GM

I can confirm that the grass is ready, you may touch it now (then promptly return to your screens).

In today’s edition:

• I’m liking this free Anime drop (3 days left)

• New drop added to Mint List

• 5 new drops (including the feature)

More info on Mint/Watch lists HERE.

Did you know?

We have a premium pass that gives you access to a directory of every drop we cover, complete with detailed information on how to get on every whitelist (including those underrated ones that aren’t already full).

And for those curatooors out there, you can get free NFTs just by finding drops that end up on the Mint or Watch list.

Lastly, hang with me and the MoS team in a private discord with weekly voice chats. The vibes are great.

I’m liking this free Anime drop

Context

Weebox, an upcoming platform for licensed Anime digital collectibles, is releasing a free Genesis collection soon.

Holders will be guaranteed allowlist to Season 1 of Weebox, as well as their upcoming San FranTokyo PFP collection.

Applications to mint will remain open until July 24. You can sign up here.

Our Take

Amazingly, there are people out there who still think the world is flat.

But even crazier, there are people who think Anime NFTs won’t be huge.

These rare individuals look just like us, they eat the same food, they can hold small talk at the local taverna, but their facade breaks down as you notice them walk away on all fours dragging their knuckles.

The truth: Anime is, and will continue to be, the flagship genre of the Terminally Online generation.

It blends perfectly well with identity, gamification, and memes. So it’s no surprise that every emerging social tech, like Vtubing and AI characters, finds support from the (increasingly large) community of weebs.

Now, critics might argue that we haven’t seen any Anime NFTs break into the mainstream so far.

And that’s true, although you can say that about any genre of NFTs really.

But would you bet AGAINST Anime being part of the first project that does go mainstream?

Probably not. Whether it’s:

• A fashion collab like Clone-X

• A game like DigiDaigaku

• A high-end PFP brand like Azuki

• A Vtuber brand like IZUMO

• A storytelling experience like 10KTF 

There are just so many angles where success can come from.

It’s going to happen.

But now here’s the thing. You might notice that this list doesn’t include any of the established brands that already have millions of fans. It’s mostly indie creators trying to make new IP from scratch, which…is kind of hard.

Weebox is taking a different approach

They see a world where large Anime brands will soon start selling digital collectibles and figurines to fans, and they want to be their storefront.

The plan is simple: Partner with major manga publishers, animation studios, and figurine companies to launch digital experiences.

What kind of experiences? They still haven’t given all the details yet, but one angle could be taking physical collectibles and combining them with ERC-6551 tokens and storylines that could add a new layer of fun and identity.

(interestingly Benny Giang, the dev who made ERC-6551, is an advisor)

For example, this Goku action figure is fungible, in the sense that two people can own essentially the same toy with no real differences between them.

But now imagine each Goku toy acting as a ticket into a set of virtual experiences where you can level up, earn other NFTs, etc.

That makes them all far more unique. Walking into someone’s room and seeing Anime merch will only tell you half the story – you might ask what NFTs each toy holds, or what utility they’ve unlocked, or what level they are, etc.

This all sounds cool, but it requires serious biz dev skills

Weebox’s team is completely doxxed and has deep experience in entertainment – including founder Daisuke Iwase, who also acts as the CEO at Animoca Brands Japan.

And they’ve already started to get some interesting partnerships, like Afro Samurai and Ghost in the Shell.

The free drop happening in early August will lead to their genesis PFP characters that exist in San FranTokyo, the fictional city where the Weebox storefront is “located”. It’s fun lore and a polished site.

While we wish we knew more…

About what the end game experiences will look like, and what they’ll be priced at, there’s enough here to get even the coldest of weebs excited.

✨ Added to Mint List #7 ✨

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

Fini x Zapper

Digital avatars could soon be algorithmically linked to a portfolio tracker near you, as Fini (formerly Finiliar), makers of cute animal software, team up with popular onchain tracker Zapper for a mysterious drop next Tuesday.

We expect Ed Fornieles’s adorable, tamagotchi-inclined, 3D beings to take center-stage for this mint, which Sam Spike, Fini co-founder, suggests could be more than just a token.

Ground Level Garden by Vinnie Hager

Floor, a web3 mobile portfolio tracker and market aggregator, just unveiled ICONS, a series of 10 weekly drops that’ll be sold exclusively on the Floor app, affordably priced between $19.99 and $49.99.

Their first release is Ground Level Garden by popular web3 artist Vinnie Hager, an open edition featuring his signature doodled style, reminiscent of his most famous work to date, Letters.

While we’ve seen many a NFT platform pivot into art drops in the past months, Floor offers an interesting application for these, as ICONS can be used to customize the look of the user’s mobile app.

loackme Verse Untitled

loackme, pseudonymous generative artist known for his monochromatic work on Tezos, joins the recently announced Verse drops and will release his own in mid-August.

Mint details are scarce, but I’m personally liking some of the sneak peeks, especially for digital display.

KAIJU ORIGINS: The Journals of Stod

Kaiju Kingz, a prominent pixel PFP project from the late 2021-early 2022 NFT bull market, cryptically announced a mint for late August.

While the seeming validity of PFP NFTs keeps eroding, making it hard for me to be excited about this drop, I confess I’ve enjoyed some of Kaiju Kingz’s recent smaller activations, like their merch, so I’m curious to see what this mint’s about.

The Mint List

1. Taproot Wizards. OG Bitcoin meme inscribed as ordinals

2. Themes and Variations. Sotheby’s showcases pioneer gen artist

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

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

5. Symbiogenesis. Square Enix's upcoming gaming NFT

6. Shadow Hats. Ordinals drop from the creators of Forgotten Runes

7. Genesis SFT Pass. Digital anime collectibles from a notable team

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

9. Memeland [TBC]. High-value treasure MVPs minting on BTC

10. Proof Grails IV. Proof flexes their art curation abilities for a 4th time