~Out Now and Coming Soon ~

[Dragonflitter]

Ugh the collectable's box even says NFT on it... I think I'm going to hurl... 

[Minty_Magic]

https://digital.funko.com/drop/48/my-little-pony-series-1

 Funko strikes again. A digital pack of cards? Seriously? Lame!

Wait wait wait. If you can eventually redeem the NFT cards for a PHYSICAL collectible…..is it not fungible at that point? These are like a horrible evolution of blind bags. Spend $10 and you get a nothing with a small chance of a toy! I’ll just go buy a scratcher lottery ticket I’m playing with stupid odds like that.

I hope this NFT nonsense dies soon. I’ve read up on it, it’s been explained to me and I still don’t get the point. Seems like a massive waste of real money and real energy to claim rights to something that is not real. I hate it.

[Leave a Whisper]

I don't get it either.

[Carrehz]

I honestly don't get it either. I can more-or-less understand selling digital art files, that's just like commissioning art or buying physical art pieces right? But the token thing is where it loses me. Waste of time and money, I'm really looking forward to this fad dying out.

It's bonkers since I've seen some artists justify it by "It's a way I can make money off my art!!" and like ??? just sell prints and keyrings/badges/whatever like normal people?

Going back more on topic, yeah what the heck is UP with these Funko Digital POP things o_O So you have a chance of pulling an NFT that you can redeem for a legit one... the heck?? Funko already sell a ton of blind box toys, why on earth would anyone go for one of these over a blind box? At least then you're guaranteed to get SOMEthing tangible?? I don't get it.

[Leave a Whisper]

I honestly don't get it either. I can more-or-less understand selling digital art files, that's just like commissioning art or buying physical art pieces right? But the token thing is where it loses me. Waste of time and money, I'm really looking forward to this fad dying out.

It's bonkers since I've seen some artists justify it by "It's a way I can make money off my art!!" and like ??? just sell prints and keyrings/badges/whatever like normal people?

Going back more on topic, yeah what the heck is UP with these Funko Digital POP things o_O So you have a chance of pulling an NFT that you can redeem for a legit one... the heck?? Funko already sell a ton of blind box toys, why on earth would anyone go for one of these over a blind box? At least then you're guaranteed to get SOMEthing tangible?? I don't get it.

Because they're greedy. At least Rarity is a dime a dozen in terms of how much merch she has.

[BlackCurtains]

NTFs are a scam, aren't they...? They sure seem like it.

[SweetNightmare]

NTFs are a scam, aren't they...? They sure seem like it.

I've seen some artist use them in a legit way (basically like an addition to a commission that people purchase) so in those case I feel like it's a legit way to suport artists.
But in most cases NFT's don't have any much artistic worth, people buy them only just hope that someone else will want to buy them from you for a higher price.

[Delphian]

I think the best description I've seen of NFTs is "virtual beanie babies." It's insane that big companies like Nike, Coca-cola, etc are all trying to market NFTs like they're a real thing that has any value whatsoever.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I think in this situation, it's more like the NFTs are just a coincidence.

NFTs blah blah

I'm used to NFTs being like the Neopets drop recently or the Bored Ape stuff, where it's like "you get a unique token linked to an image that you can use however you want, you own the rights" while the Funko stuff is more akin to Quidd. Just virtual collectibles that just so happen to be linked to NFTs. I think if it were just the digital things alone...whatever. I did Quidd in high school, I play Webkinz, I understand the appeal of virtual collectibles.

That Funko is putting them out on a platform connected to NFTs in the state of the internet today is laughable, though. NFTs aren't really a big thing outside of investor circles right now. I'm sure the Funko thing is easier to break into than your standard NFT, and they don't seem to be pushing the NFT part of it that hard, but most of their target audience (pony fans, not crypto bros) at least thinks that NFTs are a scam.

I think the best description I've seen of NFTs is "virtual beanie babies."

I always dislike this interpretation because Beanie Babies have value. You can hold them. You can trade them. NFTs do not give you the image, the item, whatever. They can point to a link that hosts the image, though, so they are susceptible to link rot and situations where the link could be rerouted to something obscene. It's like if you owned a receipt that said you had a Beanie Baby, but you risk that Beanie being taken away from you at any time (unless you host it on your own website, I guess? then that's your fault). Beanies also weren't marketed as a valuable thing in of themselves, at least originally. NFTs are largely an investment now. (So I guess the modern interpretation of Beanies?)

