Today marks a historic moment in Neopia. As the final prize of the 2025 Neopets Advent Calendar, the legendary Ancient Hourglass has been distributed to every active player. Once an exceedingly rare artifact from the Smuggler’s Cove, its sudden re-emergence has sparked massive debate across the Neoboards.

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The New Year’s Eve Surprise from the Advent Calender : Dec 31, 2025

For years, the Ancient Hourglass was a “mythical” item. Originally released at the Smuggler’s Cove for 500 Dubloons, it was retired quickly and became a prize only the wealthiest collectors could afford.

By awarding it on December 31, 2025, TNT has effectively “deflated” one of the rarest items in the game. This follows a recent trend of making historical Battledome items accessible to the general public, ensuring that newer players can experience Neopet history without needing hundreds of millions of Neopoints.

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Ancient Hourglass Frequently Asked Questions

As players pull this item from their stockings, certain questions have begun trending on search engines and fansites:

• “Is it a 100% freezer?” Historically, no. Most data suggests it has a random chance to freeze. The flavor text—“When the last grain of sand falls…”—implies the freeze is not instantaneous or guaranteed every turn.
• “What does Semi-Fragile mean?” In Neopets terminology, this usually means the item has a chance to disappear forever upon use. However, some items labeled “Semi-Fragile” simply break for the duration of the current battle. Exercise extreme caution until the community confirms if this specific version is permanent.
• “Can I equip two?” No. Like all freezing items (Sleep Ray, Freezing Potion), you are limited to one freezer per pet.

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Neopets Battledome Stats & Abilities

The Ancient Hourglass is a product of an older era of the Battledome, where “dual-duty” items (items that attack and perform a secondary function) were rare and highly valued.

Statistic	Details
Attack	5 Earth Icons
Primary Effect	Chance to Freeze the opponent for one turn
Usage	Once per battle (Limited Use)
Rarity	r101 (Special/Retired)
Equip Limit	One freezing item per pet

Tactical Analysis

While 5 Earth icons might have been impressive in the early 2000s, it is virtually non-existent in today’s “power creep” meta. For comparison:

• Sleep Ray: 100% Freeze, 0 Icons.
• Ancient Hourglass: ~Unknown Chance Freeze, 5 Icons.
• Moehog Skull: 100% Freeze, 15 Icons.

Because the freeze is not guaranteed, most competitive battlers rank this as a 1/10 in terms of utility. It is often outperformed by cheaper, 100% reliable freezers like the Random Firing Freeze Ray or the Sleep Ray.

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Verdict: Gallery or Battle?

Unless you are a beginner with no other freezing items, the Ancient Hourglass is best served as a centerpiece for a Gallery. Its history as a Smuggler’s Cove item and its beautiful, classic artwork make it a prestigious item to display, even if its combat effectiveness has faded with time.