Galleries, this should say it all. That one word will evoke feelings of either tremendous excitement or tremendous annoyance. Either way, very few Neopians are unaffected by galleries.

What is a gallery? A gallery is when a Neopian becomes obsessive over a particular item offered in Neopia. A �collector� aka �seriously addicted Neopian� will go to great expense to purchase these treasured items. This Neopian will then place the items in their shops at unbuyable prices, which is anything over 100,000 neopoints, thus creating a gallery.

What kind of items can be used for a gallery? It can be anything in the world of Neopia that you would like. If you can put it in your shop, then you have the makings of a gallery. It�s one of the simplest Neopian pleasures you can experience.

Why do Neopians have galleries? On the surface, it looks like many Neopians love the challenge of finding new things. They also love the thrill when they place their new found treasure into their shop and price it at that obscene unbuyable price. Then of course, there is the feeling of victory when you have completed your gallery and there is nothing left to buy. These are all good reasons to have a gallery.
However, there is another hidden reason we have galleries. It is because of our never ending quest to frustrate ourselves to no end trying to collect something in order to feed our obsession with said Neopian item.

This would bring us to the one factor that both gallery owners and non gallery owners share. The incredible frustration felt when they can not buy an item for a reasonable price. It�s called the cycle of gallery life. Here is how this works.
Desired items are marked unbuyable. A non gallery owner can not buy the item they need. However, another gallery owner is also unable to buy the item needed to place in their own gallery. Some would call this ironic. Some would call this justice. This author just calls it funny.

Theres nothing a gallery owner enjoys more than a bit of humor. Trust this; they would have to have some humor to own a gallery. Humor can also help in those situations that all gallery owners face, dealing with the �informative� �rare breed� of Neopian. In a nutshell, this breed of Neopian will neomail gallery owners to inform them that the gallery of items is over priced and no one will buy from their shop at prices that high. Primarily, as gallery owners, they may tend to wonder at what time the �point� of the gallery was missed. However in the spirit of answering the most typical comment made to a gallery owner, you just put on yer pirate face matey and tell dem land luvin� �rare breed� that yer treasure is kept safe from them scurvy dawgs that roam the shops.

So with all this information about galleries, would this mean that galleries are a good thing to have or a bad thing to have? It all depends on your view point. For instance, the addition of the Gallery Spotlight could have come because so many Neopians love galleries. Then again, the Gallery Spotlight could be the reason for so many gallery owners. It�s kind of like asking the question, �Which came first? The Draik or the egg?�

From the poll taken and the increase in galleries, it would seem that the majority of the Neopian population supports and encourages the keeping of galleries.

�I think galleries are neat because people get to show off all of the things they worked hard for and it's neat to see all the different kind of galleries there are. I'm glad Neopets acknowledged that by making gallery spotlights.� - windywings2001

�If you're going to make a gallery, make it ORIGINAL. Put in some real EFFORT. Galleries can be awesome . . . but you have to put some time into it, or it'll just look dumb.� - guardian_spectres

�I'm certain some people argue that galleries are just a way to show how wealthy a player is, but I see some galleries as ways of showing how passionate you are about something. They can be a great insight into the type of person the owner is.� � beaujewel

�If you want a gallery, you need to be devoted!� - wonder_angelic

"Galleries, from what I've heard, are fun things to have (though we all know how expensive they can get) and maintain�� -- penguinlover258

"Galleries are an excellent way to show others what you're interested in." - lacking_logic

�Galleries are a great part of Neopian culture. They provide a new goal to achieve... the quest for the complete collection. It is so much fun to do, and to help others with.� - miafaery

Then you have the opposite view where many Neopians feel the frustration from the cycle of gallery life. Even though the number of Neopians anti galleries are in the minority, they do bring up some very good points.

�Galleries are things that players will spend thousands of neopoints on then have the items sit and rot in their shops. But, some are quite interesting to look at.� - falling

�I think galleries are wrong because if you really need something that is only sold in galleries then you won�t be able to get it.� - flower_power2003289

�What I feel about galleries is that they were nice when only a few people had them but now everyone has them! It is getting quite annoying especially if you need to buy something but you can�t because no one is selling it!� - lil_princess_0404

�I think galleries are made by people who have too much time on their hands and lots of extra neopoints.� - lexie117

�Galleries? They bug me. They are only used for showing off. I hate 'em.� - kochira_koso

�Personally, I think making a gallery is a waste of money.� - bill13125

�I feel that galleries are for the richer, bored-type of Neopians. It gives them something to do, a hobby to occupy their time, because they've reached a point where collecting NP isn't as important to them as other things.� - demon_in_paradise

Now you have a bit of insight into what being a gallery owner is like. It can be both fun and frustrating. Yet in the end, it can be extremely satisfying. So that brings us to the question, �To gallery or not to gallery?� That is the choice each Neopian must make.

Author�s Note: This article is written with humor for a bit of fun. I am a gallery owner myself and enjoy the challenges it brings. Who am I kidding? I eat, sleep and breathe petpets & petpetpets. I hope you enjoyed my article. Please feel free to offer comments.
My article has been published in the Neopian Times! Check out issue 108!