Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster NFT and 10 Pop Culture Moments on the Blockchain
Popular, long-running children’s TV show Sesame street announced this week that they are joining the digital art world and launching a collection of Cookie Monster NFTs. Sesame Workshop will release 5,555 issues priced at $60 each on Sunday, the first in a series featuring Sesame Street characters.
The PBS show, now in its 54th year, has teamed up with VeVe, an app that serves as a platform for buying and selling licensed digital collectibles. Its first foray into the world of non-fungible tokens is an image of Cookie Monster next to an oven, which presumably has cookies baking inside.
Here are 10 other pop culture characters, brands, and moments that have been turned into NFTs.
1. Coca-Cola
The world-renowned soft drink brand launched four NFT collections in 2021 to celebrate its first anniversary in the metaverse.
In collaboration with 3D art platform Tafi, it auctioned a multi-sensory NFT in a friendship box, which itself is another NFT.
The piece included a specially designed Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket, with an unlockable version that could be worn in the Decentraland 3D virtual reality platform. The proceeds from the auction went to the Special Olympics.
2. Star Wars
Disney released its first NFT collection last May via blind box format, a framework similar to buying packs of trading cards without knowing exactly which ones are inside.
The Star Wars Dark Side Collection launched with three Darth Vader NFTs: Dark Lord of the Sith, Beware of the dark side and The Emperor’s Fist.
Disney also released the Lightsaber NFTs collection, which included Luke Skywalker, Yoda, and Kylo Ren’s weapons.
3. NBA
The National Basketball Association branded its 2020 attempt at the NFT’s “Top Shot,” selling digital versions of sports trading cards using blockchain technology.
They include video highlights from NBA and WNBA teams and players, and collectors can participate in challenges to win more.
Retrievable moments include those of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards.
4. Spider-Man
Marvel swung into the NFT-verse with a launch of digital Spider-Man collectibles in 2021.
The studio partnered with VeVe to create five limited-edition categories, including rare, ultra-rare, and secret-rare collectibles, all priced between $40 and $400.
It followed up with a Captain America series collection.
5. Doge meme
The image of a shiba inu dog named Kabosu looking at the camera with suspicion first appeared online in 2010 and became one of the internet’s most popular memes.
Called “Doge”, in June 2021 it became the most expensive meme NFT ever sold. A group of collectors known as PleasrDAO bought the piece for $4 million (1697 of the cryptocurrency Ethereum).
Don Caldwell, Editor-in-Chief of Online Database Know your memecalled Doge “one of the most iconic memes in internet history”.
6. Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats” and “Hey Arnold”
The popular children’s cartoons got the NFT treatment when 10,000 unique collectibles were released last year, featuring images of the characters and memorable moments from the show.
The network teamed up with Recur to add 12-character NFTs from the shows Intruder Zim and AAAHH!!! Real monsters.
7. Funko Pops
The team behind the pop culture character miniatures make regular digital collectibles of their series in the form of Funko Digital Pops.
They are animated and come in limited editions with varying degrees of rarity.
Best selling releases include Scooby Doo, Star Trek and the popular American painter Bob Ross.
8. Lay’s Potato Chips
The global crips brand owned by PepsiCo entered the NFT market in 2021 with its “Share smiles with Lay’s” collection.
The digital asset contained over 3,000 smiles, and the online auction raised over $300,000, which was donated to charity.
9. Disney
The Mouse House offers a range of collectibles as part of the Golden Moments Disney NFT collection, which launched last year.
The collection includes Magic Lamp from Aladdin as grants the original buyer two special requests from VeVe; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey from the 1940s animation Fantasy and Elsa from Frozen.
10. Hello Kitty
The beloved Japanese character created by Sanrio launched as an NFT in August 2022 with a drop of 10,000 collectibles focused on six characters from Hello Kitty and Friends.
The NFTs were sold in suitcase packs that collectors could “travel” around the world to complete challenges and collect special stamp NFTs in the Premium, Rare or Ultra-Rare categories.
Updated: March 15, 2023, 2:03 p.m
