Collectables and NFTs

I suspect I am not the only one who is wondering what all the fuss is about with NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens). Here are some thoughts around that topic and how it links in with collecting in general.

Humans seem to like collecting things. That collecting can take many forms. Sometimes it is a fascination with particular items such as fossils or stamps. In my case I have a fairly large collection of guitar picks, but none of them are actually worth much as they are mass-produced items.

Please excuse the dust. I need to take a cloth to the shelves on my desk.

I do have these 3d-printed figurines of characters in the Phill from GCHQ comic by Hive account@katharsisdrill. There were only thirty of each produced and hand painted, so they are quite rare, but may have a niche market. I paid a fair bit for them, but that was partly to support the creator for all the enjoyment I had from the comic. I also have a signed edition of the printed version.

The value of collectable items will depend on their scarcity and demand. Some items are scarce despite being mass-produced. An original first edition of the Superman comic is worth a fortune as so few survived. Cheap comics and toys tend to be considered as disposable, but these days a lot of people will pick up early editions and keep them in mint condition in hope of future value. With so many doing that a lot will last and so artificial scarcity comes into play with 'limited editions'. You even see that label applied to cars, but in many cases it is just marketing.

I do own some limited edition signed prints, but they are not going to be worth a lot. The addition of an artist's signature can add value, but with things like books and other mass-produced items the artist may sign thousands. I have signed books, albums and CDs, but some were bought like that and did not have a premium price.

I have seen people like Hive account@slobberchops writing about MtG cards and Hive account@blewitt about comic condition ratings. The prices some of those items fetch is crazy to me, but there is a market. Now we have collectable digital items such as Hive account@splinterlands and Hive account@risingstargame cards. These are also produced in limited quantities even though they are just digital data. They are recorded on the Hive blockchain, so the numbers can be verified. Non-fungible means that each of them is uniquely identifiable and their ownership can be transferred. They do at least have some utility in the games, but their prices may not actually justify the advantage they give. The rarity is more of a factor as people want them.

Then we come to NFTs as pure art with no actual utility. This article is one of many I have seen about them. People are paying millions to be able to say they 'own' a digital asset even though it may be accessible to anyone else. Even tweets have been sold like this. With some physical items you may get a 'certificate of authentication' which has some analogy with an NFT, but with the latter you have no physical item. I hear that in some cases the person issuing the NFT did not even create the asset, so what ownership can you claim?

I am not saying NFTs are bad and I see lots of artists enthusing over them. If they can sell works with no additional production or even postage costs at a premium price then that will be attractive. I do wonder if people expect them to appreciate in value.

What are people doing with digital art NFTs? Do they display them? I did buy a digital 'print' from Hive account@katharsisdrill that is not an NFT. I printed it out to go on my wall so I can enjoy it. With animated versions that is not possible.

Some of the articles on this topic point out that many of the blockchains are very energy hungry, but they will be doing other things too. Hive does not have that issue anyway.

As with many things I can find this fascinating without feeling the need to dive in. I will continue to acquire digital game assets and may buy digital art, but that will be more about supporting the artist than future value. With the game cards I mainly just spend what I earn on various Hive dapps, including those games.

I am interested to hear from those who are collecting digital works. Is there more to this than a fad?