NFTs are joining retail – Los Angeles Business Journal

Immutable tokens are entering the commodity space, and that has both retailers and Web3 developers excited about the collaboration between marketplaces.
Most recently, downtown-based Tonstar, a Web3 animation studio, and retailer Hot Topic Inc. announced a partnership to sell FTs and other Web3 products in physical stores and online.

Web3 is a vision of the future of the Internet that includes blockchains and token-based vehicles such as NFTs.
NFTs work like other cryptocurrencies except that each token has its own unique identifier associated with its own image, music or membership. Buying NFT is similar to buying digital art; Once an individual owns this “image”, they can sell it or use it for other benefits, such as exclusive content.

Under the terms of the partnership, Tonstar will produce NFTs and other digital content for Hot Topic. The deal was officially launched on July 21 at San Diego Comic-Con, where a fan of the hot title was chosen to make a cameo voiceover in Toonstar’s web series, “The Gimmicks.”

Tonstar’s founders, John Attanasio and Luisa Huang, said their experience working with animation studios such as Warner Bros. and DreamWorks allows them to understand the importance of building retail franchise properties and expanding their community-building platform.

Attanasio said the partnership, the financial terms of which the parties were unwilling to discuss, because the hot topic is “thinking ahead” about the Web3 world.
“They want to push the envelope and they want to create something new. They want to push the boundaries of Web3 and NFTs,” he said. “That’s how we met because we were both interested in what we could do in Web3 from a retail, digital, physical business perspective, and from a storytelling, character, global perspective.” Because we have a vision.

Steve Vrens, CEO of Hot Topic, said the company has a highly engaged community of pop culture fans, and with the partnership, they will engage in entertainment properties in a new way.

“Hot Topic has been a destination for pop culture merchandise for decades,” Vrans said. “We believe this partnership with Toonstar will continue that legacy and together we will build some truly amazing programming.”
The companies will collaborate to create merchandise, but the products will be more than the usual swag.

“I think the first release…cool shirts and hats will be related to NFT. Expect to see more innovation on that front,” said Huang. “It would be more than a shirt with a really cool print. Everything should have web3, native functionality.
Vrans said fans can look forward to “creative” ways to combine both digital and physical collections.

“We see this as an opportunity to provide a digital component to the products our customers enjoy collecting,” Vrans continued. “Whether it’s a T-shirt, bag, or traditional collectible toy, this program helps us accelerate that connection.
According to Attanasio, retail is a vital part of building a Toonstar franchise.
“Entertainment is going to be something that takes the core of Web3 and NFTs,” Attanasio said. “And part of that is retail.”

Just the beginning

In December 2021, Santa Monica-based retailer Fred Segal partnered with Metaverse marketing agency Subnation to open an NFT gallery installation in the Sunset Boulevard area. An interactive gallery displays digital NFTs, and customers can purchase both physical and digital products.

NFTs and digital assets change monthly and center around a cultural theme. This month’s theme: Photography.
“We have over 75 unique NFTs from photographers covering everything from music to sports,” said Doug Scott, co-founder and executive director of SubNation.

“Some of the items we have are Polaroid cameras by artists like Keith Haring or Super Camera and some vintage cameras.”
Bringing NFTs into retail spaces is beneficial because it can teach potential buyers how to interact with and live with the objects, Scott said.

“It’s an opportunity to educate consumers on ‘what are NFTs,’ show them in a physical environment and help them navigate this whole new Web3 environment,” Scott said.

As NFTs become more available at retail locations and the consumer base grows, Scott says the NFT market is poised to grow into a world where physical goods have “digital twins.”
“When I buy a bag, I get an NFT that validates the bag. [and] When he buys it, it confirms and verifies that I own the bag, and I get a digital twin that my avatar can hold… in the metaverse that he can actually carry,” explained Scott. “As the market goes, physical assets will have digital twins represented as NFTs, and the market is going to expand around these assets.”

Scott said he could see more retailers in the fashion and electronics world incorporating NFTs into their business models.
Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have been struggling in the market, but Scott believes events like the one at Fred Segal will present opportunities for new buyers to buy into blue chip NFTs, which range in price from $10,000 to $75,000 and more.

“I don’t think this is a secret [the NFT market] It’s going through some growing pains… we’re going to come out the other end and I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I know there are amazing things building in the Web 3 space right now. Athanasio said. “This is the season of construction.”

NFTs and society

Tonstar’s “The Gimmicks,” co-produced with Mila Kunis’ Sixth Wall, is a web series about three wrestlers who hire a rookie in order to recover their lost careers and regain relevance in the wrestling world.
The first season’s 20 weekly episodes were written by Dave Ehlenfeld, David Wright and nearly 5,000 serial NFT owners.

Gimmicks is a collection of randomly generated NFTs on the Solana blockchain. Each of them “represents a unique character that lives in the universe [the] Animated series. NFT owners participate in the show’s creative process by voting on what they think should be next.

“Each episode is community driven, which means at the end of each episode there’s a cliffhanger and NFT holders can vote on what happens. It’s very much a ‘choose your own adventure,” Athanasio said. “The vote will determine what happens next week’s episode.”

The cooperation of the owners does not end there. Collectors also have commercial rights and can write their own backstory for their gimmick feature, which is published on the Gimmicks Wiki page. You can also participate in the next voice and art competition.
Additionally, NFT holders can interact with each other through a social layer called DIC (Decentralized Inclusive Community) Punch.

“We built one of the first on-chain social classes in Web3. ‘DIC punch’ is similar to Facebook’s ‘poke,'” Attanasio explained. “It also has a direct messaging component, so not only can DIC punch someone, you can actually send them a message. NFT makes it flexible and this becomes an expression of social belief or your involvement in the community.

Attanasio and Huang say they are proud of the company’s participation figure of nearly one million DIC punches.
Attanasio “In the world of repeated participation and retention in a project, we have not yet seen anything from other projects,” Attanasio.