Well folks we’re not going to sugar coat it, it’s been a rough week for crypto. With coins plummeting left and right things feel a bit like FUD city right now. We’re here to let you know it’s going to be alright, just hang in there. WGMI
Amazing cover artwork by @komachidama
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Contents
Robotos
Domo arigato to the Robotos team who kindly took the time to answer a few questions to help us learn more about the hit NFT collection by Pablo Stanley. Since dropping on Aug 3rd last year the botos have been steady pumping to a floor price just over 1.1Ξ, featuring a ton of roadmap delivery from collabs to robopets. Let’s Drop in.
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KOMACHI
Our featured artist for this Drop is Komachi, the selfdescribed seductive illustrator and spiritual being has created some of the hottest NFTs in the Metaverse right now. With works available on Foundation, OBJKT and OpenSea, some viewer discretion is advised.
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AZUKI
Join us as we dive into one of the most exciting and innovative 10k projects on the market right now, with true blue chip potential - Azuki
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Coolmans
In a follow up to our Coolman’s feature in issue #14, we caught up with Dan to ask him some questions about the past, present and future of the project!
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Meta News
All the things you might have missed this week in the Metaverse.
B O O R
Robotos are a loveable collection of droids designed by Pablo Stanley. Algorithmically assorted from over 170 unique traits and rarities, the collection enjoys a floor price of just over 1.1Ξ and though 9999 droids were minted from the factory, only 10% are available for sale. Boto holders enjoy monthly NFT drops, a RoboPets companion series, some sweet merch and more collabs than you’ll know what to do with. The 2022 roadmap Is filled to the brim too with tokenomics, games, land and even an animated show! The artwork for the collection lends itself very well to branding, the cute and kid friendly droids are expected to become available as plushies by the end of the year and it’s clear the quality of the toys is a huge driver for the team as they are taking their time with this one, trialling potential suppliers and not just rushing in for the quick win.
If metaverses are more your speed, the Robotos team are working on 5-10 fully rigged 3D models that will be airdropped to holders for use in Decentraland, and we can’t help but wonder if eventually a pixelated version is on the cards given the rise of Worldwide Webb.
Fundamentally all NFTs projects boot-up or power-down based on community. What makes us bullish on Robotos is their attention to holder engagement. From IRL events, holder rights to create and distribute derivatives, and not to mention a DAO-like voting mechanism where community members can weigh in on proposals from the team. The botos have everything degens are looking for. Anyway, don’t take it from us – we had the pleasure of talking with the Robotos team who were willing to share some insights into the future of the project.
Q. The artwork for this
project is brilliant, the attention to detail & subtle animations all come together so naturally! How long has Pablo been drawing droids?
A.
Pablo has been drawing monsters, poops, booties, and robots as part of his lore for about 20 years. For his first collection, he spent one night designing the first concept and about two weeks designing the illustration system that included colors and traits like backpacks, glasses, helmets. His main inspiration for all the accessories is pop culture, the 80s, and 90s movies, and his personal life. The 9,999 collection was possible by mixing and matching all the traits with an algorithm developed by Zack Tanner.
Q. It’s not hard to imagine
Robotos landing some huge brand building partnerships, particularly in the realm of toys do the team have a
OT OS ‘white-whale’ collab they’re hunting?
A.
One of our biggest goals is to bring to life Robotos through art toys with a limited edition drop by partnering with leading toy makers. We are in touch with different from medium to large toy manufacturers. For example, one of them is someone that we really admire that has worked with Steven Harrington and Ron English in the past. We’ll be sharing more alpha during Q2.
Q. Could you tell us a bit
more about the tokenized assets? Does this mean holders will be able to customise their botos?
A. Yes! Currently, collectors
can customize their botos in our workshop. Specific traits can unlock specific customizations. But now, we want to take it a step forward. Suits for Robotos and Robopets will now be tokenized in a new collection.
