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Welcome to our 17 new subscribers.

I hear some of you touched grass this weekend and enjoyed the outside world. Don’t let it happen again.

In today’s edition:

• Haven't seen this hype in a while

• Updated Mint & Watch Lists

• Fresh drops we found

More info on Mint/Watch lists HERE.

Haven’t seen this hype in a while

Context

Typical Friends, the NFT studio started by Invisible Friends artist Markus Magnusson, announced an upcoming drop with Tony Babel, a popular animator known for his 1930s-style cartoon loops. This was first covered here.

It’s the first Typical Friends artist collab. Price, supply, and mint date are still TBD.

This is the second Typical Friends drop to land on our Mint List after Garbage Friends.

Our Take

Typical Friends just took a big step. One thing is forming a studio around a single artist like Markus Magnusson, but showing that you can also attract other top creators to your ecosystem throws you into an entirely different tier.

And so here we have their first collab, and it’s a strong one.

Tony Babel is a master of his craft. He’s the Hattori Hanzo of vintage animated loops. You can feel the results of his nearly 20 year career in all the little details that pop up the longer you stare at one of his works.

The music, the smooth animations, the expertly chosen color palette, the clever transitions – everything works together to transport you back into the 1930s, or at least to the first time you played Cuphead.

It’s worth going through his socials and seeing a couple of these loops for yourself.

Now personally, I like this genre. I’m not going to go screaming naked into Times Square throwing elbows into the crowd until everyone agrees it's life-changing art. But I do like it.

The internet, however, really really loves it. I didn’t think vintage cartoonists could receive Rockstar-like adoration, but Tony Babel gets pretty close.

His Twitter page alone has 262,000 followers, his Instagram has 156,000 followers, and even simple posts with some behind-the-scenes looks into his art can get upwards of 7 million views.

This tweet from 6 hours ago already has 300,000 views and 12k likes, and that’s more or less in line with the rest of his feed. Wild.

Bottom line: there aren’t many crypto artists with a larger fanbase than Tony Babel.

This attention has also turned into impressive market sales. His 1/1s often go for around 20 ETH, including sales to some impressive collectors like Punk6529 and Punk4156. A rare artist that is appreciated by both fine art collectors and degens alike.

As usual, the one thing that could ruin the show is oversupply. We’ve seen this a lot recently with founders who haven’t adjusted to the changing market conditions.

Fortunately, it seems that Markus is well aware, as seen in this recent tweet.

If this is closer to their recent Ooze Friend drop, that could mean a supply below 500, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation.

All things considered, if this kind of art makes you feel things you didn’t think were possible, then here’s your chance to collect from one of the best in the game.

✨ Added to Mint List #9 ✨

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

Metamorphoses by Miss AL Simpson

Prolific cryptoartist Miss AL Simpson will release her next collection Metamorphoses this Wednesday with the esteemed Kate Vass Gallery, whose founder is an OG in the space.

Metamorphoses will be the second collection to use the gallery’s 0KAI technology, allowing on-chain integration of long-form AI art. It will also serve as the inaugural release in the gallery’s upcoming series, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

This 100-supply collection will mint through a Dutch Auction, with prices ranging from 0.69 to 0.19 ETH.

Death Before the Bloom by Aluna

Wildxyz’s upcoming mint, Death Before the Bloom, is a 3D experience by singer-songwriter Aluna Francis, which will begin minting this Wednesday at 7 AM EDT.

The experience immerses viewers in the progressive decay of a Victorian manor. Each of the 111 artworks captures a distinct moment in the collector’s unique experience, inviting collectors to check back and capture the moment when their experience and token match.

code.lawless Free Claim

Ponderware’s enigmatic project, code.lawless, has announced the next phase in its on-chain narrative: a free claim for each lawless character on June 19th with promises of groundbreaking on-chain mechanics coming soon.

The mint for characters is still open, allowing anyone interested to join before the June 12th snapshot for the claim. Alternatively, the characters are also available on secondary.

THE MINT LIST

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

2. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

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

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. Dimensionals - EVE. Free gaming PFP from doxxed studio

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

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