Back in March, I found out about an app called Veve as they were starting to make a little noise in the comic related NFT circles. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that they were selling NFT’s of a popular statue line called Batman Black & White. The line is actually a brilliant collection of statues all seen through the eyes of different comic artists through the ages. Batman has been drawn by so many folks and each version is very different from the next. The statue line does very well in my comic shop and has been going strong for a tad under 20 years now.
Fast forward to the present…those same statues have been scanned and plopped into collectible NFT form by Veve. So one evening I FOMO’d into it and grabbed 3 versions of the Batman B&W that was done by my favorite artist Todd McFarlane. They cost me $79.99 in “Gems” each, which is what Veve uses as their currency on the app. I figured if any of these would have a future, it would be the one by the Toddfather.
They sold out completely just a few hours later and have been slowly creeping up ever since as the app and the overall field and their products got more popular. As you can see from the marketplace, they currently are hovering around the $3k range which is pretty awesome!
Here’s the issue….
You can’t withdraw it from the platform. Not yet. I knew that then when I bought em, but that was “Coming Soon” according to the folks at Veve. Here we are almost a year later and still…
I’m sure it’s coming and I hate being that guy…but I’m going to be that guy. I bought a couple of other things from them after those Batman’s, but pumped the breaks after the same “Coming Soon” talks just were that…talks. Nothing ever changed and to me, that was a huge turnoff. Since then, they have gone on to have huge success…selling out of nearly every piece launched in record time which is great for them, but I wonder how many folks will grow irritated that their money is trapped solely in their world?!?
Having all of your funds locked up and tied up in their currency and on their platform with the same talking point for a year is a bit frustrating. It’s the main reason I have not bought anything from them again I believe after my last purchase of my Delorian’s. Sitting on over $10k worth of digital collectibles that I can’t get out of is just unappetizing. Things like this make me appreciate what we have with Splinterlands so much more. The marketplace on SL and the relative ease of moving in and out of assets and into different tokens is a major plus as I think it puts collectors and investors at ease a bit.
Hopefully one day those on Veve will be able to withdraw their funds out…until then, I’ll be on the sidelines. What’s your thoughts on that? Do you hold any Veve assets? How do you feel about not being able to exit your investment properly?
Share your thoughts below and thanks for checking out my babble.
Blewitt
The Gems check in, but they don't check out.
I have $20 in gems just sitting there because I completely gave up on trying to snag a comic drop, they sell out in less than a second! I wanted to play around with Veve a bit but wasn’t initially that enthused because I don’t like projects that are seemingly a proprietary blockchain, it defeats the purpose I think!
What I am happy to see and will hopefully be good for your collectibles in the not too distant future is that Veve announced they are migrating to ImmutableX which is a 2nd layer on ETH developed by the makers of Gods Unchained. I’m a fan of both projects and it’ll be nice to have Veve assets recorded and tradable on Ethereum.
I’m in a private comic group and a bunch of the fellas in there collect the comics. I see them bitch about the drops all the time.
I’m sure at some point they will fix that big glaring issue. My concern is that when that does happen and folks can finally get out of their investments, will there be a bit of a purge? Who knows…
Even if it’s bots snapping up the runs I don’t really see anything to fix except the overall supply/demand ratio. I wish they’d start creeping up the print runs to find a level that doesn’t equate to instant sellout, or move to a timed open edition release where buys during the order period sets the “print run.” That would at least mirror the print market to some extent with the added fun of the randomized variants which can’t be as easily randomized and “blind bagged” in physical like it can in NFTs.
I think the valuations could break either direction, either dropping when everyone can finally convert to fiat, or perhaps rising with the exposure to the amount of money in the ETH ecosystem. 🤷♂️
Yeah, It will be interesting to see what happens. I just hate it kinda being held prisoner for the time being.
Have you scored anything cool recently from them? A buddy and recent Hive convert @kcin snagged one of those Walt Partner statues which has performed very well.
Nah, just have 20 gems! 😆 I set alarms for a few drops, clicked as fast as I could and nada! So I've given up for the time being.
Yeah I don’t even try these days.
I am skeptical of NFTs in their current state. The tech has a future, but owning a meme or GIF strikes me as silly. This kind of walled garden also bothers me. There's no secondary market to sell them outside that ecosystem?
Agreed