorphize something that’s literally just fur and feet. Which is a shame—I’d love to see more JubJub characters out there.)

I will say that my one basic grievance with them is that I never liked how they always have orange feet and eyebrows by default regardless of color. Feels like they should’ve just been a darker/lighter shade of the base, or a more neutral tone. Of course, plenty of PB colours fix this anyway.

Strictly speaking the JubJub’s post-customization design is fine, but there’s something just slightly off about it compared to the old art that I can’t put my finger on. The foot always being up in the air is part of it, but part of it is also the eyes just being a smidge further apart and the fur being a more even shape. Still, for the most part they haven’t changed drastically.

Favorite Colours:

Coconut: While not technically a species-specific color as Chias also come in it, coconut JubJubs are pretty iconic in their own right, appearing on Mystery Island frequently. Any JubJub color that plays around with their inherent roundness is fun, and I like the little tassels under the body that connect the feet to the rest of it. The orange feet also work better here, being a complimentary color to the brown.

(There’s also an unconverted version, which sports crescent markings, different eyes, and a round mouth. It’s not bad, but honestly it always felt really uncanny to me.)

Maraquan: What a nice color this is! Not only is coral a great fit, sort of playing around with the shape of their fur, but the colors are also beautiful—an orange-ish middle that becomes blue at most of the outcrops, with a complimentary magenta for the feet. Something about the mouth and nose here looks especially cute as well.

Halloween: Come on, it’s a pumpkin! You can’t not like it. While it lost its glowing eyes in the conversion, this design still looks great, sporting carved jack-o-lanturn facial features and a distinct pumpkin shape. The orange feet also now compliment the orange body, while the stem provides a nice pop of color. Great stuff.

(Side note: some of the unconverted art shows the pumpkin as more of a costume with a regular red JubJub inside. The converted version doesn’t have pb clothing, and frankly I’m glad. It’s much more fun to just think that it’s literally a pumpkin than a JubJub that just happens to be in a pumpkin.)