Page One #21
Goblin Town: Week 1. May 4 - May 10
Announcements and such:
Super excited to announce that my friend Boffin has joined the P1 team and will be covering something many degens are not familiar with: actual art. He’ll be doing interviews with a bunch of great cryptoartists and putting those out weekly on Thursdays. If art (or NFTs, or coins) aren’t your thing, you can choose which sections of P1 you want to receive as emails in the subscription settings.
Also, Gem has been a bit wonky over the past week or so. If there are persistent problems with links, please let me know and we’ll figure it out.
Anyway, probably okay to say we have officially arrived in Goblin Town now. Do Kwon and Zagabond have duked it out to see who can delete the most value in the shortest span of time (although in very different ways) and the rest of the market looks like it might want to join the competition.
In an effort to raise moral I am giving away a tubby cat to one very nice shiller who retweets Page One today, so find that on my Twitter. I’ll do random draw and buzz someone tomorrow evening. In the meantime, hit me up with feedback and press the button below to come hang out in Goblin City, Utah.
TLDR:
3Landers acquired their Biomes (which make great cover photos)
Azuki has had a week full of reveals - good, bad and ugly
Blvck Genesis sees another fashion brand jump into Web3
“Crypto Packaged” GOODS: Pop mints on the 14th for allowlisters
Doodles get a new CEO and an airdrop announcement
Forgotten Rune Warriors Dutch auction starts today at 1PM EST
Ether Orcs released their updated game, Dungeons
Ivy Boys is the debut project from BRRC, an incubator for art and fashion
Kuroro Beasts brings Pokemon mechanics to the blockchain
Mindblowon channels 3,000 comics into an avatar collection
Murakami Flowers spring from their seeds
NFT Worlds Genesis Avatars minted last week
Phantom Network proves the anime meta will never die
Ragnarok revealed on Tuesday
rektguy is a gift from OSF to all of us, the rektguys
News and Notes:
3Landers introduced Biomes last week on the 5th. Acquiring one of these resource-rich lands (that doubles as a cover photo), holders were required to burn their Adventure Bag. While the Biomes’ purpose has not yet been defined, the team implies they will be important in their Medium post detailing the mint. 3Landers have crafted a bit of a narrative around their ambiguous universe and seems to have more in store sometime soon(ish).
Azuki had an eventful week as BEANZ revealed and Chiru Labs welcomed Rehito Hatoyama, former CEO of Hello Kitty parent company Sanrio, to the team as an advisor. A fresh week brought fresh news from Zagabond: in “A Builders Journey,” he admits that he and (some of) the Azuki team were also behind CryptoPhunks and two lesser-known projects, Tendies and CryptoZunks. The community was understandably split - there are too many details and opinions to discuss here, but you’ve certainly seen them by now. The market reacted almost immediately with Azukis selling for as low as 8Ξ amongst the whirlwind of sales activity (BEANZ and Bobu took a similar hit). The controversy and price decline continued on Tuesday as Zagabond joined Andrew Wang to discuss the situation in a Twitter Space, although it did not inspire much confidence and Zagabond later apologized for his comments in the Space.
Doodles had been a topic of conversation last week as rumors of an airdrop swirled. The speculation was confirmed on the 8th when they announced each Doodle can claim a Dooplicator starting on May 12th. The announcement came two days after Julian Holguin, former President of Billboard, joined as their new CEO. While not the first Web2 executive to find themselves in command of a Web3 community, it’s a reassuring signal that the space is continuing to garner respect from accomplished individuals. The coming weeks will introduce the next phase of Doodles and should feature a full roadmap rollout. Watch their socials for more info on Dooplicators.
Ether Orcs launched their updated Dungeons game on May 5. The expanded game sees players assemble their Orcs to battle in turn-based combat for loot that can be used to upgrade your Orcs. As one of the first on-chain games of their kind, Orcs have shown they can deliver while maintaining the community’s attention over a span of months. The ecosystem is rather complex - too complex to explain it all here - and now includes four collections: Orcs, Shamans, Ogres and Rogues. Check out their docs below for the full rundown.
0.35Ξ floor | 5,000 supply | free mint | minted 10-11-21
Murakami Flowers began sprouting from their seeds on the 7th. They briefly held CT’s attention as many wondered why the weird flowers - a Murakami signature - were this expensive. The collection brings an endearing feel to the classic flower, affixing them with many of the space’s favorite traits while holding true to Murakami’s history. Currently about 7,300 of the 11,664 total flowers have been revealed from their seeds, which sit at a substantially higher floor around 6Ξ. Murakami is not your normal project founder and does not communicate like one, so watch his socials for more info about what comes next.
Ragnarok revealed on Tuesday and took a tumble, bottoming around 1Ξ before stabilizing in the mid-1’s range. Given the state of the crypto market, this was rather expected. The art has been a bit divisive - opinions are certainly mixed - but the collection maintains a consistent feel. While inspiration from other projects can be spotted, Ragnarok did a great job differentiating their art in a way that feels familiar yet unique. Next on the roadmap is in-game characters and breeding, which are both expected within the month of May. Ronin 1671, shown above, sold for 17Ξ on Tuesday.
Recent Launches:
Blvck Genesis, the debut avatar collection from lifestyle and fashion brand Blvck Paris, minted last week. Blvck had previously sold NFTs on MakersPlace and participated in Decentraland events but had not yet put together a full generative collection. Genesis avatars grant holders access to exclusive merch, benefits and events as well as an allowlist for the Blvck Membership, which will release in Q3.