I'm so burnt out on them that I'm mostly just offended that the chances to win a physical pop are low. I could understand if they don't want to do a full-scale run on these, but I think they'd just keep more goodwill with the community if they made them exclusives to small online businesses. Loungefly does that a lot with some of their Disney bags, and Loungefly is OWNED by Funko, so what's the deal?

Anyway.

Each digital pop is $2 each, but you'd have to buy in increments of $10. Rarity has a .28% chance of getting pulled, and the other physical releases are 1.72% chances. There is a Funko Freddy Spike who seems to be reserved for those users who complete their collection (Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic). This one would be ridiculously expensive, there's over 50 cards to collect.

[Goanna]

  Funko MLP NFTS?  Nooo thank youuu

[Carrehz]

Tailrust -

More NFT discussion

I don't really care for the Beanie Baby comparison either since, yeah it's a fad and some people are definitely overestimating the value, but at least Beanies are a physical thing.. NFTs are just so bizarre to me. I totally understand the concept of a virtual collectible. I've paid up for stuff on virtual pet sites before. (as an aside, did the Neopets NFT thing actually go ahead then? I heard about it when they first announced it, but then it seemed to vanish without a trace... I don't really keep up with Neo these days, though, so idk maybe I missed something) I used to be pretty active in the adoptable community on PonyIsland and that's the same basic concept, cute little images sold for money (in-game currency mainly, but real money too sometimes). Or you could also compare it to an in-game purchase for a phone app or whatever. I understand NFTs from the point of "collecting cute virtual stuff"... but with the things I mentioned... it's understood that if the site goes down, they're all gone, right? (Well, you can always save the image, though.) And that it's all just for fun?

But the NFT = BIG INVESTMENT!! angle, that's what I find so baffling. It's just an image?? I genuinely can't wrap my head around the token thing or why it's even necessary lol, like... what difference does the token make. How is that different to just doing the ol' right-click save-as and saving the image... I guess you get the "token" (for all that's worth!) but.. I dunno. It's one of those things where I keep reading about it and I just can't figure it out.

The Funko game thingy itself seems innocuous enough, it seems just like the Pokemon online TCG thing maybe? But it's weird they even went for the NFT thing, they're doing so well without them so why even bother going there? Clearly they think there's enough of a market for more MLP POPs to warrant making them at all so, yeah, why not just do a limited/store exclusive release?? Or, I dunno, some sort of online lottery/raffle thing where you buy a ticket and get a random figure in return, and some are rarer than others. Something. IDK I just think there's an odd mix of elements going on here. It feels like it started off as a decent idea and then went awry somewhere down the line.

edit: Just wanted to say, I love that we can have a thoughtful discussion on something like NFTs here. I love this board.

[Taffeta]

I don't know anything about the NFT and maybe it's generational but yeah.

On beanies - they were marketed to be collectables to a great degree, albeit not all of them had that mission. But I remember when they came out and the emphasis on trying to make them collectables, especially the bears, and the inflated prices that came with them. I shunned them for a long time because of that...unlike MLP, which was a naturally occurring collectable, they had been wound up into one.

BUT they are/were real items.

On PI - I think things are ok now, but I know of at least one pretty messy incident over adoptables on that site, involving rlc. But then I dot in and out and was away from it for a long time so didn't witness most of the drama. However I do remember having to give up my adopts when I hiatused in 2008 - I gave them to a friend else they would have been forcibly 'resold'. That included one I won in a contest. It seemed a bad practice and if the NFTs are like that then I would be a bit wary of them.

Going back on topic, in Primark today, getting lost looking (unsuccessfully) for a sunglasses case, I stumbled on a top for a kid - maybe age 4 or so - with the G5 ponies on. I do have a picture but it's on my phone. It was  pink and had sunny and company on it.

Additionally, why are the really tacky small G5 figures with mad hair (yes, Izzy, I mean you) retailing in Entertainer for £7?!

[Carrehz]

Yeah I can remember several dramas involving adoptables on PI. The repossession thing depended on the rules/owner of the adoptable though. Most of the ones I was involved with back in the day didn't do that.

They're not really comparable to NFTs though since adoptables are 'just' images, NFTs have some token thingy attached to them too. I don't really understand all of that biz though, or why it's necessary :s Like I said, that's where I get lost with NFTs. Online collectable images I understand, the token thing I don't get.

Ah, I saw some new G1 PJs in Primark too - I'll try and get a photo up in the next couple of days.

[Aflame]

  NFTs ???

[Taffeta]

I got the pictures off my phone

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This one has shorts as well, they're summer pjs.

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And this was in the kids section.