GM

Welcome to our 13 new subscribers.

Number Good. NFT gods pleased.

In today’s edition:

• This is the future

• Updated rankings

• New drops we found

More info on Mint/Watch lists HERE.

This is the future

Context

Yesterday popular crypto artist Fewocious finally revealed details around his upcoming FewoWorld PFP collection.

What you need to know:

• Date – August 21

• Supply – 20,000

• WL – for holders of Paint (free mint), Canvas, and other Fewo NFTs

• Public mint – should have at least a few thousand NFTs available

They also revealed an interesting wearables mechanic (more below) where you use Paint to mint cosmetic items for your PFP.

Our Take

Way back in the Time Before NFTs, video game connoisseurs had a very different idea of digital avatars compared to whatever it is we’ve been doing with PFPs in the last few years.

Gamers like Yours Truly understood that in most games you:

(1) Start off with a base character that generally looks like other players

And then…

(2) Equip that character with cosmetics, gear, or other enhancements through playtime, or by spending money if you were impatient.

Yes there were some games with player customization — choosing your hair color and things like that — but these were never the main event. The emphasis was always on end-game items that let others know you were “no longer a scrub”.

In Runescape it was Party Hats.

In World of Warcraft it was a Blazing Longsword.

In CSGO it was rare weapon skins.

And this was generally considered Good. People were happier – they called their parents more often and tipped more at restaurants, there were fewer divorces, etc.

But NFTs took a different route. The most popular collections chose instead to sell finished products with rarity already embedded from the start. The experience, the entire user journey, often ended the moment it began. Part of this was due to limited tech, but we can also blame a lack of creativity.

This led to some very stupid things. For example, we’ve been led to believe that all traits and self-expression must be baked into the collection from day 1. This means a 10,000 PFP collection needs to have 10,000 unique variations, which leads to watered-down art, forced traits, and an ugly set of floor NFTs.

As a result, you often get a very classic “NFT” look: a cartoon animal holding a mace in one hand, wearing a musketeer hat and a bone necklace while smoking a cigar with both eyes closed.

It’s hard to have a lasting emotional attachment to this kind of object, and more often than not their main utility is simply giving the rest of the world an easy target to point and laugh at.

Luckily, Dear Readers, there is good news. This meta is dying and it’s being replaced by something much more interesting.

Lately we’ve seen collections experiment with new forms of self-expression:

Reddit lets collectors mix and match traits from different avatars to form their own unique variations.

Opepen lets people opt-in to curated limited-edition metadata updates.

And now FewoWorld will let holders fill a “backpack” with wearable NFTs.

How it works

FewoWorld will be built using cutting-edge tech. Specifically, they’re using the new ERC-6651 standard, which we first covered here.

This will give every Fewo an inventory (backpack) that can be filled with wearable NFTs released over time. When someone decides to sell a Fewo, they’ll also be bundling anything held in that Fewo’s backpack.

The Fewos themselves will act as base templates for wearables. There are three “species”, but self-expression will mostly come from the items equipped in their backpacks.

Here’s an example of what that might look like.

That means the value of each Fewo is constantly changing. It’s not this fixed distribution based on some day 1 raffle. Instead you have this dynamic experience that keeps things from going immediately stale after mint.

It also means better-looking art. We have to let these creators cook, and that takes time. Opepen drops will likely be revealed over the course of several years, and I’m guessing that’s what we’ll see with FewoWorld as well.

Artists can finally take time to curate new drops and focus more on quality. Fewocious also confirmed he’ll be collabing with other brands for certain wearables, and one is already lined up and set to be announced soon.

Execution still matters a lot, obviously. All I’ll say is Fewocious is already one of the most experienced creators in the space (even though he’s only 20), and has actually worked on wearables in the past with brands like RTFKT.

All things considered, I’m more excited for this drop now than when it was just an art PFP. And I’m more bullish on where the PFP genre is heading in general.

NOTE: These drops are lightly curated. Our only requirement is that they have recognizable founders. As usual, DYOR. To learn more go here.

E30D #2 – Genesis by Claire Silver

Glitch Marfa, “an analog gallery for internet objects” led by notable art curators and founders in the space, just announced its June exhibition highlighting one of Claire Silver’s Genesis pieces.

We previously covered E30D #1 here, where the gallery showcased XCOPY’s Right-click and Save As guy, selling 332 digital posters in the process.

Starting today, they're offering a new 30-day edition of posters, limited to 1,000 pieces, each priced at 0.02 ETH. Visit their website for more information on the exhibition and minting details.

Automatic Messages by Aluan Wang

Taiwanese digital artist Wang Hsin-Jen (a.k.a. Aluan Wang), a 2-time winner at Digital Art Festival Taipei, is releasing his next collection, Automatic Messages, today on Verse.

The paintwork follows a style similar to Wang’s recent fxhash and Foundation works, a marked departure from the minimalistic audiovisual style seen in his 2021 Art Blocks release.

The collection’s 100 pieces will begin minting today at 1 PM ET for $200 each (~0.107 ETH).

6529 Meme Card #106 by Icki & by noCreative

6529 Meme Card #106 is due to arrive this Friday, featuring an unrevealed collaborative work by two artists specialized in 3D work, Icki and noCreative.

As always, this release will follow the standard 6529 model, with an allowlist based on collector holdings and a mint price of 0.06529 ETH.

An opportunity for those who’ve been priced out of the artists’ 1/1 work.

Interwoven by Emily Xie

Popular generative artist Emily Xie announced her next collection, Interwoven, which will release as part of the LACMA x Cactoid Labs project, Remembrance of Things Future.

The 100 unique works (priced at 0.5 ETH each) have been inspired by a historical piece in LACMA’s current collection, just like Xie’s first Remembrance release.

Xie’s work is well-liked by a plethora of web3 art collectors, to whom the connection with a historical institution like LACMA, should make this release quite desirable.

✨ Added to Watch List ✨

Trekki NFT

Nasdaq-listed company Trip.com is entering web3 with Trekki, a collection of 10k playful dolphin PFPs that will provide holders with benefits on the platform.

The project will feature a bunch of mechanics that you can read more about in this Medium post, including the ability to evolve your NFT through Trip.com orders, as well as staking.

Can’t say I’m holding my breath for this one, but will wait and see what else the team at Trip can do to leverage their existing audience.

THE MINT LIST

1. Project Animus. RTFKT's biggest launch since Clone-X

2. FewoWorld. New PFP by Fewocious, a rising star in the art world

3. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

4. 10KTF PFP. Drop from a team that includes Yuga and Beeple

5. Ether. Anime PFP collection by viii, an artist with a cult following

6. Garbage Friends. New PFP from the creator of Invisible Friends

7. Dimensionals - EVE. Free gaming PFP from doxxed studio

8. Glacier Dreams by Refik Anadol. AI art from the MoMA exhibitor

9. Tony Babel x Typical Friends. Limited edition from the popular artist

10. SIGHTSEERS l PERIMETER TOWN. Glitch art follow-up on sovrn.art