10 OpenSea Legends in the Making
A selection of superlative NFT projects to watch for on OpenSea
Since NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) took the world by storm with the $69 million dollar Beeple auction in March, a panoply of new collections have emerged on the scene.
Dozens of various platforms and marketplaces for trading and sharing NFTs have emerged. AtomicHub showcases NFTs through WAX and EOS. Hicetnunc and Kalamint are marketplaces for NFTs on the Tezos blockchain. There is also growing activity on the Algorand Blockchain.
The king of the hill so far, though, has been Ethereum. The ETH blockchain hosts huge independent artist marketplaces on Foundation, Nifty Gateway and Rarible, for example and massive collections hosted on OpenSea such as the aforementioned Beeple, OG CryptoPunks and Decentraland claiming high status.
With ETH, at the time of writing, having just hit its all time peak in value, and owing to increasingly lower gas fees incoming coupled with a mass influx of new collectors daily, this is an exciting time to be investing in NFTs.
Yet high ETH also means that NFT collectors and investors need to make the right choice about which collections to add to their wallet. Buyers want an NFT that is cool and beautiful, but also has a community supporting it so as to ensure its intrinsic value will carry on for time immemorial.
Therefore, the following curated list is a showcase of the best talent with the strongest communities currently available on OpenSea.
DISCLAIMER: the following is not considered to be investment advice, it is just an assessment of the art and community engagement of each project presented below.
Picasso Punks
PicassoPunks is a digital art project on the Ethereum Blockchain paying homage to Picasso. They are unique and single edition 1/1 NFTs. Only 1000 unique PicassoPunks will be created.
In a sea of #altpunks and #unofficialpunks, the Picasso Punks stand out as a prime example of how to pay tribute to the OG Cryptopunks while offer something completely refreshing and artistically inspired.
At the time of writing, Picasso Punks have already solidified their legend status as one of the highest volume traded NFTs on Ethereum, and rightfully so. Modern art lovers and cryto art lovers both will continue to rejoice in this marriage of styles for years to come.
discord.gg/sVUYeSmsSF
https://opensea.io/collection/picassopunks
https://twitter.com/picassopunks
Cartlads
Cartlads are original pixel art NFTs created by @pxlhns (pixelhans), stored as ERC721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Cartlad has different traits like hats or backgrounds, which makes them entirely unique! Cartlads are designed to bring nostalgic video game cartridges back to life. They can be enjoyed as NFT collectibles and purchased on OpenSea.
The Cartlads are a new collection that has taken the NFT world by storm. The brainchild of Hans, who was cast into the spotlight in wake of the Chubbies NFT plagiarism controversy, has really outdone himself with a collection that pays tribute to the video games of the 90s with really cute gif characterizations and gorgeous backdrops on 64x64.
The Cartlads are really next level quality pixel art with a solid brand built around it. PixelHans has an exciting future in the NFT pixel art world and we expect this collection to skyrocket in value over the years to come.
discord.gg/z2m945Hf
https://opensea.io/collection/cartlads
https://twitter.com/CartladsNFT
ETHCasso
“The Ethcasso Collection” Unique, 1 of 1, computer generated A.I. artwork in the style of the great Pablo Picasso. 1,000 Ethcassos will be minted in the Summer of 2021.
A brilliant concept that, like the Picasso Punks, is a merger of fine art with the power and design of disruptive technology. The creators use computer generative art based on the works of Pablo Picasso to create these gorgeously rendered 3D Ethereum symbols. Make no mistake about it, these are the best looking ETH symbols in existence.
At the time of writing, the Ethcasso project is still relatively new and original pieces are still being generated and dropped. Nevertheless, there is a very active community engagement surrounding this project with a very mature and organized team behind it. Expect the audience to grow in leaps and bounds over the years.
discord.gg/KtUNU3erAq
https://opensea.io/collection/ethcasso
https://twitter.com/ETHCasso
Frank Kozik
Frank Kozik is an internationally recognized San Francisco based artist best known for his posters for rock bands, pop art, vinyl toys and of course the Labbit.
Frank Kozik is the only collection on this list that has already been established as a legend over the decades. A visual artist who has created legendary posters for rock and punk bands since the 1970s, Frank’s pedigree is undisputed.
“Kozik has worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, The Offspring, Butthole Surfers, and Helmet.
Kozik has been described as “one of the rock world’s top poster artists”, and interviewed in Rolling Stone. Kozik created Smorkin’ Labbit[4] and is the Creative Director of Kidrobot.”
Now for the first time, NFT collectors can pick up a piece of history from Kozik’s collection.
discord.gg/P5VZ829xG8
https://opensea.io/collection/frank-kozik
https://twitter.com/frankkozik
CryptoBroskis
CryptoBroskis are little brotinos to keep your NFT’s company at the blockchain lounge. These Bros are chill as the tundra, and they all have dreams of bro’in it up on the moon. Each one comes with a link to discover new musicians as well as support the environment and charities.
The CryptoBroskis are 3 artists who make an impressive use of pixel art spaces to create a range of eclectic, fun characters with a wide range of properties and other characteristics. Exploring the collection, one can appreciate the diversity of ideas that goes into creating the broskis.
