Gary Vaynerchuk’s NFT collection called VeeFriends will go IRL with the first series of collectible toys thanks to a partnership with Macy’s & Toys “R “Us, two major toy store brands in the United States.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeFriends come to the real world with the launch of the first series of collectible toys. This action took place through a partnership between the NFTs collection and Macy’s & Toys “R “Us toy chains.
Each toy will come with a QR code containing unique experiences such as 3D animated short films and character songs. VeeFriends’ goal is to expand the collection beyond the web3 community and the NFT ecosystem, attracting new audiences and users to the Gary-led project.
The move to further expand by VeeFriends came after collect 50 million in seed funding led by a16z. Following this financial support, Vaynerchuk proposed a strategic plan to support the IP ecosystem of VeeFriends NFTs with creative, innovative, technical and experimental initiatives around the project.
The VeeFriends characters were created from drawings specially made by Gary Vaynerchuk, who throughout his life was imagining and illustrating them to finally bring them to life, first with the NFTs collections and now with this collection of physical stuffed animals exhibited in two of the most recognized toy stores in the United States. Currently, there are 283 characters in the VeeFriends ecosystem and so far, six of them were selected by Gary himself to explore the real world where each one’s own story will be told.
The collection of plush and vinyl toys were created by the London-based entertainment company Toikido. Toikidobased in London. Currently, anyone who wishes can pre-order the physical collectibles at prices ranging from $9.99 USD to $29.99 on Macy’s & Toys “R” Us U.S. websites For the general public, the release will be October 17 in three formats: plushies for $24.99 and vinyl figures for $29.99. Also, VeeFriends blind boxes are available for $9.99, but are not available for pre-order.
Image uploaded by Andy Krainak on his Twitter account.
Gary VaynerchukGary Vaynerchuk, CEO and creator of VeeFriends commented that this partnership means much more than he could have imagined, as he recalled as a child in his hometown of Edison, New Jersey, walking the aisles of the stores that are now partners in his project. He also added that he can’t wait to see the shelves of toy stores with his creations, as this is a big step for the company.
For their part, as usual, the NFTs that went physical have owners, but the toy release will not go through VeeFriends NFT holders. Being a community-driven project, the VeeFriends ecosystem gave holders of the NFTs chosen for this opportunity the chance to claim a free collectible between October 4 and October 18.
In addition, Andy KrainakPresident of VeeFriends, said that NFT holders will also be given priority at in-store events at toy stores, adding that they decided to do this to connect with the holders and show them the development of the intellectual property behind their characters.
As we reviewed earlier, the toys will be sold in three different formats, the plush collectibles are 10″ in size and the vinyls are 6″ in size. In addition, this is the list of toys you will be able to find:
Common Sense Cow.
Willful Wizard.
Practical Peacock.
Gratitude Gorilla.
Genuine Giraffe (Genuine Giraffe).
Be The Bigger Person.
Toys that come in blind boxes will be 2″ in size and can be found:
Adventurous Astronaut.
Patient Panda.
Empathy Elephant.
Heart-Trooper.
Among the various benefits that we went over for holders of the NFTs of this first series of toys to be released by VeeFriends, such as the free purchase of the toys. Also, they will have the opportunity to meet Gary Vaynerchuk through a video call.
Yes, holders of the ten NFTs of the characters (the Series 1 and the Series 2including the four blind box characters) will be eligible to have an exclusive 30-minute video call with the creator of this entire project. The chat will take place on November 8, 2022 at a time to be confirmed.
Finally, to celebrate the launch of the collection, Gary will also be attending two toy presentations in Chicago and New York. Holders of any NFT from both Series will have the opportunity to attend one of the events to be held on 10/17 at Macy’s State Street and 10/21 at Macy’s Herald Square and personally meet the person who gave life to this project that has now become a company that seeks to provide services, benefits and exclusivity to the holders of the non fungible tokens of its collections.
Written by Rodrigo Catalan (TW: @RodrigoCatalanB) for NFT Express.