Someone Made $17 million in NFTs This Week…

Gm, coolkidz.

I'm sure you have heard of Tyler Hobbs, who raised over $17 million from a single generative art collection - QQL! It's crazy… NFT culture is nowhere near to being “ded”.

Anyway, welcome back!

For those who are new, we bring you the biggest NFT and web3 brand news every week, keeping you well-informed on what’s brand new in the space.

Here's a quick summary of what we'll be going through today:

- FlickPlay x Sandbox: Creating an AR Experience with Exclusive NFTs

- Funko Pop! launches Game of Thrones Collection: A Huge Partnership involving Phygital NFTs

- Flexing Your NFT with Mastercard: Spend crypto, FIAT, and more with your NFT-themed Mastercard

- Warner Music Group x OpenSea: Creating an Optimized Space for Musical Artists

- Balmain Fashion House: First-ever Fashion House To Launch an NFT Membership Club

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FlickPlay and The Sandbox Join Hands - With an AR Experience in the Works

FlickPlay, an AR social platform, has partnered with Sandbox to launch a Sandbox-exclusive collection of NFTs.

These NFTs come with special traits, with some giving you $LAND tokens, others voxelated versions of Flickys, and even Sandbox LAND!

FlickPlay gives people the chance to find Flickys and collectibles in real-life locations, using AR technology. Yes, very much like the game that broke the internet, Pokémon GO.

When the time comes, you will be able to mint Flickys on their official website. And if you're lucky enough, you may even find them IRL, in other words, getting the Flicky NFT for free!

Mint dates and prices are yet to be announced. But that's not all.

For the second phase of this collaboration, the Sandbox will be undertaking the huge challenge of going AR. This means NFTs in the Sandbox will be displayed IRL with Flickpay's AR technology.

Traits of holders' Flicky NFTs are also phygitals - so they can claim physical versions of their digital collectibles in this phase.

This partnership is exciting - with the Sandbox leveraging off FlickPlay's incredible AR experience, and FlickPlay joining the larger ecosystem. Perhaps when the AR feature rolls out, we could see Flickys becoming the next streetwear fashion trend.

Game Of Thrones Funko Pops Have Finally Come To NFTs

The cute and iconic mini-figurines have arrived! Introducing, Funko Pop! - Game of Thrones edition, but in NFTs.

So how would this work?

Funko Digital Pop! is partnering with pop-culture NFT minting site Droppp to launch this collection. This is an official collection, with Warner Bros also roped in partnering with Funko Pop.

NFTs are sold in packs, with the standard going for $9.99 (5 collectibles) and the premium for $29.99 (15 collectibles). There are a total of 31,250 standard and premium packs each to be minted.

If you're fortunate enough to mint a “Legendary” or “Grail” NFT, you will receive an exclusive physical collectible, that matches your digital one!

Alternatively, you can collect one of each Digital Pop! (from common to epic), and receive a physical collectible specially designed for this challenge.

Minting starts on October 4th, 2pm ET, and runs all the way to the 11th. With millions of diehard fans of the G.O.T. series, this collection is already looking like a big hit!

In fact, this is perhaps one of the few times where huge brands are partnering together (Funko Pop!, Warner Bros, and G.O.T.), entering the NFT space all at once. We're really going mainstream.

Get your wallets ready, the mint launches soon on Droppp!

Flexing NFTs on Your Mastercard is Now Possible

Mastercard, the credit card and financial services giant, is taking a leap into the niche of NFT culture. While this is not Mastercard's first foray into the space, it is definitely one of the first to bring NFTs to mainstream payment services… the irony!

Mastercard is partnering with Hi.com, a European crypto and fiat exchange. They will be rolling out a series of debit cards with top-tier NFTs displayed on the cards.

Holders of NFT collections such as BAYC, Azukis, Moonbirds, CryptoPunks, and Goblintown will be applicable to receive custom-made cards. NFT verification from holders is necessary - no “Copy-pasters” allowed.

With this partnership, card-holders can deposit crypto and fiat into Hi, thereby spending these currencies in day-to-day life. Talk about managing all currencies with one NFT-themed card!

Sean Rach, Co-founder of Hi, commented: "Not only do the NFT cards look amazing, this is a great way for people to show which online community they belong to, but in the real world."

Unfortunately, these cards are only available to those in the EU region, as well as the UK, for the time being. Hopefully, this brand endorsement will help propel NFT culture mainstream, like in local grocery stores and provision shops!

More Artists Incentivized To Join Web3 With The Help of Warner Music Group and OpenSea

The music sector is pretty much under-represented in the web3 world. With the recent collaboration of Warner Music Group and OpenSea, this may change.

A select group of musical artists will get access to OpenSea's latest features, granting them customizable pages to launch their NFT projects on. They can share their vision, organize limited-edition collections, and more.

All of this is done in the name of connecting musical artists to fans in a much more interactive manner, whilst making it easy for the creators themselves to execute.

Oana Ruxandra, chief digital officer at WMG, said: “Fundamental to music’s DNA, is community – it's artists and fans coming together to celebrate the music that they love. Our collaboration with OpenSea helps to facilitate these communities by unlocking Web3 tools and resources to build opportunities for artists to establish deeper engagement, access, and ownership.”

Warner Music Group is simultaneously collaborating with Web3 Production Company, Probably Nothing, on the first collection of Music NFTs.

These two big brands are among the first to dip their toes into the vastly unexplored space of Music NFTs. Who will be next?

Balmain's NFT Membership Club

Balmain, a French luxury fashion house, is partnering with premium NFT mint site MINTNFT to launch “The Balmain Thread”.

The Balmain Thread is an exclusive members-only club, token gated with NFTs in the collection.

The club comes with a host of benefits, such as tickets to high-end events, exclusive rewards, and even voting privileges. More benefits will be unveiled along the way.

For a start, members of the Balmain Thread have been invited to the Balmain Festival at the ongoing Paris Fashion Week.

This collection consists of 10,000 NFTs. Membership NFTs will be made available on MINTNFT, with proper onboarding and identity verification.

Balmain CMO Txampi Diz, comments: “We’re excited about the future that lies ahead, as the physical and digital continue to merge, offering us new ways to introduce this house to broader audiences, as we build upon Olivier Rousteing’s determination to further democratize fashion.”

Interestingly, Balmain is pushing for a seamless transition of members into the web3 space, championing using blockchain technology, yet without the need to involve oneself in the intricacies of crypto. This could be the first few steps of luxury houses bringing traditionally-inclined clients into web3.

And that's a wrap!

Thanks for staying till the end, and we hope you’re now better informed on NFT brand activity this week in the space.

Going back to the creator who netted $17 million in a single NFT collection, do note that this isn't his first. Likewise, consistency in delivering quality web3 projects will bring brands to greater heights.

If you have anything you'd like to see added, don't hesitate to notify us!

Hope to see you IRL at NFT Paris, February 2023! Till next time, coolkidz.

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