Funko brings Transformers to NFTs with digital pop packs, and only about 2 percent of buyers can redeem a physical figure. The crew digs into the gambling odds, the energy cost and what a sellout might teach Hasbro.
The Transformers Facebook page shows new photos of Core Class Spike Witwicky. In the haul, Chris finally lands Animated Roadbuster Ultra Magnus for $35.
News
New Photos of Core Class Spike Witwicky
The Transformers Facebook page posted new photos of Studio Series Core Class Spike Witwicky, first shown on a livestream. Brian jokes it will cost $45 by release. Don will probably buy two. [Source: Facebook]
Funko is selling Transformers Digital Pop packs as NFTs starting March 15. There are 36,000 packs in all, split between 5-card and 15-card packs. Chris notes only about 2 percent of buyers will pull a card that can be redeemed for a physical Pop. Physical figures include a gold Optimus Prime capped at 999 and others around 1,500. Redemption opens in July with a 30-day window, and delivery is set for fall 2022. Brian compares it to the Power Rangers NFT, where every buyer could redeem the black and gold Megazord. Diecast worries resellers will buy in bulk. Chris cites Graham Collects’ rough estimate of the energy cost, equal to about 4,000 homes for a year.
Don argues collecting means bringing a fictional world into your own, which a digital image cannot do. Brian pushes back that some people, including people with disabilities, live and collect digitally. Don accepts the point. The crew worries Funko collectors may drive a sellout that Hasbro reads as Transformers fans wanting NFTs. Chris says his dislike comes from the combination: gambling odds, NFT overhead and no guaranteed physical item. [Source: TFRadio]
What We Got This Week
Diecast took Studio Series Bumblebee movie Ratchet out of the box.
Brian opened Studio Series Bumblebee movie Wheeljack and noticed the window backdrop is now cardboard. He also got a bootleg Famicom cartridge of the Famicom Disk System Headmasters game. It still loads through the Disk System prompts, and he admits it is not a good game.
Chris got Studio Series 86 Perceptor, which Amazon shipped before he could cancel. It is surprisingly big for a Deluxe and fundamentally solid. He dislikes the warm gray deco, and the microscope does not magnify, so he still prefers the Titans Return version. His big pickup is Transformers Animated Roadbuster Ultra Magnus, complete with working electronics, for $35 from a small toy site.