Transformation begins within - when experience meets belief, and opportunity aligns with passion. True leadership is not just about guiding change, but embodying it, shaping visions that inspire others to dream bigger.
In the heart of transformation lies a connection to community, where shared desires and collective energy redefine possibility.
This synergy is the catalyst for growth, igniting industries and reshaping traditions. As we step into the digital evolution of collectibles, it’s this transformative leadership, rooted in vision and fueled by connection that is shaping an extraordinary new chapter for asset collectors and creators alike.
This is now a wonderful hobby, full of incredibly passionate, talented and eager enthusiasts who are borrowing and sharing knowledge and interest from all collecting elements to advance their enjoyment and collections.
To that, I share my wonderful opportunity meeting VeVe Collectible's new Co-CEO, BEN ROSE
(CHRIS - It's a true pleasure to have this chat with you Ben, and we appreciate this opportunity to introduce you to our GoCollect readers, and as Logan would say... L.F.G.!)
SO... WHAT ARE DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES & WHY SHOULD COLLECTORS PAY ATTENTION?
“Thanks for having me with you, Chris!
Growing up, we had printed photos & family albums. Now we have Google Drive, Dropbox, Cloud Computing…in fact, we have even more photos today than ever before, but without risk of fading / damage / loss / shelf space.
Digitization is not unique to digital collecting – it’s a happening in every aspect of our lives. Vinyl records are now Spotify, where we’ve been given more choice and convenience than ever. With respect to collectibles, there is a very exciting addition from digital collecting, where I can collect in a different way – NOT BETTER, NOT WORSE, JUST DIFFERENT.
Our current users love this as it gives people the opportunity to own first appearances and early editions of assets that might not otherwise be accessible, while opening access from anywhere on earth with just a mobile phone.
Further, there are things you can do with digital collectibles you just can’t do with physicals, such as our new EVOLVABLES model. These can be enhanced, upgraded, animated, music-enabled, used in augmented reality and so forth, where physicals stay the same their entire lifetime.
We all spend more time online today than ever before. Chat rooms evolved to social media, which will evolve into metaverses. Collecting is aligned with sharing, so why wouldn’t we want to share our treasures online with each other? Well, the answer is, we do.
Taking the issues related to climate damage into consideration, pop culture collecting involves a lot of freight and packaging. VeVe mints its digital collectibles onto the Immutable-X blockchain, meaning they are completely carbon neutral. To some this sounds like a gimmick, but it is of significant importance for many – particularly younger audiences who are about to participate in the greatest transfer of wealth in history where sustainability really, really matters.”
(CHRIS NOTE – Think of CGC Grading. For those of us who grew up without online verification (or more recently, blockchain certainty), nothing matched / matches the feeling of having your prized comic graded. Even SWELLER when it comes back at very high grade, while they look FANTABULOUS on display!
But now, think of our younger audiences who loathe plastic, maybe invest in Bitcoin instead of Gold, maybe struggle to afford high cost of shipping their comic for grading, or in many housing markets (San Fran, Vancouver, Toronto, etc.) the cost of home ownership or rents are highly prohibitive to spending dollars on grading, let alone storing physicals when square footage is at a premium. There is little doubt digital assets offset these concerns, opening new avenues for more people to ultimately participate.)
"We are NOT saying physical collecting is withering. We both collect and own physical assets, where the market is growing at roughly 5.5% a year, but our lives are digital. It just stands to reason digital collecting is an easy extension."
(CHRIS - Referencing prior blogs, this shaped my career & led me to write about these transformations with GoCollect. Selling Yellow Page phonebooks became selling Internet Directory listings. Newspaper ads became news website banner ads. Neither company initially wanted to transform & risk cannibalizing their print businesses or audiences, yet there was nothing they could do to stop it.
CONSUMERS chose the path & reluctantly, the brands followed. Those who jumped in early? Massive Success. If you need a few examples, Google transformed phone books. Facebook transformed news distribution. Amazon transformed bookstores.
BUT – did the need to find businesses die? Did the need to stay informed of local through global events die? Did the need to read die? NO. These are now some of the largest media platforms ever seen, where their reach and levels of audience interaction levels are beyond the capability (or imaginations) of the brands they enhanced. If this could happen to universally distributed phone books, you know it’s happening with collectibles.)
“The argument about something’s value diminishing since it isn’t physical is easily explained just looking at the Bitcoin EFTS – the most successful ETFs in all investing history (and you don’t actually ‘hold’ a bitcoin like a physical coin…it’s a digital asset). In every aspect of our lives, things that were once tangible are now digital, so there’s a roll for both where collectibles are no different.
VEVE OFFERS EXCLUSIVE, SCARCE & LICENSED DIGITAL BRAND IP - HOW DO YOU CONFIRM THIS?
