Not so Coconut Shy

     Every day, Leeroy has hundreds of neopets and their owners stepping up to the plate to get their hands on his coveted coconuts.

     “This place is a joke!” some customers have said.

     “It’s rigged! It never falls down! How can a coconut even stay up like that?!” another one exclaimed.

     Leeroy hears comments like that all the time, so in honor of Quiggle day, we’ve asked him to talk about his stand and his story, about how he got the idea of the world wide phenomenon, Flaming Coconuts and his Coconut Shy stand.

     Hundreds of neopians come to the stand to try their shot at getting their hands on Leeroy’s Evil Coconuts. One neopian has mentioned that they’ve heard Leeroy shout “Hit those nails in harder,” indicating that his coconut stand actually nailed the coconuts to the stand. Many neopians already believe the notion that it’s just a waste of time to keep going back, but Leeroy had something to say. “That’s just not the case – I don’t know if these people have some selective hearing but I was definitely talking about hitting the nails into the stands to make sure they stay!” claims Leeroy.

     His tent set up and patchy pants don’t give him the best impression either but he is so much more than the eye could see. Leeroy calls his coconut stand ‘art’, and he lives his life like a true artist does. His love of coconuts make it easy to clean them out and use the shell for designs for all neopians to collect - but at a cost. Leeroy wants you to prove you are worthy to receive a coconut.

     Each coconut prize was crafted by Leeroy, inspired by his surroundings and what he has to work with so it’s understandable that he has a strong connection and a hard time letting them go so easily.

          “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Leeroy says. “It’s not supposed to be flashy or sparkly. They’re evil coconuts and those that have an eye for them will understand the true beauty.”

     Leeroy has lived in Haunted Woods for majority of his life so naturally, he saw things. He saw faces in dark shadows, faces in places they should not be, and he worked with whatever light he could to get through the woods. His life was all about survival. Learning how to set a campsite and light a fire was everything to him. He’d light up a torch out of whatever branch was big enough to see where he could stay for the night. His torches were the only guide and protection he had for a while.

     There aren’t many places to call home, but Leeroy somehow always found somewhere to stay until his next adventure. There was more to this life than picking up scraps and surviving. He knew that he wanted to make his art. He knew he had an eye to craft some of the greatest things Neopia has never seen. He didn’t want to stop there. He wanted to add some fun to it and thus, the idea of Coconut Shy came to life.

     Leeroy was not always ambitious. His goal was never to live drowning in materialistic things. He wanted to give people something new, something innovative. He wanted to give Neopia something to desire.

     His coconut designs were very simple at first. He’d take the nearest stone to carve out faces like he’d seen in Mystery Island, only with a darker twist. Leeroy spent weeks on these coconuts until he finally took his 25 favourite designs and created the infamous Coconut Collection – ONLY obtainable from him.

     “It’s rigged! The coconuts never falls down!” some neopians say about his stand. It’s not true. Leeroy never wanted the game to be easy. He understood the concept of supply and demand and knew that for people to see the value in his coconuts, they had to be harder to receive. He didn’t want just anyone to have his collection – he wanted to know people came to his stand because they understood the value of what they were going for.

     Legends have it that there is only one Coconut in the collection that is particularly special to Leeroy. He does not reward winners from his stand this coconut and that is because it was extraordinarily unique. The myth of the Flaming Evil Coconut has been debunked.

     Leeroy claims the story behind the Flaming Evil Coconut had come to him in a dream. It was one of the very first Coconuts he added to the collection, and therefore his most favourite design. The Flaming Evil Coconut was once a rare plushie that, according to him, smelled of dung. It was almost so unbearable, he had to set it on fire to be rid it forever. And once he did, he noticed the essence the flaming plushie had and realized he loved it so much.

     He began to set flame on more things. Leeroy began to see the light and decided to combined it with his art. He took all the coconuts he created before and carefully restructured them so he could set parts on fire. He tested this with other coconuts, after he ate them all, and started testing the functionality of carving the holes for eyes and mouth. It only took him an extra two weeks but Leeroy finally figured out how to sustainably add the fire. Thus, all of his coconuts he previously created now had the infamous flaming touch. He was ready.

     It’s been years since Coconut Shy has been introduced to the neopian world, and we have a lot to thank Leeroy for. Without him, there probably wouldn’t be as much fire… and there certainly would be a lot more coconuts in the world… but hey! It has been known for bringing joy to the selected few lucky winners and Leeroy was quite happy with his work.

     The next time you come around to the Haunted Woods, don’t forget to stop by the Coconut Shy and give it a shot. It’s may not be the most shiny, exquisite prize but it is something Leeroy would want everyone to experience once. And again. And a few more times after that. Flaming Coconuts? Why not? Couldn’t hurt, right?

          Good luck.