I was very excited to get an account at NBA Top Shot after they reopened sign-ups last week.
I really think the sports collectible market is perfect for this wave of NFTs and the possibilities are endless. I see NFTs being the new "Bobble Head" nights at sports events and the souvenir of choice at places like Disney in the not too distant future.
So I was excited to get involved in my first airdrop on Thursday night and get some great NBA Moments to hold or sell. But after a day of preparation, loading my Dapper account and sitting at my computer to make sure I didn't miss the que, the drop was postponed.
Not a great start for me but hey, Top Shot is in beta. So Friday morning I made sure I was 30 minutes early to the drop so I would have time to find the que or whatever was going to come my way.
I actually saw the que link pop up and entered the waiting room within 15 seconds of opening. What happens then is that when the drop time happens, whoever is in the waiting room is assigned a random number which becomes their place in line.
Even though I was in the waiting room within seconds I received #132,841 for 62,000 available packs. I waited through the 2 hour sale until all the packs ran out just to see what would happen. Perhaps people would leave the line because it was taking so long or they wouldn't have their payments set up.
It turned out that over 220,000 people joined the que. I was shocked because this is still new and just getting talked about in the last few weeks. The demand is there!
I didn't get a pack and wasted a few hours on day two of this thing but there was another drop happening Fri night at 8pm eastern so I was gonna be there.
I rearranged some dinner plans and made sure I was in position for the waiting room to open. This time there was 61,000 packs and although I was again in the waiting room within seconds, I recevied #72,418. Ugh, I was pissed but I figured I'd wait it out and see how many people would drop out. I didn't think 11,000 people would bail out but I was already here.
I wasted about 3 hours on that one but all hope wasn't lost because there was one more drop on this set Saturday afternoon. I figured I was due.
It was the same process again and I was ready. This time there would be 62,000 packs and I was assigned #65,223. I couldn't believe it and since it was so close to the pack number I figured I had to stick it out and see if enough people would leave so I could score a pack. I was about 1100th in line when it ended so plenty of people quit but not enough.
This drop only wasted about 2 hours of my life. I can't believe how much time I spent on Top Shot trying to get a pack. I think it is only going to get harder as more and more people hear about it.
Undoubtedly the amount of packs and number of cards will increase with demand and that bodes well for the secondary market which is located right on NBA Top Shot.
The interesting thing about that setup is that since it's right on the site every time a card is sold the NBA and the NBA players association gets paid.
That way even though the moments are out of their possession they still receive endless royalties on that NFT
The marketplace itself is interesting and it seemed fun to try and catch a good deal but the more I tried to buy a card I realized that the marketplace is being run by bots.
Every time the lowest ask price of a card it's the site it is sniped by a bot giving human users literally zero chance of buying a card.
That is the tokenization of frustration I'm referring to in the title. It's frustrating as it is to sit in a drop all weekend and not get anything it's more frustrating to know that there's not a fair chance in the secondary market.
The key to success here or making money on these NFTs is if you are lucky enough to get a pack in pool a valuable card you can put it up for sale and try and wiggle your way into the middle of the market for that card.
Even though it's a new site and they're still working out the bugs I think the wild West of crazy Prophets is already behind us.
Keep in mind that this same type of collectible is going to be launched in the UFC, Major League baseball, and the NFL so the NBA might do some of its appeal.
The most interesting thing is the amount of people that were cued up in these drops. I think 220,000 is the highest reported number and that was on Friday morning but by next week or the next drop we could be looking at half a million.
There's a drop tomorrow for a new series and those packs cost $99 but I'm going to get in line and try my luck. There are only 38,000 packs so I think my chances will be slim.
I will admit that it's exciting there's lots of adrenaline and the frustration is intense but if I can't get any cards I don't know that I can devote a ton of time to this.
On another note, there is an evolving class on NBA Top Shot influencers emerging on youtube, twitter, youtube and twitch. I think I will try to market project blank to these folks so they can monetize their thoughts to this growing audience.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Sounds like a frustrating experience. It seems like the NFT craze continues and they almost never show up with enough packs. I feel like its intentional so some people can resell it for more afterwards.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Yeah and it's really strange that they are able to do that. I mean.. When you buy booster packs for any TCG the cards you get will have (usually) lower value in total than the price of the pack.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
It's like that everywhere from what I see and for people to gamble. They want luck to be a factor so people buy more packs. Over time though if the prints are limited, the price may go up but who knows how long this will take.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I think that the NBA is just learning. I think the drops will get bigger but my gut tells me that cards won't go up in value with collectors and they will just look towards the next drops. If I get them I'm not going to hold on to them. Just flip unless things the older cards go up in value. I really have a sense that they wont.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I think the old cards will eventually go up in value if they don't print more of them. However I am watching for the NFT market to become oversaturated and kill off the hype. I think right now everything is overpriced since people are making money buying anything.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
man, that's so fucking frustrating. Ahh and i don't know if you know it but many use bots that's why we don't get in the que lines! Add also the speed connection!
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
the bot thing is the main frustration. They have to figure out a way to block that or people will lose interest in the marketplace.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I was lucky to get a good number in the third drop. The first two went badly too. Good luck in the $99 drop! You may have missed this one but if you'll get the rare pack, it will compensate for everything!
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let's hope so but keep in mind its $199 and I loaded my dapper account so if I don't get it it will take like a month to get my cash back lol. I
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
You could always mint your own NFT on Super Rare and sell for $ 100,000 dollars. I’m working on a few right now. Stay tuned.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
I get your frustration (I couldn't even register until yesterday) but if we look at the big picture it is astonishing how much hype and demand top shot generated. If you are able to land hands on a pack it is basically free money
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
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