IE - If someone is worried about scarcity & value for physical / print assets, how does VeVe ensure that scarcity is something anyone can buy or invest into?
“The reason we use blockchain, is for that exact reason – scarcity is so important to collectors. With digital collecting, when you buy something from a ‘drop,’ in the store or the marketplace, you can see exactly how many were minted (created), burned and available, which isn’t always the case with physicals - there is always an element of trust you must choose to believe in.
With VeVe digital assets, you can choose to engage based on total items made, rarities, variant cover arts, 1:1 products, hunt specific mint numbers, even stack assets that might be harder to do with physicals. Many choices, but everyone is different, so there is something for everyone where this technology allows clear information on the total that exist.
(CHRIS – think in terms of GoCollect. We track & report…trackable & reportable sales. Confirming the total number of assets in existence though is difficult, if not impossible. Marvel Comics #1 physically printed roughly 1,000,000 copies back in '39, of which we show 70 graded. Extremely rare. Yet, we all TRUST there are at least 1000 or so still laying around in collector homes, unreported, ungraded…what would happen if we had that exact number?)
“Think of some cryptocurrencies, or even gold. When it starts to run out, or when prices pump, we start minting more, digging more, finding more. When something is capped & proven as such, it starts to take on a whole new idea of scarcity and its associated value.”
CHRIS - A lot of current digital collectors came in through Crypto…I did too, first buying the Ecomi Parent Company’s “OMI” token akin to supporting the project like I once bought shares of AT&T.
When VeVe suddenly announced James Bond collectibles, then Marvel Comics #1, Fantastic Four #1 & Amazing Spider-Man #1 as ‘blockchain minted, verifiable ownership assets,” I took notice and shifted focus. This was relatively easy for me to appreciate, coming from a 20+ year career in digital media, but as this is entirely new for many people, let's dig a little deeper.
WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT?
ARE THESE REAL ASSETS?
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS?
“VeVe uses a technology. It happens to be NFT / Blockchain technology, but that’s HOW we ensure our collectors know the exact number of editions and authenticity of the asset they have bought in that rarity. There are many people into those technologies, who use and appreciate their capabilities when collecting. There are also people who are non-techie collectors, and just beginning to learn about and/or experience this new asset class, growing awareness.
The secret sauce of VeVe is bringing brands, properties and characters from the mainstream into an environment where both sides that can be accessed. We make it easy for consumers to sign up, join and engage, we make it safe for brands and their licensed IP to participate and remove the complexities of crypto or blockchains to make it appealing and exciting for everyone, bringing these two worlds together.
For example, we just did a drop with Bigshot Toyworks’ “NOUNish Friends” where IP from Web2 is bleeding into Web3. McDonald’s recently launched their Doodles NFT collaboration with licensed McD’s NFTs, some now selling for $130,000 USD, and over the first 2 weeks of November, total NFT sales across blockchains skyrocketed 94% to over $181,000,000.
The winners will continue to be those who make enjoying this space easy; it is NOT AND-OR, IT IS A BOTH-CAN-WIN TOGETHER SITUATION.
This is a really nascent space. The more brands and platforms that come into it, the more awareness it brings, the more participation is driven as a result. Again though, there is something for everyone. You’re a Star Wars fan, but not Star Trek? That’s OK. Prefer Marvel over DC? That’s OK. Prefer to collect comics for cover art, but not the stories? That’s OK.
Digitization is not for everybody. The reality is though, is a growing market and category that is easy to pooh-pooh on when it’s new, but people are joining in and enjoying this. How can anyone argue against that?
Roblox or Fortnite could be viewed as competitive (time / money invested), however I see them as VERY BULLISH, since they normalize the space of digital use and ownership. It normalizes people paying real world money for digital things they own and use within video games. With a collectibles industry in the $400B-$500B annual range for physicals, our challenge is clearly helping those audiences understand the benefits of digital collecting they’re already exposed to."
(CHRIS – Look at the National Hockey League, NHL. If you haven’t watched or noticed this yet, the NHL ITSELF now promotes their own LICENSED DIGITAL COLLECTIBLES to their TV-viewing fans via their own TV Commercials. The “NHL Breakaway NFTs’ are blockchain-minted ownership of unique hockey moments or historical events.
They are scarce, they are ownable, they are sellable and tradable. They are being promoted by one of the largest sports associations on the planet. This is another example of how brands are going mainstream with so many exciting new items, but bringing awareness to entire ecosystem!)
NOW LET’S LEARN A BIT ABOUT THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME!
“I’m the youngest of 6 children, so I always had to sing for myself, bit of an extrovert where I grew up in a noisy, busy house with lots going on. I was nerdy as a kid, big into wrestling and ‘90s cartoons, academic and developed a love of languages.