And the CryptoBroskis are committed to supporting the environment by donating a large part of the proceeds to a charity that plants trees! Combine this noble vision with a really rad group of people in a tightly knit community and you have a project with the right template for long term success.
https://discord.gg/TQVuwhhSgU
https://opensea.io/collection/cryptobroskis
https://twitter.com/SCryptobroski
SpaceApes
In the near distant future, the battle between apes and the establishment brings the Earth to the edge of utter destruction. Flying through space into the great unknown, the bravest of ape-kind venture out to galaxies far, far away, in search for their lost ancestors who left Earth long ago. They are our only hope. #ApesTogetherStrong 🚀 Only 300 unique Space Apes will be created.
We haven’t known about the SpaceApes for very long, but what we do know is that as soon as you see them, you will be hooked. The quality of pixel art is second to none, and the amount of detail and variety that are demonstrated in this collection is vast.
Considering how quickly these SpaceApes sell out, despite how little coverage there is of them, a collector would be wise to add a few of these amazing apes to their collection before they hit the moon.
discord.gg/spaceapes
https://opensea.io/assets/spaceapes
https://twitter.com/SpaceApeNFT
RomanPunks
Imagine a world where the Roman Empire never fell, but was instead whisked away into another dimension also populated by a motley crew of characters from history, pop culture, science fiction and literature. Welcome to the world of RomanPunks! Only 1,000 RomanPunks have been frozen in time and permanently minted on the Ethereum blockchain.
We never cease to be amazed by the amount of creativity and diversity of ideas that comes out of the RomanPunks collection. Their team is dedicated to producing culturally and historically interesting characters that span a wide range of places and times. It looks to be a little like “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego” meets “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in which all the characters are wearing togas.
The artistic merit is clear to anyone who gazes upon this collection. As one that is still growing, (200/1000 minted at time of writing), with a large collector base and an active international community, we are excited to see the inexorable rise of this Empire. Unlike the OG “Roman Empire”, this RomanPunk Empire will never fall and will always be with us on the blockchain.
discord.gg/pXydFxp6Ue
https://opensea.io/collection/romanpunks
https://twitter.com/RomanPunksNFT
BitBirds
A fun learning project and homage to the OG CryptoPunks. Exploring programmatic image generation with Python. Looking for a sweet, unique, crypto profile pic? These are the avian avatars for you! Not into celebrities jumping on the NFT train? Super, I agree; I’m just a random dude learning to program… and jumping on the NFT train!
The BitBirds are one of the coolest looking collections, and one of the only that is built on an OpenSource Python code that has been made publicly available by its creators. Other projects such as Pythons (honourable mention for this list) have produced similar projects on the same code.
They are in it for the community and for the long term. I’ve noticed that more and more BitBirds avatars are showing up all across Twitter and Discord. This will only increase as more and more users seek a place they can hang out with like-minded cool folk in addition to owning a cute NFT with interesting rarities.
discord.gg/nJ55H2Knt5
https://opensea.io/collection/bit-birds
https://twitter.com/NFTBirds
Bored Ape Yacht Club
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 unique Bored Ape NFTs — unique digital collectibles living on the Ethereum blockchain. Your Bored Ape doubles as your Yacht Club membership card, and grants access to members-only benefits, the first of which is access to THE BATHROOM, a collaborative graffiti board. Future areas and perks can be unlocked by the community through roadmap activation. Visit www.BoredApeYachtClub.com for more details.
Without a doubt, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is the latest sensation on the OpenSea. And for a reason. Look how incredibly fun and diverse their outfits are! At the time of writing, the collection has already traded over 1.5K ETH yet was only created a matter of days ago! On top of this, we already see ‘tribute’ collections popping up, such as the expected ‘Picasso Bored Apes’.
Nevertheless, if you still see these pieces listed for under 0.5ETH, then consider yourself lucky because they are moving FAST. Fortunately with Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, you are also “gaining membership access to a club whose benefits and offerings will increase over time.”
discord.gg/wjH7hGz2yS
https://opensea.io/assets/boredapeyachtclub
https://twitter.com/BoredApeYC
Dreamloops by BitLectro Labs
Coming in Q2 of 2021, Dreamloops are a programmatically generated series of audio-visual non-fungible tokens (NFTs) launching on Ethereum. V1 of Dreamloops features chiptune style musical loops with an accompanying piece of retro 16-bit album art. Each Dreamloop will have both audio and visual features that determine its scarcity among other Dreamloops within the release. Dreamloops are unique in that some of them may be redeemed for a physical copy of the audio (vinyl or cassette) after a staking period of 182.5 days (~six months).
The only collection on this list which has, at the time of writing, yet to be dropped. But it is also one of the most exciting. The beautiful quasi-neo-classical 80s-style pixel aesthetic is very alluring, and to top it off, the NFTs includes music that comes on physical media (cassettes, records, etc.) which the owner is entitled to receive.
A very organized and professional team is behind Dreamloops; there is already a healthy community flourishing and we are excited to see where it heads from here.
discord.gg/xyaC4ywFsd
https://opensea.io/collection/dreamloops-v1
https://twitter.com/bitlectro
Do you have another project that you want to be featured in this list? Drop it down in the comments below for our readers to see.
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