To change the apparel of your Roboto, you would go to the Robotos Workshop, connect your wallet, choose your Roboto, and choose the clothing you want to wear. Every new suit will be a token now, so, to change the clothes, you need to have those tokens in your wallet too. These suits will be distributed in different ways like airdrops, contests, treasure hunts, and events. All the existing suits will be bundled into one single Classics token that will be distributed to all collectors. We’ll let collectors know when we take this snapshot and do this airdrop. We’re exploring integrating these suits and other tokenized assets into the Microverse. This will potentially happen by the end of Q1 or the beginning of Q2.
Q.
The project has been going strong since August, is there a milestone or moment
you are most proud of?
A. It has always been Pablo
Stanley’s dream to bring characters to life and create a universe around them. So definitely the biggest milestone has been our partnership with TIME Studios, an Emmy Award ® and winning TV studio, to create a Robotos-inspired animated TV show. NFTs are bringing art, community, and technology together to create something unique and innovative. We’re breaking new grounds and defining the future of storytelling and world-building. Pablo genuinely believes in the power of stories; they pull people together, express their culture and the values that connect them. Stories make us dream, believe in ourselves, give us meaning, transport us to other places, and make us stronger. We can’t wait to narrate the tales of our new characters and bring the Robotos and the NFT community along the ride.
₭OMACH Komachi is a digital artist and self-described seductive illustrator. Creating since 2003, the black sheep from a small town near Venezia is making big waves in the Metaverse. With over 10K followers on Twitter and works available across Foundation, OBJKT and OpenSea, Komachi’s work draws influence from Shunga, a style of Japanese erotic art. Though Komachi started out utilising photomanipulation techniques the artist quickly landed on illustrations depicting geishas and sensuality, ultimately combining the styles to represent and communicate the artists story, a woman, and her body, with wounds and scars. Her art explores the erotic and sacred meaning of sexuality, the importance of bodies communicating and sharing energy. The thin line that separates pleasure and pain. Komachi’s most successful collection blootyful consists of 23 1 of 1 vector illustrated pieces available for 0.111Ξ. This collection already has 14 proud owners and with only 5 items available on primary sale now is a good time to discover
HI and support this artist. We had the pleasure of chatting with Komachi to ask the artist a few questions about NFTs, art and what the year holds.
Q. What do you think about
art and it’s place in NFTs compared to generative 10K collections, gaming etc. ?
A.
NFTs give the opportunity to a digital artist like me to present art and find collectors that support it. There will always be a place for art and artists like me who will become more valuable and appreciated as popularity of NFTs grow. Gaming and 10K collections are one side of the NFT world, that people tend to approach like investments and then on the other side is art, but the value of art itself and even PFP collections is based on collective intentionality.
Q. Your first piece of 2022
just came out and it’s amazing - what is your goal for this year?
A. Thank you! I am very
happy with the result. I love to represent the invisible world
and this spirit is very close to me. My goal for this year is to be accepted on Super Rare and participate in other NFT events like back in 2021 when we had NFT.NYC in November and October in Beijing, China at Stratosphere.
Q. Who is your favourite
NFT artist & what was the first NFT you collected?
A.
I follow mostly illustrators but honestly no one special to me. Each of them tell a lot and I feel lost most of the times on their lines. I collected for the first time on HEN, though I can’t remember the name I spendt 0.1 txt!
Q. What artwork have you
created that you are most proud of?
A. The next one. Since I have
been an artist for 22 years now I can‘t decide but I know the next one will have the powers from the past. The artworks bring my energy of the moment and that’s how I identify them, as a Polaroid of that particular moment, a photo of emotions captured within.
AZU
Throughout the NFT explosion we witnessed in 2021, a handful of projects in particular managed to really harness gigantic communities that are both resilient and active. Perhaps one of the most popular and recent examples of this is AzukiZen, a metaverse brand incubated by Chiru Labs. There’s quite a lot to unpack with Azuki so we hope you can stick with us - whilst this team are still relatively new to the market, they’re already showing themselves to be true pioneers, carving their name in NFT history and raising the standard for PFPs in the space!
