Tintin is one of the world’s most famous cartoons, and now you can own a piece of art history, or at least, that’s the pitch of this official The Blue Lotus NFT collection. As a childhood Tintin fan, the allure of owning an official limited edition Tintin illustration is, well, a treasure.
NFTs are a way to digitally record a file on a blockchain, they cannot be deleted or copied and thus create secure ownership and authenticity. We have a full explanation in our ‘What are NFTs?’ feature. For this Tintin collection, NFTs are used to record the sale of two variants of the famous cover illustration The Blue Lotus created by the artist Hergé in 1936. The original was sold at auction for €2.6 million in early 2021.
Tintin NFT comes in two forms, the first is a limited edition of the beautiful artwork. Only 777 are pressed, and to ensure authenticity, each print comes with an NFT – so you receive the physical art and proof of ownership.
The second variant is 1,777 purely digital NFT. This has some unique tools, such as geographic coordinates of Tintin’s travel locations from the famous books, early access to new printings of The Blue Lotus book, and exclusive passes to the Herge Museum.
We’ve been on a rollercoaster ride with NFTs over the past two years, from the highs of Beeple, the weirdness of Madonna’s vagina tree (what am I writing?) and the NFT crash. But in the midst of all this, there have been two things that many have predicted, that NFTs will not go away, and those that succeed will have a use, a tool. Value comes from more than just “collectability,” and this Tintin NFT offers a use fans will love.
Also, as with the recent Nike Our Force 1 digital collection, this Tintin NFT is disconnected from the vagaries of cryptocurrencies; this means you can purchase the digital art at a set price using a credit card via Crossmint’s Web3 payment method.
“We are excited to announce the launch of the first NFT collection from the beloved cartoon Tintin,” said Farbod Sadeghian, CEO of arteQ in a statement to the press.
He adds: “Using Crossmint’s cutting-edge technology, we are able to usher in the Web2 consumers and enable them to own a digital asset without the tumultuous onboarding to the traditional Web3 space. This partnership provides fans with a unique opportunity to own a rare piece of Tintin history in the form of an NFT. Each NFT comes with its own ‘tools’ and is a truly unique collectible. We can’t wait to see how fans will embrace this new addition to the Tintin universe.”
Both limited edition physical prints with an NFT and the digital-only NFT collection are available for purchase now on the official Tintin website (opens in a new tab). It feels like non-fungible tokens are taking baby steps to gain credibility beyond early adopters, and projects like this The Blue Lotus collection prove that there is life after the NFT crash. I could have just had my Tintin flashing lights on, but this feels like a step forward for Web3.
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