Toy Manufacturer Mattel and Cryptoys Announce Masters of the Universe NFT Collection
This week, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) franchise, the toy manufacturing company Mattel announced the launch of the official MOTU digital toy collection. The new collection, dropping on November 9, will feature classic MOTU characters like He-Man, Battle Cat, Tri-Klops, and Evil-Lyn.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Enter the Blockchain-Powered Metaverse
On Wednesday, Mattel, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAT) and the new non-fungible token (NFT) platform Cryptoys revealed plans to launch a digital collectible collection based on the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) sword and planet-themed media franchise. According to the announcement, the limited edition collection was unveiled this week in unison with MOTU’s 40th anniversary.
MOTU is well known for the characters He-Man and She-Ra, as the popular 5.5-inch action-figure toy line was released in 1981. The MOTU or He-Man cartoon film series followed two years later in 1983. Mattel’s MOTU franchise is still a pop culture classic after 40 years, with He-Man and Skeletor featured in memes and newly created toy lines. For the new MOTU NFT collection, Mattel teamed up with Cryptoys, an NFT company that combines toys, gaming, and entertainment.
Cryptoys leverages the Flow network, a blockchain project utilized by the Dapper Labs- crafted NFT collections NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day. The MOTU NFT collection will release in three waves and the first release will feature He-Man/Prince Adam, Tri-Klops, Battle Cat/Cringer, and Evil-Lyn. The waves will run from November 2022 to January 2023 and other characters like Orko, Man-At-Arms, Skeletor, and Beast-Man will be released.
“With a unique ability to remain at the forefront of pop culture for 40 years, Mattel’s Masters of the Universe IP has an extremely high consumer awareness level and strong collectability value,” Mattel’s global head of digital gaming, Mike DeLaet, said in a statement. DeLaet added that the toy manufacturing company looked forward to “providing fans of all ages a new way to experience He-Man and Masters of the Universe.”
According to Cryptoys, each MOTU drop will contain 10,000 toys per character and each one will have different skins across seven unique rarity levels. Cryptoys says that the scarcity of each skin will make the collectible even more “powerful.” The new MOTU NFT collection is not Mattel’s first time dealing with blockchain technology as the company issued the Mattel Hot Wheels NFT Garage line with the Wax blockchain team last year.
In more recent times, Mattel has worked with the Veefriends NFT project and the two companies released a limited edition UNO deck featuring the Veefriends characters. The NFT firm Cryptoys raised $23 million at the end of June and Mattel was an investor in the round. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sound Ventures, Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, Acrew Capital, and Draper & Associates also participated. In addition to Mattel, other toy and collectible competitors like Funko and Hasbro have also issued blockchain-backed NFTs.
What do you think about the Masters of the Universe NFT collection by Mattel and Cryptoys? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
