Goblintown NFT is a collection of Tokens non-fungibles (NFTs) based on memes designed as avatars for social media accounts. The collection sold surprisingly well, with Goblin creatures like dragons, mosquitoes, trolls, mages, and Pixelmon’s “Kevin”. The Goblintown NFTs are the darlings of NFT enthusiasts right now, and these bizarre and comical creatures are ranked higher (7th) than many other previously released NFT collections, according to popular NFT and DeFi store DApp DappRadar.
What is GoblinTown NFT?
GoblinTown NFT is a collection of 10.000 generative NFTs built on the blockchain Ethereum. These NFTs are not as common as they seem to be, until the release was quite dramatic, we mean Quite still dramatic. It doesn’t make sense, but it will soon. The downfall of NFT didn’t involve any collaboration, campaigning, whitelisting or anything, but it managed to effortlessly create a buzz in the NFT community. The problem here is that these NFTs were free to mint with an obvious gas rate. Also, their website ‘goblintown.wtf’ clearly mentions that the project has no script, utility, Discord channel or anything else.
Despite the fact that the GoblinTown project is shrouded in ambiguity about how it will play out in future events, NFT collectors rushed to release the NFTs. Adding a twist to the scene, the GoblinTown NFT collection was released on May 19, 2022, on OpenSea, when the cryptocurrency market was in a slump. Beating the odds, it still gained momentum and went on to enjoy increasing secondary sales in the weeks that followed.
Its unprecedented popularity confused many NFT traders, who saw this random NFT project succeed. While excitement among NFT enthusiasts was at its height, GoblinTown boasted a minimum price of 5,5 ETH, which is around $9.600 at current market prices. Around the same time, some rare goblins with unique avatars sold for 69,42 ETH (over $121.000) on LooksRare. This simply indicates the craze for NFT goblin characters in the crypto and NFT spheres, where everyone is still vying to get their hands on one of these.
Why is NFT GoblinTown becoming popular?
The GoblinTown NFT collection is taking the spotlight from “blue-chip” NFT projects like BAYC, Otherdeed for Otherside, Moonbirds, Clone X and many others that have long held their place in the charts. In addition to beating these NFT collections in terms of weekly sales, GoblinTown has managed to attract people with its ability to make something out of next to nothing. GoblinTown’s plot is enough to get NFT maniacs hooked. These NFT artworks feature crooked-faced goblins that converse in squiggles; even its 193 different features and descriptions mentioned in OpenSea are Goblin synopses.
To further agitate the situation, the anonymous team behind GoblinTown hosted a space podcast on Twitter that was entirely on Goblin-Gibberish. Prominent NFT artist Michael “Beeple” Winkelmann was also rumored to be on the GoblinTown team. Surprisingly, the rumor is coming true as recently one of the founders of Yuga Labs (a web3 company behind BAYC), Gordon Goner, tweeted “This guy with beautiful hair showed up to dinner and started making goblin sounds. What this means?”
We can assume that Yuga Labs may also be involved in this, but for that to be confirmed, we have to see how this project evolves. Another reason for the eternal craze is its CCO (creative commons zero), which stands for ‘No Copyright Reserved’ in general terms. Under this, the goblin NFTs are free to be repurposed at the owner’s discretion so that they can trade the NFTs as they wish. This is very similar to how BAYC has granted intellectual property rights to its collectors, which empowers them to make derivative works such as animation, copy production, stories, and more.
Creator anonymity
This NFT project is the brainchild of a team of anonymous developers, although this is not uncommon in the cryptocurrency world. The anonymity of the team behind such a well-coordinated project has further stirred the pot, causing excitement as the cryptocurrency world is trying to unravel the mystery behind the Goblintown NFT team. Ultimately, the popularity of the Goblintown NFTs is mainly down to the high quality and polish of the project, drawing attention and making people speculate that the team behind it must be pretty good at what they do.
One of the founders of Yuga Labs “Gordon Goner” posted a tweet saying, “This guy with the beautiful hair showed up to dinner and started making goblin sounds. What this means?” This tweet aroused a lot of suspicion, and the name that came to people’s minds was Mike Winkelmann (popularly known as Beeple), a prominent digital artist and graphic designer who is known for selling NFTs. This link with Beeple helped boost Goblintown’s NFT sales and increase its popularity, as the digital artist is prominent for selling some of the most profitable NFTs in the world. There were also rumors that King of the Hill creator Mike Judge was either supporting the project or playing a pivotal role in the development of the NFT collection.
Most developers of NFT projects are usually quick to bask in the glory and accolades they receive for the success of their projects. It seems, however, that the developers of the Goblintown NFT project prefer to remain unknown. Even if its creators didn’t intend to remain anonymous for so long, the success and popularity the project now enjoys might make them wary of blowing their cover and ruining the air of mystery around Goblintown.
free to mint
Goblintown has gained popularity since its release because it started out as free to mint. Minting new NFTs can cost over a thousand dollars, and sometimes even more. This gave the Goblintown NFT project a quick head start, allowing newcomers to enter the space.
unconventional approach
The unconventional and innovative approach that the creators of Goblintown NFT used to launch the collection seems to have helped to gather a lot of moss. As seen on their largely minimalist website, they claim that the project “has no roadmap, no Discord, no utility…” In fact, there is no stated roadmap for Goblintown, and the creators have indicated that there are no plans to release their native crypto token. soon, although that is not yet clear.