I went to Oxford where I studied Portuguese, came out with a degree in Medieval Literature & Languages and went to work in the advertising agency world. A contract role brought me to New Zealand where I was exposed to commercial business successes that I soaked up.
During this time, I began investigating and learning more and more about cryptocurrencies. Like many, Covid added to my time spent understanding the ecosystem, when BINANCE announced they wanted to expand into the New Zealand market. Pairing my passions for New Zealand, marketing and now crypto, while knowing what branding into that market meant for Binance, I put my hand up believing it would be exciting to lead their entry into a market that just HAD to experience it.
I’m a glutten for big, hairy, audacious challenges so at the time it was a DEEEEEEP bear market, with loads of bad press and regulatory challenges. So when I was chosen for the role I jumped full into it.
This extended to my running the Australian market, where of course, I ended up meeting David Yu, CEO of VeVe (YouTube)
I had asked him to participate in a video interview to learn more about digital collectibles and NFTS, which blew up in views – I knew all about communities from my years in brand building, but I had NEVER witnessed anything like what I saw from the VeVe Community. Positive, Negative, 100% Passionate.
This really intrigued me, along with David’s ethics, business philosophy and demenour…I just liked him as a Bloke! We continued to stay in touch and idea of joining the team at some point became steadily stronger in my thinking as it was such an interested business.
Eventually, the time was right where David and co-founder Daniel Crothers had been discussing ways to begin taking VeVe to the next level, my skill set was a good fit and the mutual agreement to join was made!”
DID YOUR TIME AT BINANCE EXPOSE YOU TO SIMILARITIES IN THE WORLD OF COLLECTING?
“Totally. You’ve got this product where a lot of people had never heard of it, where if they had heard, they were generally unclear about why it was a good thing, so adoption rates were very low. You had a job to do to educate people about why there is a need…at all.
How can we improve the incumbent, but then further, why your offer? You need to also give them a reason to engage with you. This is exactly the same as with digital collectibles.
Most people outside our own eco chamber barely know what these are, or what it all means. What is this company called VeVe? Why should I buy any of these from you?
Well, because you’re a big fan of say, James Bond and like to collect memorabilia associated with that brand, and we just dropped the latest digital piece…it’s exactly the same. It’s just takes some time to educate, raise interest and build momentum with mainstream awareness.
While at Binance, Blackrock started their Bitcoin ETFs - a Direct Parallel.”
(CHRIS: I’ve had discussions around that - despite how many people yell, scream, run naked in the streets about how ridiculous crypto & blockchain technology seem at first, most don’t connect that we’re in the building phase of an enhanced “Internet” system that will allow better focus on trustless transactions and contracts…maybe even free up space for the ‘Content Web’ to be faster - no more spinning hour glasses on your Netflix sign-on screens…it’s all improving!
I'll admit, VeVe dropping James Bond / Marvel / Disney & more, and how easy it was to get started hooked me. I dabbled in crypto to learn how it worked, spent hours researching etc., and frustrated myself COUNTLESS times, but VeVe's EASY BUTTON access to these first-ever, huge IP’s on the blockchain via credit card was…compelling. IE - Nobody asks how NETFLIX works, it just does. Well, OK, except when they aired their Tyson / Paul promotion, haha!)
MARKETING THE VEVE OPPORTUNITY
CHRIS - I’m THRILLED we’re both ad guys…message & its distribution strategy is something I think we both share a passion, so what about the brands themselves? VeVe has already landed OVER 200 MINDBLOWINGLY CRAZY AWESOME IPs, yet we haven’t really seen a lot of them promoting the partnership to any great extent. Star Wars has over 6.4M fans on X, Disney has almost 11M, Marvel over 19M. Those 3 brands alone hold a LOT of powerful promotional potential, right?
SO, HOW DEEP IS VEVE INTEGRATED WITH ITS PARTNERS?
“A lot of that is on us. You must remember we’re early, where if you’re a big company looking at all your commercial opportunities, this might still be a smaller arena, albeit interesting and growing. So, you may not put the level of importance on it today that those who are participating within are.
We are, however, VERY closely engaged with our IP partners on daily, sometimes hourly levels. We may not have done as good a job with this in the past, but we’re now able to in leverage the power of those relationships better. We are in market now growing our marketing and communications capabilities, while discussing mutual opportunities with our more than 200 partners.
Things are progressing well, too. VeVe launched its www.VeVe.me/Comics site, where we digitally distribute SAME-DAY comics that can take up to 90 days to sometimes reach physical store shelves. Our first brand partner was MARVEL, and the results have been fantastic. You can purchase a comic to read (not sell), or for just a few dollars more, can access exclusive variants or substantially reduced editions minted on the blockchain that you own, and can resell if desired.