Ivy Boys is first collection from BBRC Studios, an “incubator for art, fashion and culture” hoping to help bring more Web2 creators into Web3 under a single, integrated ecosystem. Ivy Boys is the product of three years of work by South Korean artist and designer Aaron Chang, best known for his collaborations with New Balance, Grocery and other clothing brands. Holders receive commercial IP rights to their NFTs and can expect priority access to the BBRC ecosystem, merchandise drops and other unannounced benefits in the future.
Kuroro Beasts Silver Ferry Tickets minted last week, each of which entitles the holder to one starter beast. The Golden Ferry Ticket was minted in late January and nets holders an additional Origin beast as well as higher chances at rares. Kuroro Beasts is “the first-ever on-chain PVP RPG,” sending players out onto Kuroro Island to train, battle, and breed their beasts in an effort to conquer the island. With concepts drawn nearly straight from a Pokemon game, Kuroro hopes to create a rich and entertaining universe for players to explore on their beast-battling quest. The team has been working diligently to provide transparency regarding the distribution process and timeline - get the details in their Medium below.
Mindblowon is the product of seven years of comic strips created by Indonesian artist LickPalik. He started TAHILALATS (Indonesian for skin mole) in 2015 and has since published over 3,000 comic strips online while garnering 12M followers across platforms. The Mindblowon universe is an expansion of sorts, building on what TAHILALATS has been creating for years. While there is currently no roadmap announced, it’s likely safe to assume LickPalik and team have some stuff in store.
Phantom Network sold out at the top of their 2Ξ Dutch auction last week. After dipping shortly after mint, the shadowy anime avatar collection (sort of) stabilized around 4Ξ. They’ve shown surprising strength despite the wider market drawdown and may continue to hold up until they reveal - when that happens is not yet known. We did get more information regarding the project itself, though: $PXN token and White Boxes (loot boxes filled with $PXN, cosmetics for Ghosts, or whitelist spots) are on the horizon, while each NFT also serves as an access token to their web app. The Ghosts will likely reveal sometime within the next week or so, but watch their socials for an official announcement.
Upcoming Launches:
“Crypto Packaged” GOODS: Pop mints on May 14th. The supply of 2,777 is fully allocated to those on the allowlist, which there was a public PREMINT raffle for. Pop grants holders access to most of the CPG network, including the CPG Incubator, Genius Calls, IRL meetups, the Data Room, daily market reports, allow list raffles and more. Their Genesis collection grants holders access to a network of 300 mentors from a myriad of professions and sectors and currently sits at a floor of 26Ξ.
Forgotten Runes Warriors begin their mint today with the Dutch auction. Beginning at 1PM EST, 8,000 of the 16,000 Warriors will go on sale at an opening price of 2.5Ξ, dropping 0.05Ξ every ten minutes until it reaches 0.6Ξ or sells out. It is a fair price Dutch auction, meaning each buyer can claim a refund for the difference if they do not pay the lowest price. Holders and those on the mintlist can purchase Warriors tomorrow at 1PM and any remaining supply will be sold to the public on Friday - both the mintlist and possible public sale will be priced where the DA ends. Forgotten Runes are one of the more respected projects in the space that may not always get the shine they deserve and is certainly worth checking out if you haven’t.
rektguy is the debut avatar project from OSF, the artist/consultant/Rug Radio host/ape. OSF has fostered a genuine community of collectors, both with his limited works on SuperRare and with Degenz, the resource-focused avatar collection he created with Rug Radio co-host Mando. rektguy features in most of OSF’s artwork and will be a free mint with the majority of the supply allocated to holders of his previous works. The thread linked below has more details but lacks a release date, so stay frosty.
NFT Market Overview:
When they said NFTs are illiquid, this market right now is what they meant. Volume has cascaded downwards since Monday and when it returns will be up to the mercy of the wider markets. Included below are the NFT-500 and Blue Chip-10 Index charts from Nansen. The NFT-500 is still +25% on the year while Blue Chip-10 remains at +36%. Things have been higher, yes, but they could certainly go lower. There will be incredible deals this week - where and when? That is anyones guess.
Luna looks… bad. Risk of this size will not stay isolated to one silly algo-stable. We saw massive illiquidity on Monday as floors flew downwards and holders raced to the door. Seeing that again - even within the same week - is not improbable, especially if majors, stocks and/or defi continue their express trip to Goblin Town. So please, no playing with money you can’t afford to lose. Be safe and be well, gang.
Other NFT Happenings
Adidas has taken a snapshot for a “surprise”
Invisible Friends and Kith partner to auction nine Kith Friends on May 18
Kahiru puts a 3D spin on the anime avatar meta
Midnight Breeze holders can order prints soon
Pixel Vault’s GFunk pens a short letter to the community on the one-year anniversary of Punks Comics #1
SkyVerse, minted May 9, is the first virtual land collection set in the sky
Unemployables team is already working on the next drop
General News
Blur marketplace goes live in Beta
Kraken announces their first foray into the NFT space
Luna, UST, Do Kwon are DOWN VERY BAD
Instagram is preparing to integrate NFTs
Samsung plans to create their own metaverse
The Vatican is creating an NFT gallery