Toys “R” Us, NFTs, and the Future of Storytelling
I’ve been pondering the connection between story and NFTs. Storytelling is a fundamental part of our human experience — it finds its way into our art and culture, and invariably the products we create.
In the current zeitgeist, new platforms have risen for storytellers allowing them to share and grow their visions in novel ways. Specifically, I’m speaking of NFT marketplaces like OpenSea — It is the most widely known and best example, however there are several prominent ones, and many more on the horizon. All things considered, these places still tend to share the same negative stigma as cryptocurrency, which is technically an earlier use case for blockchain technology — this would include the idea that it has an involvement with money laundering and other illicit financial behavior, or specifically in the case of NFTs, that it’s ridiculous to spend money on a jpg when you can just right-click and save it (this is a whole separate issue, and a story for another time). As unfortunate as this stigma can be, many who understand the technology behind NFTs espouse the positive things it can bring to light, chief amongst them being its ability to empower creators and their audiences.
With the space growing exponentially in the past year, supported by record-setting sales nearing $25 billion and increased public awareness — successful drops combined with engaged communities could realistically kick start the next generation of world renowned IP’s. Could you imagine a simple PFP collection on OpenSea evolving into a worldwide phenomenon like Star Wars or Harry Potter?
If this evolves into a standard process, creators can be elevated by a more democratic process, buoyed directly by online communities, rather than have their creative fate decided by the decades old model of boardrooms calling the shots. Buying an NFT can be a new and more effective way for people to support projects — allowing the creators to reap more of the benefits of their hard work, collect royalties for subsequent sales, and invest in future phases of product development.
History may have a story to tell about the future of NFTs
Successful entrepreneur and NFT advocate, Tom Bilyeu, makes an excellent point about the similarities between NFTs and IP’s borne from the 80's. Many properties actually started out as toy lines, often with just a shallow idea of any story. From the Care Bears to He-Man, the toys were primarily style over substance in hopes of catching kids attention and draining parents wallets. Subsequently, many toymakers released cartoon series to put stories behind their products, and of course sell more toys. Despite seemingly coming into existence as long-form toy commercials, cartoons like G.I. Joe and Transformers still captured the imagination of their audiences — these franchises built out universes, presented appealing characters and stories, connected with their target demographic, and maintain cultural significance and massive profitability even today.
The NFT market in early 2022 is abundant with character-based NFTs, much in the way that shelves in Toys “R” Us circa 1987 had the whole spectrum hanging from the pegs — future cash cows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stood side by side with forgotten, albeit sentimental favorites, like Battle Beasts and Rock Lords. Like their 80’s predecessors, the NFT space will likely have its winners and losers. NFT advocates can only hope that the success stories can evolve from being simple collections of artwork to developing deeper stories — incentivized by token holders and engaged audiences, one would hope creators big and small would be emboldened to build out their ideas in an infinite number of mediums.
We may be seeing this process start to play out already.
A few months ago, Larva Labs, creator of CryptoPunks, inked a representation deal with one of the biggest agencies in the entertainment industry, United Talent Agency, signaling a move towards growing their property. Although CryptoPunks’ aesthetic is simple with its Atari-era graphics, its unquestionable success has been in part driven by its innovation as algorithmically generated art. The collection of 10,000 pixel-art characters possesses little in the way of back story, and thus presents a blank canvas to build upon in developing everything from merchandise to TV series to metaverse experiences.
Bored Ape Yacht Club goes in a different direction, putting the power back into the hands of the people by granting full commercial rights to its holders. Each Bored Ape gives permission to its owner to build IP around the NFT they hold — derivative works, merchandise, video games, you name it — all of these are in play for a creator(s) to produce and profit from.
It will be interesting to see where this all leads, and if the connections between the past and present mentioned prove themselves true.
Thanks again for stopping by. I’ll see you next time with more insights.
-The Founder
I’m a digitally native artist and creator of the Invisible Wonders Group, where I work under several pseudonyms including Black Hole Jr., Pretty Goo, MeowMix, and more. I’m an enthusiast for NFTs, the Metaverse, and Web3, and committed to sharing thoughts and insights from the ground floor.