We continue to bring on new independent artists and brands, enabling a great way for many of these businesses to quickly access an enormous, yet growing community. We're launching a new CONTENT CREATOR TOOL on the VeVe Comics site. The Addiction Comics, 247/Swagglehaus’ SANITY, BlackPink & Penny Black Stamp drops were amazing to see the support happen, or when VeVe shared booth space at SDCC, our community was electrified with excitement!
It's still an amazing fantasy to many (most) of us how David & Dan were able to initially leverage some of the incredible brand partners they did, with nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation and an idea. Like…they landed DC / BATMAN as their 1st NFT, Disney (Golden Moments), Marvel…just monstrous, yet so compelling for a collector who is interested in new, exciting, limited items!
(CHRIS: Heritage Auctions now auctions NFTS, though not yet with VeVe. If we envision in the near future a Fantastic Four #1 key-mint digital asset commanding just 10% of say, a 9.6+ CGC physical that could be over $2M, well, that’s going to be a COMPELLING reason to move the narrative our way fast and drive even further awareness to the space.)
Further, I recently wrote an article about our newfound ability to own a piece of Marvel Comics #1 history. During my research, I found it interesting many comic collectors or Marvel fans didn’t really know about the comic, its history, meaning or impact. Suddenly, a new digital collectible company offers a piece of that history for a fraction of its physical counterpart and Marvel says “hey that’s cool with us.”
For me, what a BULLISH REASON to pay attention, as digital connects NEW audiences to these assets’ history, nostalgia & opportunities to participate, share and own parts of these legacies!)
DIGITAL COLLECTORS WILL SOON HAVE A NEW VIRTUAL SHOWROOM - THE VEVEVERSE, TO SHOW THEIR ASSETS. WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT?
“The VeVeVerse is an interactive metaverse where users can interact in a 3D digital world in both AR and VR. Users will be able to decorate their ‘home spaces’ with their VeVe collectibles, explore other people’s home spaces, and explore themed worlds related to specific brands.
This is an enormous opportunity. Facebook changed its name to META knowing full well this is the evolution of digital entertainment. Disney, in partnership with Epic Games committed $1.5 BILLION to collaborate on an all-new games & entertainment universe to further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.
So, the VVV is VERY HIGH on the priority list; the community and business want this, but of course it’s a very ambitious project. The “behind the scenes / boring stuff” that’s been happening will help with execution of the vision (project planning, strategy, decisioning, etc.). We are now building short-to-mid, then mid-to-long term visioning, etc. and you’re about to start seeing some of the wonderful work various designers have created as our Beta Testers, who have been behind NDA’s, but it’s definitely exciting.
PLEASE EXPLAIN AS IF I'VE NEVER HEARD THE TERM DIGITAL MUSEUM BEFORE?
“Sure! So here I am sitting in my home office, with my physical collections of which I’m so proud of this particular Beano. I’ve friends in the US, UK & Spain that I simply can’t have over to show them. The VeVeVerse can, though. As of Day 1, you’ll be able to have 30 people visit your collectible room…have poker nights…maybe have brands come and check out your collections.
What can be more fun and exciting than an easy way to share your passion with others who enjoy similar things, but begin to scale that as our technology advancements allow greater and greater opportunities to do so?
Of course, we don’t know how this is going to go, or how people will use this brand new platform. We are taking the approach of “RESPONSIVE INNOVATION” to learn the progressions, take feedback, suggestions and go from there. It will be a continuously evolving system.”
(CHRIS: Personally, I think collectors showcasing their comics and collectibles in virtual or digital museums will be game changing to the entire industry. There are some holders of awesome, significant mint numbers, pairs, sets & associated collectibles I firmly believe want to show off and welcome many people into their personal showrooms to enjoy their bags. What a tremendous way to differentiate digital assets that are all pretty much manufactured the same, apart from cover variants or limited mint runs.)
FOR OUR LAST QUESTION, WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT THE DIGITAL COLLECTING INDUSTRY OUR READERS SHOULD KNOW & WHERE DO YOU SEE THIS ALL GOING?
I’m not shouting out at those who don’t want to participate. My focus is on those who love digital collecting, love what we do, celebrating and engaging with them. Then, there are the millions of people around the world who love collecting, regardless of format, spending multi-millions annually on with their favourite brands.
If any category anywhere is something to go by, collecting will naturally become digital, so all my focus and energy is at the forefront of that. VeVe has the best proposition in the market, with the best IP’s where we are the best place for collectors to come. I’m incredibly excited about the growth and transformation of this new addition to our hobby of passion.
It's been a pleasure speaking with you Chris and sharing the time to investigate this all further!”
CHRIS – Ben, I am flattered, humbled and so incredibly appreciative you chose our publication to share this conversation with. I wish you nothing but success in your role, and cannot wait to see what comes next.
HAPPY COLLECTING & THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE!
