Creators and well-known supporters of Deadfellaz, VeeFriends, Long Neckie Ladies, CyberKongz, and more will be at VeeCon’s inaugural conference in Minneapolis from May 19-22.
VeeCon kicks off on Thursday, May 19, and there is still a lot to learn ahead of the much-anticipated NFT superconference.
The premier conference from Gary Vaynerchuk is taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from May 19 to 22. VeeCon’s speaker lineup includes Spike Lee, Steve Aoki, Beeple, GMoney, Logan Paul, Boardroom and 35V co-founder and CEO Rich Kleiman, and more.
A year ago, it might have been easier to identify the pantheon of up-and-coming non-fungible token projects on the market — but a lot has changed since the launch of the now-iconic Bored Ape Yacht Club last Spring.
Here are 10 NFT collections to get acquainted with ahead of VeeCon.
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VeeFriends
VeeFriends is the most vital collection to get familiar with ahead of VeeCon since tickets to the conference were first airdropped to early holders. The renowned NFT collection created by Gary Vaynerchuk himself is known for his hand-drawn art and utilities. VeeFriends has had two collections, and its Series 2 just hit the scene a few weeks ago with inspiration from the first drop.
There are only 10,255 tickets to VeeCon, which matches the amount of NFTs in VeeFriends Series 1. The only way to access the premier event without a VeeFriends Series 1 NFT is by purchasing a ticket on secondary marketplaces.
Random fact: VeeFriends Series 2 features 55,555 NFTs, making it one of the largest collections on the market.
Deadfellaz
What about this fella 👀 again, a bit of a combo of two inspirations here pic.twitter.com/fD7nN5UygU
— Deadfellaz (@Deadfellaz) April 21, 2022
Deadfellaz is an Ethereum-based collection of 10,000 NFTs launched in August 2021 by the Web3 duo Betty and Psych. Deadfellaz NFTs are derived from 300 randomly generated traits and attributes, including mouth, eyes, head, and body types. The growing NFT project has other collections under its umbrella, including Deadfellaz Infected S1, Betty Pop Horror, and Deadfrenz. The one thing all Deadfellaz NFTs have in common is that their base color is always green.
What about this fella 👀 again, a bit of a combo of two inspirations here pic.twitter.com/fD7nN5UygU
— Deadfellaz (@Deadfellaz) April 21, 2022
Random fact: The Deadfellaz creators purchased two dozen plots of land in Decentraland and hosted a virtual Halloween experience last year.
World of Women
The World of Women NFT project celebrates and promotes representation, inclusivity, and equal opportunities. The collection features powerful women with diverse features, including an array of skin tones, hairstyles, jewelry, clothing, accessories, and more. World of Women’s first collection dropped in July 2021 with 10,000 NFTs, and its second release came in March 2022 with 22,222 NFTs. The project was founded by digital artist Yam Karkai.
Random fact: Dez Bryant, Eva Longoria, and Reese Witherspoon own World of Women NFTs. Check out some other big names invested in the collection.
RTFKT
RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”) develops digital sneakers and artifacts for the gaming community and beyond. The company is known for its NFT projects with Nike to create virtual sneakers and with Takashi Murakami to launch the Clone X NFT project. RTFKT was founded in January 2020 by Benoit Pagotto, Chris Le, and Steven Valisev, and the company was acquired in December 2021 by Nike.
Random fact: RTFKT previously operated in the shadows, and before its 2020 launch and acquisition by Nike, its website stated that the project was initially scheduled for takeoff in 2040.
Moonbirds
The Moonbirds collection from PROOF Collective features 10,000 pixelated owls with quirky features such as firey hair, eye patches, mohawks, flower headbands, and colored eyes. Boardroom previously published everything you need to know about the collection. PROOF launched in December 2021 and spun out of the PROOF podcast hosted by Kevin Rose. The collective is a private community of 1,000 NFT collectors and artists who will continue to collaborate on future NFT drops.
According to its official Twitter, Moonbirds also has something coming to NYC next month.
Random fact: The Sandbox purchased rare MoonBird #2642 for a little over $1 million.
Cool Cats
When the Cool Cats mint launched in July 2021, each NFT in the collection cost as low as 0.06 ETH, or about $120. Cool Cats’ inaugural collection includes 9,999 randomly assembled cats, and the collection’s popularity has grown tremendously in the past 10 months. The project was founded by Clon, Elu, Xtremetom, and Lynqoid. Aside from managing its growing community, Cool Cats is building a gamified ecosystem called Cooltopia.
Random Fact: The Blue Cat character was created by Clon and dates back to the art he created as a teen.
Doodles
The Doodles collection includes 10,000 hand-drawn NFTs depicting everything from animals, flowers, pickles, aliens, popsicles, and… well, really, anything you can think of. Doodles NFTs were first minted on Oct. 17, 2021, with a price of 0.123 ETH (~$249) per mint. Today, the collections floor price is 14.35 ETH (~$29,101) on OpenSea. Doodles’ founders include Evan Keast, Scott Martin, and Jordan Castro.
Random fact: The inaugural collection was exclusively designed by Martin, also known as Burnt Toast in the Web3 community.
CyberKongz
The first CyberKongz drop came in March 2021 with 1,000 randomly generated pixelated ape NFTs. The inaugural collection is called the Genesis CyberKongz, and after a little over a year, the project has grown with two more branches on its family tree. The CyberKongz universe now includes Baby Kongz, which comes after two Genesis Kongz breed, and VX, voxel-based CyberKongz built for online metaverse environments such as The Sandbox.
Random fact: The CyberKongz project is fueled by a utility token called $BANANA. Genesis Kong holders yield 10 $BANANA a day.
Long Neckie Ladies
The Long Neckie Ladies NFT collections were created by the 13-year-old digital artist Nyla Hayes. While paying homage to women of all shades, Hayes’ Long Neckie Ladies designs also mimic her favorite dinosaur, the brontosaurus, by nature of their elongated necks.
Random fact: Hayes made history last year when she was named TIME Magazine’s first Artist in Residence. Hayes created the Long Neckie Women of the Year collection based on TIME’s Women of the Year franchise to commemorate her role.
CryptoPunks
CryptoPunks is one of the earliest NFT projects on the Ethereum blockchain since it launched in June 2017. The collection includes 10,000 pixelated characters with several distinct attributes, including red hair, eyepatches, sunglasses, curly hair, and more. CryptoPunks was designed by creative technologists Matt Hall and John Watkinson. In March, Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, acquired Hall and Watkinson’s company, Larva Labs, adding CryptoPunks and Meebits to its portfolio.
Random fact: When CryptoPunks launched, the project let anyone with an Ethereum wallet claim an NFT, so all 10,000 were quickly claimed. Today, CryptoPunks’ floor price sits at over $100,000.
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