The project was launched without ceremony or partnerships (as has become the norm in the cryptosphere, where announcements are often made in advance). Goblintown did the complete opposite. This nonchalant approach went on to become their biggest selling point. The Goblintown collection has once again shown how unpredictable the world of NFT can be.
Link to Yuga Labs
One of the reasons for the popularity of the Goblintown NFTs is the rumor that the collection is associated with Yuga Labs, the web3 company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Nansen, a real-time NFT and cryptography insights provider, claimed that the creators of BAYC and Mutant Apes may also be behind Goblintown NFT.
In a series of tweets posted on his official Twitter account, Nansen was likely the first to attempt to provide a link to the Goblintown NFT and BAYC projects. These highlighted several similarities between Globintown and BAYC to reinforce this claim. This rumor of a link between Goblintown NFT and Yuga Labs was further fueled by a leaked pitch deck from Yuga Labs, in which Goblins was mentioned as one of the company’s revenue channels.
meme culture
The NFT community is known for its rich meme culture, which the Goblintown NFT collection is primarily based on. There are many Goblintown NFTs on the internet, and even a single NFT by Kevin from Pixelmon. The feelings of the memes in this project are, however, chaotic and unusual. The project is “manifested meme. It’s cultural agony, anger, greed and joy personified,” as one NFT enthusiast in the Twitter comments. Another NFT enthusiast, Cryptobaggie, thinks the Goblintown NFT collection is funny and exudes real meme vibes.
ugly and unique art
The characters that make up Goblintown are distinct in a unique way. This NFT collection features an army of crooked-faced goblins who converse in squiggles. One would think that these “ugly” features would have affected its popularity. Instead, it appears to be raising interest rates, so to speak. According to some Goblintown fans, less is more, and ugly is a kind of beauty.
Goblin City: McGoblin Burger
Goblin City is full of hungry goblins who have a strange taste for rotten old McGoblin Burger. NFT collectors can only claim one hamburger per goblin. You might lose your appetite after hearing what those dirty goblins put into these McGoblin burgers, but we have to tell you. The McGoblin Burger is stuffed with worms, socks, meat, sauce, buns, or whatever moldy stuff is just around the corner, but you need to buy one to make your goblin happy.
According to the creators of Goblintown, GoblinTown is a place where all goblins live. They like to be themselves, celebrate their talents and love to eat hamburgers and scream. The team also believes, “Everyone has a goblin inside them, and they’re going to let it out.” Still not convinced to buy one of these ugly faces? Well, it’s not easy when the floor price of GoblinTown NFTs is approaching 6 ETH and collectors are already struggling to get their hands on Goblin NFTs.
The controversy surrounding GoblinTown NFT
As much as this GoblinTown NFT collection is getting attention, many NFT collectors are calling it irrelevant. This project is the first of its kind, as often NFT collections have their roadmap, presales, and whitelisting ready before they are released to the general public. Despite their unclear intentions, the Goblin NFTs became the new buzz in the NFT city in no time. The free minting process was the added perk that made participation hassle free. However, it is undeniable that such projects carry a lot of risks and therefore prices can fall as easily as they skyrocket.
Even Netflix’s director of product design Kristy Tillman shared her thoughts on Twitter, calling the GoblinTown NFT project “a new absolute minimum or brilliance.” She also emphasized that the line between the two is very thin here. On the other hand, Justin Mezzell, who is Proof Collective and Moonbirds NFT Founder, called GoblinTown a crazy journey to watch, but admitted that the goblin city vibe isn’t for him. The founder of the Ethereum NFT Invisible Friends collection shared a meme on Twitter that suggested that Goblin NFTs were “killing” other NFT collections, including his own.
While NFT goblin art is comically ugly and controversial, that hasn’t stopped collectors from actively participating in this project. The reason could also be the involvement of prominent players in the cryptocurrency market such as Beeple and Yuga Labs. Please note that of the 9.999 NFT characters in GoblinTown, 1.000 are reserved for their creators. Interestingly, the GoblinTown smart contract has yet to be audited, but it seems to have appealed to the degens that are now rallying around this project.
Metaverse giant The Sandbox didn’t take long to join the Goblin trends and bought 1-of-1 GoblinTown NFT for 26 ETH, roughly $46.000. There are only twelve 1/1 Goblin NFTs in total, which makes the purchase worthy of note. Undoubtedly, the NFT GoblinTown has so much potential that it has yet to be revealed and we can witness more famous people flying on Goblin broomsticks!
Bottom Line
the NFTs GoblinTown were released in mid-May 2022 and quickly topped the charts in no time. Goblins NFT is now facing high demand as digital artwork collectors are in a rush to bid for the highest price. It is now the second most traded NFT on OpenSea just next to the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