First of all, we have the wizardry of the devs over at Chiru. I think most of us are familiar with how expensive minting and purchasing NFTs can be, which largely comes from inefficiencies within the ERC-721 framework. The team went back to the source code for this, removed all of the extra/unnecessary stuff and repackaged it as ERC-721A. The result allowed for a smooth mint process - with multiple NFTs costing almost the same gas as just one - and will help to facilitate more transactions per block, due to the streamlined implementation. In order to
facilitate adoption of the ERC721a protocol and to provide an opportunity for other projects and communities to benefit from these gas savings, the Azuki team have open-sourced the protocol and are offering support to potential adopters.
Each anime-inspired avatar serves as a membership to ‘The Garden’ and doubles as a metaverse identity for the collector. When it comes down to the aesthetic of these tokens, once again there is no shortage of effort. With over 100 traits, spanning 12 different properties, the combinations for each Azuki are just about endless. That said, the supply has been limited to only 10,000 pieces, all of which can be seen in yet another incredible offering from the team - their very own gallery - which includes all filters and even a shuffling option to help you find your favourites! If you’re looking for something extra special then you can even flick the ‘golden mode’ switch and trawl through 313 tokens featuring the rarest, golden goodies! Finally, if you’re wanting to admire your own collection then you can also connect your MetaMask wallet and see your squad!
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UKI
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volume since launching just a fortnight ago! Part of this volume is comprised of several monumental transactions, with the largest so far sitting at two 150 ETH sales for pieces #3491 & #3628. To date, the fourth largest acquisition came from RedBeanDAO, scooping up #9605 for a whopping 120 ETH. If you’re curious as to why then they actually posted a short thread detailing their reasoning. Now, what does the future hold for those who decided to put their ether where their mouth is? Well, according to their ‘mindmap’, it appears there are a bunch of ideas that are in progress, being considered or even just pencilled in as potential long-term developments. These range from streetwear (including collaborations with existing brands), IRL events and collectibles, all the way through to a possible $BEAN token and the birth of a DAO around Azuki #40 - the beloved Bobu character. One key praise that the team deserves is their honesty when discussing the possibility of these plans and the fact that some of these will only be explored if a) the community wants it and, b) if
the circumstances are right. For anyone interested in finding out more about the values and vision for the project then this is also part of the mindmap, alongside the manifesto. If you’re looking for some of the ‘investment metrics’ then worry not, I haven’t forgotten about the data nerds amongst you! At the time of writing, Azuki currently boasts a very healthy distribution as the avatars are split amongst 5.6k owners. It also looks like the majority of holders are sitting tight with their diamond hands for now, with only a smidge below 20% of the collection up for sale. Of course you’re more than welcome to keep tabs on the LA-based team via their Twitter or Discord. However, with such a stunning website, why not make use of the updates page? With an interactive, chronological timeline of events, it’s a great way to laser-focus on what’s happening, avoiding the noise of your fellow NFT degenerates flooding your timeline!
Q
Q&A
and supply shortages/delays... I definitely didn’t want to promise something 6 months from now only for it to be canceled. Prioritizing quarter by quarter, while constantly scheming about what else fits with the big vision, is the most powerful way to do it.
Q. You obviously have a
massive online presence for your art and animation. What was the catalyst for transitioning into NFTs and was there any pushback from fans?
A. One day over the summer,
as generative NFT collections became more prevalent, I realized the Instagram feed I’ve been building for years kinda looked like an NFT collection already. The different colored backgrounds and the different animated characters in the foreground really made it click in my head. Digital art is digital art, and this was a new opportunity to learn and have some fun. I was stoked to be able to explore this exciting new community and bring these characters that I’ve been working on for so long with me. I think because I’ve been building up this animated universe for many years, the pushback was virtually nonexistent.
Q. The roadmap is stacked.
Between merch, IRL meetups and fleshing out the brand, how do you plan to manage and prioritize all of this as a team?
A. The logic behind releasing
roadmaps quarterly is so we can execute on all of it... with plenty of room for surprises. With the current landscape of shows getting canceled last minute
Q.
For all the aspiring projects out there trying to make it, what do you think was the key factor for Coolman’s success?
A.
Authenticity is key. Being real with my story is what got people on board, which is a huge honor of course. I would suggest not getting caught up in other projects and how their team handles themselves. Learn from them, sure. But do you. You’re the special sauce that these other projects don’t have, and that’s how you’ll stand out.
