And a Squid Game-themed Exotic NFT
TORONTO, Jan. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TOAD.PNG, a new collectible series of NFTs, is minting in late December through early January, created by ARTBAD, a trans-national brother/sister coding/artist duo that designs and creates “weird NFT” projects. A direct competitor to NFT series such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cryptokitties, and SupDucks, TOAD.PNGs “are down to have a chill time, love being a little weird, and can’t help vibing so hard, even if they wanted to,” according to a statement by the creators.
The members of ARTBAD itself have interesting pedigree; at the center is a team of two siblings – “John” and “Z”. John is an engineer who has worked at Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Protocol Labs; and Z is an award-winning artist whose clients include NBC.
So what does TOAD.PNG have over its competitors?
- No Gas Fees: TOAD.PNG NFTs do not require any gas fees for buyers and resellers as they are built with the Polygon blockchain. Because of network congestion, gas fees can cost buyers $40-$180 per transaction, so skipping those fees passes on some huge savings for potential buyers.
- Decentralized: All TOAD.PNG data is “frozen” – i.e. written directly on the blockchain, with its assets stored on the decentralized IPFS network, ensuring that these NFTs “live forever” and can not be deleted by anybody, including ARTBAD.
- Extreme Uniqueness: TOAD.PNG features a massive number of swappable assets that provide tens of millions of possible combinations. But, out of 28.6 million possible combinations, only 10,000 TOAD.PNGs will be minted – or, 0.03% of the possibilities. By contrast, ChillFrogs, a competing NFT project that sold out, only features 700,000 combinations but still minted 6,000, resulting in 0.8% coverage. In other words, TOAD.PNGs are 28x more “unique.”
- RPG Game-like Rarity Design: Each TOAD.PNG is generated according to Dungeons & Dragons-esque probabilities of each asset appearing. In addition, there are five tiers of rarity – Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Exotic, that increase in “classiness” but decrease in number of available NFTs as you progress. For example, there will be 6,000 Common toads that feature clothing such as stained tank tops, but only 500 Legendary toads that feature marijuana tiles, gold tuxes, and vaporwave backgrounds. The tables that document the probabilities for each asset appearing are posted on artbad.golf/toad-png and are truly massive.
- Bringing the Weird: ARTBAD’s graphics stand out because of Z’s excellence as an illustrator when compared to other similar NFT projects. ARTBAD’s site features Halloween-ish horror graphics, and TOAD.PNG’s assets feature such kinky and hilarious oddities as gimp masks, juggalo makeup, and nipple tassels.
- Exotic Drops: The Exotic rarity tier features bespoke toads that are made from scratch with no reused assets and are hilarious pop culture caricatures. The first Exotic drop was a toad version of Gi-Hun, the protagonist from Netflix’s Squid Game. The upcoming roadmap shows more nerd culture favorites are dropping soon with toad versions of Tidus from Final Fantasy X, Bulma from Dragon Ball Z, but also… A toad version of Satan.
Rarity Breakdown
The Common Toad category has 7,620,480 total possible combinations of features, of which 6,000 will be generated. Common Toads “may not live charmed lives, and sometimes have to struggle, but they are down to chill and always up for a good time.” The artwork for Common Toads features a rustic wood picture frame. Examples of Common assets include a stained tank top, desert background, and plain brown skin.
In the Uncommon Toad category, there are 11,557,728 total possible combinations of features, of which 2,400 will be generated. Uncommon Toads “are growing up and learning to express themselves, and are in the process of figuring out what they’re into and what works for them.” These Toads feature a black picture frame. Examples of Uncommon assets include a leather jacket, prehistoric background, and red skin.
There are 8,176,896 total possible combinations of features in the Rare Toad category, of which 1,100 will be generated. Rare Toads are “hustlers who work hard and play hard. They have interesting hidden lives that they fund with good-paying jobs.” Rare Toads feature a silver picture frame. Examples of Rare assets are a sweater vest, an upscale apartment background, and cerulean skin.
The Legendary Toad category has 1,270,080 total possible combinations of features, of which 500 will be generated. The Legendary Toads “are high-ranking members of society with influence, power, and privilege, who are frequently possessed with supernatural powers. Crossing them or messing with them is a bad move.” Legendary toads feature a shiny gold picture frame, and can include assets like a formal gown, a ruby tuxedo, or hair made of elemental magic.
There will be weekly drops of Exotic Toads – special TOAD.PNGs that share assets with no other TOAD.PNG. Exotic Toads are bespoke and made from scratch, meaning that every aspect of an Exotic Toad is unique, from the skin to the background to the accessories to the facial features.
The first and second Exotic toads have dropped, with the first being a toad based on Seong Gi-Hun, the main character from Netflix’s Squid Game, and the second being Bulma from Dragon Ball Z. All Exotic toads will be sold on OpenSea at auction instead of a fixed price on OpenSea. Both auctions are live as of this writing.
About ARTBAD
ARTBAD is a trans-national brother/sister coding/artist team that creates weird NFTs.
Social Links:
OpenSea: https://opensea.io/assets/toad-png
Twitter: https://twitter.com/artbadnft
Discord: https://discord.gg/tvNp8wBFTj