Q.
Commercial rights for holders is a hot topic these days, what’s the deal with Coolman’s?
A. We’re releasing the official
verbiage along with our huge beautiful website update! Holders having rights that inspire them to use their Speshies in fun, creative ways is a must. Stay tuned!
Q. Although the project is
still relatively new, is there
a milestone or moment you are most proud of?
A.
Having dinner with Clon and Vinnie Hager. Mint day for Coolman’s Universe was only a few weeks ago, and while hanging out with them, I’ve never felt more welcome with warm open arms. I took a moment to look around the dinner table and appreciate the magical moment. I few months ago I was nervous about trying something this new. But after that dinner, I’ve never felt more inspired and motivated.
Q.
Back to the roadmap, what are you most excited for? Are there any Drop Magazine exclusives that you can perhaps tease, beyond what’s been released?
A. The animation screening in
NYC is going to be legendary. I’ve heard multiple people say they’ll be flying to New York exclusively for that event. That blows my mind. It’s a neverbefore-seen, fully-produced animated episode that I wrote and directed with a few (rare) familiar faces, with voices from Cody Ko, Trevor Wallace, MeatCanyon, DashieGames, Francesca Scorsese, and of course... yours truly. I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s truly possible for this cartoon universe. And let’s just say... there will be special perks for those who attend.
This week in the M (Jan 24th – 31st 2 It looks like there’s choppy waters in the OpenSea… In a bizarre move earlier this week, the OpenSea Support account came out with news that they would be changing their storefront contract to only support up to 5 collections, with up to 50 items in each. This was a real blow to many, especially smaller and/or emerging artists, as this would force sellers with larger collection sizes to migrate to their own smart contract - not something which just anyone from the street can whip up and therefore introducing a large barrier to entry and unnecessary expense for those needing to hire a developer. Whilst the original tweet stated that this was a response to feedback around creator tools, it’s incredibly difficult to imagine who this actually came from. Following the announcement, there was an instant tidal wave of backlash, including from large names in the space like VincentVanDough, Path and Cobie. Needless to say, OpenSea has since decided to cancel the change, with a groveling excuse for good measure. However, every cloud has a silver lining and we did get this banger of a tweet from a great parody account!
Pirates of the OpenSea Yeah, we’re rolling with the sea puns today… Deal with it! Anyway, getting to the news itself, we witnessed yet more sales drama come to light this week. It appears a handful of bots and badactors in the space were able to scoop up super cheap NFTs by triggering sales via old listings. Whilst many were quick to take to OpenSea’s Twitter with their pitchforks, the cause of this was actually multi-faceted. Firstly, we have people trying to circumnavigate delisting fees - it costs a good chunk of gas to cancel a sell order and so several users opted to go down the cheaper route of transferring the asset to another wallet and listing it there instead. For projects like Bored Ape
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acht Club, many collectors did this onths ago and have since decided to ove their apes back to the original allet. However, as the actual listings ere not cancelled on-chain, this eant that the contract was still ctive and could be executed in order trigger the sale at whatever price as set at the time. For an unlucky w, this lead to a number of brute rced transactions, massively below e floor price, including 0.77 ETH r BAYC #9991 and 6.66 ETH for 8924. Unfortunately, these were st 2 examples of BAYC, MAYC, Cool ats, CyberKongz and more that the allet exploiting this bug managed to apitalise on. Though it looks like they
sent some ETH back to their victims, it’s also apparent that they cashed out several hundred ETH, of course routing it through Tornado Cash. Now, the second route of this exploit was definitely on OpenSea this time. After the whole fiasco with CryptoPhunks being banned from the marketplace, all listings were removed, but only client side in the sense that they could no longer be seen or searched for. Under the hood, the contracts and sale listings were very much still active and anyone wishing to exploit this could therefore do so by triggering these old listings via genie. For a bit more of a detailed breakdown, you can check out this thread.
With thanks to ou
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Issue #16 - 30/01/2022 - Was written by Drop Magazine & @Psy0x with support from @robotosNFT, @komachidama, @AzukiZen & @CoolmanUniverse Always DYOR